ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.  Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge told manager Aaron Boone he was ready to play.

That was enough for Boone to put Judge back in the lineup vs. the Rays on Saturday at Tropicana Field.

**********

For Yankee tickets visit: VividSeats, Ticketmaster and StubHub

***********

Judge had missed the last two games dealing with side soreness, according to Boone. Judge hasnt been made available to speak to reporters. Boone added that Judge hasnt undergone medical tests to diagnose exactly what was wrong with him.

I dont think there was anything he did specific or one thing, Boone told reporters before Saturdays game. I think it was a gradual kind of workload, probably swinging a lot, doing a lot of cage work that led to some soreness that developed over time. But I dont think any one thing.

The Yankees have played seven games this season.

Boone said that the Yankees are intent on not letting Judges issue turn into something worse.

Its just always good to write his name in there right, the manager said. Just trying to be cautious with him early. Not wanting this to become something that is an issue. Hopefully were able to get past that and through that in these days ahead.

Judge appeared to take light batting practice Saturday. He last played Tuesday, when he went 3-for-5 with four RBI and a home run. The Yankees were off Thursday.

Through five games, Judge was hitting .364 with two home runs, five RBI and a 1.028 OPS.

Boone said the Yankees will be careful with how much Judge works out.

Those are things that hes actually done over the last couple of years and has been a little more judicious about the amounts of swings and amounts of reps, Boone said.

Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com.
Guebert: 28 years and a million words later, we're still here
This is an opinion column.

Im not sure John Merrill believes his political career is over. Perhaps, only on pause. When I spoke with Merrill on Wednesday, the last of four calls we had that day, he said he wouldnt be running for Senate, nor for any other office  in 2022.

Because I think its important to me to make sure that I become the man that I have been before and that I am working to put myself in the position to be the leader that I have been before, as a husband, as a father, as a friend and as an elected official, the Alabama Secretary of State said.

Theres a door cracked open there. He didnt say he was done for good. Just done for now.

Id correct him, but you never can be sure about these things, especially in Alabama. There was a time when George Wallace was done. And then he wasnt. There was a time when Fob James was yesterdays news, only for him to switch parties and make a comeback. Roy Moore was removed from the Alabama Supreme Court twice without it ending his political career, and I still keep an eye on the soft dirt above his political grave.

But this feels final for Merrill.

Merrill has always been nine-tenths of a great Alabama politician, no matter if you agreed with his politics. There was hardly an invitation from a knitting circle or Rotary club he turned down. Leapfrogging from one civic group to another, he traveled the state as a perpetual campaigner who believed no vote was unimportant. Perhaps the most important quality of a successful politician, he seemed to enjoy the work.

And I dont believe he was a bad secretary of state. While he stood behind Voter ID, his office went out of its way to make getting those IDs easier. While other states aggressively purged voter rolls, Merrill let Alabamas voter rolls grow to record size  something he bragged about often. He was not the voter-suppression villain his left-leaning critics wanted him to be.

But he wasnt perfect. Far from it.

Merrill had a darker side  a Jekyll and Hyde-like split personality  that frequently showed itself on social media. He prided himself for being approachable but he repeatedly got into nasty arguments with constituents on Twitter.

Let me get this straight, you are a guy, who paints his fingernails, and you refer to me as a loser....SMH, he Tweeted a couple of years ago.

Every time he got pulled into these fights, hed seem to have a moment of clarity and then retreat. But this behavior recurred. No matter how many times it happened before, nor how badly it went for him, it was almost certain to happen again.

It was a lack of control and discipline that complicated other aspects of his life.

In 2015, another couples divorce papers in Tuscaloosa alleged Merrill had an inappropriate relationship with the woman that contributed to the breakup. Merrill quibbled over details but admitted much of the womans story was true.

When Merrill went to Montgomery as secretary of state in 2015, rumors of new affairs followed, but as they often do, they festered beneath the surface.

Late last year, Cesaire McPherson approached my colleague Connor Sheets. She told him shed been having an affair with Merrill, that the affair had ended, and now she wanted to tell her story. Only, she didnt want her name attached to it and at that time she didnt provide any recordings.

Without a name, Sheets didnt have an on-the-record source who could confirm the affair. And there it lingered until McPherson spoke to a right-wing blog that, she says, promised to protect her identity. Instead, it published her name as well as tapes of her describing the affair in explicit terms.

The next morning, I spoke with Merrill. He called McPhersonsn accusations lies and accused her of stalking him. I asked him

Just to be definitive and to be clear you are saying that no affair happened? I asked him.

There was a pause.

Im saying unequivocally that I deny what she has alleged in everything that was presented in that article, Merrill said of the post on NationalFile that made McPhersons allegations public.

Merrills denial and accusations pushed McPherson to do something she hadnt done yet  to release a recording she had made of them discussing their affair in a phone call.

I called Merrill back. I told him about the recording. He asked if I could play it for him. I loaded it onto my computer and let it roll for about four minutes before I stopped.

I asked him if hed heard enough. He told me that he had.

I asked him if he still stood by his earlier denial. He asked if he could have a few minutes and call me back.

I suspected that would be the last I heard from Merrill Wednesday, but true to his word, he called back. I asked the question again. This time the answer was the truth, or something closer to it.

I like to think one of the reasons Im decent at my job is that, no matter how many times Ive been lied to, it always offends me. But this time that didnt happen. I wasnt mad at him and he didnt seem mad at me. Instead, there seemed to be a relief.

Its over now for him. Probably.

Someone asked me if Merrill was sorry for what hed done or just sorry hed gotten caught. I dont know, and it will likely be one of those questions that never gets tied up, like whether Wallace was a racist or just a pandering politician who did racist things. We may never know.

But I do feel sorry for John Merrill. Im just not sure which John Merrill.

Kyle Whitmire is the state political columnist for the Alabama Media Group.

You can follow his work on his Facebook page, The War on Dumb. And on Twitter. And on Instagram.

More columns by Kyle Whitmire

Mo Brooks, Stephen Miller and the stunted legacy of Roy Moore

Alabama is dead last for open records. The Legislature could fix that.

Different year, same old fight, but a new champion for open government

Give Toforest Johnson a new trial. Or better, a pardon. Now.

John Merrills absentee voting flip-flop has no excuse

What will you carry with you from the pandemic?

Kay Ivey wont be bullied
Lucknow, April 11 : Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will now be known as the Sanskrit city in the world.

Varanasi has the maximum number of Sanskrit schools as well as the highest number of students studying Sanskrit.

There are more than 110 Sanskrit schools that are functional in Varanasi.

Two more will be added to this tally by the new session while 13 new Sanskrit schools are also going to be opened across the state by the Yogi Adityanath government.

According to the government spokesman, the Yogi Adityanath government is going to set up Sanskrit Directorate on the lines of Directorates of Secondary and Basic Education.

After the creation of the Directorate, Sanskrit language will get a new identity.

Apart from this, for the first time in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath started releasing government press notes in Sanskrit. He also tweeted in Sanskrit from his official Twitter account.

After the Chief Minister's initiative, the Sanskrit Board has also started promoting Sanskrit language in the state in a big way.

According to the officials, the state will get 13 new Sanskrit schools and these schools have already met their prescribed standards. Out of these, two will be opened in Kashi and one in Jaunpur.

A total of 1,164 Sanskrit schools are being run by the Uttar Pradesh Secondary Sanskrit Education Council, of which 971 schools are aided schools.

More than 97,000 students are studying in these Sanskrit schools. In order to connect Sanskrit schools with modern education, the computer education and NCERT books are being provided to students from Class 6 to 12.

It has also been decided to provide free food and hostel facilities to more than 4,000 students in about 200 'gurukul' Sanskrit schools in the state.
When you think of the biggest art heist in the world, your mind likely fills with romantic images of slinky cat burglars, "Oceans Eleven" schemers in three-piece suits or Tom Cruise dropping down from a glass ceiling. In all likelihood, you did not immediately think of seedy car repair shops and a bunch of mafia guys named Bobby.

But thats the portrait painted by This Is a Robbery, Netflixs wildly engaging four-part docuseries hitting the platform Wednesday. With a new true crime doc dropping seemingly every day, the genres a dime a dozen right now. But both novices and experts will find much to enjoy in this gripping retelling of the Isabella Stewart Gardner robbery in which 13 works of art were lifted on March 18, 1990 by a pair of mystery men dressed as cops.

For the uninitiated, heres the low down: As Bostons many St. Patricks Day parties raged on, two police officers asked to be let into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum late at night. When a young security guard let them in, it was quickly apparent they werent cops at all; they duct-taped the guard and left him in the basement as they cased the museum. For 81 minutes, a veritable lifetime, motion sensors tracked them as they took paintings off of walls and brutally cut them out of their frames.

In the morning, the next security guard showed up, discovered the crime and the theft became international news. Among the seemingly random assortment of paintings stolen were Rembrandts Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee and A Lady and Gentleman in Black and Vermeers The Concert. The paintings and the perpetrators have never been found. The frames hang empty on the museums walls today.

Its the art worlds biggest unsolved crime  but This Is a Robbery director Colin Barnicle makes a compelling case that the Gardner heist isnt unsolved at all. We talked to Barnicle about the series, his theories and the most intriguing mystery that didnt make it into the final cut.

How could the Gardner art robbery stay unsolved for this long?

One of the great mysteries of the robbery is its longevity. In over 30 years, theres never been an official suspect. But Barnicle argues thats not due to a lack of leads.

I actually dont think theres any secrecy with the guys, with the criminal elements. I think they robbed the art, and then there was a small crew whose life expectancy was not long thereafter, Barnicle says.

As the documentary lays out, most roads point back to a few suspects: a team of Boston mafia members allegedly led by Bobby Donati and Bobby Guarente. It was common knowledge among local gangsters, Barnicle argues, that purloined paintings could be used as bargaining chips. If your buddy ended up in jail, you could use knowledge of a stolen artwork to get a generous plea deal.

But life was short for the Donati boys  a number of the key members were killed in unrelated gang violence in the years after the robbery, leaving fewer and fewer people with direct knowledge of the theft.

If you're carrying around a Chinese vase, you probably think its stolen, Barnicle says. You probably don't think its stolen in the largest art heist of all time It looks like something you might hold flowers or ash a cigarette in.

I do think some of the stuff is around, but the people who have it might not know exactly the provenance of it, he adds. The Degas drawings you might think somebody was sitting in the stands at Suffolk Downs in East Boston and drew it.

As that knowledge was lost, Barnicle believes the art was simply dispersed among small-time crooks and their friends where some of it may reside today. One informant, Barnicle says, saw the stolen eagle finial that once topped a Napoleonic flag above a grease pit at a repair shop in Connecticut.

The secrecy was part of their idiocy, Barnicle says. They didnt know art.

Whats with the seemingly haphazard selection of stolen works?

The 13 stolen works range from massively influential, near-priceless works to petty decorative items, which has always lent credence to the theory the robbers werent sophisticated art thieves.

I think they had a shopping list but once it became unwieldy, they just decided to walk around, Barnicle says. It seems like [the robbers] had not worked together all that much. One guy seems to be taking his time and unscrewing things, and one guy is punching glass out of frames.

Barnicle also speculates the thieves went in thinking they could roll up the art like your kids finger paintings. But upon arriving, they learned that the canvases were too thick, or the paintings were done on wood. The works were also potentially bigger than they anticipated; the suspect vehicle was described as a hatchback, hardly a car big enough to haul off huge, wall-sized paintings.

Thwarted in their initial plan, they wandered from room to room, plucking smaller drawings off walls and taking a few low-value items like the Chinese bronze Gu and the eagle finial. Using logs from the motion detectors, investigators saw it only took about 20 minutes, Barnicle says. As for the remaining 60-some minutes, he thinks the robbers were stuck in the museum.

I do know they carried police radios and there was a party on the street that night, he says. So I think there was a reticence to carry them out, one under each arm, with the possibility of a party breaking up.

Once the party ended in the wee small hours, the robbers likely loaded up the car and drove off into infamy.

Whats the biggest mystery that didnt end up making it into the documentary?

The decades of twists and turns couldnt all make it into the four-hour docuseries, which meant some fun pieces ended up on the cutting room floor. Barnicles favorite is the mystery of the Blue Room.

The documentary talks extensively about the museums Blue Room, where a Manet titled Chez Tortoni was taken. But Barnicle says the production team noticed in crime scene photos that even more paintings were missing.

Associated Press

There's three or four paintings missing in that room, he says. We talked to conservators and they thought it was odd that there were so many missing paintings in that room.

Its very clear that there's at least three others [missing] the morning of the crime, he adds.

Those paintings, however, are on display today. So at some point, they did reemerge and find their way back onto the gallery walls. The scenes were initially included in the documentary, but it was ultimately decided they were more distracting than edifying since they couldnt provide any answers.

Like so many mysteries of the Gardner robbery, this one might have to remain an enigma.
Australian acting royalty Simon Baker and Bryan Brown have helped to rollback the planned dumping of a tax break for filmmakers by the federal government.

The government planned to cut the 40 per cent 'producer offset' rate for Australian feature films with a theatrical release to 30 per cent of the film's budget.

However, according to The Sunday Telegraph this week, the government will not only keep the offset, but will also extend emergency industry Covid funding.

Success! Actors including Bryan Brown, 73 (left) and Simon Baker, 51, (right) are celebrating a win after the federal government decided to keep a big screen tax cut according to The Sunday Telegraph

It will extend the industry's $50 million Temporary Interruption Fund, which covers COVID losses for another six months.

Also joining the lobbying efforts were fellow Australian actors Marta Dusseldorp and Justine Clarke.

The government intended to lift the producer offset rate for drama and documentary content for TV and streaming platforms from 20 to 30 per cent.

Changes: The government planned to cut the 40 per cent 'producer offset' rate for Australian feature films with a theatrical release to 30 per cent of the film's budget. Pictured: Bryan Brown in The Thornbirds, 1983

The stars suggested the cut may have been the consequence of the government giving more money to overseas productions in the country.

It comes after Simon Baker spoke out over the planned changes last month.

'What we need to do is protect for the future and help develop a richer, stronger more potent Australian voice,' The Mentalist star said.

Canberra: Bryan (far left) was joined in his lobbying efforts by actors Justine Clarke (second left), Simon Baker (second right), and Marta Dusseldorp (far right)

Baker said the screen industry was a primary source for Australian voices to be heard.

'We can understand more clearly who we are as a nation, we can celebrate the diverse aspects of our culture through what's on screen,' he said.

Meanwhile, Bryan Brown warned against the government reducing the producer offset - a refundable tax offset - to 30 per cent from 40 per cent.

'We can understand more clearly who we are as a nation, we can celebrate the diverse aspects of our culture through what's on screen': It comes after Simon Baker spoke out over the planned changes last month

'It seems like one of the reasons they're doing this is because they're chucking a lot of money at overseas films that are coming here,' he said.

'We've been here before. We do know that probably once COVID is gone, they're gone. So we've got to make sure once again that we look after our own stories, our own film industry.'

Dusseldorp said France and Canada were making moves on local content guarantees: 'We're not setting the standard, we're meeting it,' she said.
Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Georgia) speaks during an April 3 news conference in Atlanta about Major League Baseball's decision to move the 2021 All-Star Game over the league's objection to the state's new voting law. AP Photo/Brynn Anderson

Georgia Gov. Kemp criticized the MLB for withdrawing its All-Stars game from Atlanta.

The MLB decided in response to new voter restriction laws in Georgia.

Kemp said the boycott would unfairly impact minority-owned businesses.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said that a decision by Major League Baseball to move an All-Stars Game from Atlanta in protest at voter restriction laws will disproportionately impact minority-owned businesses.

Kemp made the remarks following the MLB's decision last Tuesday to pull the game from Atlanta and instead have it played in Denver, Colorado.

The voting rules signed into law by Kemp in March have been likened by critics to the Jim Crow laws that enforced segregation in the South, who say that disproportionately impacts Black voters.

Kemp has defended the laws, claiming they ensure election security, and has pointed to Democrat-controlled states where they are more restrictive. And in comments Saturday he criticized the MLB for the stance it has taken.

"It's minority-owned businesses that have been hit harder than most because of an invisible virus by no fault of their own," Kemp said, as quoted by the Associated Press. "And these are the same minority businesses that are now being impacted by another decision that is by no fault of their own," he added.

The claim that the MLB's boycott, and opposition to the voting laws by corporations including Coc-Cola and Delta, will end up damaging Black communities economically has emerged as a key Republican response to criticism of the laws.

Last week former Fox News personality Eric Bolling stormed out of a BBC interview when challenged about the argument by political commentator Aisha Mills.

But Democratic activist and gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who is credited with devising the strategy that allowed the Democrats to flip the state in 2020, has also reportedly opposed the decision by the MLB to pull the game out of the state.

Story continues

According to Atlantic Journal Constitution reporter Greg Bluestein, Abrams, a strong opponent of the voter restriction laws, spoke to a senior MLB official last week and urged them not to cancel the game.

Victor Matheson, an economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross, in comments to The Guardian last week questioned said claims by some Atlanta officials that the cancellation could result in the loss of $100 million in revenue were overblown.

"There is some loss, so it's not zero, but it's a whole lot closer to zero than the $100m number Atlanta was throwing around," he remarked.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Renowned economist and Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee has trashed the ideology that calls for lesser or limited government interventions towards uplifting the poor arguing that such freebies make the poor lazy, saying there is no evidence whatsoever proving so. He said his own research on the subject across diverse economies in Asia, Africa and Latin America in the past decade and more does not support this ideology, rather it proves that those who have benefited from public and non-governmental interventions wherein they were given free assets did in fact became more productive and creative.

Addressing the 20th foundation day of Bandhan Bank, the non-profit-turned-MFI-turned-small finance bank, on Sunday, Banerjee said there is no data and no empirical evidence anywhere to establish the ideology that getting freebies or getting free assets make the poor people lazy.

This ideology has been pushing successive governments to give less to the poor so that they don't become lazy. But we have seen no evidence to this effect anywhere, not even in India, instead we have seen everywhere improvements, he said.

The economist also partly blamed those people hawking this ideology for the large number of the poor here and elsewhere as this had successive governments leaving poverty reduction and other socioeconomic impactful measures to non-profits and private sector till about the middle of the first decade of the new millennium when Manmohan Singh-led government unveiled the rural jobs guarantee scheme.

This and many other affirmative actions has lifted nearly tens of millions out of poverty in five years after the implementation. He said an analysis of a decadal data from Bandhan when it was an NGO, clearly established the impact of its work on the poor who have seen on average 25 per cent income growth helping them consume 18 per cent more.

This is a great data-driven lesson, gained from his randomised control trials, in fighting poverty over a long period, Banerjee said, adding the first lesson in this is that when the poor become better off, they become more creative in generating more wealth and leading better lives including by sending their kids to better schools far away from their villages.

Data from my randomised control trials clearly showed that they're those people who benefited from public/non-government help have seen income increasing by 25 per cent leading to an 18 per cent jump in consumption he said.

While calling for more globalisation and free trade, he however admitted that fight against poverty has become more complicated in a globalised world as globalisation has created new forms of risks-- the now raging pandemic is one of the best examples of such new risks-- especially for the poor as they suffered the most from the lockdowns across the world.

The globalised world has more risks of varied formats and we need more impactful and nuanaced risk mitigation measures and mechanism to tide over them and not puncturing the wheels of globalisation.

This could be done by upskilling, re-skilling and learning new skills, he said, adding globalisation arond the world and more so in our country has had limited success because we have not paid enough attention to creating risk mitigation mechanism.

Also Read: Tesla cars can now be bought with Bitcoin, says Elon Musk
Highlights BSNL is waiving off installation charges for all fixed-line connections across India till April 30th.

BSNL currently offers fibre optic broadband connections, DSL broadband connections, and landline service.

For broadband connections, the installation charge is Rs. 250 while for Bharat Fibre the installation charges are Rs. 500.Indias state-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has decided to waive the installation charges until April 30th, for all kinds of fixed-line connections. The telecom PSU offers several telecom services such as fibre optic broadband connections, DSL broadband connections, and landline service. The installation charges for any new connection for either of the services are waived off until April 30, 2021, reported TelecomTalk. BSNL announced this information through a circular dated 8th April 2021. The offer will be available pan-India and is not limited to any particular circle. BSNLs head office in Delhi had released the circular ordering every other state and circle to update the information on their website as well. Further, it mentioned that the above order should be applicable immediately which means starting now till April 30, 2021, any

India's state-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has decided to waive the installation charges until April 30th, for all kinds of fixed-line connections. The telecom PSU offers several telecom services such as fibre optic broadband connections, DSL broadband connections, and landline service.

The installation charges for any new connection for either of the services are waived off until April 30, 2021, reported TelecomTalk. BSNL announced this information through a circular dated 8th April 2021. The offer will be available pan-India and is not limited to any particular circle.

BSNL's head office in Delhi had released the circular ordering every other state and circle to update the information on their website as well. Further, it mentioned that the above order should be applicable immediately which means starting now till April 30th 2021, any user looking to get new broadband or a landline connection will not have to pay any installation charges.

For broadband-only connections, BSNL usually charges users Rs 250 as the installation charge. But for Bharat Fibre (Optic Fibre) connections, users need to pay Rs 500 as the installation charge. It is again Rs 250 for getting a broadband connection over the existing voice calling service.

In comparison to JioFiber, the broadband arm of Reliance Jio, this cost is minuscule. JioFiber customers are required to pay Rs 1,000 as installation charges that are non-refundable and Rs 1,500 for a security deposit against the ONU devices provided by the company. The security deposit is fully refundable though.
Will Smith made his 50th birthday quite a spectacle by live-streaming several adventurous activities including bungee jumping and scuba diving. It was just days before his 50th birthday when the worldwide famous actor shared a vlog on his YouTube channel that sees him facing his biggest fear. In the shared video, the Men In Black actor revealed that the ocean is one of his biggest fears and he wouldnt want to move ahead without 'attacking' his fear before his 50th birthday.

Will Smith faces his biggest fear

In the vlog, Will Smith explains, the ocean is like the ultimate woman, shes beautiful and she will nourish you but she will tear you to shreds also. The ocean is my worst fear; I dont know where it is or where it came from but theres something about not being able to breathe. I have tried snorkelling before and I was hyperventilating.

He further adds, My 50th birthday is this year and I just didnt want to go ahead without having attacked my fear of the ocean. I flew halfway around the world to an island on the coast of Australia to face my biggest fear. The clip features him getting prepared for the activity under the guidance of professional scuba divers. He crosses a mild storm to arrive at the Great Barrier Reef where the actor planned to scuba dive.

This is one of my bucket list wish and right now we are about to Scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef. I have never scuba-dived before and I am excited, said Will Smith. In the end, the actor curated his experience with some motivational words. He quipped about having a strong control on ones mind to face the fear that stands in front of them. Check out the vlog below:

The question isnt if you can handle the situation, the question is if you can handle your mind. Can you manage the thoughts and the emotions that are trying to poison your progress? Forget managing the situation, manage your mind. Train your mind to sit calmly in the eye of the storm.

(Promo Image Source: Will Smith's YouTube)

Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment.
An effort to recruit substitute teachers by doubling their pay appears to be working in the Wayne school district.

Assistant Schools Superintendent Donna Reichman told the school board Thursday night that approximately 68 substitute teachers had been hired since February, including 17 that were on the agenda for approval at the boards 7:30 p.m. meeting.

Waynes new rates  $225 per day for permanent substitutes, $200 per day for less-regular substitutes  took effect Feb. 16, the same day that students resumed a hybrid classroom schedule following two months of all-remote learning.

We are so grateful for the many community members who have signed up to be district substitutes during a time when we are in great need of the additional staff to keep our schools open and running smoothly, Reichman told the board.

The K-12 district previously raised substitute daily pay from $100 to $150 in December.

The pay raises in Wayne reflect the ongoing challenge facing school districts, in New Jersey and elsewhere, in maintaining an adequate roster of substitute teachers during the coronavirus pandemic and replacing those who are no longer interested in the job.

A report last year by EdWeek Research Center found that, prior to the pandemic, U.S. schools were filling just 54% of the approximately 250,000 teacher absences per day  and that 12% of teachers say the pandemic may prompt them to leave. It recommended raising substitute teacher pay and providing professional development opportunities, such as alternative credentialing programs for substitutes seeking to move up to a full-time teaching job.

Wayne Schools Superintendent Mark Toback told NJ Advance Media in February that, of the school districts approximately 810 teachers, about 65 had received various accommodations and were not working in their classrooms. Thats in addition to the 30 to 35 teachers who, on any given day, might be absent for other reasons, along with those required to quarantine due to possible COVID-19 exposure.

Schools in Wayne are adding classroom time starting April 19, according to the districts return to school plan.

The pay raises for substitute teachers in Wayne may be temporary. The current rates are in place only through May 7.

Reichman did not respond to a request for comment Friday on the total number of substitute teachers on the districts roster.

The Wayne district has 14 schools and enrolls nearly 9,000 students.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com.
Netflixs The Crown is one of the most ambitious TV series of all time. The show chronicles Queen Elizabeth II and her familys life from the year of her marriage to Prince Philip in 1947, moving into the end of the 20th century. Thus far, The Crown has showcased five decades of the queens life ending with Princess Diana and Prince Charles tumultuous marriage in the 80s.

Now, Season 5 is on the horizon; heres everything we know about what to expect.

Princess Diana (Emma Corrin) and Prince Charles (Josh OConnor) in The Crown | Des Willie/ Netflix

Netflixs The Crown will end after Season 6

After Season 5 premieres, only one season is left before The Crown comes to a thunderous end. Though creator Peter Morgan originally envisions six seasons total, he stunned fans by saying five would do. Then he went back to his initial plan.

As we started to discuss the storylines for Series 5, it soon became clear that in order to do justice to the richness and complexity of the story, we should go back to the original plan and do six seasons, Morgan said in a statement.

Though the series does have two more seasons to press through, it is getting a major shakeup once more.

Beneath The Crown: The True Story of Princess Dianas New York Trip pic.twitter.com/Z5S7xizvAX  The Crown (@TheCrownNetflix) December 1, 2020

RELATED: The Crown: Emma Corrin Says It Took 10 People To Help Dress Her in a Replica of Princess Dianas Wedding Dress

The Crown Season 5 plot details

In Season 5 and Season 6, were getting some major cast changes. Imelda Staunton will portray the queen. Jonathan Pryce of Game of Thrones fame will be Prince Philip. Lesley Manville will transform into Princess Margaret. Elizabeth Debicki will become Princess Diana, and The Wires Dominic West will portray Prince Charles.

Season 5 is set to spotlight the 1990s. Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, and Princess Margaret are in their 60s; Charles, Anne, Camilla in their 40s; Princess Diana in her 30s and the next generation of royals as teens.

Season 5 will focus on Prince Charles and Princess Dianas divorce. In Season 6, fans can expect the focus to be on Princess Dianas death and the royal familys fallout as a result.

Since Morgan and his writers are pulling from history, a lot can be explored in Season 5. However, hes already revealed he will not touch Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Prince Charles infamous tampon phone call.

Still, without this infamous moment, there is a ton to touch on including, the Wales final royal tour to Japan, Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of Yorks divorce, and of course, the cheating scandal that allowed Princess Anne to divorce her husband.

Elizabeth Debicki will play Princess Diana in the final two seasons of The Crown (Seasons 5 and 6). pic.twitter.com/Z3CjHuJ56B  The Crown (@TheCrownNetflix) August 16, 2020

RELATED: Theres Going To Be a Super Long Delay for The Crown Season 5

Typically, The Crown premieres just around the holiday season. However, fans should not expect to see Season 5 in 2021. Due to the cast change, as it was between Season 2 and Season 3, there will be a 2-year gap.

According to Variety, producers confirmed principal photography begins in July 2021. This means that Season 5 will debut in late 2022, with Season 6 to follow around the holidays in 2023.
Update 6:45 p.m. Sunday, Apr. 11, 2021  On Sunday a federal judge with the U.S. District Court Eastern Division granted a temporary restraining order that will, among other things, put an immediate halt to the City of Chicos planned eviction of campers at the Comanche Park Greenway. 72-hour enforcement notices were given to campers at that location on Apr. 8, 2021.

The court order issued Sunday by federal court Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. also prohibits the City of Chico from issuing or enforcing any other 72-hour illegal encampment notifications to unhoused people on public property in the city.

Judge Morrison also ordered that the City cannot destroy property of unhoused people that is seized, even if the value of the property is less than $100.

In the court order, the judge said the plaintiffs (represented by Legal Services of Northern California) have carried their burden of demonstrating that they are likely to succeed on the merits, that they would be irreparably harmed in the absence of a temporary restraining order, that the equities weigh in favor of grant the requested temporary restraining order, and that the temporary restraining order would not be against the public interest.

Judge Morrison also said that there are no other adequate legal remedies that would preserve the status quo.

The order is based, according to Judge Morrison, on the finding that there are not enough available emergency shelter beds or other emergency shelters for the number of unhoused persons in Chico, California.

Attorneys for the City of Chico can apply to the Eastern District Court to request modification or dissolution on two days notice or such shorter notice as the court may allow.

---

CHICO, Calif.  Legal Services of Northern California (LSNC) filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District on Thursday on behalf of eight unhoused Chico residents and are seeking an injunction that would halt the citys current spate of encampment sweeps.

The eight plaintiffs represented by LSNC, the non-profit civil legal aid provider for 23 northern counties of California, include Camp Fire survivors and other indigent residents who they said cannot afford housing and who live outdoors because they have no other shelter options.

The plaintiffs are identified as Bobby Warren, Andy Lambach, Johnathon Williams, Michael Samuelson, Tracy Miller, Tona Peterson, Carol Beth Thompson, and Christa Stevens.

All of those listed as plaintiffs are subject to the citys methodical encampment eviction and property confiscation efforts launched in January, according to LSNC.

A motion has been filed with the Court for a Temporary Restraining Order. If they are successful that would block imminent enforcement. LSNC has asked the city government to voluntarily pause enforcement to permit the motion to be heard first by U.S. District Court Judge Kimberly Mueller.

The city has not responded to their efforts to engage in discussions regarding a pending 72-hour notice enforcement that were given out to people staying at the Comanche Creek Greenway on the south end of Chico off of Park Avenue, according to LSNC. The notices were given out on Apr. 8 and a sign has been posted that says the parking lot is closed from Apr. 8 to Apr. 23, 2021, for public safety reasons.

RELATED: Comanche Creek Greenway parking lot closing to clear campers

The grounds for the injunction that would bar enforcing the 72-hour illegal Encampment Notices is stated by LSNC attorney Cory Turner as a violation of the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution as defined under two recent federal court decisions that struck down similar ordinances  Martin v. City of Boise (2019); City of Boise, Idaho vs. Martin (2019), and Blake v. City of Grants Pass (a 2020 case being heard in the US District Court for the District of Oregon).

According to Turner Chico lacks sufficient emergency shelter for the hundreds of unhoused city residents, and the few existing shelter options are inaccessible to many unhoused people with disabilities and chronic health conditions, even when beds are available.

Nevertheless, the city and its police department have undertaken aggressive sweeps of public areas where unhoused people rest and sleep and have refused, repeatedly, to tell unhoused people where they may lawfully reside until they are able to secure shelter, said Turner.

As a result, Turner further explained, unhoused Chico residents, many of whom have physical and mental disabilities, are thrown into a cycle of constant movement from one location to another to avoid arrest, citation, and destruction of what little property they have.

Action News Now has reached out to the City of Chico for a comment on the suit and request for the injunction. When we receive a response we will publish it on our website.
The city of Burbank put a chain-link fence around a restaurant whose owners have repeatedly refused county orders to shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photos circulating on social media show the fence after it was erected along the perimeter of the Tinhorn Flats Saloon & Grill on Magnolia Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California.

Last week, the restaurant co-owner was arrested for a third time after he removed sandbags that the city put in place at the entrance to prevent its reopening.

Lucas Lepejian, 20, the son of restaurant owner Baret Lepejian, was taken into custody on Tuesday just days after city crews were seen boarding up the eatery. This was the third time in six days that Lepejian was detained.

The city of Burbank, California placed a chain-link fence around the Tinhorn Flats Saloon & Grill on Magnolia Boulevard last week to prevent its owner from reopening in violation of lockdown orders

Lucas Lepejian, 20, the son of restaurant owner Baret Lepejian, was taken into custody on Tuesday just days after city crews were seen boarding up the eatery. This was the third time in six days that Lepejian was detained. Lucas Lepejian is seen above before his arrest on April 1

After Lepejian was released from custody on Tuesday, his restaurant posted an item on its Instagram page which included a photo of what appears to be a squad of local police officers in SWAT gear

The caption read: This is the kind of Police Enforcement we are dealing with...they are coming in heavy handed afraid that Tinhorn Flats will make burgers and serve beers. Lucas is back out of jail for the 3rd time. What a truly sad time in Burbank CA. We will not comply.

Lepejian was immediately released with a citation and is scheduled to appear in court at a later date, the Burbank Police Department said.

The restaurant has amassed about $50,000 in fines due to its owners repeatedly defying COVID-19 lockdown orders. Lepejian has vowed not to pay the fines.

City officials built the fence to prevent the restaurant owners and customers from reopening after they repeatedly defied closure mandates handed down by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

After months-long negotiations between the city and the restaurant owners broke down, local courts allowed authorities to cut off electricity, according to NBC Los Angeles.

A judge also granted the citys request for a preliminary injunction preventing the restaurant from reopening. Mark Geragos, the attorney representing the restaurant, said he will ask a court to dissolve the preliminary injunction.

Tinhorn Flats is a restaurant located in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California. It serves Western-style comfort food and alcohol

Due to repeated attempts by the owner, Lepejian, to open in violation of lockdown orders, city officials padlocked the entrance to the restaurant last month

From earlier today: Lucas Lepejian, 20, saws off the padlock to Tinhorn Flats, with a small crowd cheering him on. He later tells me that the decision to do so was made by him, his sister and his father (the owner).@BurbankLeader #burbank #tinhornflats pic.twitter.com/RgAFdkajjz  Christian Leonard (@xianleonard) March 31, 2021

Burbank Police Lt. Derek Green said that the restaurant has been the site of ongoing demonstrations where crowds have come out both in support and in opposition to the restaurants owners.

Green said that area residents who live near the small business district where the restaurant is located have been impacted by the commotion though he noted that the demonstrations have been for the most part peaceful.

We will be out there to maintain peace and order, he said.

Lepejian has been running the restaurant while his father has been living in Thailand.

He was first arrested on April 1 on suspicion of violating a court order and then again the next day for the same offense, according to police.

In a statement released last month, the Burbank Police Department said it vehemently condemns Lepejians persistent unlawful behavior.

After Lepejian was released from custody on Tuesday, his restaurant posted an item on its Instagram page which included a photo of what appears to be a squad of local police officers in SWAT gear.

The caption read: This is the kind of Police Enforcement we are dealing with...they are coming in heavy handed afraid that Tinhorn Flats will make burgers and serve beers. Lucas is back out of jail for the 3rd time.

What a truly sad time in Burbank CA. We will not comply.

Lepejian told the Los Angeles Times that things really hit the fan on the day before Thanksgiving, when the LACDPH imposed a ban on all in-person dining - including outdoor dining - due to the rampant spread of COVID-19.

At the time, coronavirus cases and hospitalizations reached record levels in LA County and throughout much of California.

Angela Marsden, the owner of the Pineapple Hill Grill & Saloon in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, posted a video that went viral on social media after her restaurant was barred from servicing outdoor diners in late November

She blasted Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti for allowing a company filming a movie to set up a tent with an outdoor eating section right next to her own bar, which was forced to shut down its outdoor dining area due to the recent lockdown measures

Marsden pointed out that her own patio (seen above) was socially distanced and that her bar had taken measures to protect customers from the spread of the coronavirus

Lepejian told the Times that Tinhorn Flats transitioned to offering just take out and delivery to comply with the local governments orders.

But the restaurant, like tens of thousands of others in the area, was taking a financial blow. So Lepejian reopened outdoor service in violation of lockdown orders.

On January 8, the city of Burbank hit the restaurant with a notice of violation. Later that month, the eaterys health permit was canceled, making it illegal for the business to sell food.

While other restaurants were allowed to reopen for outdoor dining in January, Tinhorn Flats was ordered to remain closed.

On March 13, the city received permission from an LA County Superior Court judge to cut off electricity due to repeated violations.

In response, Lepejian arranged for a generator to produce a limited amount of power.

A few days later, the restaurants doors were padlocked shut by the city, which received permission to do so from a court.

Lepejian then used a saw to cut the lock off the door. Video of Lepejian removing the lock was posted on social media. A small crowd of supporters could be heard cheering him on.

'The city locked up the restaurant with wooden planks so when I came by at 11am, there were wooden planks up on all the doors including the door on the inside and the only way they were able to do that was jumping our fence so that's trespassing,' Lepejian told Fox 11 TV just before his arrest earlier this month.

'As soon as I saw that, I came in and I sawed it right off.'

Last week, restaurants in Los Angeles County were permitted to resume service for indoor dining at 50 per cent capacity thanks to a decline in the number of new COVID-19 cases

The chart above shows the steep decline in recent weeks in the number of hospitalizations in LA County

County public health officials have also reported a steep drop in the number of COVID-19 deaths

The latest figures also show a parallel decline in the number of positive diagnostic tests

This has been a challenging situation that may not be easily understood and resolved, especially when you are dealing with persons who willfully disobey the law, the city said in a recent statement.

This is a very divisive issue within our city and its at a time when we should be focusing on our recovery from the pandemic, but instead it is being overshadowed by this one defiant actor in our community.

Lepejian has denied that the restaurant poses a threat to public safety.

'The city's trying to make it very political,' he said.

'I just think every business is essential, a legitimate one that pays taxes, has employees and affects many other people too.

Lepejian added: 'We're looking at $40,000 to $50,000 now and it's just tyranny and communism that's occurring.

'Our overhead is quite high right now to maintain the place with all these generators that a lot of our guests let us borrow.'

In the months since the pandemic started last year, more than 30,000 restaurants in LA County were closed to in-person diners after a statewide shutdown order in March relegated them to offering takeout.

They never fully recovered as they tried to navigate ever-changing regulations for reopening that eventually allowed dining on patios and makeshift seating areas in alleys, parking lots, sidewalks and blocked-off streets.

But as cases surged in November, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer cut the outdoor dining capacity in half and said it would be banned altogether if daily case counts exceeded 4,000.

The decline in the number of COVID-19 cases in LA County is parallel to similar trends statewide in California

California has been able to partially lift lockdown orders thanks to drop in hospitalizations and greater availability of ICU beds

The state has also reported sharp declines in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 as well as deaths

Most of the state has emerged from the most severe level of COVID-19 risk

The closure orders nonetheless sparked intense backlash from business owners, mayors, lawmakers, and sheriffs who said that banning outdoor dining and closing childrens playgrounds are unnecessary and not supported by science.

One bar owner, Angela Marsden, posted a viral video online slamming Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and California Governor Gavin Newsom for forcing her business, the Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill in Sherman Oaks, to shut down outdoor dining while allowing a movie company to set up its own eating section in a nearby parking lot.

Restaurant owners sued the county in court seeking a lifting of the closures, but last month the states 2nd District Court of Appeal upheld the countys right to implement the closures in the name of public health.

As COVID-19 cases have fallen in recent months, the county has gradually moved to lift restrictions. Indoor dining is now permitted at 50 per cent capacity.

Lepejians father, Beret, who bought the restaurant 17 years ago, told the Times that he supports his sons actions.

Show me one shred of evidence how I am endangering the public, Baret Lepejian told the Times.

This has never been about safety or the public. Its never been about that.

This whole thing is about fear and control.
Bryan Brown may have secured top billing, but the last-ditch mission to save the Australian film industry that ended in seeming victory on Sunday played more like a remake of The Dirty Dozen, complete with a secret assault on the stronghold of power, and the Nationals David Littleproud cropping up in a surprise supporting role.

On Sunday, federal Arts and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher announced that the offset for Australian feature films  which grants a rebate of money spent on production, via the tax system  would remain at 40 per cent. No change isnt normally greeted as big news but, for the nations film industry, the decision to scrap a planned drop to 30 per cent from July this year was a lifesaver.

Actor Bryan Brown and Prime Minister Scott Morrison in the PMs office on February 24. Credit:Office of the Prime Minister

When the proposed change was announced last September, lobby group Screen Producers Australia (SPA) said that (along with other changes to TV regulation) the move would cut local content production in half, cull thousands of jobs, and slash opportunities for audiences across the world to engage with Australian stories.

Independent producer and distributor Paul Wiegard said on Sunday that had the change gone ahead, it could well have led to market failure. Within 12 months, wed have seen a shortage of Australian films hitting the screen.
- More than 178 million doses have been administered in the United States, with 68 million people, or 20.5% of the total population, fully vaccinated.

- Around 112 people, a third of the population, has recieved at least one dose.

- Around 3.4 million doses are being administered daily (seven day average on April 8.

- Estimations are that 500 million Americans will be fully vaccinated by the end of August/early September, with President Joe Biden previously suggesting that the US would be "approaching normalcy by the end of this year."

- New York: All New Yorkers 16 years of age and older are now eligible to be vaccinated. Use the City's Vaccine Finder to search for a location near you.

- California: Every Californian 16 and up will be eligible for vaccination on April 15, 2021.Book an appointment using My Turn.

- Florida: As of Monday, April 5, all Florida residents are eligible to receive any covid-19 vaccine. Find a vaccine location using the state's vaccine location finder.

- Texas: As of Monday, March 29, 2021, everyone age 16 and older is now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Texas. You can sign up to get a vaccine with by registering online at GetTheVaccine.dshs.texas.gov..
Federal officials this past week rejected suggestions that they singled out Lynne Patton, a former Housing and Urban Development political appointee now barred from government work after the Office of Special Counsel found she abused her position to campaign for former President Donald Trump.

Watchdogs and critics have taken aim at OSC, an independent federal investigative agency, because Patton, a Black woman, is the only Trump appointee to face tangible discipline despite the documented bevy of Trump-era White House aides who defied the Hatch Act. The 1939 law, designed to keep partisanship out of government work, restricts most federal employees from politicking on the job.

Patton was one of several administration officials who appeared in videos broadcast at the Republican National Convention last summer, an event that fueled outcry from ethics experts citing unprecedented abuses of public office for Trumps political gain.

I am no fan of Lynne Patton, and she clearly violated the Hatch Act, Keith Boykin, a former Clinton administration aide and CNN commentator, wrote on Twitter this week. But so did Kellyanne Conway, Ivanka Trump and nearly everyone else in the Trump administration. Why is the Black woman the only one being punished?

According to OSC, race was not a factor. Zachary Kurz, OSC communications director, told MassLive the suggestion Patton received harsher treatment than other Trump appointees is patently false. He pointed to the agencys unsuccessful attempt to oust Conway, a former White House advisor, over repeated Hatch Act violations two years ago.

OSC says its empowered by the Hatch Act to push for fines and debarment of presidential appointees like Patton, but not if theyre confirmed by the Senate or if theyre high-level aides working in the White House like Conway. Some experts and observers argue OSC misinterprets or fails to properly enforce the law, leading to perceptions of racial bias against Patton. And many watchdogs are pressing Congress for reform and clearer enforcement rules.

I dont know if its a matter of implicit bias or a lack of institutional courage, but this is not the consistent and aggressive Hatch Act oversight Americans deserve, Walter Shaub, a senior ethics fellow at the Project On Government Oversight, told MassLive on Friday.

Over the last few years, OSC investigators and ethics experts found that Trump administration officials routinely abused federal resources, official media appearances and social media to turn the White House into a taxpayer-backed blitz of re-election campaign ads. Conway likely racked up more than 50 Hatch Act violations on Twitter alone in less than a year, frequently attacking Democrats or endorsing Trumps re-election from an account she also used for official business, according to the nonprofit government watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

OSC typically wont comment on, or confirm previous or pending investigations. But OSC told MassLive that since early 2017, the year Trump took office, the agencys Hatch Act Unit has found more than 200 federal employees in violation, including at least 17 political appointees. The 17 cases against appointees, many of them senior White House aides, represent a sweeping disregard for a law thats deeply linked to American ideals of public service: by definition and law, those who serve in public office work for the public, not political candidates or parties.

By comparison, some legal groups and experts noted the two documented Cabinet-level Hatch Act violations during the Obama administration marked an unprecedented number at the time.

OSC saw a significant drop in Hatch Act complaints after 2012 reforms reduced the number of state and local matters the agency handled. But according to OSCs 2019 annual report presented to Congress last June, Hatch Act complaints have risen each of the last four fiscal years, and warning letters sent to officials have more than doubled over a low of 21 in 2016.

Yet Patton, who oversaw the New York-New Jersey region for HUD, is the only Trump appointee to face Hatch Act discipline beyond sharp warnings and letters.

Shaub, who previously served as Office of Government Ethics chief and as a senior advisor at CREW, told MassLive that Pattons case likely marks the first time OSC has ever sought a fine or debarment against a political appointee in the 43 years since OSC was established.

The optics are just terrible, tweeted Shaub, who maintained that Patton violated the Hatch Act.

The government fined Patton $1,000 and banned her from federal work for four years after complaints that she recruited New York City Housing Authority residents to appear in an RNC video to tout housing improvements under Trump. Patton told NYCHA residents the video would highlight nonpartisan issues about housing conditions, OSC said; multiple tenants told The New York Times they felt tricked.

Patton signed a settlement agreement admitting the move violated the Hatch Act, but told her Instagram followers that she received faulty advice from HUDs legal team. She denied tricking anyone, applauded Trumps housing efforts and said she did not regret making the RNC video.

Patton previously broke the same law, OSC warned, when she liked a handful of political tweets and when New York Magazine photographed her in her HUD office below a red USA hat that sold on the Trump-Pence campaign site, The Washington Post reported. The initial complaint about her on-duty political activity came from CREW.

OSC should be praised, not criticized, for seeking discipline in the case of a serial violator like Patton when they could do so, CREW President Noah Bookbinder said this past week. There was finally accountability. But it is not fair that other serial violators like Conway and (trade adviser Peter) Navarro got off scot-free despite OSCs findings.

Shaub made the case that Patton was singled out without a solid explanation. He told MassLive that OSC clearly had statutory authority to seek fines and debarment for presidential appointees found in violation of the Hatch Act, regardless of whether they work in a federal agency or the White House. The law specifies one exception, he noted: Senate-confirmed appointees must be referred directly to the president for discipline. But the law doesnt spell out that the president also determines the fate of White House aides who arent confirmed by the Senate, such as Conway.

This is very good. But it also raises a question as to why OSC didn't seek fines against Kellyanne Conway for her dozens of violations. The law exempts Senate-confirmed political appointees from fines. Other political appointees, like Conway and Patton, are not exempt. https://t.co/wfJNlZmCFU  Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) April 6, 2021

OSC, which investigates Hatch Act complaints and seeks action through settlements or orders by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), interprets the law differently. The agency told MassLive on Thursday that in addition to Senate-confirmed appointees, it also cannot seek fines or debarment for certain high-level, presidentially-appointed individuals serving in the White House Office.

Why not? OSC argues constitutional principles dictate that the U.S. president, not MSPB, has jurisdiction to impose discipline for such appointees. The Appointments Clause and the Take Care Clause, and supporting case law, suggest that the president alone can discipline his appointees, Kurz said.

Any characterization that Lynne Patton received harsher treatment than the other Trump appointees is patently false because, unlike the other appointees, Ms. Patton was a non-career senior executive service political appointee at (HUD) and was clearly subject to the MSPBs jurisdiction, Kurz added.

Shaub, responding to questions about OSCs interpretation of the law, told MassLive that the law isnt ambiguous at all, but OSC has refused to enforce it.

So I guess Congress needs to give the OSC a shot in the arm by revising the statute to explicitly say that the OSC can seek fines against non-Senate-confirmed presidential appointees, he added.

Kurz emphasized that because Patton had been warned about previous violations, and the RNC video was considered more serious, OSC sought disciplinary action with MSPB. He noted that she agreed to the terms of the settlement, which was approved by an MSPB administrative law judge.

OSC provided MassLive a handful of examples of Hatch Act cases that led to fines and debarments, which by law cannot exceed five years. The cases included a former judge who admonished Republican policies from the bench; a former civilian Navy employee who used his position to solicit political donations; and a former Department of Energy employee who improperly allowed a political candidate to tour a radioactive waste treatment plant.

Kurz said the agency commonly seeks debarment. Asked if any political appointees had been debarred or fined before Patton, he said OSCs case tracking system does not differentiate between political appointees and career employees, which we did manually for the recent breakdown, but we do not have bandwidth to go further back at this time.

Patton addressed the decision in a statement. Because I held the highest federal position without being Senate-confirmed and chose not to work within the unique legal protections of the White House, I am the only Trump official accused of violating the Hatch Act who falls under the auspices of the Merit Systems Protection Board.

Kurz added that Patton was still a federal employee at the time OSC lodged its complaint with MSPB. OSC does not comment on pending investigations, but whether former Trump aides remain under scrutiny likely depends on whether OSC brought complaints to MSPB while they were still federal employees under the boards jurisdiction.

MSPB declined to comment. MassLive filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking details on cases pending before the board.

Kurtz argued that OSC sought more severe punishments against other Trump officials, including two reports to the president about violations by a senior advisor [Conway], the second of which included the unprecedented recommendation that the president remove her from her federal position.

At the time, OSC head Henry Kerner, a Republican Trump appointee, told Trump that Conways actions erode the principle foundation of our democratic system  the rule of law.

Trump refused to fire her and indicated he believed the Hatch Act stifled free speech.

Conway could not be reached for comment.

Blah, blah blah, she once told reporters. If youre trying to silence me through the Hatch Act, its not going to work. Let me know when the jail sentence starts.

Kellyanne Conway, former Counselor to the President. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) AP

After CREW sued OSC in 2019 to try to compel discipline for Conway, a federal judge tossed the suit, arguing the watchdog group lacked legal standing, Law & Crime reported. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who did not make a ruling on Hatch Act discipline, wrote in his opinion that he understood CREWs frustration that Conway is continuing to violate the Hatch Act with seeming impunity, even if he must hew to [the courts] jurisdictional borders.

Shaub pointed out that both a section of the Hatch Act violated by Conway and the section focused on penalties for federal employees rely on the same legal definition of employee. How then, Shaub asks, can OSC consider Conway and other White House aides federal employees according to the letter of the law only to let them fall under separate guidelines, subject to separate jurisdiction  namely the President of the United States and no one else  when it comes to punishment?

When asked about this, Kurz reiterated that OSC analyzed constitutional principles and relevant case law in determining its position on this matter.

Screen grab of the official White House Twitter account, which has frequently posted Trump campaign slogans in defiance of federal investigators' repeated warnings that displaying slogans is barred by the Hatch Act.

Upsetting to every American

A MassLive review last year revealed administration aides frequently posted Trump 2020 campaign slogans, including Promises Made, Promises Kept and The Best is Yet to Come on official White House social media accounts. The posts brazenly defied OSCs 2018 warning that such activity would be considered a willful and knowing violation of the law.

CREW officials said they had not filed complaints regarding the Trump White House accounts, in part because it was challenging to determine which staffers were posting the content. The White House at the time did not respond to requests for comment.

As a private citizen, @realDonaldTrump saw that Americans were treated unfairly by NAFTA.



He ran for officeand wonon a promise to fix it.



Promises made, promises kept.  pic.twitter.com/6XyHKnjjer  The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) December 11, 2019

As the election approached, CREW said it referred 16 senior administration aides to OSC for apparent Hatch Act violations in October alone. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue was the latest at the time, after chanting four more years in a speech in the battleground state of North Carolina.

The list included a host of White House officials including press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, advisers Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Peter Navarro, JaRon Smith, Larry Kudlow and others linked to Vice President Mike Pence or White House communications.

Like Patton, many were not Senate-approved. But they were likely shielded by working at the White House, based on OSCs stance on the Hatch Act.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows blatantly violated the act by slamming then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in multiple interviews, CREW told MassLive last summer. Meadows told Politico nobody outside the Beltway really cares and claimed concerns about the executive branchs rampant electioneering amounted to hoopla. He suggested the Hatch Act was mainly focused on preventing supervisors from coercing subordinates; he effectively dismissed the top prohibition in the law: using official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.

Dan Brouillette, then-secretary of energy, David Friedman, former U.S. ambassador to Israel, and Robert OBrien, former national security advisor, were also flagged by watchdogs for either attacking Biden or advocating Trumps re-election during official on-the-job appearances.

Chad Wolf, former acting Department of Homeland Security chief, may face further Hatch Act scrutiny because he participated in a naturalization ceremony during the RNC. Similar to Patton, if OSC filed a complaint to MSPB before he left office, hes likely not protected because as an acting department head, he was never confirmed by the Senate.

Multiple Obama administration officials spoke during the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, including Katherine Sebelius, the former Health and Human Services secretary whom the OSC said violated the Hatch Act in a separate event.

But experts say Trumps and the GOPs use of the White House as a political backdrop marked an extreme break from ethical norms, in part because several administration officials spoke in their official capacity during the political event.

Its really troubling, Delaney Marsco, ethics counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit, told NPR last year. We give these people an insane amount of power and authority and theyre supposed to use it to serve the public, and when things are politicized like this, it undermines that trust and flies in the face of the principles of what public office is supposed to be. It should be upsetting to every American.

Its unclear how many Hatch Act cases involving Trump officials may still be active, but according to OSCs annual report, there were more than 130 cases pending at the end of each of the last four fiscal years.

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, told reporters earlier this year that the Biden team will respect and follow the Hatch Act. A White House official did not immediately respond to a request for feedback on ongoing training and potential reforms.

Bookbinder, a one-time federal prosecutor who took the helm at CREW in 2015, said the Hatch Act must be changed to make clear that OSC can take disciplinary action against White House appointees.

He called on Congress to pass the Protecting Our Democracy Act, introduced in September by Rep. Adam Schiff of California. Reps. Richard Neal, Jim McGovern, Stephen Lynch, Seth Moulton and Lori Trahan of Massachusetts co-sponsored the bill.

The law seeks to address the current disciplinary divide between rank-and-file federal service workers and high-ranking White House appointees.

If the president fails to hold senior political appointees accountable, OSC would be allowed to fine the officials $50,000, according to the bill. For those who are repeat offenders, Congress would be empowered to choke off their salaries because loss of a salary indicates a shameful betrayal of public trust, Jennifer Ahearn, CREWs policy director, wrote in March.

The law would boost transparency by forcing presidents to provide written explanations on disciplinary decisions. The law would also let OSC launch investigations on its own; currently, OSC investigators must rely on independent complaints regarding potential infractions before they can start digging.

Shaub called for the progressive doubling of fines up to the equivalent of the appointees full salary as an added deterrent. He also suggested that updates to the Hatch Act should clarify that MSPB can bar presidential appointees from future employment in non-presidentially appointed positions even if the law cant empower MSPB to fire them outright.

For that matter, Congress could go further and provide that the MSPB can do the same to Senate-confirmed appointees, he argued. Theres no reason, other than the exception in the statute, that they couldnt be fined or barred from holding non-presidentially appointed positions in the future.

Kurz declined to comment when asked about potential reforms and whether OSC officials see flaws in the Hatch Act. He noted, however, that OSC looks forward to working with both Congress and stakeholder groups on proposals for Hatch Act reform.

MassLive reached out to the Office of Donald J. Trump through an online press request, seeking reaction on OSCs discipline of Patton, a former Trump family aide and event planner. MassLive also sought Trumps perspective on his administrations track record on the Hatch Act, and the fact that his teams repeated violations failed to help him win.

Related Content:
Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of reports on the lasting impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on the U.S. military.

As tens of thousands of troops deployed in response to the pandemic and to protests last summer, as well as to secure the U.S. Capitol after a pro-Trump mob assault in January, the National Guard has arguably become the military's most relevant and high-profile component.

Typically, the force is delegated to respond to areas devastated by wildfires or hurricanes, along with missions abroad in combat zones, which it still had to juggle during the past year.

National Guard troops have become a normal sight in many parts of the country. The yearlong stress test of domestic missions underscored what some consider to be weak or outdated laws affecting the force, particularly the confusing rules around accruing GI Bill benefits.

"What we're seeing now is more of an operation reserve, rather than a strategic one," Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., said in an interview with Military.com. "It really has become an integral part of our defense planning. With the sacrifices that are being made, we need to make sure the benefits are appropriate. It's simply not right that members of the Guard are taking on these risks, doing the same job as their active-duty counterparts, yet not having access to the same benefits."

Congress moved swiftly last year to protect the benefits of students who were impacted by the pandemic, including a bill signed into law from Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., which allowed GI Bill students to continue to receive their full tuition and housing allowances as universities shifted to online learning.

But even with more protections in place for students, the pandemic supercharged a simmering debate on Capitol Hill regarding the benefits disparity between active-duty and National Guard troops.

Levin recently introduced a bill that would count every day of National Guard service toward accruing GI Bill benefits. During a normal year with no domestic missions, Guardsmen serve roughly 60 days per year, none of which count toward education benefits -- largely seen as a veteran's most powerful benefit.

Similarly, not all domestic missions count either. It's a tangled bureaucratic web of confusing fine print on a soldier's orders. State activations don't earn any benefits for troops, due to Guardsmen ultimately being considered state employees -- to the point that troops fill out new W-4 forms, precluding them from claiming disability from the Department of Veterans Affairs and relinquishing legal protections against civilian employer discrimination.

U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Dwayne Swinton, noncommissioned officer in charge of Task Force 291 staff during COVID-19 operations, congratulates U.S. Army Pvt. Josselin Panameno, a member of the 629th Military Intelligence Battalion, after receiving a Task Force 291 challenge coin for her performance at the Six Flags America mass vaccination site in Bowie, Maryland, on Feb. 16, 2021. The MDNG has been activated to support Maryland's COVID-19 response by providing direct support to county health departments in assisting with the acceleration of vaccination and COVID-19 testing efforts. (Arcadia Hammack/U.S. Army National Guard)

Even commonly used federal orders don't automatically count unless the president declares a state of emergency. For domestic missions, the Guard often operates under what's known as Title 32, meaning governors are in command of the troops, but the federal government covers the costs. This also entitles troops to all benefits associated with active-duty service.

Title 32 and Title 10 largely work the same way in terms of accrual of benefits and pay. Both count as federal, active-duty orders. The only significant difference is that, with Title 32, Guard troops are under the command of their home state. Title 10 is used for active-duty orders, such as a deployment abroad, for which service members fall under the command of the president.

To earn Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, service members need to serve at least 90 aggregate days of active-duty service, aside from basic training, or at least 30 consecutive days if discharged for a service connected injury. This timeline has brought up issues previously with Guard missions ending close to the 90-day mark, setting up two scenarios in which the federal government could either artificially extend a mission to enable troops to earn benefits, or end the mission early, cutting them out of thousands of dollars worth of entitlements.

With the post-9/11 wars winding down, it could be difficult for a Guardsman to earn their full GI Bill benefits, which requires 36 months of active duty for a full scholarship, and not every day in typical Guard duty not counting.

National Guard keep watch on the Capitol, Thursday, March 4, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

It's so confusing that even top brass have a tough time explaining when a Guardsman is entitled to benefits. Maj. Gen. Dawne Deskins, then the director of manpower and personnel at the National Guard Bureau, told lawmakers at a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on benefits in 2019 that she didn't know the criteria for how benefits are decided for Guard troops at the border. They were eventually placed on federal orders, earning them GI Bill benefits, after scorn from lawmakers.

Yet dramatically expanding who is eligible for federal education benefits could bring steep costs for the government. The VA spends roughly $10 billion on the 700,000 GI Bill beneficiaries per year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

"Some people are concerned with cost, but it's a priority to get equal benefits for equal work," Levin said. "It's a matter of finding the balance to make sure we address the benefits disparity and be cost-effective."

There's another bill on the table from Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., which could be a cheaper alternative. He said he hopes it would "remove bureaucratic hurdles" by eliminating the need for Title 32 orders to require an emergency declaration from the president.

"As a former member of the Alabama National Guard, I am well aware of the inequity surrounding benefits provided to servicemembers compared to those on active duty," Moore, a member of the House VA committee, said in a statement.

Moore's bill also has the backing of Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., the ranking member of the VA committee, and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who also serves on the committee.

-- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.
Shortly after declaring that the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border issues were resolved 100 percent, the head of Kyrgyzstans State Committee for National Security Kamchybek Tashiev changed his tune, underscoring the deep difficulties in settling Central Asias remaining unsettled borders. As The Diplomat writes, as Bruce Pannier covered for RFE/RL, while in southern Kyrgyzstan in late March, Tashiev visited the Kyrgyz village of Birlik, which borders the Uzbek exclave of Sokh. Speaking in the Uzgen district of Osh Province after the visit, he said, Concerning this area, there was no final decision. To be candid, we did not reach an agreement on this section, including adjacent territory.

As Pannier explained, Birlik had been the site of clashes in 2020 that destroyed several homes and vehicles and left more than 200 people injured. Although earlier Tashiev proclaimed a bevvy of land-swaps with Uzbekistan to finally settle the delimitation of the border, in the province he admitted that Of course, if the people are against [the land-swap agreements], it is possible that some will not be implemented.

Tajikistan pre-emptively, isnt interested in land-swaps either. In announcing the good news on the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border business, Tashiev also mentioned that the Kyrgyz side had proposed a possible land-swap to settle the tension over the Vorukh exclave (Tajik territory surrounded by Kyrgyzstan).

Visiting the area this week, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon assured residents of Vorukh that no land-swaps were being considered. There have not been any talks about the possible exchange of Vorukh for another territory in the last 19 years, and there is no possibility for it, he said, citing recent news reports as the reason for his statement. Border demarcation is a long process and there is no place for emotions in the matter, he said.

According to RFE/RLs Tajik Service report, Rahmon said agreements had been reached on almost half of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border over 100 rounds of negotiations since 2002. He claimed that the Tajik side had finished the work on its end outlined in a 2016 joint road map but that the Kyrgyz had failed to keep to the plan for unknown reasons.

It certainly seems that the Tajik government isnt yet as keen as the Uzbek government on dealing with the border matter. And none of this approaches the difficulties that come after high-level agreements.

As Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan move from agreeing on paper to where their border lies, or delimitation, they will have to take up the nastier matter of demarcation  or physically marking the border. That process may trigger tensions at the local level, especially when swapped territory comes into play.

The demarcation process is liable to be ugly. People on both sides of these possibly shifting borders have strong feelings about it. The governments involved also all struggle with the democratic bridge between the individual and the state while also, especially in Kyrgyzstan, being keenly aware that peoples sentiments cannot be entirely ignored. This in turn allows for the bilateral political matter of border demarcation to be weaponized for domestic purposes as needed.

For President Sadyr Japarovs government a win is critical to stabilizing the countrys political situation. There is an small window of time for Japarov to prove theres substance to back up his promises, that he can bring about both political and economic stability before he could go the way of nearly every other Kyrgyz president. For Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, settling the border helps feed his preferred reformist image, underpinned by his governments emphasis and pursuit of greater regional cooperation. In Tajikistan, Rahmon has perhaps less incentive to see the border matter settled. The tenuous status quo hasnt harmed his regime the way persistent border dramas have helped undercut Kyrgyz governments.
New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday (April 10) put a cap on the number of people entering a religious place at a time, in the wake of the rising COVID-19 cases.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed officers to ensure that not more than 5 people are permitted to enter a religious place at a time. These new guidelines come before festivals as Navaratri and Ramzan begin soon. Navratri will start on April 14 while Ramzan will fall on April 13.

Addressing a review meeting at the Lok Bhavan in Lucknow, the UP CM directed officers to arrange 2,000 ICU beds in Lucknow in the coming 24 hours and another 2,000 beds in a week's time. "This means that additional 4,000 ICU beds will be created in Lucknow to tackle the COVID-19 menace. The chief minister has directed the district administration to put more ambulances on the duty," a senior UP government official was quoted as saying by PTI.

"The state has better resources and experience to contain the spread of COVID-19. COVID management should be used effectively. Integrated command and control centres are installed in all districts which should be used optimally and effectively to combat pandemic," Yogi Adityanath was quoted as saying by ANI. He asserted that movement in the Containment Zones should be strictly banned.

The BJP leader also ordered to establish that the doorstep delivery system is effectively operated and necessary materials are provided to people in the Containment Zones.

In Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj and Varanasi, the state government has permitted only 50 per cent workforce in government and private offices amid surge in coronavirus cases.

Uttar Pradesh recorded 12,787 new cases on Saturday, pushing the state's infection tally to 6,76,739. The active caseload stands at 58,801. While the death toll climbed to 9,085 with 48 more deaths, the health department informed.

(With inputs from agencies)

Live TV
New Port City gazette needs 3-months of public consultations View(s):

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa have been urged to provide three months time for public consultations and representations on the new Colombo Port City Commission gazette, a leading trade union said this week in letters to the two leaders.

This is to inform you, we as a responsible trade union is seriously concerned over the cabinet decision and the gazette titled Colombo Port City Economic Commission dated March 19 to establish a regulatory management Commission for the Colombo Port City Economic Zone that reveals serious deviations and exemptions from the law of the land negating the often promised One Country  One Law by this government headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Anton Marcus, Joint Secretary  Free Trade Zones & General Services Employees Union, said in the letters.

The draft bill gazetted for the Colombo Port City Economic Commission (CPCEC) provides the proposed Commission the sole power to grant registrations, licences, authorisations and other approvals to carry on businesses and other activities in and from such zone. Making it an exclusive power over the whole of the newly created Colombo Port City (CPC) geographical area, the following seven enactments have been gazetted as having no application within the CPC area: 1. Urban Development Authority Act; 2. Municipal Council Ordinance (chapter 252); 3. Commercial Mediation Centre of Sri Lanka Act; 4. Town and Country Planning Ordinance (chapter 269); 5. Strategic Development Projects Act; 6. Public Contracts Act and 7. Board of Investment of Sri Lanka law.

Another very intriguing factor is the main currency allowed for transactions within CPCSEZ. From all that is provided for in the draft Act, the US dollar seems the main currency with the Sri Lanka Rupee having strict conditional use, the letters, released to the media, said.

In the context of the Commission having powers to exempt or amend labour laws, this is a serious legal provision that could definitely lead to two sets of laws in this country if granted. It could contradict Article 14A of the Constitution that guarantees fundamental rights and adversely affect the status, rights and privileges of all or most employees in the private sector given the advantage of Section 64(1) of the CPCSEZ Act if adopted as law.

There was such an attempt almost 40 years ago when Free Trade Zones were to be established under the Greater Colombo Economic Commission (GCEC) Act. The then government of President J.R. Jayewardene was restrained from enacting anti-labour provisions in the GCEC Act through trade union interventions. The Supreme Court then decided there cannot be two different sets of laws in the country and the GCEC Act was accordingly amended, the union said.
Louisiana supports slave labor and slave wages. The question is whether our state Legislature and voters do, too.

Imagine fighting for slavery these days. Imagine arguing that some people are inferior, and therefore some of us should relegate them to menial and other tasks for nominal wages. Imagine being forced to work, and doing the work for a non-negotiated wage that amounts to pennies per hour.

If state Rep. Edmond Jordan, D-Brusly, gets what he wants, hell get enough support in the Legislature to allow voters to amend the Louisiana Constitution to make involuntary servitude a thing of the past.

Compared to a number of other legislative measures, a bill Jordan filed would simply strike a few words to eliminate a practice that he and prison reform advocates find unacceptable and ask Louisiana voters to approve the elimination of slavery for any purpose. Our constitution bans slavery  except when it is a part of punishment for people in prison because theyve been convicted of a crime. If Jordans joint resolution is approved, the individual dignity language would simply read, Slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited, dropping except in the latter case as punishment for crime.

According to Abolish Slavery National Network, a prison reform group, Rhode Island, Nebraska, Colorado and Utah have gotten rid of slavery in all forms. That leaves a lot more states supporting enslaving people in one form or another, including Louisiana.

For years, weve accepted the idea that people in prison should work if they have the chance to work as a part of their rehabilitation and restitution. Not every person in prison gets to work. Those who do may work on farms and do other agricultural-related tasks. They cook. They make various products, including license plates, office furniture and clothing. They do janitorial work at the State Capitol, the Governors Mansion and elsewhere. They do it for far less than the minimum wage.

Some of them might speak favorably about the opportunity because it gets them out of small prison cells and spaces where their movements are limited. Others might see it for what it is and call it darn-near free labor because they got convicted of doing something wrong.

This hasnt been a liberal-progressive versus conservative-traditional matter elsewhere. Democrats and Republican legislators in other states have agreed to scrap the provisions, and so have voters.

Colorado was the first state to abolish this type of labor and wages. In November 2018, that state stripped the states constitution of the except as a punishment language. The measure had bipartisan support and it received about 65% of the vote, significantly more than the 55% required to pass the amendment. Colorado advocates said it had such broad support because times have changed since the prison conviction language was included. When these caveats were written and included in state constitutions, incarcerated people were not viewed as humans with dignity, people who had been convicted of a crime but individuals who have not lost their humanity, prison reform advocates say.

In November, Nebraska and Utah voters agreed to delete language from their constitutions allowing slavery-like work conditions as a punishment for criminal convictions. Utah voters approved with 81% of the vote. Nebraska voters approved with 68% of the vote.

If Jordans measure moves forward, Louisiana voters would say yea or nay to continuing this practice through a November 2022 ballot measure. Though its not clear how such a moral correction might impact work for imprisoned people, it certainly would cause us to consider alternative, more humane methods. Details can be discussed, debated and hammered out.

We, too, can agree that enslaving people and having them earn pennies is wrong. Im we can come up with something better.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested four things to keep in mind during the four-day Tika Divas, starting today. In a statement, the Prime Minister said that the Tika Divas is being started today to mark the birth anniversary of Jyotiba Phule and will continue till the birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar.

PM Modi said that this utsav is, in a way, the beginning of the next big fight against coronavirus. He said we have to focus on social hygiene, along with personal hygiene. The Prime Minister said that there are four things to keep in mind:

Each One - Vaccinate One: This means those who are unable to go and vaccinate themselves, including elderly people, must be assisted.

Each One - Treat One: One must help people without the required knowledge or resources to get treated for coronavirus.

Each One - Save One: One must wear masks and save themselves, as well as others.

Creating micro containment zones: The PM said that family members and community members should create a micro containment zone themselves when a positive case is detected. Micro containment zones are a key component in fighting coronavirus, he stated.

PM Modi emphasised on the importance of testing and awareness. He asked every eligible person to get vaccinated. Zero vaccine wastage should be the focus, he said, adding that optimum utilisation of vaccination is the way to increase the capacity.

India can be successful in its fight against coronavirus through micro containment zones, not moving out of one's homes unnecessarily, vaccinating eligible persons and following covid appropriate behaviour.

He urged everyone to make targets at personal, social and administration level in these four days of Tika Utsav and make efforts to achieve them.

Also read: 4-day Tika Utsav starts today: States aim to ramp up vaccination after PM Modi's appeal

Also read: India reports highest-ever one-day spike with over 1.52 lakh COVID-19 cases
PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- On Friday, April 9th, 13 boxes containing 15,210 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived in the country on a KLM flight from the Netherlands. This amount can vaccinate 7,605 persons.

The Collective Prevention Service (CPS) from the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development (Ministry VSA) and the Vaccination Management Team (VMT) are urging the public to register for a vaccine as soon as possible due to the current unprecedented outbreak that is taking place on the island of Curacao.

Curacao is seeing on average over 100 new positive COVID-19 cases each day. On Sunday, there were 4,768 active cases; 129 persons are hospitalized, 44 of them are in the Intensive Care Unit.

The Curacao community is being impacted by the UK variant of the COVID-19 virus. Viruses mutate all the time, and the UK variant is much more contagious which means more people in the community can be infected with the virus and this can have serious implications for the elderly as well as persons with underlying conditions who have not yet been vaccinated.

The UK variant is already in circulation on the island. The main threat for the country is that more people will become ill and that means more people will end up in the hospital, putting pressure on the countrys public health facilities and more people will die.

An outbreak of the UK variant in the country will also have a negative impact on the national economy which in turn will also impact the workforce where it concerns employment.

Vaccines are a critical tool in the fight against the COVID-19 virus and there are clear public health and lifesaving benefits once you are vaccinated.

The Netherlands decided to combine the third and fourth Pfizer batches which would allow CPS and VMT to scale up the administering of the COVID-19 vaccine to members of the community who have registered due to the serious public health situation on Curacao.

Sint Maarten has already received two other batches of the vaccine since February amounting to 15.210 doses.

Members of the community are reminded to register for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Registration can be done 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

Both Cole Bay and Dutch Quarter Community Helpdesks are currently equipped to provide information and can assist with registration on the spot. They are open from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM on Monday to Friday. You must bring a form of identification when you visit the helpdesk.

Lastly, the paper based COVID Vaccine Registration Form can be picked up at several locations, including CPS at the Vineyard Office Park Building, the Division of Labor Affairs at the Simpson Bay Public Service Center in Simpson Bay, doctors offices, the Government Administration Building, and select pharmacies.

If you have a friend, parent, neighbor, or relative that may need assistance with registration, transportation, or emotional support, please do your part. If you need help with the registration process, your appointment, or wish for more information about the vaccination campaign, you can also call CPS at 914 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Organizations who wish to inform their staff about the Covid-19 vaccine and vaccination program via an information session can send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sint Maarten, protected together.
Deputy Chief Minister, CN Ashwath Narayan on Saturday assured that the state's University exams will be conducted as per schedule, despite witnessing a surge in COVID cases.

Deputy Chief Minister told ANI, "University exams will be conducted as per schedule. Classes will start as soon as exams are over. There will be no vacation. Initially, online classes will be held and then an option will be given to students to attend offline classes."

The 11-day 'corona curfew' will come into effect in some districts of Karnataka, including the state capital, from Saturday night to contain the spread of

The state government had announced a night curfew between 10 pm and 5 am every day from April 10 to 20 in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Kalaburagi, Bidar, Tumakuru, Udupi-Manipal cities.

Police baton charge people found wandering at public places during night curfew in Kalaburagi.

"Kalaburagi City Police are enforcing the night curfew (between 10 pm & 5 am) very strictly. We request people not to come out without any reason," said DCP Kishore Babu to ANI.

"Ten States including Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan have shown a rise in the COVID daily new cases. 82.82 per cent of the new cases are reported from these 10 states", as per the Union Health Ministry on Saturday.

India has scaled another peak in its effort to contain the COVID-19 virus with the administration of more than 100 million (10 crore) vaccines to its citizens. The cumulative number of COVID19 vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 10,12,84,282 as per the provisional report 08:00 pm today.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 18:06:28|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

VIENTIANE, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Laos reported two new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number in the country to 51, according to Lao Ministry of Health on Sunday.

Director general of the National Center for Laboratory and Epidemiology under the Lao Ministry of Health, Phonepadith Xangsayarath, told a press conference here on Sunday that the two new cases include a 41-year-old businessman from Thailand, who had a close contact with illegal immigrants from Thailand on April 3.

The patient, a Thai national, was tested positive for the virus on Saturday.

Another patient is a 41-year-old man, a Lao national, who returned to Laos from Mongolia on Friday.

The two new cases are treated in the designated hospital Mittaphab Hospital (Hospital 150). Neither of them is in a serious condition.

The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 recorded in Laos is 51, with 47 recoveries.

Laos confirmed its first two COVID-19 cases on March 24 last year. Enditem
 Latest American Journal of Bioethics issue takes hard look at "War on Drugs" | Main | New statement from prosecutors and law enforcement urging review of extreme prison sentences 

April 11, 2021

"Against Criminal Law Localism"

The title of this post is the title of this notable new paper authored by Brenner Fissell now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract:

Scholars have long called for greater localism in criminal justice as a response to the crises of racialized mass incarceration and over-policing. A downward shift of power to smaller local governments is thought to maximize an array of values, including liberty, equality, and efficient experimentation, and also to allow for criminal justice to better reflect societal viewpoints in policies. But no criminal justice localists have recognized that a critical distinction exists between the devolution of power over criminal law and devolution of power over criminal procedure. Because of foundational features of local government law, localities have no authority to decriminalize conduct criminalized by a state  their option is only to add more offenses to the existing state code. Increased localism in criminal law, then, functions as a one-way ratchet for more misdemeanor criminalization and all its attendant ills: incarceration, crippling fines and fees, and the authorization of more policing, surveillance, and managerial social control of marginalized groups. Criminal law localism will counteract the benefits that criminal justice localism is expected to advance. Pragmatic criminal justice localists should therefore narrow their claim, excising substantive criminal law from their devolutionary program.

April 11, 2021 at 11:08 AM | Permalink

Comments

I don't believe that the premise of the article is very accurate. Many jurisdictions including Denver have decriminalized conduct in practice by declining for enforce certain laws.

This isn't limited to drugs. Adultery crimes, for example, have long been dramatically underenforced, as have bigamy/polygamy and statutory rape laws. The author seems to be laboring under the confusion that we have a continental European style mandatory prosecution regime.

Posted by: ohwilleke | Apr 12, 2021 6:56:01 PM

Post a comment
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 23:31:01|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

ADDIS ABABA, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Security forces in Ethiopia's Oromia regional state have killed 119 suspected Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) rebels, an Ethiopian official said on Sunday.

Alemayehu Tesfaye, Chief Administrator of East Wollega zone of Oromia regional state, said security forces have killed 119 suspected OLA rebels during military operations in recent days.

Tesfaye said a further 43 suspected OLA rebels and their accomplices have been arrested during recent military operations, reported state media outlet Oromo Broadcasting Network (OBN).

OLA is a breakaway faction of an ex-rebel group Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).

OLF is an opposition political party claiming to fight for the rights of ethnic Oromos who make up about 35 percent of Ethiopia's 110 million plus population.

The OLF was designated as a terrorist group by the Ethiopian parliament in 2011.

OLF was removed from the terror list in July 2018 to help facilitate negotiations and foster reconciliation.

However, a breakaway faction of OLF estimated to have around nearly 3,000 fighters operates in the western and southern parts of Ethiopia's Oromia regional state, the principal homeland of ethnic Oromos. Enditem
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Sexual harassment on college campuses is a major problem. Title IX is a federal statute requiring colleges to create a process to address student sexual misconduct allegations.

In 2020, after receiving extensive comments from interested parties about the Title IX dispute-resolution processes, the Trump administration adopted new rules governing such processes. The 2020 regulations implement many positive changes. In particular, the rules now allow students to use informal dispute resolution methods, like mediation, to resolve complaints.

Unfortunately, though, President Joe Biden has called for a reexamination of the new Title IX regulations, with a plan to replace them, including the provisions authorizing informal dispute-resolution processes. While President Bidens initial reaction may be to jettison anything associated with the prior administration, that is a regrettably short-sighted approach. Many students prefer informal processes to resolve disputes, rather than being forced to participate in what is, for many students, a frightening and intimidating formal hearing process. Any revision of Title IX should retain mediation as a process that students can use.

The hesitance to allow informal dispute resolution processes for Title IX disputes arose during the Obama administration. Faced with a dramatic increase in reports of campus sexual misconduct, the U.S. Department of Education determined that only full-fledged formal hearings were appropriate. But that solution ended up creating new problems, because (1) many accused students claimed that the new approach denied them a fair hearing, and (2) many of the alleged victims claimed that forcing them to participate in formal hearings ended up re-victimizing them. Faced with these persistent criticisms, Trumps Department of Education reviewed the Title IX regulations and changed the hearing process in multiple ways to address these concerns.

Not surprisingly, the topsy-turvy approach to process design has made life difficult for universities trying to implement Title IX. Universities want to provide students with a resolution process that protects the interests of both alleged victims and perpetrators, while also providing due process typically associated with traditional adjudication.

What is the appropriate role for informal dispute resolution in such a system? The Obama administration arguably erred when it mandated a formal hearing process for sexual misconduct claims. After all, the phrase sexual misconduct covers a range of behavior  from sexually inappropriate comments to sexual assault  and guided discussions between the parties may sometimes be more useful than a formal adjudication-based approach. In addition, Title IX complainants may not wish to participate in a formal hearing process. Thus, refusal to allow informal processes may leave some complainants out in the cold.

Informal processes are not a panacea. For example, they provide insufficient protections for certain complainants. But prohibiting informal processes may harm students who might prefer the confidentiality, control, and informality of mediation and other facilitated processes.

Perhaps not surprisingly then, the immediate reaction to the 2020 regulations when they were enacted was positive on some issues. Many commentators, from across the political spectrum, praised the potential for greater use of mediation and other informal processes, and rightly so.

More recently, though, 115 legislators have asked the Biden administration to reverse and replace those rules.

That would be a mistake. For Title IX claims that do not involve sexual assault allegations, mediation may be the preferred mechanisms for resolving disputes. For those claims, complainants may prefer acknowledgement of wrongs or apologies, rather than formal findings and an imposition of sanctions. Allowing complainants to select processes that better align with their interests, while also considering respondents needs for process protections, may improve universities abilities to resolve disputes in a productive fashion.

In short, mediation could be the superior method for resolving campus sexual harassment claims under Title IX. The Biden administration should think twice before rejecting the 2020 Title IX regulations.

Sarah R. Cole is the Michael E. Moritz Chair in Alternative Dispute Resolution at the Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University.

Have something to say about this topic?

* Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication.

* Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this opinion column to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com.
Hyliion, a developer of electrified powertrain solutions for Class 8 semi-trucks, has formed the Hypertruck Innovation Council, a group of fleet, logistics, and transportation industry leaders that will actively support the development of Hyliions Hypertruck powertrain solution.

Representing more than 100,000 Class 8 commercial trucks globally, the Council will collaborate closely with Hyliion to provide key user insights in the development of the Hypertruck, the companys electric powertrain for Class 8 commercial trucks.

Council members will be the first to have access to and put real-world miles on the Hypertruck ERX demonstration units, providing fleet and driver feedback. With an eye on furthering sustainable practices in the commercial trucking industry, the Council shares Hyliions focus on reducing carbon emissions without sacrificing performance.

With one of the largest dedicated fleets in the US, Anheuser-Busch is committed to leading the industry towards zero-emissions commercial transportation by improving the sustainability of our own logistics operations. The most impactful technologies come from close collaboration with experienced and innovative minds, and were excited to participate in the Hyliion Hypertruck Innovation Council to support the development of a transportation solution that meets the complex needs of todays fleets while working to build a more sustainable future. Angie Slaughter, Vice President of Sustainability and Logistics Procurement at Anheuser-Busch

The Hyliion Hypertruck ERX is an electric powertrain charged by an on-board natural gas generator for Class 8 commercial trucks. The Hypertruck ERX intends to provide a long-haul, electric powertrain solution delivering lower operating costs, emissions reductions, and superior performance to the global commercial trucking industry.





Utilizing the 700+ commercial natural gas vehicle filling stations across North America, it enables long range and quick refueling, and when fueled with renewable natural gas, can provide net-negative carbon emissions to commercial fleets.
In an undated image provided by her campaign, Kathy Barnette, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, stands on the field at Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. (Courtesy Kathy Barnette)

GOP Senate Candidate in Pennsylvania Says She Will Back Congressional Term Limits

Kathy Barnette said she would also hold the Chinese regime accountable for human rights abuses and abetting the spread of the CCP virus

Kathy Barnette, the Pennsylvania Republican who recently launched her campaign for the U.S. Senate, told The Epoch Times she supports limiting the number of terms lawmakers can serve in Congress and is committed to serving a maximum of three terms herself.

I intend to only run for no more than three, Barnette said.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), the retiring lawmaker whose seat Barnette is running to fill, was one of six Republicans who introduced a bill earlier this year to amend the Constitution to limit the number of terms lawmakers can serve. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has led the charge on term limits since 2016 when he and then-Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) announced their intention to introduce a bicameral term limit bill. DeSantis is now the governor of Florida.

The constitutional amendment before Congress this year would limit members of the House to three two-year terms and senators to two six-year terms.

Barnette, 49, is an author and political commentator. After announcing her bid for Toomeys seat on April 6, she gathered an impressive list of endorsements, including Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah), conservative talk show host Larry Elder, former Trump White House official Sebastian Gorka, and former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik, among others.

Barnette grew up on a hog farm in Alabama in a house with no running water or insulation. She was conceived through rape when her mother was 11 years old and has written about the matter as part of her opposition to abortion. If elected, she would be the first Republican black woman to serve in the Senate.

I have yet to meet someone who was poorer than me. And I dont think it should be a race of oppression, Barnette said. What the Democrats are dabbling in, it looks like an oppression Olympics.

Barnette managed to escape poverty, but she doesnt credit the government for helping her do so.

I am so glad that I got off that pig farm before it became fashionable for white progressives to want to help black people, she said. I believe if it was up to white progressives to get me off that pig farm, I would still be on there.

Three Republicans have formally declared their intention to run for Toomeys seat: Everett Stern, a Republican businessman best known for exposing the HSBC money-laundering scandal; Sean Gale, an attorney who ran for the Montgomery County Commission in 2019; and Jeff Bartos, a real estate developer in the Greater Philadelphia market.

Gale told The Epoch Times he also supports term limits. Bartos and Stern didnt respond to the same inquiry.

Every election cycle, we hear politicians talk about term limits, yet nothing ever happens, Gale said in an email. If the American people want term limits, [then] they should stop reelecting these do-nothing old farts.

Eight Democrats have jumped into the race, including Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, and state Sen. Sharif Street.

Toomey won reelection in 2016 against Democratic nominee Kathleen McGinty by 1.7 percent of the vote.

In 2020, Republicans and Democrats each won nine U.S. House seats in Pennsylvania; President Donald Trump lost the state by 1.2 percent to Joe Biden.

Barnettes debut campaign video revolves mainly around her identity as a black conservative and the plight of like-minded people who are facing censorship and cancel culture. In the three-minute clip, she describes herself as a black conservative woman, refers to President Joe Biden as the white man in the White House and accuses the Black Lives Matter movement of excluding conservatives who dont agree with its liberal ideology.

Joe Biden might not think Im black enough because I wont just shut up and do as Im told, and D.C. might not be ready for me, but Im ready for this fight, Barnette says in the three-minute video.

Were told that black lives matter, except of course my black life, because Im a black conservative. Radicals want to control and strip not just black conservatives but all conservatives of our identity.

Barnette shared policy positions in the interview with The Epoch Times, including her views on election integrity and confronting the genocidal communist regime in China.

Election Integrity

Barnette said shes in full alignment with the election reform goals set out by former President Donald Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February: limiting voting to Election Day only, doing away with mass, no-excuse mail ballots, and requiring voter ID.

Ive been black all my life. I know a whole lot of black people, Barnette said. I dont know one black person who does not have an ID.

And Im thinking to myself, who are these people that these Democrats are talking to? Barnette said, referring to the left-wing argument that requiring voter ID is racist because a disproportionate number of black people purportedly dont have identification.

She argued that setting aside funds to issue ID cards to the small number of people without identification would be more practical than lowering the bar to the lowest common denominator.

CCP

Barnette also agreed with President Donald Trumps tough stance on China and that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) should be held accountable for its ongoing human rights abuses, including the persecution of Falun Gong and the genocide against Uyghur Muslims. She said the CCP should also pay the price for abetting the spread of the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

No one talks about how organs are harvested. Who does that? What kind of people harvest other peoples organs? Barnette said in reference to the CCPs ongoing practice of forced organ harvesting for transplant from prisoners of conscience, mostly Falun Gong practitioners.

And were trying to find common ground with these people? she said, referring to the Biden administrations China policy.

Correction: an earlier version of this article incorrectly described the term limit legislation proposed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.). Cruz and DeSantis proposed a limit of three two-year terms for U.S. House members and two six-year terms for U.S. senators.
Killeen, TX (76540)

Today

Rain showers in the morning with numerous thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. High near 80F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy in the evening followed by scattered thunderstorms after midnight. Low 67F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

Some key dollar figures have come to the forefront as the regulatory examination of the proposed merger between PNM Resources and energy giant Avangrid is set to begin in earnest.

There will be broader policy issues, of course, but based on initial statements and written testimony, we can expect a good deal of focus on the following as the Public Regulation Commission begins open public hearings in May to determine whether the merger is in the public interest:

 $4.3 billion. The amount Avangrid proposes to pay to PNM shareholders in an all-cash deal. Under terms of the merger, PNMR and its two utilities  Public Service Company of New Mexico and Texas New Mexico Power  would become Avangrid subsidiaries. Avangrid is 81% owned by Spanish energy giant Iberdrola S.A.

 $735 million. The roughly 20% premium over market price Avangrid proposed paying to PNMR shareholders for their shares based on average stock prices before the deal was struck last year.

 $12.5 million. The amount listed in the proxy statement as golden parachute compensation to three top executives who would leave the company, including CEO Pat Vincent-Collawn. The company says another $26 million is owed to six top PNMR executives regardless of the merger.

 $36.5 million is the amount investment banking firm Evercore will earn for brokering a successful deal.

 $25 million. The amount Avangrid has proposed to give PNMs 530,000 ratepayers as a credit on their utility bills over a three-year period. It would amount to about $1.29 per month on an average residential bill.

 $350 million. The amount the state Attorney Generals expert witness, Scott Hempling, says is the appropriate starting point as credit to ratepayers. The Maryland-based lawyer says the real value being acquired by Avangrid is hundreds of thousands of captive ratepayers in a regulated monopoly. He says the deal is not in the public interest.

 Up to $277 million. The amount Mark E. Garrett, the expert witness for the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, recommends be returned to ratepayers in rate credits. The water authority also says the merger is not in the public interest as structured.  100. The number of new employees Avangrid has pledged to hire, along with a promise of no cuts in jobs and no wage and benefit reductions for two years.

 $2.5 million. The amount Avangrid has pledged to pump into local economic development efforts.

 $35 billion. Total assets of Avangrid, which operates in 24 states.

That and much more will be taken into consideration by the PRC as Avangrid, PNMR and intervenors argue their respective positions and offer testimony before a hearing officer, who will make a recommendation for the commission to consider. Options include approval, rejection or approval conditioned on changes.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, who by law is responsible for representing residential ratepayers, said he strongly supports the transition of the states largest utility to Avangrid, a leader in clean energy. But he adds, I remain concerned that the deal results in overwhelming profit, leaving the state and leaving ratepayers no benefit for having allowed PNM to monopolize our energy market.

Balderas touches on two basic points: Avangrid with its enormous resources could put the state on an accelerated path to renewable electricity, coupled with additional investment. But the rate credit proposed for PNM customers pales in comparison to benefits to shareholders, and Avangrids proposed economic development incentive amount is viewed by some as a pittance.

Avangrid says it can bring significant benefits, and it has an obligation to serve New Mexico with just and reasonable rates, said Stephanie Dzur, attorney for the Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy. But we dont want empty promises. Were saying, show me the money rather than just take things on faith. 

And there are other questions. Avangrid has made short-term commitments, but over time will the new ownership step up the way PNM has in supporting the community? Will there truly be a high degree of local control? Or, will PNM become a relatively small balance sheet entry and remote outpost of an out-of-state corporate giant?

Another vexing issue: Some environmental groups are upset that Avangrid conditioned the merger on PNM getting rid of its interest in the Four Corners generating plant because it didnt want any coal on its books. PNM essentially has brokered a proposed deal with the Navajo Nation, which could continue running the plant with other utilities until 2031. Thats a separate case also pending before the PRC. We believe the PNM-Avangrid merger should be stipulated on not allowing PNM to do anything that could extend the life of Four Corners after it exits the plant, said Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Director Camilla Feibelman.

Another question: would PNM be insulated from any events that negatively impact Avangrids international parent Iberdrola?

And, it will be interesting to see if commissioners probe the fact merger talks were essentially going on quietly behind the scenes as New Mexico lawmakers, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and PNM all pushed for the landmark Energy Transition Act that would move the state to 100% non-carbon electric generation by 2040 with relatively high potential rate caps  no doubt an attractive prospect for a suitor like Avangrid.

The hearings should generate strong public interest. PNM has a big economic footprint, and almost everybody pays for electricity. PNMR and Avangrid have a duty to their shareholders  its not their job to look out for ratepayers. Thats the job of the attorney general when it comes to residential customers, and to intervenors in relation to other groups. Then its up to the PRC to balance those competing interests in deciding whether this merger is in the public interest. So its important that this process play out in the open  under the lights.

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.
Blinken warns China over 'aggressive actions'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says China's actions are raising tensions in the Taiwan Strait. File photo: AP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday the United States is concerned about China's aggressive actions against Taiwan and warned it would be a "serious mistake" for anyone to try to change the status quo in the Western Pacific by force.



"What we've seen, and what is of real concern to us, is increasingly aggressive actions by the government in Beijing directed at Taiwan, raising tensions in the Straits," Blinken said in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press."



Beijing on Thursday blamed the United States for tensions after a US warship sailed close to Taiwan.



The United States has a longstanding commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to ensure that Taiwan has the ability to defend itself and to sustain peace and security in the Western Pacific, Blinken said.



Asked if the United States would respond militarily to a Chinese action in Taiwan, Blinken declined to comment on a hypothetical.



"All I can tell you is we have a serious commitment to Taiwan being able to defend itself. We have a serious commitment to peace and security in the Western Pacific.



"We stand behind those commitments. And in that context, it would be a serious mistake for anyone to try to change that status quo by force."



Taiwan has complained over the last few months of repeated missions by China's air force near the island, which China claims as its own.



The White House on Friday said it was keeping a close watch on increased Chinese military activities in the Taiwan Strait, and called Beijing's actions potentially destabilizing.



Also on Friday, the US State Department issued new guidelines that will enable US officials to meet more freely with officials from Taiwan, a move that deepens relations with Taipei amid stepped-up Chinese military activity around the island.



State Department spokesman Ned Price said the new guidelines had followed a congressionally mandated review and would "provide clarity throughout the Executive Branch on effective implementation of our 'one China' policy" - a reference to the longstanding US policy under which Washington officially recognizes Beijing rather than Taipei. (Reuters)
Young people exchange projectiles through the Peace Gate on April 7, 2021, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Photo: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Northern Ireland is experiencing its worst unrest in years, after seven straight days of demonstrations that left 74 police officers injured and led the White House to appeal for calm. The violence has been concentrated in unionist, predominantly Protestant communities, and may very well continue into the weekend, casting a dark shadow over the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which ended three decades of intermittent war, on April 10, 23 years ago.

Parties on both sides of the political divide told Intelligencer Friday morning that there are two causes for the explosive protests on the streets of Belfast and other cities. First, many unionists are angry with the way that Brexit has been imposed upon them. The Northern Ireland Protocol, negotiated by Boris Johnsons Conservative government in London, has meant the erection of new trade barriers earlier this year. And the more immediate cause for the violence, the spark that ignited an already unstable compound, was the announcement that members of Sinn Fein  the nationalist, predominantly Catholic party associated with the IRA  would not be charged for attending a funeral in apparent violation of COVID lockdown rules. But drug-dealing paramilitaries could also be involved, taking advantage of young men, restless and economically disadvantaged after a year of the pandemic, to flex some muscle.

Many observers in Belfast have pointed to the South East Antrim UDA as a possible instigator, and residents said that if the main loyalist groups had been involved, things would have escalated much more quickly. The right-wing UDA, or Ulster Defense Association, was active in the Troubles that rocked Northern Ireland from the 1960s to the 1990s, and its various brigades are now categorized as terrorist organizations by the United Kingdom.

A spokesperson for the Ulster Unionist Party said there was also genuine anger among ordinary, decent unionists at the way that Northern Ireland had been sidelined in the implementation of Brexit, for which he blames the leadership in London, politicians in Brussels, and the government in Dublin. It seems they have taken a calculated risk to annoy the unionist community by putting up a regulatory border, in the hopes that nothing would happen, he explained. Unfortunately, something happened.

Northern Ireland voted against Brexit, after some unionist leaders campaigned against leaving the European Union. Overall, the political situation in Ireland since the 2016 vote has seemed to tilt in favor of the nationalist community, and even raised the possibility that the island could reunify. Sinn Fein is now the largest party on the island of Ireland  though the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) controls the Northern Ireland Assembly, and the southern Republic is led by the center-right Fianna Fail Party  and has been leading calls for a vote to end the partition that was put in place in 1921. Many unionists were dismayed by the election of Joe Biden, whom they saw as sympathetic to the republican cause. May 3 is the 100th anniversary of the division of the island, seen as an insult to many nationalist Irish Catholics ever since. But for much longer than that, the point of loyalism was always to be loyal to the crown and the government back in England. If, as many feel, London has turned their backs on them, their entire community has been set adrift.

All of the major political movements in the British Isles have come together to condemn the violence, while they trade accusations. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was deeply concerned, and called for dialogue, while Jonathan Caine, former Northern Ireland adviser and Conservative member of the House of Lords, said it was grossly irresponsible to blame Brexit. The DUP leader of the Northern Ireland Assembly reiterated her call for the police chief to resign over the funeral affair, after she received intense criticism for tweeting that the real law breakers were in Sinn Fein, over video of (apparently loyalist) men throwing Molotov cocktails at a moving bus. One source familiar with the republican political forces in Ireland said that unionist leaders needed to unequivocally condemn the violence, rather than in engaging in the kind of wink wink, nudge nudge, discourse that inflames tensions and will have negative consequences for everyone.

On Thursday, Sinn Fein members went to republican neighborhoods near the site of the unrest to try to encourage them to stand down and avoid any retaliatory demonstrations. The situation in Belfast became much more volatile when the demonstrations spread to the famous Shankill Road, a unionist stronghold just blocks away from the largely Catholic Falls Road, the site of the famous Bobby Sands mural. Locals and authorities are deeply worried that the unrest could lead to an accidental death, as happened in April 2019 in Derry.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 15:12:02|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, April 11 (Xinhua) -- China is home to 30.88 million students currently acquiring skills in 11,300 vocational education institutions, according to statistics from the Ministry of Education.

The ministry has approved 27 institutions offering vocational education at the undergraduate level since 2019 when the State Council released a plan to reform the vocational education system.

Among the 1,349 majors listed in a new catalog of vocational majors released by the ministry this year, 247 are undergraduate majors, it added.

The ministry has been working to promote the fair treatment of students receiving vocational education, ensuring they enjoy opportunities equal to those available to students of regular schools in terms of enrollment, employment and job promotions, according to an official with the ministry. Enditem
New Delhi:

The news of the arrest of liquor baron Vijay Mallya in London on Tuesday for his alleged role in money laundering case created a sense of hope among the authorities in India who are trying their best to extradite him since he fled India on March 2, 2016, and since then has been staying in the United Kingdom.



Mallya owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks and erstwhile employees of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.



Before Tuesday, Mallya was arrested in London earlier in April by the Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant. However, he was granted bail hours after his arrest by the local magistrates court.



Mallya has continuously evaded the notices sent by different agencies and courts to appear for hearings prompting the court to issue an arrest warrant against him.

Also read: Vijay Mallya gets bail in money laundering case in London: Reports



To make it easier for you, here is a timeline of how Vijay Mallya case progressed since 2005:



2005: Vijay Mallya, Chairman of United Breweries (Holdings) Limited starts a luxury airlineKingfisher Airlines.



2006: Kingfisher Airlines applies for a loan with IDBI bank to buy aircraft. Mallya allegedly didnt share the history with the bank related to his Mangalore Chemicals and Fertiliser Acquisitions in the past that led to the rejection of his proposal.



2007: Success of Kingfisher Airlines encouraged Mallya to take over Air Deccan.



2008: The official process of acquiring Air Deccan is finalized and United Breweries paid a markup of Rs 550 crore for their 26% stake in the entity, the deal that ultimately led to claims of bankruptcy filed by United Breweries.



2008: Kingfisher got a debt of Rs 934 crores due to rising oil prices, spiking working cost stress of a premium and a deteriorating airline.



2009: The consolidated debt of the airline accumulated to a whopping Rs 5,665 crore that further went up to Rs 7,000 crore. IDBI finally approved the loan request of Kingfisher and provided a loan of Rs 900 crore to the airline.



2010: Mallya became the Rajya Sabha MP but banks were mounting pressure on him and gave his airline an ultimatum of 9 months to pay back the entire loan amount.



2011: Mallya took a salary of Rs 33.46 crore from Kingfisher Airlines annually. Meanwhile, the license of the Kingfisher airlines had been revoked due to which it stopped paying salaries to its employees.



Until March 2016, the total owed amount to employees for Kingfisher Airlines was Rs 3000 crore payable to 3000 employees. It owed an amount close to a billion dollars to IDBI and the State Bank of India (SBI) as a loan.



2013: The Kingfisher airlines valued in negative at Rs 12,919 crore due to massive liabilities.



Led by SBI, a consortium of banks approached United Breweries Holdings Ltd (UBHL) for the payback of a loan amounting to Rs 6,493 crore on behalf of Kingfisher Airlines. Mallya gave an assurance that the larger sum of the amount owed to the banks would be settled at the earliest.



2014: Vijay Mallya had been branded as a willful defaulter by United Bank of India. SBI and Punjab National Bank also joined the chorus.



2015: The total amount owed by Kingfisher rises to Rs 9,091.40 crore.



April 2015: To recover the funds, Mumbai International Airport sold Vijay Mallya's personal aircraft for Rs 22 lakh.



The airline held accountable for non-payment of loans of Rs 115 crore by the Service Tax Department. The Department then took the complaint to Bombay High Court that ordered the seizure of Mallyas passport.



March 2016: A consortium of banks sought to move Supreme Court to stop Mallya from escaping from the country. Mallya had, meanwhile, left the country on March 3 for the UK and took refuge in London.



November 2016: PMLA special court declared Vijay Mallya an absconder.



February 2017: India sent an extradition request to the UK that got cleared after the interference from the Ministry of External Affairs and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.



April 2017: Mallya got arrested by Scotland Yard in the UK. However, he was granted bail hours after his arrest.



September 2017: Reports emerged that the CBI and Enforcement Directorate could be a step closer to make Vijay Mallya's extradition a success. The two organisations had been preparing a charge sheet against him that could strengthen India's case in the UK court.

Also read: Indian government submits Mallya's extradition paperwork before UK court

Mallya allegedly diverted a large chunk of funds from the Rs 6,027-crore loan he took for his now- defunct Kingfisher Airlines from a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India.



The money was then diverted to shell companies in seven countries, including the US, UK, France, and Ireland, the report stated, citing the sources.



A UK court fixed November 20 as the date for the pre-trial hearing in the extradition case of Vijay Mallya.



India had given a formal extradition request for Vijay Mallya as per the Extradition Treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale on February 8.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

There is something about the folks in Los Alamos that, when they see a problem, they set about fixing it.

Such was the case with Louise Janecky, director of the Los Alamos School of Gymnastics.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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

While virus-related health mandates put the kibosh on most competitions for nearly a year, Janecky decided to figure out a way for her students to still compete against other gymnastics clubs across the state.

We always travel to gyms all over the state so, with COVID, we couldnt do that, she said. So I spent last spring and summer doing Zoom classes. Ive pulled so many rabbits out of the hat in the past year.

With gymnastics, the Zoom classes were forced to be fairly rudimentary, with very basic skills, handstands, and conditioning for strength and flexibility, she said. When things opened up a smidge, she set up stations in the gym to allow student to take their online classes there, then worked on gymnastics in the afternoon.

But that still didnt solve the matter of competition.

Its super nice to have meets so it feels like were working toward something, said gymnast Brianna Fryar, a Los Alamos High School junior.

So Janecky worked to put together Zoom meets with other gymnastics clubs around the state.

Unlike many other competitions, gymnastics is a sport that just might work with such a system.

We set up a Zoom meet with each gym in a different breakout room and each judge goes from breakout room to breakout room, Janecky said.

Then, it became a matter of figuring out where each camera needed to be positioned and how far from each apparatus the camera should be.

We did a whole system by trial and error, she said. We did nine meets like that and there were a couple of gyms doing the same in Pennsylvania, so we figured things out between us.

Each routine has to be videotaped and immediately available to the judges to account for the inevitable glitches in the system that would occur. A two-iPad system was used to pan the cameras and to allow the judges to communicate with the competing gyms.

They sent their system to USA Gymnastics, which not only approved it to use for such things as state competitions, but also used it as the basis for its virtual meet guide that was available for gyms around the country to use.

The entire system was put to the ultimate test Saturday when six gyms and more than 50 athletes competed in the state gymnastics meet.

I think its crazy that she came up with this great idea and videotaping it all, and now national is using it, Fryar said. I remember they were talking with other gyms and they just werent going to compete. She made it all work and everyones doing it.

Competing, she said, is obviously what athletes live for, and Fryar has hopes and dreams of competing at the next level, like her favorite gymnast, Katelyn Ohashi, whose floor routines in particular were viral sensations.

I love doing floor, Fryar said. Performing and showing everybody how much fun it is, making everybody light up because of my routine. When I do it right, everybody is clapping so much at the end. When I watch (Ohashi), she makes me feel the way I hope I make others feel when they watch me.

A 10-year gymnastics veteran, Fryar has twice advanced beyond the state meet to regionals, and hoped for a third such appearance after Saturdays meet, which ended after the Journal Norths deadline.

I hope that I will win, she said. Practice has been good this week. So, Im hoping it will be good. A win will be really nice. I also would like to do well in every event. My past (state) meets, Ive messed up on at least one.

She also wants a chance to improve her performance in the regionals that will include six other states.

I dont do as well, but theres a lot of girls in (the) region who are very, very good, Fryer said. I have placed (top 12) both times I went. But its super fun for just the experience.
Duchess of York has announced she will not air her daily storytime book YouTube series for a week following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh.

In her first comments since the passing of her former father-in-law Prince Philip, Sarah Ferguson, 61, shared an Instagram post which read: 'Storytime with Fergie and Friends and Little Red News will be put on hold for a week, recommencing on Monday 19 April, due to the sad passing of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh.'

The news comes after it was announced that Prince Philip, 99, died 'peacefully' at Windsor Castle, with the Queen by his side, on Friday Morning.

Sarah, who is commonly known as Fergie, divorced Prince Andrew in 1996 and was said to have a long-running feud with her former father-in-law the Duke for years.

Sarah Ferguson, 61, pictured, announced she would put her Youtube shows Storytime with Fergie and Friends and Little Red News on hold for a week following the announcement of the Duke of Edinburgh's death on Friday

The Duchess of York usually shares a video daily on her Youtube channel, reading from children's books and offering arts and craft lessons for the whole family.

Storytime with Fergie and Friends enjoyed much popularity during the 2020 lockdown last night, with thousands of households tuning it at 4pm everyday.

But Sarah will respectfully not be promoting her online content this week after news of Prince Philip's passing rocked the royal family.

Her former husband Prince Andrew, 61, is reportedly comforting his mother the Queen at Windsor Castle, as the Monarch grieves the death of Prince Philip and begins life without her 'strength and stay' throughout their 73-year marriage and her 68-year reign.

Fergie announced on Instagram that Storytime with Fergie and Friends and Little Red News would return to Youtube next week

Prince Charles, 73, reportedly stayed with his mother until late on Friday night to comfort her as well.

The Duke's coffin is in Her Majesty's private chapel of worship at their Berkshire home before being moved to the nearby Albert Memorial Chapel later today, where he will rest during seven days of national mourning ahead of his hugely scaled-back funeral next Saturday.

Fergie had a good relationship with her father-in-law Philip during the early days of her romance with Andrew.

She impressed the Queen by riding horses, and won the Duke of Edinburgh over by learning to drive carriages, one of the royal Consort's passions.

Prince Philip, 99 who is Fergie's former father-in-law, passed away at Windsor Castle on Friday morning, with the Queen, left, at his bedside. Pictured: The Queen, Fergie, Prince Andrew and Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace on the occasion on the monarch's 60th birthday on 21 April 1986

The Queen is in mourning after the tragic death of Prince Philip who was rushed to hospital earlier this year. Pictured last year at Windsor Castle ahead of his 99th birthday

Growing up in close proximity to the Royal familyFergies father was Prince Charles and Philips polo managershe developed an interest in most things liked by the Queen and Philip, including horse-riding and piloting a plane.

Are these the 30 people who will attend Prince Philip's funeral? Royals face dilemma over who to invite because of Covid rules The Royal Family faces a dilemma over who to invite to Prince Philip's funeral due to the coronavirus restrictions in place across England. The Queen will only be able to invite 30 people to the ceremony at St George's Chapel in the grounds of Windsor Castle. This is despite 800 mourners from across the Duke of Edinburgh's military units and charities as well as friends and associates from across the Commonwealth originally planned to come. The final list, which is expected in the next few days, will likely be made up of senior members of the Royal Family as well as the Prime Minister. Prince Philip said he wanted a funeral with minimal fuss, but the passing of Britain's longest serving consort was always going to be a big affair. His hope for a 'royal ceremonial funeral' - similar to the Queen Mother's - rather than a full state funeral, had already been granted. But the pandemic and restrictions means this is being hastily redrawn, with Her Majesty said to have been in talks with officials even from last night. They are tweaking Operation Forth Bridge and are having to drastically scale back the number of people invited to the ceremony, expected next Saturday. The expected invitees are: The Queen; Prince Charles; Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; Princess Anne; Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence; Prince Andrew; Sarah Ferguson; Edward, Earl of Wessex; Sophie, Countess of Wessex; Prince William; Kate, Duchess of Cambridge; Prince George; Princess Charlotte; Prince Louis; Prince Harry; Peter Phillips; Zara Tindall; Mike Tindall; Princess Beatrice; Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi; Princess Eugenie; Jack Brooksbank; Lady Louise Windsor; James, Viscount Severn; Edward, Duke of Kent; Katherine, Duchess of Kent; Princess Alexandra; Prince Michael of Kent; Boris Johnson; Admiral Tony Radakin. Advertisement

The monarch and her husband were so taken with the then Duchess of York that in 1987, Vanity Fair posed the question: Is Fergies Fizz Leaving Di Flat? Fergie was so popular with the Royal family that the Queen would invite her for private supper, a privilege not extended to many even inside the Royal family.

The royal favour began to run out in the early 90s, with frequent reports suggesting that Prince Andrew and Fergies marriage was in trouble.

Then, in the summer of 1992, the now infamous pictures were published showing a topless Fergie on holiday having her toes sucked by American businessman John Bryan. The photos finalised the breakdown of Fergie and Prince Andrews marriage.

At the time of the photos publication, Fergie was staying with the Royal family at Balmoral, and once the news filtered through, the Queen reportedly said Fergie should leave for London, but not before Prince Philip allegedly commented.

W Magazine mentioned the unconfirmed story that said Prince Philip stormed downstairs, holding the copy of the paper with the scandalous photos on the front page, handed it to Fergie and said: 'There but for the grace of God go I.'

According to W Magazine, Philip bore a long-standing hatred toward Fergie for the Royal scandal for years.

After Fergie and Prince Andrew's divorce, Philip allegedly blocked any attempts from the Royal family to help Fergie, who had some financial troubles down the years.

It was so strong that Philip reportedly couldn't be in the same room as Fergie. When she was invited back to Balmoral, 21 years after the scandal broke, Philip delayed his arrival until after Fergie had left.

The relationship appeared to be frosty for several years, with Philip only going to Windsor Castle on the eve of Princess Eugenies wedding after Fergie was seen leaving.

Despite the feud, Fergie and Andrew have reconciled, with the former couple living with or near each other while their daughters were growing up. They are often seen at functions together, as in Ascot 2018. Princess Eugenie herself describes them as 'the best divorced couple I know'.

Prince Philip allegedly couldn't stand Fergie and Andrew's living arrangement. As a royal source once told The Sun: 'He cannot understand why she's living under the same roof as Andrew after all these years.'

However it is believed in recent years that tensions had thawed.

On the occasion of Princess Eugenie's wedding in October 2018, Prince Philip agreed to appear in the wedding pictures with his former daughter-in-law for the first time in more than 20 years.

The Duke of Edinburgh spent his final days at Windsor Castle with his wife the Queen who he lovingly called Lilibet throughout their long life together, after a 28-night stay in hospital having been admitted in mid-February for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition.

Her Majesty announced her husband's death at midday as the Union Flag was lowered to half-mast outside Buckingham Palace and on public buildings across the UK and Commonwealth.
Advertisement

Cops busted two massive parties at Manhattan's Washington Square Park over the weekend as New York City surges back to life after months of isolation during the coronavirus pandemic.

Hundreds of revelers gathered in the park on Friday night and again on Saturday in defiance of ongoing bans on large public gatherings.

The crowds were seen dancing under the park's iconic arch with little to no regard for social distancing.

One woman put on a dazzling show by twirling flaming batons in the air.

Cops busted two massive parties at Manhattan's Washington Square Park over the weekend as New York City surges back to life after months of isolation during the coronavirus pandemic

A woman twirls flaming batons in front of the arch in Washington Square Park on Saturday night

The woman drew a large crowd with her fiery spectacle in Washington Square Park on Saturday night

Musicians played live music for the crowds gathered in the park in Manhattan's West Village on Saturday night

Hundreds of revelers gathered in the park on Saturday night in defiance of ongoing bans on large public gatherings

A couple are seen kissing in the fountain at the heart of Washington Square Park on Saturday night

The party came to an end after midnight on Saturday when a large group of NYPD officers arrived to break up the crowds

The parties on Friday and Saturday ultimately ground to a halt after midnight when NYPD officers swept in to break up the crowds for violating social distancing rules.

At around 12.30am Sunday reports emerged of unruly revelers throwing objects at cops - but by 2am the situation appeared to have been brought under control.

The NYPD released an alert early Sunday that a man had punched an officer in the face during an attempted arrest at the park the night before.

It was not immediately clear if the arrest was linked to the crowds police had sought to disperse.

Officials said the suspect approached several officers in the park just after 3am and interfered with an investigation as they tried to stop someone else for a violation.

When an officer went to place the man under arrest he resisted and struck him before fleeing the scene, the NYPD said.

The officer suffered cuts to the inside of his mouth and his hand but refused medical attention.

The NYPD released a photo of the suspect and asked for the public's help in tracking him down early Sunday morning.

A woman is held in the air by a man as they celebrated the onset of spring in Washington Square Park on Saturday

Revelers enjoyed live music from a full band set up in the middle of Washington Square Park on Saturday night

The revelers showed little regard for social distancing as they packed around the fountain at the center of the park

Many people were seen drinking under the glow of the park's iconic stone arch

Many people took off their masks as they conversed with each other around the fountain in the park

NYPD officers wearing riot gear are seen sweeping through the park after most of the revelers dispersed

Large piles of trash were seen scattered around the park as the celebration unfolded on Saturday night

Over the past year Washington Square Park - which is regarded as the heart of New York University - has seen numerous late night parties where revelers cast off their masks and their cares despite the ongoing pandemic.

The celebrations have often coincided with Black Lives Matter protests, but this weekends' appeared to have been fueled by the onset of warmer weather and rising optimism in the city.

While New York City has dramatically ramped up its COVID-19 vaccine rollout in recent weeks, experts and city officials have cautioned that the virus remains a major threat.

The number of daily new cases in the city has shown an upward trend in recent weeks amid the emergence of virus variants.

The city's seven-day average for new cases stands at 3,159, according to the latest figures, with more than 882,090 cases reported to date.

The seven-day average positivity rate stands at 3.7 percent.


United States government lawyers have charged about half of the 800 rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6.

Among those charged are 12 members of the Oath Keepers. It is one of the largest anti-government militia groups in the United States. Eight men and four women have been charged with plotting to use force to block President Joe Bidens presidential victory.

Kelly Meggs is one Oath Keeper being charged. Meggs is the head of the Oath Keepers in Florida. She is accused of planning the attack with the Proud Boys and the Three Percenters, other militia groups.

Grayden Young is another member of the Oath Keepers. He is accused of receiving weapons and military training for himself and others. A third member, Kelly Watkins, is accused of finding people to join the January 6 attack. I need you fighting-fit by inauguration, she told one person.

The 12 Oath Keepers face five criminal charges, from conspiracy to obstruction of an official government process. The obstruction charge carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

One person missing from prosecution is Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers. Prosecutors appear to be building a conspiracy case against him.

Aitan Goelman is a lawyer and former federal prosecutor. He said the government might not have enough evidence to charge Rhodes.

So far, they haven't provided any evidence that Rhodes was part of a conspiracy, which is an agreement to storm the Capitol, Goelman said. Maybe they have that. Maybe that's forthcoming.

Jimmy Gurule is also a former federal prosecutor. He said the government is slowly building a case against Rhodes. To charge Rhodes with conspiracy, there needs to be evidence he agreed with his followers to carry out the attack.

Rhodes doesn't have to be in the Capitol building participating in the siege of the Capitol building. All he has to do is agree, Gurule said.

In recent court documents on the 12 charged Oath Keepers, prosecutors have released communications related to January 6.

Prosecutors have released more details of Rhodes communications with other members of the Oath Keepers. They made public a 97-second telephone call between Rhodes and Meggs nine minutes before she and other militia groups entered the Capitol. Prosecutors would not give any details of the call, but said it contains substantial evidence of a conspiracy to overturn the election.

Additionally, Rhodes took part in online discussions through the Signal app. It is a communications program through which Oath Keepers would secretly talk, or chat, with each other. In one chat, he told his followers what tools to bring on January 6, including flashlights, and safety coverings for their hands and head. He advised them not to bring guns.

Although Rhodes never entered the Capitol building, he messaged orders to his followers through Signal.

Come to South Side of Capitol on steps, he wrote in one message.

He later posted a photo of the southeast side of the Capitol. He then posted the message, South side of US Capitol. Patriots pounding on doors(.)

Around the same time, Meggs and other rioters forced themselves into the building through the buildings east side.

Gurule called the Signal posts very incriminating.

He said it shows Rhodes had knowledge of events as they were happening, and was advising his followers on what to do.

At a Republican gathering in Texas last month, Rhodes called the charges against the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys a persecution campaign. He said they were at the Capitol to provide security to Trump supporters.

I might go to jail soon, he said. Not for anything I actually did, but for made-up crimes.

Im Mario Ritter Jr.

Masood Farivar reported this story Voice of America. Dan Novak adapted it for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter Jr. was the editor.

________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

inauguration n. a formal ceremony introducing someone, such as a newly elected official, to office

prosecutor- n. - a lawyer who represents the side in a court case that accuses a person of a crime and who tries to prove that the person is guilty

coordinate- v. to make arrangements so that two or more people or groups of people can work together properly and well

conspiracy- n. a secret plan made by two or more people to do something that is harmful or illegal

obstruction n. the act of making it difficult for something to happen or move forward

forthcoming- adj. appearing, happening, or arriving soon

substantial- adj. strongly made

incriminate- v. to cause (someone) to appear guilty of or responsible for something (such as a crime)

persecute- v. to treat (someone) cruelly or unfairly especially because of race or religious or political beliefs
Voters in Kyrgyzstan are deciding on April 11 whether to support constitutional amendments promoted by President Sadyr Japarov. If passed, the amendments will expand his powers and allow him to run for a second term. The plebiscite is being held together with local elections.
In the summer of 2016, Irelands Central Statistical Office reported something astonishing: Its gross domestic product had risen 26% in the previous year. It would have been an amazing achievement if it had actually happened.

But it hadnt, government officials acknowledged. It was, instead, an illusion created by corporate tax games. I dubbed it leprechaun economics. Luckily, the Irish have a sense of humor about themselves.

What really happened? Ireland is a tax haven, with low taxes on corporate profits. This gives multinational corporations an incentive to create Irish subsidiaries, then use creative accounting to ensure that a large share of their reported global profits accrue to those subsidiaries.

In 2015 companies became more aggressive about profit-shifting, which led to a surge in the value of production they reported doing in Ireland. It didnt correspond to reality.

To understand the big corporate tax reform proposed by the Biden administration, you need to know its all about the leprechauns.

The premise of the huge corporate tax cut Republicans rammed through in 2017 is that leprechauns were real. That is, the tax cuts architects insisted that corporations moved operations abroad to avoid U.S. taxes and that slashing those taxes would bring millions of jobs back home.

It didnt happen. The tax cut had no effect on business investment. It addressed a fake problem. Corporations hadnt moved jobs overseas to avoid taxes; they just avoided taxes.

The true lack of impact of profit taxes on business decisions becomes obvious if you look at where corporations report big overseas earnings.

If they were truly responding to taxes by making large foreign investments that eliminated American jobs, wed expect to see a lot of their profits come from major production centers like Germany or China. Instead, more than half of the profits U.S. corporations report from overseas investments come from tax havens, including places like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands where they have no real business.

This isnt just an American problem. The International Monetary Fund estimates that about 40% of the worlds foreign direct investment  basically corporate cross-border investment  is phantom investment, accounting fictions set up to avoid taxes. Thats why on paper Luxembourg, with just 600,000 people, hosts more foreign investment than the United States does.

So the real problem with U.S. corporate tax policy isnt loss of jobs, its loss of revenue  and Trumps tax cut made that problem worse.

For the most part President Joe Bidens Made in America Tax Plan is an effort to reclaim revenue lost both as a result of profit-shifting and as a result of the Trump tax cut, in order to help pay for large-scale public investment.

As the plans name suggests, the administrations experts  at this point its hard to find a tax expert who hasnt joined the Biden team  believe there are aspects of the tax code that create an incentive to move jobs abroad. They see the problem as the consequence of details of the tax code rather than the overall burden of taxation.

While they believe that tax reform can improve incentives to invest in America, the main focus of the plan  even of things like the proposal for a 21% minimum tax rate on overseas profits, emphasized by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen  isnt on these incentives so much as on increasing revenue from the corporate profits tax, which falls mainly on the wealthy and on foreigners, and is at a historical low as a percentage of GDP.

What about warnings from corporate groups that raising taxes on corporations would have dire economic consequences? Well, they would say that, wouldnt they? If raising taxes would have such a negative effect, why did cutting taxes fail to produce any visible positive results?

The corporate tax plan, then, looks like a really good idea, partly because Biden, unlike his predecessor, hired people who know what theyre talking about. It also marks a welcome break with the ideology that says that the only way we can help American workers is indirect action: cutting taxes on corporations and the wealthy in hope that theyll deliver a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

The Biden team seems to have concluded that the way to create jobs is to create jobs, mainly through public investment, rather than by chasing unicorns and leprechauns. To the extent that direct job creation must be paid for with new taxes, they should be imposed on those who can afford to pay.

Refreshing, isnt it?

PAUL KRUGMAN writes for The New York Times.
Here are some of the tributes paid to the Duke of Edinburgh by his family, politicians and religious leaders.

My father has been my teacher, my supporter and my critic, but mostly it is his example of a life well lived and service freely given that I most wanted to emulate. His ability to treat every person as an individual in their own right with their own skills comes through all the organisations with which he was involved the Princess Royal on her relationship with her father.

The Princess Royal and the Duke of Edinburgh watching the dressage stage of the eventing at Greenwich Park (Andrew Milligan/PA)

I loved him as a father. He was so calm. If you had a problem, he would think about it. Thats the great thing that I always think about, that he was always somebody you could go to and he would always listen so its a great loss. Weve lost almost the grandfather of the nation  The Duke of York on his fathers passing.

It was right for him and it was so gentle, it was just like someone took him by the hand and off he went. It was very, very peaceful and thats all you want for somebody, isnt it?  The Countess of Wessex on the dukes death.

It just goes to show, he might have been our father, grandfather, father-in-law, but he meant so much to so many other people  The Earl of Wessex on how much the support of the public has meant to the royal family.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex, with their daughter Lady Louise Windsor (Steve Parsons/PA)

A man who had come on a mission, as she had come, both of them had come on this mission in their own right to try and heal history, to ensure that for the future these two neighbouring islands would be characterised by good neighbourliness  former Irish president Mary McAleese on the Queen and the dukes 2011 visit to Ireland.

I am sure he regretted some of those phrases, but in the end it is a pity that people saw him simply as somebody who makes gaffes  behind those gaffes was an expectation of a comeback but nobody came back and the gaffe unfortunately stayed  former archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu on the dukes reputation for making off-colour remarks and his wish to be challenged intellectually.

Prince Philip may physically have gone, but (he) will be in the Queens mind as clearly as if she were sitting opposite him. She will hear his voice metaphorically in her ear, she will know what he will say in certain circumstances, he will still be there in her memory- Sir John Major on how the Queen will cope with losing her husband.

The Duke of Edinburgh greets former PM Sir John Major (Fiona Hanson/PA)

His faith was so strong, rooted in Christ, rooted in reality, rooted in his family, that he could be a free person. I have not met a couple that are so free  Her Majesty is exactly the same  former Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu on the secret to the Queen and the Dukes strong marriage.

For His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, there was a willingness, a remarkable willingness, to take the hand he was dealt in life, and straightforwardly to follow its call. To search its meaning, to go out and on as sent, to inquire and think, to trust and to pray  Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, on the dukes stoic nature.
By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

For whatever reason, tardigrades came across my timeline, so I thought Id make my contribution to the zeitgeist. Cute?

(Via) Id say so. However, the tardigrade (scientific name, Tardigrada) is so prolific of amazing factoids that most writers find it very difficult to get their arms around the topic, and end up writing surveys that seem exhaustive but arent, or are listicles like 8 Keen Things About the Water Bear (tardigrades are prolific of names[1], as they are of everything else). Those writers include me. After giving links for some of the better stories, and then lazily proffering a brief extract about the tardigrade and its amazing talent for survival under extreme conditions, Ill do my own listicle, but with list items that I dont think anyone else would consider, so at least there will be some value add, here. Ill conclude with a disquieting, and recent, factoid about tardigrade survival.

If you want to get a quick handle on tardigrades, here are some links:

Tardigrades have their own website, Tardigrada. They also occupy a place in the popular imagination, as shown by 2017s Season 21 (really?), Episode 8 of South Park, Moss Piglets (their third name):

(Relevant portion ends at 00:59.) Wacky shenanagains!

Now to the extracts. From the BBC, Tardigrades return from the dead:

There are 900 known species. Most feed by sucking the juices from moss, lichens and algae. Others are carnivores, and can even prey on other tardigrades. They are truly ancient. Fossils of tardigrades have been dated to the Cambrian period over 500 million years ago, when the first complex animals were evolving.

Tardigrades, therefore, have survived through the entire Phanerozoic Eon, including the Paleozoic, Mezozoic, and Cenozoic Eras (which includes our own day). Impressive. They have adapted to survive in many conditions. Their most impressive display of adaptability[2] is the tun[3]. From Vox, Tardigrades  the microscopic, oddly cute toughest animals on Earth  explained:

When removed from water and dried out, tardigrades can transform into a cellular fortress, tucking in their legs and head, forming a compact pill shape called a tun. In this tun state, the tardigrades produce glycerol (antifreeze), and also secrete trehalose, a simple sugar with remarkable preservation properties. Trehalose is viewed as a cocoon that traps the biomolecule inside a glassy matrix, like amber-encasing insects, explains a 2009 paper in Protein Science. When the trehalose crystalizes, the tardigrade becomes mummified in a glass suit of armor.

A more detailed explanation of tuns comes from Rachel Armstrong, Simone Ferracina, and Rolf Hughes in Liquid Life: On Non-Linear Materiality (PDF):

At times of environmental stress, tardigrades reduce their metabolic activity to as low as one-hundredth of normal levels. This state of suspended animation is further conserved within a glass-like structure (Stromberg 2012) from which they may be fully revived after a few hours of hydration. This amazing capacity to enter into a vitrified state is conferred by tardigrade-specific intrinsically disordered proteins (TDPs). The glass coffin-producing capacity of TDPs is so powerful that tardigrades must wear protection at all times by having a thin coating of water around their bodies. In their hydrated form, TDPs are jelly-like and lack the typical well-defined three-dimensional structures of most known proteins, but during desiccation, these proteins solidify into a glassy structure, enabling them to survive for decades in a state of cryptobiosis. Glass-coated tardigrades can withstand irradiation, boiling liquids, extreme pressure, environments as cold as 200C and up to around 150C, as well as the vacuum of space without any protection (Coghlan 2017a). While extremophiles are physically adapted to life in extreme environments, tardigrades are not. They are simply able to weather disaster through a vitrification escape route, by becoming liquid stone.

(Im not sure a glass suit of armor would be very protective, and glass coffin seems to preclude revivification, which is false. Liquid stone is good, though. Once again, tardigrades inspire prolificity.)

Finally, the most amazing factoid of all. From New Scientist, Water bears are first animal to survive space vacuum:

To further test their hardiness, Ingemar Jonsson of Swedens Kristianstad University and colleagues launched two species of dried-up tardigrades from Kazakhstan in September 2007 aboard ESAs FOTON-M3 mission, which carried a variety of experimental payloads. After 10 days of exposure to space, the satellite returned to Earth. The tardigrades were retrieved and rehydrated to test how they reacted to the airless conditions in space, as well as ultraviolet radiation from the Sun and charged particles from space called cosmic rays. The vacuum itself seemed to have little effect on the creatures. But ultraviolet radiation, which can damage cellular material and DNA, did take its toll. In one of the two species tested, 68% of specimens that were shielded from higher-energy radiation from the Sun were revived within 30 minutes of being rehydrated. Many of these tardigrades went on to lay eggs that successfully hatched. But only a handful of animals survived full exposure to the Suns UV light, which is more than 1000 times stronger in space than on the Earths surface. Before this experiment, only lichen and bacteria were known to be able to survive exposure to the combination of vacuum and space radiation. No animal has survived open space before, says developmental biologist Bob Goldstein of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who was not affiliated with the study.  The finding that animals survived rehydration after 10 days in open space  and then produced viable embryos as well  is really remarkable .

It is! And now to our listicle.

(1) Tardigrades Dont Seem to be Good for Anything

From Farmers Weekly, Whats in a handful of soil?:

Scientists have studied tardigrades for more than two centuries, but still have not found any specific medical, commercial or environmental uses for these creatures.

From Kansas School Naturalist:

In the 200 years since the waterbear was first described, we have not identified any specific medical, commercial, or environmental effect of tardigrades.

From the Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas (PDF):

Although their ecological role has not yet been fully evaluated, recent studies suggest they could have a regulatory function for plant-parasitic nematode populations when predatory nematodes have disappeared, due to predation pressure and/or unfavourable environmental conditions.

Unsurprisingly, tardigrades eat things. And from Wikipedia, they are also eaten:

Tardigrades work as pioneer species by inhabiting new developing environments. This movement attracts other invertebrates to populate that space, while also attracting predators

The last two, especially, seem a little thin. As you can tell from the sourcing, I originally thought I would write a post about tardigrades and the soil: Maybe how many tons of tardigrades there are in the biomass, maybe two plots compared, one with tardigrades, one not, but if any such material exists, I couldnt find it.

Its remarkable that such a prolific creature isnt good for anything! [4]

(2) Tardigrades Lost Out to C. Elegans as a Model Organism

From the American Scientists, Tardigrades:

At one time water bears were candidates to be the main model organism for studies of development. That role is now held most prominently by the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, the object of study for the many distinguished researchers following in the trail opened by Nobel Prize laureate Sydney Brenner, who began working on C. elegans in 1974. Water bears offer the same virtues that have made C. elegans so valuable for developmental studies: physiological simplicity, a fast breeding cycle and a precise, highly patterned development plan. Some species may, like C. elegans, be eutelic, meaning that the organisms retain the same number of cells through their development. Tardigrades have somewhere over 1,000 cells. I and others use water bears as a model educational organism to teach a wide range of principles in life science.

Thats unfortunate, using aesthetics as a hermeneutic. If tardigrades arent good for anything, roundworms really arent good for anything. Maybe  farfetching freely  we would all have glass armor by now if tardigrades had been the object of study by thousands of scientists!

(3) Tardigrades Can Be Found in Your Backyard

From Microcosmos, How to Find Tardigrades (Water Bears) in Your Own Backyard. Im just going to give the list of materials, so you can get the flavor of the project. The documentation is pleasingly detailed, and illustrated with photographs of every step:

Here are the materials you will need: Paper bags

Razor blade or pocket knife (optional)

Pen or Marker

GPS-enabled device (optional)  for coordinates

Bag or backpack (optional)  to hold samples

Paper towels (optional)

2 oz plastic cup (any small cup or container will do, but I prefer this size)

Pipette or eye-dropper (optional)

Spring water (tardigrades prefer this, but any water should be fine for short-term use)

Foldscope

(The last item, the foldscope, is an ultra-affordable field microscope, that you build from common materials such as paper. It is designed to be produced affordably, to be durable, and to give optical quality similar to conventional research microscopes. That is extremely neat.)

This project strikes me as useful to the hobbyist, the citizen scientist, or the teacher.[5]

(4) Tardigrades Are Missing Hox Genes

Tardigrades are cute, but whats with the body plan? From Current Biology, The Compact Body Plan of Tardigrades Evolved by the Loss of a Large Body Region:

Based on our analysis, we conclude that tardigrades have lost a large intermediate region of the body axisa region corresponding to the entire thorax and most of the abdomen of insectsand that they have lost the Hox genes that originally specified this region. Our data suggest that nearly the entire tardigrade body axis is homologous to just the head region of arthropods . Based on our results, we reconstruct a last common ancestor of Panarthropoda that had a relatively elongate body plan like most arthropods and onychophorans, rather than a compact, tardigrade-like body plan. These results demonstrate that the body plan of an animal phylum can originate by the loss of a large part of the body.

How does such a thing happen? Has it happened elsewhere? (No: [A] compact body plan is a tardigrade novelty.) If you read this in a science fiction story youd find it hard to believe!

(5) Tardigrades Have DNA Protected by Electric Shielding

From New Scientist, Secret to tardigrades toughness revealed by supercomputer simulation:

The most resilient animal known to science  the tardigrade  is yielding its secrets, with the first work at the atomic level investigating the way the animal survives extreme stress. In most other organisms, these sorts of stresses destroy the DNA in cells, but tardigrades have a damage-suppressor protein (Dsup) that somehow shields the DNA The researchers modelling of all the atoms in the protein and all their electrostatic interactions shows that the protein is intrinsically disordered and highly flexible, and seems to be able to adjust its structure to precisely fit DNAs shape. Our study reveals that the electrical effects underlying the positive-negative charge attractions determine the dynamics of the structural changes of Dsup in its interaction with DNA, says Minguez-Toral. We believe this electric shielding is paramount in protecting DNA from radiation. Figuring out precisely how tardigrades tolerate such extremes could be useful in several ways.  Right now the main applications we are actively working on are the stabilisation of pharmaceuticals and the engineering of stress tolerant crop plants , says Thomas Boothby, who works with tardigrades at the University of Wyoming.

So, who knows? Maybe tardigrades will turn out to be good for something after all. Take that, c. elegans!

* * *

I cannot but think that in a time of economic precarity and ecological stress, even before the pandemic, the I will survive! nature of the tardigrade appealed to something in the zeitgeist beyond cuteness. National Geographic:

Tardigrades are microscopic eight-legged animals that have been to outer space and would likely survive the apocalypse . Bonus: They look like adorable miniature bears.

From Live Science:

A team of scientists considered a series of doomsday scenarios that would be catastrophic for humanity, including nearby supernovas, the expansion of our own sun to a red giant star, and a massive asteroid colliding with Earth. In every scenario, tardigrades were just fine, confirming that when it comes to life on Earth, they are as close to indestructible as it gets , the researchers said in a statement.

Examples could be multiplied. But not so fast. This is a disquieting, and recent, factoid. From Nature, Thermotolerance experiments on active and desiccated states of Ramazzottius varieornatus emphasize that tardigrades are sensitive to high temperatures:

Here, we investigate the tolerance to high temperatures of Ramazzottius varieornatus, a tardigrade frequently found in transient freshwater habitats. Using logistic modelling on activity we evaluate the effect of 24 hour temperature exposures on active tardigrades, with or without a short acclimation period, compared to exposures of desiccated tardigrades. We estimate that the 50% mortality temperature for non-acclimated active tardigrades is 37.1 C, with a small but significant increase to 37.6 C following acclimation. Desiccated specimens tolerate much higher temperatures, with an estimated 50% mortality temperature of 82.7 C following 1 hour exposures, but with a significant decrease to 63.1 C following 24 hour exposures. Our results show that metabolically active tardigrades are vulnerable to high temperatures, yet acclimatization could provide a tolerance increase . Desiccated specimens show a much higher resilienceexposure-time is, however, a limiting factor giving tardigrades a restricted window of high temperature tolerance. Tardigrades are renowned for their ability to tolerate extreme conditions, but their endurance towards high temperatures clearly has an upper limithigh temperatures thus seem to be their Achilles heel.

Well, if the earths surface temperature is 82.7C (180.86F) none of us are going to be worrying very much about the tardigrades. As for 37.6C (99.68F), thats awfully close to equatorial temperatures now. Perhaps there are studies on tardigrades in tropical soils, though a cursory Google search doesnt turn up any. Nevetheless, from Live Science:

Tardigrades are definitely not the almost-indestructible organism as advertised in so many popular science websites, said Ricardo C. Neves, a postdoctoral scientist in biology at the University of Copenhagen, who co-authored the new paper on tardigrade toughness [quoted above]

So, perhaps another use for tardigrades is as a sentinel species, since conditions that would kill a tardigrade would kill anything else. Personally, though, I think the tardigrades will make it through this era, the Cenozoic, into the next, whatever that may be. Tardigrades have form. And what a wonderful world, that can evolve such a creature!

NOTES

[1] The tardigrades original name, little water bear, from its lumbering gait, was coined by German pastor J.A.E. Goeze in 1773. Italian naturalist Lazzaro Spallanzani coined il Tardigrado, meaning slow-stepper, because they moved so slowly (or, as Bob and Ray would have it, Slow. Stepper). I cannot find who coined of moss piglet. The phrase does not occur in my Shorter Oxford English Dictionary.

[2] The tun is just one of the amazingly prolific tardigrades survival strategies. From Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, New Insights into Survival Strategies of Tardigrades, a passage so dense Im just going to quote it without comment. Its the caption to Figure 2.

Fig. 2.Schematic illustration of survival strategies in tardigrades, including cryptobiosis, diapause and regulation in the active state. Cryptobiosis can be induced by a range of extreme environmental conditions. Anhydrobiosis, osmobioisis and possibly chemobiosis are cryptobiotic sub-states characterized by formation of a tun (compare to Fig. 1). In striking contrast, anoxybiosis (prompted by oxygen depletion) and cryobiosis (induced by extremely low temperatures) do not lead to tun formation. A turgid and elongated body characterizes oxygen depleted tardigrades, while tardigrades in cryobiosis may have a partly contracted body. Importantly, true cryobionts seem to lack a lower lethal temperature. Diapause in the form of encystment and cyclomorphosis implicate cyclic changes in the morphology and physiology of the tardigrades and, noteworthy, are directly related to the molting process. The hatching of resting eggs requires an environmental cue such as rehydration after a period of desiccation. In addition, tardigrade eggs may also enter any of the cryptobiosis forms endured by adults. Active state tardigrades can be extremely tolerant to environmental stress, osmoregulating when facing large fluctuation in external salinity, avoiding freezing by supercooling and handling extreme levels of ionizing radiation. Interestingly, however, tardigrades are sensitive to high temperatures and even the otherwise highly resistant tun, seems to have a restricted timeframe for high temperature tolerance.

I count five, in addition to the tun. No wonder the tardigrave has survived our entire eon!

[3] From the Online Etymology Dictionary, tun (n.) Large cask, especially one for wine, ale, or beer, Old English tunne tun, cask, barrel, a general North Sea Germanic word (compare Old Frisian tunne, Middle Dutch tonne, Old High German tunna, German tonne), also found in Medieval Latin tunna (9c.) and Old French tonne (diminutive tonneau); perhaps from a Celtic source (compare Middle Irish, Gaelic tunna, Old Irish toun hide, skin)

[4] Unsettlingly, because of what we hear about billionaires thirst for blood, tardigrades are being investigated to see if one of the sugars they manufacture for their glass armor can be used to help store dehydrated blood for long periods.

[5] I read, but could not find again, a professors story of how they gave a student the project of finding a new species of tardigrade, which they did, then gave it a scientific name, and then published a paper on it. Learning, as opposed to credentialing.
By Karina Silvotti

Like many immigrants, Ive worked throughout the pandemic to keep my family afloat. Im an essential worker. I work in a supermarket in Elizabeth as a cashier. During the worst months of the pandemic, when everyone around us was getting sick, I worked every day. I worried night and day that I would get sick, or worse, bring the virus home to my husband and three kids. I have a pre-existing condition and I didnt think I would survive COVID-19 if I became ill.

I didnt have the choice to stay home if I felt at risk or nervous about my health. Because of my immigration status, Im ineligible for unemployment and the stimulus payments. Its frustrating to be left behind from a system Ive contributed to every week since I started working at the grocery store five years ago. In each of my paychecks, I pay into unemployment. But I could never collect if I lost my job. I also have paid my taxes every year since I came with my family from Uruguay, eight years ago.

My husband lost his job in construction during the shutdown and we had to survive on my wages alone. We struggled to make ends meet. I became the sole provider for our family. Without the stimulus check and without his income or any unemployment it was difficult to pay rent or to keep up with bills.

Over Thanksgiving, when we wanted to have a meal together, it was difficult to have enough food to go around. Presents were scarce for Christmas. We were scrambling just to pay the rent and pay for my medication, which I need to take every day.

My work at the grocery store during the pandemic has helped the rest of the state to stay at home and quarantine. I fed so many during the pandemic, but when my family was suffering, no one provided for us.

Im not alone. A half-million immigrants in New Jersey  about half of whom are essential workers who have done the work to clean, cook and prepare our food during the pandemic  are excluded from all aid. Over the past 10 years, undocumented immigrants have contributed more than $1 billion to our unemployment system. Every year we pay more than $ billion in federal taxes and nearly $600 million in state and local taxes. But we havent received any relief.

When Im not working, I have been organizing a campaign to push for COVID-19 relief for immigrants and other excluded workers like me. We have held more than 30 rallies up and down the state. Weve met with dozens of members of Congress and state legislators, organized call-in days and reached more than 100,000 Latino voters to urge them to call their representatives to demand relief. But still, a year later, we have nothing.

This week, Im joining a fast lead by immigrant essential workers like me to demand relief. We cant go on like this  now, for more than a year. You could say that Ive been hungry for a year  and Im making this sacrifice this week because I want to show our state what we are willing to give to have our humanity, our work and our dignity recognized.

Karina Silvotti is an immigrant essential worker from Elizabeth. She started a multi-day fast/hunger strike last week along with a dozen other immigrant essential workers in New Jersey.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Heres how to submit an op-ed or Letter to the Editor. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
The on Sunday questioned two personal staffers of former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in connection with the allegations of corruption levelled against him by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, officials said.

Deshmukh's personal assistant Kundan Shinde and personal secretary Sanjeev Palande were asked to appear before the team in connection with its ongoing preliminary enquiry (PE) into the case following directives of the Bombay High Court, they said.

Both of them were being questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at the DRDO guest house in suburban Santacruz, the officials said.

Singh had in a letter alleged that Palande was present when Deshmukh allegedly asked suspended cop Sachin Waze to allegedly extort over Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants of Mumbai, they said.

Waze, who was arrested last month by the Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the case of an explosives-laden SUV found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's house, in his statement had reportedly claimed Shinde was present during one such conversation.

The agency started its preliminary enquiry into the allegations of bribery against Deshmukh on Tuesday on the orders of the high court.

It sent a team of officers from Delhi to Mumbai to carry out the probe.

The has so far recorded statements of Param Bir Singh, currently posted as the Director General of state Home Guards, Sachin Waze, DCP Raju Bhujbal, ACP Sanjay Patil, advocate Jayshree Patil, a petitioner, and hotel owner Mahesh Shetty.

Singh was shifted from the post of Mumbai police commissioner to the Home Guards department on March 17.

Later, he filed a petition in the HC seeking a CBI probe against Deshmukh, alleging the NCP leader had asked Waze and other police officers to extort Rs 100 crore from restaurants and bars in Mumbai.

Deshmukh, who has denied the allegations, resigned from the cabinet on April 5 after the HC order.

(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 industry admits the vicious circle where high production costs, including high remuneration to top actors, forces it to recover from the fans by charging them high and if there is a stipulation on admission rates, it will certainly reduce production costs as the filmmakers, actors and exhibitors will be aware of their limitations.  Representational image/AFP

VIJAYAWADA: The state governments decision to disallow screening of special premier shows with enhanced ticket rates is expected to revolutionise the Telugu film industry as it is likely to benefit movie-goers who can watch films at regular prices and also help reduce production costs in the long run.

The state government issued an order recently fixing rates of admission and other related issues in single theatres and multiplexes. It fixed the highest rate per seat at Rs 250 for premium class in a multiplex in municipal corporation area and a minimum of Rs five per seat in economy class in gram panchayat area.

Though the film industry welcomed the state governments gesture on the issue, it wanted the government to look into other aspects to help the industry to sustain at a time when costs were escalating.

The industry is of the opinion that benefit shows of popular actors are being permitted to be screened with a limit on ticket price like Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru during weekends and as only a very few actors enjoy such a privilege, the industry wants such a practice to be continued with reasonable limits. The industry also wants the state government to address other issues like piracy as it was causing huge revenue losses.

They opine that even if screening of films in theatres is regulated with regard to benefit shows and fixed rates of admission, regulation on alternate platforms like OTT should also be taken care of.

The industry admits the vicious circle where high production costs, including high remuneration to top actors, forces it to recover from the fans by charging them high and if there is a stipulation on admission rates, it will certainly reduce production costs as the filmmakers, actors and exhibitors will be aware of their limitations.

Telugu Film Chamber secretary K.L Damodar Prasad said, Though we offer a guarded welcome to APs move to impose curbs on screening premier shows and charging the fans more, we appeal to it to be flexible in certain aspects and address several other issues also to make the film industry thrive.
While Eskom is currently slated to pay low tariffs for electricity from Karpowerships three vessels, this could fluctuate wildly over the course of the next 20 years  potentially resulting in a massive rise in the cost of electricity from these units.

This is according economist Mike Schussler, who explained to the City Press that the price of electricity from these ships will change in accordance with the international price of liquefied natural gas and the rand/dollar exchange rate.

Since the contract is for 20 years, what is now a cost-effective project could therefore become a massive nightmare for consumers down the line.

Schussler highlighted how a similar situation happened with an aluminium smelter at Richards Bay.

The cost of this power was linked to the price of aluminium on the London Stock Exchange, as well as to international exchange rates and other foreign considerations.

Independent analyst Ryk de Klerk calculated in 2020 that Eskom had incurred R15 billion in losses since 2013 due to the above aluminium smelter situation.

Schussler is worried that the powerships could present the same problem in the long-term.

A fast, effective, reliable solution

Karpowership advertises its ships as a fast, flexible, reliable solution to energy supply needs.

These ships will also be costly, as the CSIR calculated that South Africa could pay up to R218 billion across its 20-year contract with the energy company.

Experts have criticised the length of this contract.

That the South African government would procure one [powership] for 20 years speaks to the depths of the countrys power crisis, and questionable long-term planning in light of dropping renewables costs, said Antoine Vagneur-Jones, an analyst at BNEFs energy transition policy team for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Vagneur-Jones said that most similar contracts have spanned no longer than 10 years.

In response to queries over the variable cost of internationally-sourced liquefied natural gas, Powership said: Costs are kept low by Karpowerships reach into the LNG market and an exclusive, long-term deal with Shell.

Department of Mineral Resources and Energy Deputy Director General, Jacob Mbele, also told energy expert Chris Yelland that government hopes to source liquified natural gas in South Africa over the course of the contract, which would reduce costs significantly.

Yes, we currently dont have gas in South Africa. But there are explorations that are happening, and there are findings. It is likely that, in the future, the gas for these powerships will come from local fields, said Mbele.

When local gas becomes available, I can see a situation where this local gas will become the cheapest option, because it will be sourced closest to where it will be required and used.

How powerships will fight load-shedding

Karpowership SA will dock its powerships at Coega, Richards Bay, and Saldanha, and this will provide a combined 1,200MW of ship-to-shore electricity.

Internationally-sourced liquified natural gas will be channeled into generators on the powerships to produce electricity.

The power is fed directly into the transmission network from an onboard high voltage substation.

These powerships are envisioned to be a key part of providing sufficient power to the troubled South African energy grid.
The wealthy American behind the scandalous naked Dubai photoshoot could be jailed for up to 18 months in the UAE.

And the models in the shoot, from Ukraine, are still in detention waiting to be deported, say reports in Kiev.

Vitaliy Grechin, 41, is believed to be in custody despite earlier reports that he had left the United Arab Emirates, according to Segodnya newspaper.

The Kiev-based US passport holder could face one a half years in jail, said the outlet citing its own sources.

Meanwhile his luxury apartment in the Ukrainian capital was searched by law enforcement on suspicion that it was used as a porn studio, reported TSN.

Grechin has been pictured with a string of famous names including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, George Clooney, Sylvester Stallone, and Viktor Yanukovych junior, late son of the former Ukrainian president.

The Ukrainian reports say 11 models are expected to be deported 'soon' but the exact timing is not known.

If so, this is seen as lenient treatment because under Sharia law they could have been jailed for six months for offending public morality.

The Kiev-based US passport holder could face one a half years in jail, said the outlet citing its own sources

A twelfth model has been diagnosed as suffering from Covid-19 and her departure will be delayed, said Segodnya.

A Russian IT company boss Alexey Kontsov, 33, allegedly involved in the balcony picture, also remains in detention in Dubai.

Grechin has been pictured with a string of famous names including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, George Clooney, Sylvester Stallone, and Viktor Yanukovych junior, late son of the former Ukrainian president

Another eight Ukrainian women were allowed to fly home but have not spoken about the video and photographs which sparked an international incident.

One said: 'I was told not to show my face for a while, or it will be worse.

'All the girls are in fear now.'

Separately a report said that a number of the group of models in Dubai had refused to undress for the naked shoot.

A picture shows Grechin playing the piano in the Dubai apartment surrounded by 21 naked women in the apartment where the offending pictures and footage were made.

Meanwhile, an associate of Grechin's, French millionaire Stephane Clavel, 44, has denied being present in Dubai for the shoot.

'I know some of the girls, not all who were there, but some of them,' he admitted to TSN.

'We are friends. They were at my birthday party in Dubai.'

His birthday was in January, and he said Grechin had invited him to last week's event - but he did not go.

Pictured: The models standing on a balcony in Dubai for a photoshoot

Pictured: Scantily clad models pose for a photoshoot with Vitaliy Grechin

'I know Grechin, he has a fetish related to photos, he loves to take millions of photos,' he said.

'He probably gave a bit of alcohol to girls, so they were more sexy, they caught the courage, and ended up naked on the balcony, which is prohibited in Dubai.'

TSN reported that Clavel's apartment in Kyiv was also visited by police who broke the doors to conduct a search.

Vitaliy Grechin poses with Barak Obama in 2011

Vitaliy Grechin with George Clooney

Vitaliy Grechin with Sylvester Stallone

A Russian photographer who has worked with Grechin denied he was a 'sex giant'.

Sergey Lenin - who also denied being on the Dubai trip - said Grechin was a 'muddy person - but he is very smart and original.

'His actions do not always lend themselves to logic.'

Sergey Lenin - who also denied being on the Dubai trip - said Grechin was a 'muddy person - but he is very smart and original

He was 'not a sex giant' but was 'a deeply lonely person'.

'I sent him a screenshot of this story with a caption: 'Dude, you're famous now', but I did not get any reply.'

Model Marianna Fedchuk, 21, who returned to Kyiv from Dubai, revealed her friend Olga Tatar, 23, had also been on the trip.
Brandon Bragg, 28, has been sentenced to serve two years in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a weapon.

Bragg appeared before Judge Travis McDonough.

Prosecutors said on Oct. 1, 2019, Chattanooga Police Gang Unit investigators and an ATF agent were in the 900 block of Dodson Avenue when they spotted a white Dodge Ram that matched the description of a vehicle that had evaded police a few days earlier.

It was at a gas station and they followed it to 2301 Milne St. Bragg and another male exited the truck.

Prosecutors said when the men were asked if they had any guns after noticing a bulge in Bragg's front pocket. They said Bragg raised his arm, then began to run. They said while he was running he began to pull a gun out of his pocket.

He was then tased and the gun went sliding across the street.

It was found to be a Springfield XD9 9 mm.

Bragg had a previous robbery conviction.

The sentence is concurrent to several cases Bragg is facing in General Sessions Court and consecutive to other Sessions cases.
New Delhi: Actor Sonu Sood recently took to Twitter to appeal for the cancellation of offline board exams 2021. He also asked his followers to support students who are forced to give their board exams in person.

The actor expressed his concern over students doing offline exams at a time when COVID-19 cases are surging all over the country.

In his recent tweet on Sunday (April 11), he wrote, "I request everyone to support students who are forced to appear for offline board exams in these tough times. With the number of cases rising to 145k a day I feel there should be an internal assessment method to promote them rather than risking so many lives. #cancelboardexam2021"

Take a look at his appeal to cancel the board exams 2021:

I request everyone to support students who are forced to appear for offline board exams in these tough times. With the number of cases rising to 145k a day I feel there should be an internal assessment method to promote them rather than risking so many lives. #cancelboardexam2021 pic.twitter.com/Taq38B0811  sonu sood (@SonuSood) April 11, 2021

According to the actor, our country's healthcare system or students are not ready for offline exams at the moment.

Giving examples of countries like Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Kuwait, Sonu said, "When Saudi had 600 cases, exams were cancelled. When Mexico had 1300 cases, exams got cancelled, Kuwait had 1500 cases and exams were cancelled. India has 1,45,000 cases and we are still thinking of conducting exams which is unfair."

The Dabangg actor added, "I think there should be some alternate mode of assessment. I think we should conduct an internal assessment to support the students. I don't think offline exams are right at this time when we are talking about lockdowns. In the midst of that, having offline exams is very very unfair."

On Wednesday (April 7), Sonu Sood had received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination as announced by him on Twitter and later, urged the government to start the vaccination drive for people as young as 25.

The actor had risen to the headlines since last year when he took it upon himself to arrange transportation for stranded migrant labourers in big cities during the nationwide lockdown.

Since then Sonu has been constantly involved in humanitarian work. Last year, he launched a website called Pravasi Rojgar to help migrant workers find employment amid the pandemic. Most recently, he launched a healthcare initiative Ilaaj India on February 19, to provide medical assistance to needy patients.
When the U.S. House in March 2019 passed far-reaching ethics legislation to expand voter registration, mandate that presidential candidates release their tax returns, end partisan gerrymandering, and match small-dollar donations to candidates, New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew co-sponsored the bill and voted yes.

This reform bill will clean up corruption in Washington, restore our democracy, and promote bipartisanship, Van Drew said at the time. We need to restore our democracy to a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

When the House passed a near-identical bill last month after the first one failed in the Senate, Van Drew voted no.

We were warned for years about the rise of socialism, Van Drew said on the House floor. Here it is served on a platter, using your money to pay for politicians campaigns.

This bill puts Washington, D.C., in charge of our states elections and how those elections are run.

The bill hadnt changed. Van Drews views of it did, along with his party affiliation. He was a co-sponsor when he was a Democrat, and vehemently opposed it after switching parties to become a Republican.

Van Drew, who represents New Jerseys 2nd congressional district, also reversed course on legislation to expand background checks for gun purchases, to allow dreamers to remain in the country legally, and to ban discrimination against LGBTQ Americans.

These were among the top legislative priorities of the newly minted House Democratic majority in 2019, and Van Drew co-sponsored every one.

There is a difference between bills that you vote on and bills that you co-sponsor, said John Froonjian, executive director of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University.

Sometimes you have to take one for the team and vote for a bill that you may not completely agree with. But its a different story when you cosponsor a bill. If the congressman cosponsors, he made a judgment at that time that this is what his district wants and it was good politics for him personally. You really wonder what happened since.

Van Drew, who switched parties after refusing to vote for then-President Donald Trumps first impeachment, did not respond to a dozen requests for comment made over two weeks.

From D.C. to Trenton to your town, the N.J. Politics newsletter brings the news right to your inbox. Sign up with your email here:





Even after joining the Republicans and being feted by Trump at a Wildwood rally, Van Drew still declared his independence from his new colleagues. He deviated from the GOP party line in 2020 more often than any House Republican except for Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Chris Smith, R-4th Dist.

Even this year, Van Drew was one of only three Republicans (Smith and Fitzpatrick were the others) to co-sponsor legislation ensuring equal pay for women. In 2019, Van Drew co-sponsored the bill as a Democrat and Smith was the only GOP lawmaker whose name was on the legislation.

But his South Jersey district was one of only two in the state where Trump received more than 50% of the vote (Smiths was the other). That helped him repel a well-financed challenge from educator Amy Kennedy of the iconic Democratic political family in one of the nations hottest congressional races.

After the election, Van Drew joined failed efforts by a majority of House Republicans and supported Trumps bogus claims of voter fraud by asking the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out millions of votes and overturn the presidential election, and then by voting to reject state-certified electoral votes cast for Joe Biden on Jan. 6 after the Capitol insurrection by Trump supporters.(Smith opposed both efforts.)

Hes clearly putting party ahead of everything, which he sees as a path towards retaining his seat, said Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor and director of Rutgers Universitys Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling.

Maybe he decided the district has turned more conservative, more Republican and more Trumpy, Froonjian said.

Republicans praised Van Drew, with state GOP Executive Director Tom Szymanski touting the outstanding job he is doing fighting for South Jersey families and small businesses.

Whatever Van Drew is doing appears to be working, political observers said. When the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last week announced its initial list of House Republicans it hopes to oust in 2022, Van Drews name was missing.

House Democrats know they cant beat Jeff Van Drew, said Samantha Bullock, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

New Jersey State Democrats saw it differently.

Its no surprise that Jeff Van Drew has continued to sell out his constituents by reversing his positions on these crucial issues to curry favor with the far right, QAnon wing of the Republican Party that he is increasingly aligning himself with, state Democratic spokesman Philip Swibinski said.

Its the same old story with Van Drew  he only cares about himself and his own political expediency, and New Jersey Democrats are working hard to expose him for the fraud he is and defeat him in 2022.

Republican consultant Mike DuHaime said Van Drews votes on specific bills may not matter to the constituents hes represented for decades in Trenton and Washington.

He clearly has his own brand, DuHaime said. He won fairly comfortably. All the guy does is win, no matter which party hes in. Given the slim majority the Democrats have in Congress, Im not surprised they dont want to waste money against a guy who has proven that neither party can beat him in a general election.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him at @JDSalant.

Start your day with the latest from Trenton, D.C. and your town. Get the N.J. Politics newsletter now.
Political pundits have argued that one of the factors that worked against Atiku is the constant defection as many have seen him as someone who they cant trust with their votes because he is desperate to get into office. Is Matawalle about to set a record in this regard?

Barring a last-minute change of plan, Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State, who got his seat under the banner of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), will defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Although the governor has not come out publicly to state his intention, reports are flying all over that he is on his way to the ruling party.

As the election season is drawing near, defections of heavyweights are expected. This is what will make the election process interesting but moving over to the ruling party may just be political suicide for Matawalle and here are some reasons.

Supreme Court Verdict

On May 24, 2019, the Supreme Court voided all votes cast for the All Progressives Congress (APC). In its judgement, the panel, headed by Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Tanko Muhammad, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recongise candidates of the political parties that came second to take over as the duly elected contestants.

Prior to the verdict, INEC had declared the APC governorship candidate, Muktar Idris, as winner of the election, saying he polled 534,541 votes to defeat Matawalle who garnered 189,452 ballots.

In compliance with the apex courts verdict, Matawalle was sworn in as governor on May 29, 2019. Since the PDP was considered winner of the election by the court, crossing over to the APC could make Matawalle lose his seat because the court did not recognise APC as the winner of the election. Cross over to APC could set the tone for legal battles that may leave him high and dry in the end.

APC Did Not Conduct Any Primary Election In 2019

The basis upon which the Supreme Court voided the votes of the APC in the election is its failure to conduct a primary election. Internal crisis in the party had made it impossible for the APC to conduct its primaries within the period that INEC stipulated. The controversy among leaders of the party in the State led to the inability to hold the primaries.

While Governor Abdulaziz Yaris faction claimed they held congresses and produced candidates, Senator Kabiru Marafas faction held that no primary held.

INEC had disqualified the party from the election but allowed APC participate after a High Court sitting in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital, ruled that the governing party actually conducted primaries and should be allowed to present candidates. But the Supreme Court eventually overruled the lower court by voiding APC votes and Matawalle benefitted from this. Turning his back on the process through defection is pure contradiction and could be seen as undermining the decision of the Supreme Court, which he has benefited from.

Crisis In APC

Crossing over to the APC can be seen as moving from frypan to fire. Although it seems as if the gladiators in the party have sheathed their swords, there are indications that they may return to the warring path as we move closer to the 2023 election. Yari and Marafa are major stakeholders in the party and there is no doubt that they are plotting to use the next general election to stage a comeback as both men are currently out of power.

Matawalle, who is more or less a king in the PDP, will find it hard to take the reins of the party under APC. Yes, the leadership of the party may recognise him, being the governor but the influence of Yari and Marafa can never be underestimated. Imagine a situation where both of them team up against him in the party, it will be very difficult for him to get things done his way. No governor wants to depend on any party member to have their way. All of them want to be fully in charge of their parties. The PDP currently offers him a free hand but it will be worse under APC.

Image of the APC

The APC, which is in charge of the country, is currently at its lowest ebb on many grounds, especially on issues of insecurity and Zamfara is one of the worse hit. Theres hardly any week without cases of banditry and kidnapping and theres no gainsaying the goodwill that the APC enjoyed is fast eroding. Many have said it publicly that they regret voting for the party and would look the other way round in 2023. On the other hand, the PDP has been building on the weakness of the APC to warm its way into the heart of Nigerians.

In Zamfara, the ban on mining and declaration of the state as a no-fly zone angered many stakeholders, including Matawalle. The people expected the Federal Government to take a more proactive measure but the action worsened their plight and they have not minced words in rejecting it. As it stands now, voters are now waiting to express their anger with the party, which has not protected them as they expected. Even if Matawalle survives defection, he may still be shown the way out in 2023.

The Atiku Factor

ADVERTISEMENT

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is a strong man in Nigerian politics, no doubt about that. He has been in the presidential race since 1993 when he lost the ticket of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Atiku is vast and he has succeeded as a businessman and and to a great extent, a politician. But despite several attempts to get into the highest office in the land, he has not succeeded.

One of the factors that has worked against him is cross-carpeting. Atiku lost the 2007 election under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). In 2011, he lost the bid to clinch the PDP ticket and in 2014, Buhari defeated him at the APC presidential primary. In 2019, he ran against Buhari as candidate of the PDP, but lost.

Political pundits have argued that one of the factors that worked against Atiku is the constant defection as many have seen him as someone who they cant trust with their votes because he is desperate to get into office. Is Matawalle about to set a record in this regard?

Sheriff Lawal writes from Abuja.
A distraught woman is pleading with thieves who broke into her car to return an urn containing her late mother's ashes.

The woman, from Richmond in inner Melbourne, issued the public appeal after realising her belongings had been taken.

Her red Mazda 3 sedan was parked at the rear of a home on Murphy Street from 7pm on Friday.

She went back to the car about midday on Saturday to find everything she left inside had been taken.

The ashes were inside a small blue container which itself was within a larger white box. Police are investigating the matter and released a picture of the urn in the hopes that members of the public might recognise it

The ashes were inside a small blue container which itself was within a larger white box.

Also stolen was a box of photos which are irreplaceable.

Several other items of lesser note were also missing.

The woman launched a public appeal begging the thieves to return the ashes and pictures.

'If you took them (or know who did), I don't care about miscellaneous things. Keep them,' she posted in a Richmond neighbourhood Facebook page on Sunday.

Her red Mazda 3 sedan (stock image) was parked at the rear of a home on Murphy Street from 7pm on Friday

'But please return my mum's ashes and photos, I'm begging you!'

The woman said she is 'absolutely distraught' by the thought of never seeing them again.

Police are investigating the matter and released a picture of the urn in the hopes that members of the public might recognise it.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
Old Harpas sweet, easy-going disposition made her a wonderful riding horse, and with her unflappable personality she also excelled at packing or pulling in harness, even if her load was sometimes unusual.
In his latest comments on Portland, HBOs Bill Maher touched on the topic of police, and referred to the departure of Portland police officers as a cautionary tale, warning, We do not want to live in a world without police. Then its The Purge every night.

During the most recent episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, the host said he was heartened to see members of law enforcement testify in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, and be willing to criticize Chauvin for kneeling on the neck of George Floyd for more than nine minutes. Maher was encouraged, he said, to see police finally testifying against their own.

One of Mahers guests on the Real Time panel, Reihan Salam, author and president of The Manhattan Institute, said he was concerned by the recent increase in crime in a lot of communities, including a surge of shootings, and of murders. Salam said that in years past, police had helped play a role in helping bring down the rate of dangerous, scary crime in his Brooklyn community. But now, he said, a generation of police who joined departments in the mid-1990s are retiring, sooner than they would have otherwise, indicating a lack of support for police as part of the reason for that.

Maher then brought up Portland, where he said there was an exodus of police. I mean, if youre one of those people who wants antifa to get results, you win....It may not be the one you want. But 115 police officers have left in Portland, Maher went on to say. Thats a lot, in a city that size.

(You can stream Real TIme With Bill Maher on HBO Max)

As The Oregonian/OregonLive has reported, 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.

In the Oregonian/OregonLive story, some portions of police exit interviews are quoted. Maher was apparently referring to that report when he said that in Portland, one retired detective said, The community shows zero support. The mayor and the council ignore actual facts on crime. 

Maher then said, Portland, its a cautionary tale, adding, Cause we do not want to live in a world without police. Then its The Purge every night, alluding to the horror franchise in which, for a time, crime is legal.

The other guest on the Real Time panel, author and political strategist Heather McGhee, said, I think we want to live in a world where most of the things that lead to police interactions are stopped way beforehand.

Conservative Fox News Channel hosts such as Sean Hannity have frequently singled out Portland for criticism, blasting leaders for allowing the city to be, as Hannity said in one segment on his show last year, ripped apart by a group of malicious so-called anarchists.

The Fox News website picked up Mahers comments about Portland on the recent Real Time episode. Mahers remarks have also generated their own comments from Twitter users.

Liberals love Bill Maher until he makes statements like this. Then they hate him and want him canceled, one user wrote.

Bill Maher dumping on Portland was so Hannity, wrote another.

Bill Maher is delusional, in his claim that living in Portland is like The Purge night after night, another user wrote. How do I know? I hear reports almost daily from people who live & work in the city -> no purging going on, just boring ol life as usual.

More of our coverage:

Portland political violence among Bill Mahers Real Time post-Trump topics

Subscribe to our free weekly What to Watch newsletter. Email:



-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist
Chancellor Rishi Sunak was under fresh scrutiny last night over the design of the Government's pandemic loan scheme that gave access to collapsed financier Greensill Capital.

Greensill, which was advised by David Cameron and run by Lex Greensill, was accredited to provide loans of up to 50million to struggling firms under a multi-billion-pound taxpayer-backed emergency strategy overseen by the British Business Bank.

But it also wanted access to a larger company scheme which provided up to 1billion to Blue Chip companies, including British Airways, Rolls-Royce and Burberry.

Under fresh scrutiny: Chancellor Rishi Sunak faces claims that he pushed officials to explore a proposal to redesign a pandemic loan scheme, so that collapsed financier Greensill Capital might avoid losses from loans that did not get repaid

It was alleged this weekend that Treasury officials considered redesigning the Blue Chip scheme so Greensill might avoid losses from loans that did not get repaid.

A report in The Times said Sunak, who was lobbied by Cameron as a paid Greensill adviser, pushed officials to explore a proposal over a three-month period.

The British Business Bank is a state-owned lender responsible for overseeing the Government's smaller emergency loan schemes.

Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds has dispatched a letter  seen by The Mail on Sunday  to the bank's chief executive, Catherine Lewis La Torre, demanding to know how Greensill became involved with lending just months before it collapsed and what changes were made to ease its access to the scheme.

Greensill was one of just three non-bank lenders allowed to hand out loans to struggling firms under the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS), which is 80 per cent backed by taxpayers if borrowers default.

The Chancellor said last week the Treasury had 'no role and was not involved in the accreditation decision for Greensill Capital'. It said the CLBILS was 'run independently' by the British Business Bank and the 'Treasury has no involvement in standard accreditation decisions'.

Demanding answers: Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds has written to the British Business Bank to ask how Greensill became involved with lending just months before it collapsed

The decision to accredit Greensill Capital in June last year came just as one of its biggest customers, Liberty Steel, was running into trouble. Greensill Capital collapsed last month and Liberty, run by Sanjeev Gupta, is still scrambling for cash.

Insolvency experts at Deloitte were this weekend understood to be working on a possible Government rescue plan should Liberty fail, sources said. Deloitte declined to comment.

Greensill Capital was allowed to dish out loans of up to 50million under the CLBILS scheme, which permitted banks to handle loans of up to 200million. It recently emerged that Cameron lobbied the Government last year to increase Greensill Capital's access to the scheme. The Government rejected the request.

Cameron had also previously asked the Government to give Greensill Capital access to the Blue Chip lending platform, the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF), which allowed the Bank of England to supply finance to large firms. This request was also rejected.

Reports also allege that Greensill Capital then flouted the rules by providing eight separate 50million taxpayer-guaranteed loans to firms connected to Gupta's GFG Alliance.

As a result, the British Business Bank removed the taxpayer guarantee on the loans and launched an investigation.

Greensill Capital focused on supply chain finance and earned its fees by helping suppliers receive payments quickly.

Sunak has confirmed that David Cameron had reached out informally by telephone to him on the matter of Greensill Capital's access to the CCFF

Liberty Steel is searching for finance to stay afloat after the collapse of Greensill Capital, and after the Government rejected a 170million bailout plea. Last week, Sunak confirmed Cameron had lobbied him and other senior Ministers for Greensill to access emergency loan schemes.

Sunak said: 'I can confirm David Cameron reached out informally by telephone to me, and to the Economic Secretary and the Financial Secretary, on the matter of Greensill Capital's access to the CCFF.'

The Government revealed in response to a Freedom of Information request that Sunak texted Cameron about the CCFF in April last year.

One said: 'Hi David, apologies for the delay. I think the proposals in the end did require a change to the Market Notice but I have pushed the team to explore an alternative with the Bank that might work. No guarantees, but the Bank are currently looking at it and Charles should be in touch. Best, Rishi.'

He was referring to Charles Roxburgh, a senior civil servant in the Treasury.

'We need to get to the bottom of this,' Dodds said. 'The Chancellor is desperately trying to wash his hands of the decision to put hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayer money in the hands of an unregulated lending firm with links to a former Conservative PM. The collapse of Greensill Capital has put public money and jobs at risk, and the public deserve to understand why this has happened.'

Liberty Steel is searching for finance to stay afloat after the collapse of Greensill Capital, and after the Government rejected a 170million bailout plea

In her letter, Dodds has asked La Torre to confirm the Treasury had no influence in Greensill's accreditation decision, if any Treasury officials contacted the Bank about Greensill's accreditation and if any of Greensill's representatives had a role in setting the accreditation process.

The letter asked the British Business Bank 'to explain why Greensill Capital was accredited to one major Government loan scheme after it had already been turned down for another'.

She added: 'Did any external parties, including any representatives from Greensill Capital, play any role or input in any way to the process by which the criteria for accreditation to the CLBILS scheme were set?'

And she asked that the Bank 'confirm that the decision to accredit Greensill Capital was taken by the British Business Bank, entirely independently of the Treasury and without any input from Treasury officials'.

She also asked for the bank to reveal which companies Greensill supported through the scheme, and if it was just Gupta's Liberty Steel or his sprawling global steel company GFG Alliance.

Dodds added: 'The Treasury set the rules for the scheme and Sunak is ultimately accountable for the money lent through it.

'This is not his money. It's public money. We need to know if he's looking after it.'

The British Business Bank declined to comment.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 00:13:34|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Chinese Ambassador to Brunei Yu Hong (L) presents an award to a participant during the awards ceremony of the Logo Design Competition for the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Brunei and China in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, on April 10, 2021. China and Brunei saw their bilateral trade volume rise 72.5 percent last year, ranking top among China's ASEAN partners, Chinese Ambassador to Brunei Yu Hong said on Saturday. (Photo by Jeffrey Wong/Xinhua)

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, April 10 (Xinhua) -- China and Brunei saw their bilateral trade volume rise 72.5 percent last year, ranking top among China's ASEAN partners, Chinese Ambassador to Brunei Yu Hong said on Saturday.

During the awards ceremony of the Logo Design Competition for the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Brunei and China, Yu said that China and Brunei enjoy a long history of friendly exchanges and a good relationship that dates back to as early as 2000 years ago when the Maritime Silk Road brought the two peoples together.

"On Sept. 30, 1991, our two countries officially established diplomatic relations, heralding a new chapter of bilateral friendship," the ambassador said.

"The past 30 years have witnessed deepening cooperation and closer ties between the two countries. Bilateral trade volume increased from 719 million U.S. dollars in 2016 to 1.91 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. In particular, bilateral cooperation grew against all the odds in 2020, with trade volume up by 72.5 percent, ranking first among ASEAN countries," she said.

China's investment in Brunei covers a multitude of areas, which has not only contributed to oil and gas downstream industries, and improvement of port operation efficiency and local employment, but also help boost Brunei's efforts in achieving the targets of economic diversification, digital Brunei and healthy Brunei, the ambassador added.

"Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries have shown sympathy and support to each other and carried out effective cooperation in epidemic control. When most countries were facing severe vaccine shortages, China donated vaccines to Brunei despite its strong domestic demand, which fully reflects the solidarity and profound friendship between our two countries," Yu said.

"Through the joint efforts of both sides, the China-Brunei relationship has become a model of equality and mutual benefit between large and small countries," the ambassador said. Enditem
A development for young homeless people consisting of a dozen apartments near the Bundle of Sticks, on the Newbridge side of Naas, has been completed.

It is not known when exactly the first resident will move in, but it is likely to be early May.

Kildare County Council approved the six year long project which embraced the refurbishing of an existing dwelling and stables into a training facility with ancillary accommodation which will include an office, meeting rooms, training facilities, staff accommodation and games room with a single storey extension off the existing dwelling to incorporate kitchen/dining facilities.

The original planning application was modified to change the site entrance from the east side to the west side of the site as well as moving the location of the car park.

The building, known as Jigginstown Manor, occupies about one acre but the total site takes up about six acres.

Each studio apartment measures 40 square feet, with individual kitchen and showers and all of the units will be furnished.

Aims

The project was launched by Homeless Care, a charity established in Naas in 2014 to provide care and facilities for young adults primarily in the age bracket of 18-25 years (though in some instances the clients may be older than 25).

It was set up by Naas business people including engineer John Cradock, former ESB chief Padraig McManus, former FBD branch manager Tim O'Connell and Gerry Prendergast, who was associated with the Millennium Park development.

The group has depended on donations and fundraising to get the project of the ground and the final overall cost is about 3.8m, which was about 1m higher than an early estimate.

The intention from the outset was that when it opened it would be run by a licensee, likely to be a specialist charity organisation. Homeless Care was in discussions with three potential partners. County Wicklow-based Tiglin, with which Naas businessman Aubrey McCarthy is associated, was eventually appointed.

It was always planned to have the facility managed by a social care professional.

Mr Cradock told the Leader that while it is hoped that most of the people taking up places, for the most part 18 year olds leaving a care setting, will be from County Kildare, the intake will be managed by Tiglin.

Our role was to develop the facility. We dont see that we have the expertise to run it, said Mr Cradock.

Tiglins licence to run the centre lasts for three years. The facility will prepare those living there to return to the community.

The initiative will see that the young people who use the facility undergo training. This is in response to the fact that many people come out of State care aged 18 and are left to care for themselves.

In some cases they may have had 30 or 40 foster homes, said Mr Cradock.

Some 6,500 children are currently in foster care across Ireland and some 40% of these leave the foster care system without any training or direction about what faces themselves once they leave care.

Homeless Care was set up to help young adults who find themselves homeless after leaving State care, by providing facilities and training to enable them to reintegrate within the community.

The organisation bought the old farmhouse and outbuildings on six acres in September 2016.

There was an objection to the plan which cited the proximity to the public road adding that any access from the proposed development is extremely hazardous.

The objector also submitted that it is one of the busiest roadways in the Naas area caused by the confluence of traffic from Newbridge and traffic exiting from the M7 back in towards Naas.

Centre manager Dr Steve Bradley said the idea behind the centre is that it will be transitional.

The people coming here will be supported in many ways to make the next step in their lives.

It is not a long term housing project, the amount of time spent by an individual will be in the region of three to five years, he said.

Every resident will have their own front door and at the same time there will be a community within the site which, unlike some others, will not have a security presence.

Some of those arriving will need to learn to cook, some may be interested in vocational training while others will seek to study for the Leaving Certificate or to attend a third level institution  Dr Bradley has a link with Carlow IT and Tiglin has a long association with the college.

Whatever their needs are, we will work to support them and there will be social care staff on site 24 hours a day, he added.

He said that people living in County Kildare will be prioritised for places and discussions are ongoing about how this will be managed.
Pete Buttigieg walked back Sunday on his claim Joe Biden's infrastructure package would create 19 million jobs in American  clarifying the plan would still create jobs, but at a much lower number of 2.7 million.

Fox News host Chris Wallace asked President Biden's transportation secretary why he 'misled folks' by claiming the number was more than 16 million than what he is now sharing.

'You're right. I should have been more precise,' Buttigieg admitted.

Buttigieg claimed he meant to say that projections show the $2.5 trillion infrastructure bill would create nearly 2.7 million more jobs on top of the 16.3 million that would already be created without the package passing.

Wallace pushed Buttigieg on the claim, insisting there's a huge difference between the jobs numbers he shared last week to the ones he is now sharing on Sunday.

'It will create 2.7 million more jobs than if we don't do it and that's very important because there are people on this network and others saying with a straight face that this would somehow reduce the number of jobs,' Buttigieg argued in defense of his flip-flopping statistics.

In a fiery back-and-forth Sunday, Fox News' Chris Wallace pushed Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on why he 'misled' Americans by claiming Biden's infrastructure bill will create 19 million jobs when projections say it will create 2.7 million

He added: 'It's going to add jobs compared to doing nothing.'

'But would you agree that you and the president and Brian Deese, the economic advisor on this program last week, you all exaggerated the jobs impact?' Wallace didn't let up.

'Look, there are a lot of different analyses about just how many million jobs this is going to create,' Buttigieg deflected.

Last Sunday in an interview with NBC's 'Meet the Press,' Buttigieg claimed Moody's estimated Biden's massive plan would create 19 million jobs in America.

National Economic Council Director Brian Deese pushed the same talking point last week in an appearance on 'Fox News Sunday' with Wallace.

'Secretary, you're the one who cited Moody's Analytics as 19 million, and it's actually 2.7 million, which is a bunch, but it's not what you said,' Wallace said when Buttigieg tried to bring up other analyses.

'It's part of a scenario that Moody says will create 19 million jobs, but the bottom line is it's going to add jobs and this is a direct refutation of people who are saying otherwise,' Buttigieg said.

'So yeah, you're right, I should be very precise. The difference in jobs that that particular analysis suggests is 2.7 million more. That is a great place to be,' he insisted.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department in Washington on April 5, 2021. (Alexander Drago/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Blinken Warns It Would Be Serious Mistake for Beijing to Attack Taiwan

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on April 11 that it would be a serious mistake for the Chinese regime to attack Taiwan and expressed real concern about Beijings growing intimidation against the island.

In an interview on NBCs Meet the Press, however, Blinken stopped short of saying whether the United States would respond militarily if the Chinese regime were to seize Taiwan by force, saying he wasnt going to get into hypotheticals.

All I can tell you is we have a serious commitment to Taiwan being able to defend itself, he said, referring to the United States obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide arms to the island for its self-defense. We have a serious commitment to peace and security in the Western Pacific.

In that context, it would be a serious mistake for anyone to try to change that status quo by force.

The Chinese regime, which sees self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, has in recent months been dialing up military aggression toward the island, which some analysts say is a test of the Biden administration to see whether it will take concrete action to respond. This year, the Chinese military has sent multiple aircraft into Taiwans air defense identification zone on a near-daily basis.

Blinken also criticized Beijings early handling of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, saying it didnt do what it needed to do. As a result of this failure, the virus got out of hand faster with much more egregious results than it might otherwise, he said.

The Chinese regime didnt do what it needed to do, which was to, in real time, give access to international experts, in real time to share information, in real time to provide real transparency, Blinken said.

The job now is to create a stronger global health security system to ensure this doesnt happen again, he said.

That means making a real commitment to transparency, to information sharing, to access for experts. It means strengthening the World Health Organization and reforming it so it can do that. And China has to play a part in that, Blinken said.

He emphasized that the world needs to get to the bottom of how the CCP virus originated to have the best shot possible at preventing it from happening again.

A recent report into the origins of the virus, prepared by a team of Chinese scientists and foreign experts assembled by the World Health Organization, left unanswered many questions relating to how the virus began its spread. It did, however, find that the possibility that the virus leaked from a lab was extremely unlikely.

After its release, the United States and 13 other countries expressed concerns about the report, pointing to the fact that the study was significantly delayed and lacked access to complete, original data and samples.

Previously, Blinken has stopped short of saying the Chinese regime should be held accountable for how it handled the CCP virus outbreak.

He also reiterated that the United States needs to bring the world together in speaking with one voice in condemning the Chinese regimes genocide against ethnic Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region. On top of that, the United States should make sure that American companies are not exporting technology thats being used to aid Beijings repression in the region, he said.

Responding to calls for a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics over its severe human rights abuses, Blinken said the United States and its allies are not currently focused on a boycott.

Were not there yet, Blinken said, of a possible boycott among Western allies. What we are focused on is talking, consulting closely with our allies and partners, listening to them, listening to concerns.
HMD reorganized its product lineup this week, arranging its products in letter-based categories. This is not the same alphabet that classic Nokia used (there are no N-series or E-series, not yet, at least), but they do form neat categories that make things easy to navigate.

We have prepared an overview of the phones because we have some questions to ask - namely, would you buy one of these and if yes, which one?

Nokia X20 and X10

X-series equals 5G. HMD is starting from the bottom end  this is true for the other two letter series well look at today as well  so, theres no true successor to its first-ever 5G phone, the Nokia 8.3.

The Nokia X20 and Nokia X10 are instead mid-rangers by price, closer to entry-level by features. The Snapdragon 480 chipset will raise many eyebrows, but the chip shares a lot of hardware with higher series (e.g. it has the Adreno 619 GPU of the 750G), so were willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.



Nokia X20  Nokia X10

But a plain LCD at 60Hz with no HDR, not even high brightness, that is a tougher pill to swallow. At least the two X-phones have Gorilla Glass protection on the front - GG5 for the X20 and GG3 for the X10. Anyway, the 4,470 mAh battery is good in terms of capacity, but 18W charging is slow for the 300 segment.

Thats right, the Nokia X20 will retail for 350, the X10 will go for 310. Samsung launched its first sub-300 5G phone earlier this year, the Galaxy A32 5G. At 280, it offers very similar hardware to the Nokia X10, though (crucially) it has a 720p+ display while the X10 has a 1080p+ panel. The same goes for the pricier A42 5G (though thats a Super AMOLED instead of LCD). Theres also the Moto G 5G, which can be found for around 250 with an S750G chip and 1080p screen.

However, the best thing about the X-series is clearly the 3 years of full support. That means OS updates, security patches and warranty. That last part is crucial, because while Samsung will supply 3 OS updates to a big part of its lineup, you still get up to two years of warranty (up to as it varies by region, e.g. its 1 year in India). Warranty wont help you if you drop your phone and break its screen, but still offers peace of mind for those who want off the upgrade treadmill.

The Nokia X20 has the better camera of the two X-phones, with a 64MP main module on the rear and 32MP on the front. The X10 has a 48MP main and 8MP front cameras. The two share the 5MP ultrawide cam (which we wish had at least an 8MP sensor).

But if its camera you want, realme will sell you a 108MP sensor for 300 with the Realme 8 Pro. If youre concerned about performance, the Poco F3 packs a Snapdragon 870 for the same price (with 5G connectivity to boot). And if its the software part that worries you, a OnePlus Nord N10 is worth a look.

What do you think of the Nokia X20 and X10? Are they phones you can buy and not worry about having to replace your phone for three years or will they be too old by 2024 to use, never mind the warranty?

Nokia G20 and G10

G-series equals entry-level Android phones. With 4G-only connectivity, 720p+ displays and MediaTek Helio chipsets from the bottom of the gaming series, they cant be anything but.



Nokia G20  Nokia G10

The Nokia G20 puts its best foot forward  its camera, which is the same as the X10. Not bad considering the phone is half the price, 160. As a reminder, this means 48MP main, 5MP ultrawide and 8MP selfie (and 2MP macro plus 2MP depth, but those are barely worth mentioning).

Also, the two G-phones have the largest batteries of any Nokia phone ever. At 5,050 mAh they are not exactly huge, but they promise 3-day battery life. We do wish they could charge at higher than 10W, though. Still, some prefer battery life over performance and charge over the night.

The Nokia G10 is in a tough spot, however. It is only 20 cheaper than its sibling, but that price cut decimates the camera department  the main module drops to 13 MP and the ultra wide goes away. Not to mention that you get less RAM and half the storage. The G10 has no business costing anywhere close to the G20 price tag.

HMD is promising 2 years of full support for the G-series, which is pretty good for this price segment. However, Nokia G20s Helio G35 will offer performance similar to the Galaxy A12, even though it should be much better on paper. Something like the Poco M3 has a huge performance advantage (and a 6,000 mAh battery to boot).

How do the Nokia G20 and G10 look to you  are they phones you can buy for yourself (or recommend to someone close to you) as something simple, reliable and affordable?

Nokia C20 and C10

C-series equals Android Go Edition. And cheap. The Nokia C20 and Nokia C10 are priced 90 and 75, respectively. We wont dive into their specs (theres not much to see), but well point out that there arent many full-blooded Android phones you can buy new for under 100.



Nokia C20  Nokia C10

Depending on where you live, there could be very few options. Or even none. The real question here is whether youd want to have a Nokia C20/C10 or one of the KaiOS models like the Nokia 8000 4G. That one is makes calls and can tether your laptop to an LTE connection, what more do you need? Because if its turn-by-turn navigation or web browsing then the KaiOS phones are out (the modern web just doesnt work on a tiny 240 x 320 px screen).
A Pretty Little Thing model with thousands of Instagram followers is a convicted drug dealer who was jailed for selling cocaine and heroin.

Rebecca Vieira, 25, regularly models outfits for fashion firms to her 166,000 followers on Instagram - where the mother-of-one describes herself as a 'public figure'.

Today she has spoken out after it was revealed she was jailed in 2019 for possessing cocaine and heroin with intent to supply.

Vieira, formerly known as Rebecca Marques, is currently dating former Love Island contestant and Blazing Squad member Marcel Somerville.

She says an ex pressured her into carrying the Class A drugs - before she was eventually caught by police in Merstham, Surrey, in 2019.

Rebecca Vieira, 25, was jailed in 2019 after she admitted to possession of cocaine and heroin with intent to supply

Since her release from prison in 2019, Vieira, formerly named Rebecca Marques, had modelled clothes for some of the UK's biggest brands on her Instagram page

Speaking to the Sunday People, the former star of MTV's Celebrity Bumps said: 'I kept quiet and took the punishment because I felt I had no other option. Thankfully, I was able to get away from that situation safely but I'm still having nightmares.

'I'm a stronger person now and encourage people to seek help when they need it rather than staying trapped and manipulated.'

In January 2019 Vieira admitted to two counts of possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply.

According to GetSurrey, she was stopped by police on the A23 in Merstham in September 2017, after she initially failed to stop for officers.

At the time of her conviction, Surrey Police said they found a 'large quantity of cash' along with two mobile phones and wraps of cocaine in the model's car near Merstham

Surrey Police told the paper they found 'a large quantity of cash and two mobile phones' along with individual wraps of cocaine.

She was jailed for 20 months in 2019, but was released early and returned to Instagram in November of that year.

Returning to the social media app, she posted a picture with the caption: 'What you feed grows, took some time to see the bigger picture.'

Since her release she has appeared on MTV's Celebrity Bumps and is currently dating former Love Island contestant and Blazing Squad member Marcel Somerville

Since her release she has appeared on MTV's Celebrity Bumps while pregnant with her son.

Vieira continues to post on Instagram modelling various clothing brands.

Last week she shared a family photo, writing: 'In the end all that matters is family and those who love you, things get thrown at you to break you but as long as you have a strong support system you can get through everything, Im forever grateful for my family and friends I call family.'
Early morning, Russian fighter jets shelled intensively the areas where ISIS/ Daesh are deployed, targeting al-Sukhnah desert in the eastern countryside of Homs, and at the administrative borders between Homs and Deir-ez-Zor, and other areas in the Aleppo-Hama- Raqqa triangle.

The Russian raids targeted caves and hideouts in which ISIS/Daesh mercenaries were holed up, amid confirmed information about deaths and injuries, in addition to material losses, which resulted in significant damage and destruction of caves, according to what was reported by SOHR.

Combing operations continue in separate areas of the al-Mayadeen desert by the Damascus government forces, which began a week ago, in search of ISIS/Daesh mercenaries there, while the campaign coincides with intense air strikes carried out by Russian warplanes on the area.

T/S

ANHA
During his tenure as both Senate minority leader and Senate majority leader, Nevadas Senator Harry Reid was a reliable Democrat attack dog. It was he who first started chipping away at the filibuster when, in 2013, he went nuclear and abolished the filibuster for executive branch appointments and all judicial nominations but for the Supreme Court. However, even Harry Reid is worried by the Democrats current push to turn the Supreme Court into a patently partisan organization through court-packing and term limits.

It was probably because of his experience with the nuclear option that Harry Reid realized that, in politics, big changes may bring short-term benefits but long-term problems. As an opinion piece in Roll Call explained about that nuclear option Reid detonated, ultimately, it wasnt the Democrats who benefited:

[I]n 2013, it would be Harry Reid and a Democratic majority that would do away with the filibuster for executive branch appointments and judicial nominations, with the exception of the Supreme Court. Despite warnings from the minority that it was a decision they would live to regret, Reid and the Democrats deployed the nuclear option anyway. Their day of reckoning came on Jan. 20, 2017, with a Republican president and Senate in control of judicial nominations. For the past four years, President Donald Trump and Republicans have done their constitutional duty in nominating and confirming federal judges, including now three Supreme Court nominations. But dont blame Trump or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Blame Harry Reid who put politics ahead of principle and opened the door for Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and soon Amy Coney Barrett.

On Saturday, Harry Reid, who retired from the Senate in January 2017, spoke with CNNs Jim Acosta about President Bidens newly formed commission to examine expanding the number of Supreme Court justices (i.e., packing the Court) as well as imposing term limits on the justices. The purpose of both proposals is to ensure a huge, permanent majority of activist leftist justices who feel that the Constitution holds them back.

When Reid appeared on CNN, Jim Acosta asked him whether he thought it was a good idea to add seats to the Supreme Court. Reid was firm  no, it was a very bad idea and, indeed, he believed that the commission itself might realize this and draw back from the precipice of dramatically changing the Court:

Even Harry Reid thinks packing SCOTUS is going too far: We better be very, very careful in saying that we need to expand the Supreme Court. I think we better be very, very careful." pic.twitter.com/Di7yNX98Cn  Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) April 10, 2021

I think its  we should be very, very careful in doing so. I have no problem with the commission but I think that the commission is going to come back and disappoint a lot of people because I think theyre going to come back and say, we should just kind of leave it alone. I think it would be inappropriate at this time after that long history weve had in the country to have term limits for judges. I think that we better be very, very careful in saying that we need to expand the Supreme Court. I think we better be very, very, careful.

Acosta was so disgusted with that answer that he insulted Reid, saying that people would be surprised because you were definitely a fighter when you were in the Senate and liked to take it to the other side. The obvious implication, of course, is that Reid, who appeared pale and puffy, is now a weak, frightened old man. That insult spurred Reid to announce that the filibuster is on its way out because you cant have a democracy with a filibuster.

One would think Reids three decades in the Senate would have taught him that we dont have a democracy. We have a democratic republic. The Founders whole point in creating this form of government was to avoid a pure democracy, with its risk of mob rule and, instead, to have steady, thoughtful people governing America. As Biden incoherently but appropriately said in 2005, the filibuster is part of ensuring that steadiness and moderation. Democrats, though, want a revolution, and steadiness, thoughtfulness, and moderation have no place in their plans.

IMAGE: Harry Reid. Twitter screengrab.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. A confirmation email will be sent when a new user account is created, which must be confirmed within three days in order to provide uninterrupted online access through your Print Subscription.

Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service.
I am pleased to see the steady evolution of Autism Awareness Month to Autism Acceptance Month, as what really needs to be celebrated are the enormous contributions of people with autism to our society.

The Educational Services Commission of New Jersey proudly operates a post-age-21 program known as Adult Community Services, in which we teach young adults with autism and other developmental disabilities about life skills and direct them into competitive employment. Through this skills program, people 21 and older have been able to hone their talents in the workplace while earning a paycheck to be self-sustainable.

Yet, as the state continues to expand capacity limits at schools, businesses and public events as more residents become vaccinated against COVID-19, critical post-21 programs have not been permitted to reopen. Countless numbers of people with autism are remaining at home, as opposed to learning a trade or life skill, or going to a workplace each day.

It remains unclear how New Jersey can proudly celebrate Autism Acceptance Month while so many people with this developmental disability are not permitted under state order to participate in on-site education or go to a job through our program.

As we are now in the 14th month of this crisis, the volume of lost opportunity for this population is both immeasurable and unconscionable. If we are truly to accept the many talents of people with autism, lets give them a fighting chance to showcase all they can do.

Mark Finkelstein, Superintendent of Schools, Educational Services Commission of New Jersey, Piscataway

Catholics do not all think like activist group

Regarding the recent opinion piece by Gaby Garcia-Vera, The Catholic case for the (New Jersey) Reproductive Freedom Act:

Garcia-Vera claims that the organization for which she works, Catholics for Choice, represents the majority opinion of Catholics concerning , but gives no evidence to back up the claim. Is the writer really unaware of the thousands of Catholics and others who make the trip to Washington year after year to protest abortions?

Yes, the church does allow some leeway in following ones conscience, but the emphasis is always on following a fully informed conscience. Garcia-Vegas interpretation of conscience seems to be, If I want to do it, then it must be OK. For that matter, how many women who do get abortions are truly following their own consciences, and not someone elses who has pressured them into aborting their child?

The Reproductive Freedom Act is terrible proposed law and should never be enacted.

I would suggest that Garcia-Vega get a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and read it, since she obviously does not know enough about her own faith.

Carol Kouba, Fredon

Inflexible corporate tax harms U.S. economy

In response to the recent Friendly Fire debate column about corporations paying their fair share of taxes, let me point out that, unlike individual income taxes, whose rates are graduated, all corporations are taxed at the same rate.

So the real question is, what is a fair-share rate? The answer is not easy because we live in a global economy where countries have different business tax laws and rates.

Unlike most individuals, corporations have few or no roots. If they can maximize return for their stockholders by moving their operation or parts of it to another country, they will do so. This would deal a severe blow to the U.S. economy.

This is the reason that U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently called for a global minimum business tax rate  although there is no chance of one being enacted. Countries like the United States could then raise corporate taxes and not have to worry as much about business flight.

The Biden administration is scared to death of the possible repercussions depending how much they raise, or even if they raise, these rates.

Fair share has nothing to do with it.

Bob Lampe, Spring Lake Heights

N.J. voter rolls must stop seeing dead people

There have been many allegations of less-than-honest elections. We have all read about the different kinds of alleged problems.

Well, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was sued over the 2020 election, in Public Interest Legal Foundation v. (Veronica) Degraffenreid, Pennsylvanias acting secretary of state.

In a settlement of PILFs U.S. District Court case, reported this past week, Pennsylvania will remove certain deceased registrants from its voter rolls. This is a great victory. County election boards will now compare death-data records to the full registration database before the November 2021 election.

PILF states that it is important to not have dead voters on the rolls. Leaving them there creates an opportunity for voter fraud. We need to remove deceased voters right away in New Jersey, plus more to ensure election integrity.

It is inexplicable that this has not been done in New Jersey. Thank you, Pennsylvania, for setting an example.

David F. Lipton, Toms River

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
THE WEST

Scientists: Grizzlies expand turf but still need protection

BILLINGS, Mont.  Grizzly bears are slowly expanding the turf where they roam in parts of the northern Rocky Mountains but need continued protections, according to government scientists who concluded that no other areas of the country would be suitable for reintroducing the fearsome predators.

The Fish and Wildlife Service on March 31 released its first assessment in almost a decade about the status of grizzly bears in the contiguous U.S. The bruins are shielded from hunting as a threatened species except in Alaska.

Grizzly populations grew over the past 10 years in two areas  the Yellowstone region of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, with more than 700 bears; and around Glacier National Park in Montana, which is home to more than 1,000 of the animals.

Grizzly numbers remain low in other parts of the Northern Rockies, and scientists said their focus is on bolstering those populations rather than reintroducing them elsewhere in the country.

The bears now occupy about 6% of their historical range in the contiguous U.S., up from 2% in 1975.

Conservationists and some university scientists have pushed to return bears to areas including Colorado's San Juan Mountains and California's Sierra Nevada.

RELATED:

The 368-page assessment makes no recommendation on the topic, but scientists looked at the possibility of bears in more areas as part of an examination of their remaining habitat.

That analysis showed grizzlies would be unable to sustain themselves in the San Juans, the Sierra Nevada or two other areas  Utah's Uinta Mountains and New Mexico's Mongollon Mountains.

In each case, officials said, bears would face the same challenge  not enough remote, protected public lands, high densities of humans and little chance of connecting with other bears populations to maintain healthy populations.

An estimated 50,000 grizzlies once inhabited western North America from the Pacific Ocean to the Great Plains. Hunting, commercial trapping and habitat loss wiped out most by the early 1900s. The bears were last seen in California in the 1920s and the last known grizzly in Colorado was killed by an elk hunter in 1979.

NEW MEXICO

States oil, gas production up by 10% despite pandemic

CARLSBAD  New Mexico has reported that oil and gas production increased by more than 10% last year compared to the year before even as demands for fuel dropped during the coronavirus pandemic.

Data from the state's oil conservation division showed the state produced about 370 million barrels of oil in 2020 compared to about 330 million barrels of oil produced in 2019, the Carlsbad Current-Argus reported March 30.

Although last year produced the highest amount of oil since the division began tracking production in the 1970s, officials said rate of growth dropped from a 33% increase between 2018, which yielded about 250 million barrels of oil, and 2019.

RELATED:

New Mexico also produced about 1.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, surpassing the 2001 record of 1.6 trillion cubic feet, according to data.

However, natural gas production growth also declined, increasing about 7% between 2019 and last year compared to 19% between 2018 and 2019.

An annual report by the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association on revenue for the state by the industry said $2.8 billion was generated last year, including $1.4 billion for public education. The amount was second to the record $3.1 billion of state revenue generated in 2019.

City, state to curb confusion over alien events in Roswell

ROSWELL  Tourism officials in New Mexico have raised concerns about people confusing a UFO Festival with downtown alien-related events because of similar domain names searched online.

The 2021 Roswell UFO Festival will get a marketing boost after the New Mexico Department of Tourism approved it for its Strategic Events Recovery Readiness Initiative, a pilot program intended to help cultural events recover from the economic downfall cause by the pandemic, the Roswell Daily Record reported.

The program will provide a team of event experts who will give technical assistance and help gain sponsorships for the events and provide cooperative funds for advertising. However, the state has expressed concerns about the messaging since Roswell is also hosting its first annual Alien Fest.

RELATED:

City Manager Joe Neeb said the confusion is caused in part by online search results for the UFO Festival that frequently yield a website for Mainstreet Roswell's Alien Fest  www.ufofestivalroswell.com. But the official UFO Festival website, which launched on April 1, is www.ufofestival.com.

MainStreet Roswell Executive Director Kathy Lay told the Roswell Daily Record that the Alien Fest is not a separate festival, but rather the name for activities focused on bringing visitors to downtown businesses.

A manager of the UFO Festival said the event will include outdoor movies, an electronic dance party and a concert.

WYOMING

Man sentenced for treasure cemetery dig in Yellowstone

CHEYENNE  A judge in Wyoming has sentenced a man to six months in prison for digging in a Yellowstone National Park cemetery in pursuit of a famous hidden treasure.

Wyoming U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl also ordered Rodrick Dow Craythorn, 52, of Syracuse, Utah, on March 31 to serve six months of home detention and two years of probation, and to pay $31,566 in restitution.

Craythorn dug 17 holes and damaged a grave in the Fort Yellowstone cemetery in late 2019 and early 2020, prosecutors.

The cemetery listed on the National Register of Historic Places has at least 54 graves from 1888-1918, when the U.S. Army stationed soldiers in the area to protect the world's first national park.

Craythorn pleaded guilty in January to illegally excavating or trafficking in archaeological resources and to damaging federal property.

RELATED:

Craythorn was seeking a treasure chest containing coins, gold and other valuables that Santa Fe, New Mexico, art and antiquities dealer Forrest Fenn stashed in the Rocky Mountain backcountry. Fenn published a book with a poem containing clues to where the treasure could be found.

For a decade, thousands of people roamed the Rockies in search of the treasure estimated to be worth at least $1 million.

Fenn announced in June the treasure had been found. He died in September at age 90 without saying who found the chest or specifically where.

A grandson of Fenn confirmed in December the finder was Jonathan "Jack" Stuef, 32, a medical student from Michigan. Fenn said before his death the treasure was in Wyoming but neither Stuef nor Fenn's relatives have specified where.

ARIZONA

State holiday declared to honor Native code talkers

PHOENIX  Arizona has a new state holiday.

Gov. Doug Ducey signed a bill March 29 to honor Native Americans who used their language to transmit coded messages during World War II.

Arizona has recognized code talkers by proclamation and through legislation for years. The bill sponsored by state Sen. Jamescita Peshlakai makes Aug. 14 a state holiday. It will be observed on a Sunday when state offices already are closed.

RELATED:

While hundreds of Navajos were recruited as code talkers, about a dozen Hopis and members of other tribes also covertly sent wartime messages.

Peshlakai, who is Navajo, said it's important that Arizonans remember their service and bravery. Less than a handful of Navajo Code Talkers are still alive.

The Navajo Nation celebrates Aug. 14 as a tribal holiday, marking the date Japan announced it would surrender to the Allied forces.
Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello has promised mandatory venue check-ins will be lifted as soon as we get the green light from health experts, as privacy experts warn the COVID-19 check-in tool lacks safeguards.

Mr Dominello said the QR code system was only intended for contact tracing during pandemic conditions but those might continue for some time.

As soon as we get the green light from health experts that it is no longer necessary, the QR check-in requirement for high-risk venues will be removed, he said.

Concerns have been raised about privacy safeguards of the NSW governments COVID-19 check-in tool. Credit:Brook Mitchell

Mr Dominello said the data was securely stored for 28 days and then destroyed, and under no circumstance ... shared with other parties or agencies outside NSW Health. Privacy was at the forefront of our thinking when delivering digital services, he said.
Sony is expected to launch the new Sony A7R IV and A7R III, which have very few changes. Analysts and other experts claimed that these two new photography gadgets could pose a major mirrorless camera issue that would annoy some fans.

Aside from these, they are also asking why Sony would release them, although they have almost the same features that their predecessors offer. According to TechRadar's latest report, Sony previously confirmed that it released some minor enhancements for its Sony A7R III and A7R IV mirrorless cams.

The upcoming models currently confuse the fans since they only have small improvements. This could also be the reason why these new cams are not advisable for those who are thinking of purchasing photography devices with high-resolution.

Why Sony will release A7R IV and A7R III

Sony A7R IV (ILCE-7RM4A) and Sony A7R III (ILCE-7RM3A) have different model numbers but very few upgrades. The most obvious change would be their new rear LCD screen.

Thanks chula!! I cant wait to see you grow in your photography too!!!!    (@dinonuggzz) April 7, 2021

Also Read: DJI Air 2S Vs. Mavic Air 2: New Model to Have 20 MP Cam, V2 Goggles Compatibility, and More

The giant camera manufacturer confirmed that the new models' screens offer a more modern 2.36-million dot resolution. This is a great improvement since it is much higher compared to the current models that only offer 1.44-million dot displays.

Because the consumers and analysts are asking why they will be released, Sony finally confirmed its reason.

"We have updated the Alpha 7R III and Alpha 7R IV in response to customer needs, as we always strive to provide the best technology," said Sony.

However, some people are not satisfied with the tech giant company's statement. Although this is the case, Sony said that it will still offer the predecessors of A7R III and A7R IV.

What is the alleged mirrorless cam issue?

Experts claimed that the new LCD screens could pose an issue with the mirrorless cameras' batteries. They explained that the new displays could make the battery life of these new gadgets by up to ten shots.

This means that the new LCD screens might now attract a lot of consumers since professional photographers and other individuals prefer having a low-resolution screen but high-lens performance.

Previously, PetaPixel reported that Sony was sued because its Sony A7 III allegedly has some shutter defects that force the owners to pay for very expensive repairs. Aside from these, the consumers also complained that their cameras suffer from a predictable shutter failure, which led them to believe that the issue is from Sony's mechanical design.

Since the new A7R IV and A7R III are not yet released, there's no confirmation yet regarding the rumored battery issue. But, if it is true, there's a chance that it will put Sony in a bad position, again.

For more news updates about Sony and its upcoming mirrorless cameras, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Sony Mirrorless, Full Frame Showdown: a7iii vs. a7R IV-Which Digital Camera Is The Better Device?

This article is owned by TechTimes.

Written by: Giuliano de Leon.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
India on Sunday reported the highest-ever single day spike of 1,52,879 new Covid-19 cases and 839 deaths. Amid the Covid-19 spike, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for a 4-day nationwide Tika Utsav starting today.

As India witnesses a massive Covid surge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for a 4-day nationwide Tika Utsav starting today, to boost the Indias inoculation drive. On the first day of the Tika Utsav, PM has shared 4 key requests to all citizens of the country. He urged the countrymen to assist those who need help in getting inoculated, help people in Covid treatment, wear masks and motivate others and if someone tests positive, create a micro-containment zone in that area.

The call for a Tika Utsav comes at a time when Covid-19 cases in India are at an all time high. In the last 24 hours, India has reported the highest ever single day spike of 1,52,879 new Covid-19 cases and 839 deaths. With this, the total caseload has crossed 1,33,58,805 while the active cases are currently at 11,08,087. Speaking about recoveries, about 90,584 people have been discharged in the last 24 hours, the total number of recoveries since the start of the pandemic has reached 1,20,81,443 and the number of vaccinations have crossed 10M mark.

In order to curb the spread of the virus, several states including Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, are observing a weekend lockdown. In the visuals coming in from Surat, Gujarat, migrants can be seen returning to their native places fearing another lockdown.

We're going to begin 'Tika Utsav' today nationwide. I urge countrymen to abide by 4 things  assist those who need help getting inoculated, help people in COVID treatment, wear masks & motivate others & if someone tests positive, create micro-containment zone in the area: PM Modi pic.twitter.com/CYDazDGuDG  ANI (@ANI) April 11, 2021

India reports 1,52,879 new #COVID19 cases, 90,584 discharges, and 839 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per Union Health Ministry Total cases: 1,33,58,805

Total recoveries: 1,20,81,443

Active cases: 11,08,087

Death toll: 1,69,275 Total vaccination: 10,15,95,147 pic.twitter.com/fIaVAfpviB  ANI (@ANI) April 11, 2021

As states voice out the demand for more vaccines, our top most priority at the moment becomes to double up the vaccine production, so that each and every citizen of India can be vaccinated at the earliest.
A passenger wears a face mask to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus as he waits for a Delta Airlines flight at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

COVID-19 cases continue to rise domestically and now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning people in the U.S. about international travel to Canada.

The CDC now categorizes Canada in the "Level 4: Very High" category, the most severe level of COVID-19 risk, urging travellers to avoid all travel to the country.

"Because of the current situation in Canada even fully vaccinated travellers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants and should avoid all travel to Canada," the notice from the CDC reads.

The CDC goes on to recommend that anyone who has to travel to Canada get fully vaccinated before doing so, in addition to wearing a mask, staying six feet away others, avoiding crowds, and washing their hands.

Canada has reported more than 1,036,000 COVID-19 cases to date, with an over age of over 6,800 cases reported daily across the country.

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canadas chief public health officer, highlighted at a press conference on Friday that over the past week, the number of new variant cases has more than doubled, with about 25,000 cases of variants of concern reported in Canada.

Data from the federal government states that 11.91 per cent of Canadians have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 1.76 per cent of the population has received two doses. More than 7,361,900 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered across Canada.
Only after Reiki Kahikina Young left her home in Hawaii to attend college in the mainland United States did she begin to realize the depth of her connection to this isolated archipelago. She missed surfing, paddling out among friends she has known since elementary school. She missed warm air caressing her arm as she waved her hand out her car window. She missed soft rains. She missed picking up pho, spam musubi or sushi at the 7-Eleven across from her middle school. Making jokes in dialect.

She missed all the things that make her "local." But she did not miss the divisiveness of the very term "local."

Visitors and other newcomers to the archipelago  malihini, in the Hawaiian language  quickly bump into "local." Discounted prices at restaurants or hotels are advertised as kamaaina rates  for locals, or children of the land. Visitors will also overhear or see other snippets of Olelo, the Hawaiian language, or Pidgin used in marketing materials.

But the colloquialism has become less popular as more people realize how problematic it can be.

Since the 1930s, "local" has been used as a shorthand descriptor for certain longtime residents here, among them Asian and Pacific Islanders from working-class family backgrounds who can quickly invoke Hawaii Creole English, or Pidgin. A common language and commitment to community are part of what define "local."

I see local being used less nowadays, said Candace Fujikane, an activist who has taught English at the University of Hawaii at Manoa for more than two decades. I think in general its used now just as a marketing term.

The idea of "local" is an easy trope, a brochure image of racial harmony. But the local people of Hawaii arent a monolithic group of residents to be easily described over police scanners or in mainland American newspapers: Local man robs bank or Area man wins lottery.

"Local" has its origins in a rape and murder case in the 1930s that saw five working-class men  all Asian or Hawaiian  wrongly accused of rape by a white woman whose husband was a U.S. Navy officer stationed at Pearl Harbor.

Tabloid newspapers, radio broadcasters and those simply gossiping about the trial around the continental United States began using "local" as a shorthand way to refer to the five accused men and non-whites who were not part of the military community here.

It was a way for people to very quickly and succinctly talk about racial and ethnic tensions at the time, said John Rosa, a history professor at UH Manoa who has also taught high school in Hawaii.

One of the wrongly accused men, a Hawaiian named Joesph Kahahawai, was murdered after the rape trial ended in a mistrial. The accusers husband, a U.S. Navy officer named Thomas Massie, kidnapped and killed him in a rented Manoa bungalow with the help of his mother-in-law and two enlisted U.S. Navy sailors. Although Massie said he shot Kahahawai  which fit with defense attorney Clarence Darrows legal strategy  one of the enlisted men later claimed he shot Kahahawai.

The four were caught transporting Kahahawais body and found guilty of the murder. They were sentenced to 10 years in jail, but the territorial governor of Hawaii commuted their sentences to an hour served in the governors office. Together with Thalia Massie, who accused the five men of rape, they left Hawaii forever in the days after the commutation.

The trial left local Hawaii residents all the more frustrated by such a clear display of racism and visible systems of power and inequality.

The whole thing brought into the foreground this question of how locals were perceived by the military and how whites receive differential treatment, Fujikane said. It signaled for people the differentials in power in Hawaii.

Local has thus always been an oppositional identity formed to contest white oppression.

Still, casual chats about "local" identity can get warmly nostalgic or kitschy. Local residents of Hawaii grow up with shared experiences both profound and simple  like seeing movies released in the island state long after cousins on the mainland in the 1980s. They may share family histories tied to sugar plantations and trace their family roots back to the same places  like the province of Guangdong in China, from which 70% of Chinese families in Hawaii today originate, said Douglas D. L. Chong, president of the Hawaii Chinese History Center.

In the 1990s, revered Hawaiian nationalist and scholar Haunani Kay-Trask lit a fire of controversy when she repeatedly demanded residents here claim belonging in one of two groups: settlers or indigenous people.

This paradigm upset some Hawaii residents, particularly those descended from Asian ancestors who struggled against white supremacist management practices on sugar plantations here starting in the 19th century. "Local" had been popularly used for decades to convey a diverse array of non-white people who have roots in Hawaii, while Hawaiian, or Kanaka Maoli, is used specifically for those who are Native Hawaiian.

Yet Trask publicly called out the way the term "local" hides the indigenous people of Hawaii, Kanaka Maoli. Bundled in the cloak of "local," Kanaka Maoli disappear. The myth of the nonexistence of indigenous people continues.

The settler moniker can still feel inadequate and uncomfortable for young Hawaiian Studies scholars or Pacific Islander activists supportive of Kanaka sovereignty, those whose genealogies ultimately rest outside Hawaii, yet who know no other home.

A new book by Candace Fujikane, the activist and English professor, proffers two additional identities for Hawaii residents who are not native Hawaiian: settler ally and settler aloha aina. The latter indicates someone without genealogical ties to Hawaii who demonstrates deep commitment to understanding and protecting Hawaiian lands  the aina  and the independence of Hawaiian people.

In Mapping Abundance for a Planetary Future: Kanaka Maoli and Critical Settler Cartographies in Hawaii, Fujikane connects the importance of Hawaiian sovereignty and the implementation of centuries-old land and cultural practices here to the fight against climate change.

Being settler aloha aina, we dont stand just to support native Hawaiians, but we stand for decolonization. We stand against climate change, she said.

We stand to protect the land because Kanaka Maoli stewardship of the land thats been going on for thousands of years, she said.

The social and political fabric of Hawaii has evolved since the days of white supremacist plantation oligarchies, and with it so should the way people speak about themselves, says political science professor Noelani Goodyear-Ka'opua.

We need to advance our language to be able to account for the complexities of the world today, she said.

First is to fundamentally recognize the Kanaka relationship to land as familial and ancestral and to consider  as a settler  where do I fit in to that family?, Goodyear-Kaopua said. Have I been invited into that family? How do I contribute to that family?

That question is one a new generation in Hawaii is grappling with today.

Young, the student who moved to the mainland for college, returned to the islands after three years and earned her bachelors degree in Hawaiian Studies. Now she works as an artist among a multiethnic generation of younger Hawaii residents treading their own way through the prickly patch of identity in the islands.

Local is just another way to separate us, she said. Those kinds of labels are just meant to destroy our connection with each other. Whoever breathes her air, whoever drinks her water, whoever bathes in her ocean is part of her. Is Hawaii. We are the breath of Hawaii. If you feel the rain on your skin, thats her. Thats you. That is her breath giving life to you.
A 73-year-old woman driving for a ride share service was dragged alongside her vehicle during a carjacking early Sunday morning, New Orleans police said.

Police said the woman was dropping off a customer at around 2 a.m. in the 1500 block of Desire Street in the St. Claude neighborhood when someone approached the car from the driver's side, jumped in, and drove off with the woman partially hanging out of the car.

The woman was dragged a few feet before falling to the ground, and the suspect drove off, police said. There was no information from NOPD about the woman's injuries.

It was one of three carjacking incidents reported to NOPD between Saturday night and early Sunday morning.

Victim fends off carjacker

Police said a suspect snatched car keys from someone around 8:30 p.m. Saturday and tried to take their car in the 1600 block of Robert E. Lee Boulevard in the Fillmore neighborhood.

Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

NOPD said that once the suspect got into the vehicle, the victim also got in and tried to take it back. The suspect then jumped out and fled in a dark color sedan.

+3 How NOPD and DA pact plans to target a spike in auto burglaries, carjackings in New Orleans Police and prosecutors in New Orleans are crafting a special agreement to target serial car burglars and carjackers, Orleans Parish District A

Four suspects with gun

A 20-year-old woman pulled into a parking spot around 3 a.m. when four unknown men approached her with a gun, police said.

It happened in the 7200 block of Cannonbury Drive near the Lakefront Airport. Police said the woman got out of her car and the suspects drove off with it.

No other details about the suspects were provided.
Ray Martin has revealed that he was only allowed to ask Prince Philip about wildlife and conservation in his landmark 1981 interview.

The Duke of Edinburgh died at Windsor Castle on Friday aged 99 after a long illness, with his death confirmed by Buckingham Palace at 3pm local time.

The veteran 60 Minutes reporter remembered his somewhat stilted 45-minute conversation with the high-ranking royal almost 40 years ago on Sunday night's program.

The opportunity arose when he got a phone call from the British High Commission asking whether he was interested in interviewing the prince on the condition that he would only ask about his role as international president of the World Wildlife Fund.

Pictured: Prince Philip during his interview with Ray Martin on 60 Minutes in 1981

'They made it quite clear that we had to talk about world wildlife only, otherwise no interview  it would be over,' he told 60 Minutes.

The interview marked Prince Philip's first interview since gaining the conservationist position, and took place on his yacht, the Royal Britannia.

'Before I met Prince Philip, I guess I thought he was going to be elegant, eloquent and pompous. He proved to be all three,' Martin, who was 37 at the time, said.

The now 72-year-old said he had butterflies before walking into the room with the royal because 'I thought he would be very picky and I thought he would second-guess every question I had about him, and he did'.

Limited to speaking about flora and fauna, one of the reporter's first questions was about when he started his work as a conservationist.

Pictured: Ray Martin, age 37, interviewing Prince Philip about world wildlife conservation

Pictured:Queen Elizabeth ll and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh look on during an official visit to Australia in October 1981

'Well I wasn't born a conservationist, if that's what you're thinking,' the Prince cheekily replied.

Martin then asked 'are we learning at all, in the 20th Century?', referring to habitat protection.

The Duke of Edinburgh asked 'We? Which people?'

Martin replied: 'Well in this case I can only speak as an Australian, but are we...'

Prince Philip cut him off: 'Are you learning? Well I hope you are,' he smiled. 'I mean, it's almost impossible to say 'are we learning' - I don't know what Australians learn.'

In reflection, Martin said he never felt as though Prince Philip felt relaxed at all with cameras in his face, or that they developed a connection during the conversation.

'He never let his guard down,' he said.

Ray Martin (pictured) said the prince never let his guard down during their 45-minute conversation

Pictured: The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh set off for Brisbane during their 1954 visit to Australia

But it wasn't until the end of the interview when the journalist asked if he could take a photograph that he caught a glimpse of the real Prince Philip.

'He said, in a very pompous voice, "Is this for you?", as though, "Is this for your private collection?"

'And I said, 'Your Royal Highness, it's not. Actually, it's for publicity, but I must confess that I'm a republican",' Martin said.

The veteran journalist said the royal laughed and said: 'That's all right, we have all types in this world.'

He was also passionate about wildlife and conservation and was the founding table-thumping president of the World Wildlife Fund.

Following the Prince's death on Friday, Australian flags flew at half staff.

Pictured: Men in traditional dress line the road during a visit by Queen Elizabeth (centre) and Prince Philip (centre, right) to Port Vila, Vanuatu, off the north-east coast of Australia, February 1974

Pictured: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at the Royal Military College Duntroon where the Queen presented new colours on October 22, 2011 in Canberra

In his speech outside Kiribilli House on Saturday morning, Prime Minister Scott Morrison praised Prince Philip's charitable commitment as patron of 50 national organisations, including the Duke of Edinburgh Award that 775,000 Australians have participated in.

'The Duke's life was one of the duty and of service, of loyalty and honour. Memories of him will of course tell stories of his candour, and a unique and forceful and authentic personality,' he said.

Former Prime Minister John Howard, who was the last PM to greet the Prince to Australia, described his marriage to the Queen as 'a partnership for the ages' and paid tribute to his sense of humour.

'He gave short shrift to political correctness when he encountered it, and that endeared him to millions of people,' Mr Howard said on Saturday morning.

Pictured: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on a guided tour of Tasmania on their Commonwealth Visit to Australia, 1954

Pictured, left to right: Tim Mathieson, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth II and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard attend a Parliamentary Reception at Parliament House on October 21, 2011 in Canberra

'And so far from those responses constituting gaffes, they were things that people warmed to. He had quite a connection with Australia.'

Mr Howard said he last saw the Prince at a luncheon at Windsor Castle where he was honoured by his dedication and interest.

'He spoke quite affectionately to my wife of the years he had spent in Australia as a young, the time he spent in Australia as a young naval officer stop so this is an occasion, obviously, of sadness.

'But it's also an occasion to salute and honour a remarkable marriage, a remarkable partnership in service. And two, again, see how valuable, how strengthening, how reassuring that marriage, that partnership has been to the Queen's role, both as the Queen of Australia and also as the head of the Commonwealth.

Pictured: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh greets well-wishers on the final day of the Queen's Australian tour at the Great Aussie BBQ on October 29, 2011 in Perth

'I think his easy informality and a just remember that he was always, remarks about how long we had all been around.

'He had a very good knowledge of Australian politics. I remember one of his earlier visits when I was a minister in the Fraser Government, and we were at a reception at Government House.

'He came over to me and to several of my other colleagues, all of whom had to come from Sydney, he said "this is the Sydney cabal, is it?" I thought this was not bad. He had done his homework, obviously.'

Pictured: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh greet the crowds on arrival at Perth airport on October 29, 2011

Mr Morrison extended his sympathies to The Queen and assured her, and the British people, that Australia grieved with them.

'On behalf of the Australian people, and the Australian government, I extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to Her Majesty and the royal family to the passing of the Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh,' he said.

'Your Majesty, here in Australia, and indeed across the world, your Commonwealth family joins in your sorrow and your morning and that of your family.

'But also, we give thanks for the life of who you described as your strength and your stay. Your Prince, Prince Philip. Husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 16:08:06|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

HONG KONG, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government has selected several payment platforms including AlipayHK and Octopus to help disburse consumption vouchers to residents under a pro-consumption scheme.

The government announced on Sunday a number of stored value facility (SVF) operators to assist in implementing the scheme in a statement, with Tap & Go and WeChat Pay HK also on the list.

According to the 2021-22 Budget published earlier this year, every permanent resident and new arrival aged 18 or above will receive electronic consumption vouchers worth 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (643 U.S. dollars) to stimulate people's consumption sentiment and boost local consumption.

The government is discussing with the operators on the detailed arrangements and the target is to start registration this summer vacation.

The selected payment platforms currently cover a network of some 30,000 to 100,000 merchants, respectively, in the local retail, food and beverage, and service industries.

The government encouraged more local merchants to participate in the scheme and said those SVF operators have agreed to waive relevant fees for the installation and usage of payment devices by local merchants. Enditem
Loss is hard.

And it has been a hard year of losses. Over the past year, COVID-19 has brought with it lost jobs, connection, services, a sense of normalcy.

And a loss of lives.

In Miami-Dade County, there have been over 442,300 cases of COVID, and over 5,800 deaths due to the virus, according to published reports at the end of March.

One of those deaths was Key Biscayne resident Carlos Augusto Chujfi Escobar, who died Aug. 19. He was 58.

Due to what has transpired this past year, loss has become a word synonymous with COVID-19, said Chloe Godward, a therapist in private practice with Arvo and Associates.

Many individuals have been faced with losing a parent, grandparent, sibling, colleague, extended family member, friend and/or acquaintance, she said. Loss is difficult as is, but a pandemic adds a layer of pain and trauma to what is already a strenuous process.

Cultural and religious norms, and conventional hospital practices, are put on hold due to social distancing protocol, she said, adding that thi means individuals are unable to process the pain tied to death as they would outside of a pandemic.

After Escobars passing, Jennifer Brooks stated in an email to Islander News, Our community has lost a great neighbor, father, husband, loved by all, part of the MAST Academy family as well.

Escobar earned his masters in business administration and a system-engineer degree from Universidad EAFIT in Medellin, Colombia. He was a director of sales and technical services at Cricon International Business, a solutions provider for information technology and broadcast media.

I had the pleasure of teaching Carloss son, Martin, as a 7th grader at KBCS and as a senior at MAST. Not only is he one of the best students Ive ever had but more importantly, hes an incredibly caring, compassionate, and determined young man. While I wish I knew Carlos better I know that he must have been a loving, amazing person to have raised such great kids.  Im sure his spirit will live on in their future endeavors.  Jeff Raymond, from an Aug. 20 Facebook post

The process of grief is unique to each individual, but there are certain coping skills that can lessen the burden for someone who is suffering, Godward said.

Delegate tasks, she said. The value of practical help is underestimated. When grieving any loss, day-to-day tasks seem overwhelming. Ask for help and accept any help offered.

Find the right companionship and set boundaries with individuals who shame grief or rush the process. Godward suggests surrounding yourself with loved ones who listen attentively and support in ways you need to be supported.

Allow yourself to feel the emotions and go through the stages of grief, she said. You are allowed to cry, feel anger, and be sad, but you are also allowed to laugh and enjoy moments.

Grief can coexist with other emotions, and during this process, all emotions are valid.

While the stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, the process is not linear -- meaning, you can go from one step to another and back to the first step already experienced.

Allow yourself to sit in the space of each stage, she said. Its key to keep in mind that those you have lost are present with you.

People do not move on, but they do move forward.

There shouldnt be guilt in feeling happiness again, although this is very common, Godward said. Remind yourself, you can find joy in life again.

Here are several ways experts suggest can help people cope with loss:

- Use art as an outlet and emotional release. Paint, scribble, play with clay. Art is scientifically proven to be one of the best coping skills for releasing grief from our psyche.

- Obtain keepsakes: fingerprint jewelry is a great example. Start a memory box of your loved one. This could be done prior to a passing or afterwards. Include pictures, items belonging to the loved one, notes, clothing, and so on.

- Talk about it! If youre not speaking of it, youre storing it, and that gets heavy. Talk to loved ones or to a therapist who specializes in grief and loss.

- Grief is UNIQUE to EACH individual, do what is right for you. If keeping their contact number in your phone is your wish, do so. If you want to erase their messages, do it. If you want to replay voicemails time and time again, do so. If you want to send them memes via their social media account, do it. Your process does not need to look like anyone elses.

- Engage in activities that make you feel like yourself again. Visit your favorite restaurant, take a yoga class, plan a trip, learn something new. Loss is difficult to cope with because it is a monumental change to life. The psyche does not do well with change until you attempt to welcome it. Getting comfortable with the uncomfortable becomes the goal. Accomplishing this allows for growth and moving forward.

- Create your own rituals to honor those who have passed. Make the loved one coffee, eat their favorite meal once a month, include them in holidays, plan family trips, engage in what they would enjoy  get creative!

- Remember: its ok to have bad days, ask for help, do nothing some days, order food instead of cooking, take a break, and lastly, its ok to not be ok.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 22:08:13|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

N'DJAMENA, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Chad kicked off its presidential election on Sunday with people in the central African country queuing up to cast their votes.

A total of seven candidates, including incumbent President Idriss Deby Itno, are vying for the presidency for the next six years. One of Deby's most important challengers is former Prime Minister Pahimi Padacket Albert.

During his final campaign rally held Friday in capital N'Djamena, Deby called on his supportors to vote and assured them he would win.

In early March, three opposition candidates announced their withdrawal from the race, including Saleh Kebzabo, heavyweight of the opposition who wants to boycott the election. Kebzabo came second in the 2016 presidential election.

More than 7.3 million people are eligible to vote this time, according to the country's Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI).

The provisional results should be announced in two weeks, the commission said.

Chadians should go out en masse to exercise their civil right and duty by going to vote for their president in calm, serenity, and peace, Deby said Sunday.

There was no boycott on Saturday and there will be no boycott this Sunday on the polling day, Deby told the press after having cast his ballot. He was satisfied that the presidential election is taking place within the constitutional deadline.

The polling takes place in a tense social and political context, with the opposition calling for an active boycott and alternation.

A total of seven candidates, including Deby, are vying for the presidency for the next six years. One of Deby's most important challengers is former Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacke.

During his final campaign rally held Friday in capital N'Djamena, Deby called on his supporters to vote and assured them he would win.

In early March, three opposition candidates announced their withdrawal from the race, including Saleh Kebzabo, heavyweight of the opposition who wants to boycott the election. Kebzabo came second in the 2016 presidential election. Enditem
An inquest is set to begin into the deaths of Queensland police officer Brett Forte and the man who shot him four years ago.

Senior Constable Forte died after his vehicle was peppered with 27 bullets when Ricky Maddison opened fire with an automatic weapon in the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane, on May 29, 2017.

Maddison, 40, was shot dead by police the following day after being asked to surrender more than 80 times during a 20-hour siege.

Senior Constable Brett Forte (pictured left with his family) was shot dead by Ricky Maddison in the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane, on May 29, 2017

Brett Forte's killer Ricky Maddison (pictured) was later gunned down by police after a 20-hour siege the following day

An inquest into the deaths of both men is due to begin in the Coroners Court sitting in Toowoomba before State Coroner Terry Ryan on Monday.

In the weeks prior to the 42-year-old policeman's death, Maddison was wanted by Toowoomba police over domestic violence-related charges that had been discontinued two years earlier, a pre-inquest hearing was told last year.

He accused authorities of deliberately and unfairly targeting him and refused to go to a police station.

Maddison called police on the day of Sen Const Forte's death, refusing to surrender.

Shortly after his vehicle was spotted in Toowoomba and a slow pursuit authorised.

Maddison led police off the highway and over a dirt embankment that was only accessible to 4WD vehicles - like the one driven by Sen Const Forte.

Sen Const Forte is survived by his loving wife Susan (pictured together) and their three children Emma, Brodie and Sam

Forte's children place a teddy bear on his casket during his funeral service in 2017

Maddison led police off the highway and over a dirt embankment that was only accessible to 4WD vehicles - like the one driven by Sen Const Forte (pictured is the Lockyer Valley)

An inquest into the deaths of Sen Const Forte (pictured) and the man who shot him four years ago will begin on Monday

The pursuit continued until Maddison stopped and almost immediately began firing at police.

Sen Const Forte urgently reversed, but the vehicle ran up a bank and rolled, trapping him and his partner inside.

The police officer died from extensive gunshot and shrapnel wounds.

Maddison was shot the following day after officers asked him to surrender 85 times.

He fired at police, including at a helicopter, 21 times before being shot dead as he tried to flee an inner cordon.

The inquest is expected to consider the interaction between police and Maddison in the lead-up to the deaths, previous attempts to locate him and management of the pursuit.

It will also examine siege management strategies and the events leading to the decision to shoot Maddison.

The inquest is set down for 10 days.


Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.
If youre an avid tennis fan like me, then you would not have missed one of the biggest stories to rock the sport.

If youre not a tennis fan and could not care less whether Rafael Nadal breaks the record for most Grand Slam titles, you should still be aware of what Im about to discuss because it concerns your life.
The Crisis of Illiteracy

Commentary

Bill Bryson, in his iconic travelogue about the United Kingdom, Notes from a Small Island, observes that nearly all tourist leaflets are depressingly illiterate, particularly with regard to punctuation.

He sarcastically promises that if I see one more tourist leaflet that says Englands Best or Britains Largest I will go and torch the place.

Brysons book was published in 1995. Since then, anecdotal evidence as well as statistical surveys reveal that literacy problems have persisted, not just in the United Kingdom but also in Australia.

The existence of these problems may even be gleaned from the email culture that has developed since Bryson wrote his book. Indeed, when reviewing email messages sent by students to their classmates and to their teachers, the extent of the problem would easily be exposed.

Many email messages do not start with a proper salutation anymoreas if this courtesy is a discarded 19th century relic of the past when people were still writing proper letters.

Often, if email messages have a salutation at all, it will probably be Hi. They may not have a proper beginning and ending. The construction of sentences is often ungrammatical, and the incorrect use of punctuation, specifically the apostrophelamented by Bill Brysonroutinely defiles the English language.

The teaching of language skills, including grammar, punctuation, and spelling have always been a part of the curriculum in primary schools in Australia. But, as recently observed by Dr. Yaegan Doran and Dr. Sally Humphrey, Once the curriculum moves to high school  much of the connection between language and meaningful writing disappears.

The sad reality is that many Australians cannot properly spell, write, or read. This malaise is probably a consequence of the remarkably prominent position of Systemic Functional Grammar in the field of English-language education in Australia.

Systemic Functional Grammar, which is based on the work of Professor Michael Halliday of the University of Sydney, does not require mastery of the traditional rules of grammar.

Instead, it is assumed that the study of these rules inhibits students spontaneity. Students are encouraged to make linguistic choices from a range of options, which may be used when communicating in writing with other people.

As students fail to study traditional English grammar, they may not be able to distinguish between an adverb and an adjective or the present and the past tenses; they certainly would be challenged by a request to explain the uses of the conditional and the subjunctive moods of a verb.

There is no doubt that many Australian studentsand teachers and the general population as wellare struggling with literacy. According to an OECD Survey of Adult Skills (pdf) conducted in Australia in 2012, 12.6 percent of Australian adults only attain Level 1 or below in literacy proficiency.

According to this Survey, at Level 1, a respondent would only be expected to read a short digital or print text to locate a piece of information. In an updated document, Skills Matter (pdf), published in 2016, the OECD found that 48.3 percent of adults operated at Level 1 (14.4 percent) or Level 2, which assumes a limited ability to paraphrase or to make low-level inferences (33.9 percent).

Low levels of literacy also persist in the university sector where very few students are exposed to the great books of Western civilisation but instead are required to read inferior works that meet the expectations of our progressive elites.

When I served as Dean of Law, I used to tell students slightly facetiously during my orientation and welcoming speech that there is nothing wrong with reading books and that we encourage students to visit the library occasionally rather than to rely exclusively on digital devices for their information and research work. During my exhortation, students would usually look at me with polite indifference.

Recently, I told a neighbour that I had written and published a novel and I asked whether he would be interested in reading the story. I was unpleasantly surprised when he proudly explained that he had not read novels, or any book for that matter, for more than thirty years. I now watch television, he said.

I am confident that my neighbours comment is not even an isolated occurrence because the same reply would surely be obtained from many people.

Sadly, reading and writing are, at least in part, the victims of a television and internet culture that has effectively encumbered the minds of people.

This is problematic because, without reading, it becomes difficult to think analytically and imaginatively about the worlds problems and issues, and it hampers the development of appropriate responses and solutions.

Lack of reading also often results in the uncritical acceptance of political slogans which, while they appear plausible, are ultimately devoid of merit.

Why are people even proud to admit or proclaim that they do not read books anymore? Some of the blame should surely be directed at the educational system that fails to inculcate the joy of reading, writing, and learning. In such a system, student disengagement and dissatisfaction with the education system is expected to be at an all-time low level.

It is important to encourage young people, indeed people of all ages, to become avid readers, reading the great classics and the captivating novels of our time.

For a start, the downgrading of the teaching of the rules of grammar, even if it is supported by many education policy makers, including some academics, should be reversed as a matter of priority.

Gabriel A. Moens AM is an emeritus professor of law at The University of Queensland. He has written extensively about educational issues in his book Enduring Ideas: Contributions to Australian Debates.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The Polish Energy Regulatory Office has awarded a Contract for Difference to the Baltica 3 and Baltica 2 offshore wind farms with a total capacity of up to 2.5 GW. Baltica 3 and 2 will contribute significantly to Polands green energy transition, accelerate the development of the local supply chain and spur economic activity for many years to come.



The Baltica Offshore Wind Farm  the largest offshore wind project in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea comprising the two phases Baltica 3 and Baltica 2  today came a big step closer to realization when the President of the Polish Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) awarded the project a Contract for Difference (CfD) at a maximum of PLN 319.60/MWh in accordance with the Decree of the Minister of Climate and Environment of Poland and the Offshore Wind Act. This effectively confirms that the Baltica Offshore Wind Farm has been selected for the first phase of Polands ambitious offshore wind buildout program.

With a total capacity of up to 2.5 GW, Baltica 3 and 2 will generate enough green electricity to power 4 million Polish households.

In February 2021, rsted and PGE signed an agreement to form a 50/50 joint venture for the development, construction and operation of Baltica 3 and 2, developed through special purpose vehicles. Subject to the closing of the joint venture transaction and rsteds and PGEs final investments decisions, the Baltica 3-phase of the project (up to 1 GW) would start generating power around 2026, while the Baltica 2-phase (up to 1.5 GW) could become operational before 2030. The CfD award is subject to final approval from the European Commission.

Rasmus Errboe, Senior Vice President and Head of Region Continental Europe at rsted, says: The contract award for Baltica 3 and 2 is a big milestone for Polish offshore wind and for rsteds and PGEs joint ambitions in Poland. Subject to closing of the joint venture agreement, we look very much forward to delivering these important infrastructure projects and to help Poland harness the large green energy resources in the Baltic Sea. The offshore wind industry will be a cornerstone in Polands transition to green power and has the potential to create thousands of Polish jobs.

Story continues

Wojciech Dabrowski, CEO of PGE Capital Group, says: The decision of the President of the Energy Regulatory Office brings the Offshore Programme and the Baltica offshore wind farm closer to realization. Offshore wind in Poland now has a solid foundation to be developed and it is currently the PGE Capital Group's priority. In our application for the CfD we also presented how we intend to carry out our investments in offshore wind farms as the leader of this new industry in Poland. We are committed to strengthen the local supply chain.

Polands roadmap for offshore wind

Polands energy policy until 2040 singles out offshore wind as a key technology to make Poland a low-emission economy, and Polands Offshore Wind Act specifies Polands ambitions for offshore wind: From zero offshore wind capacity today, Poland commits to install 5.9 GW by 2030, up to 11 GW by 2040, and analyses suggest a potential of up to 28 GW in Polish waters by 2050. This will make Poland the biggest market for offshore wind in the Baltic region and contribute significantly to the European Commissions target of 300 GW offshore wind capacity in European waters by 2050 to meet the EUs climate neutrality goal.

The Polish Wind Energy Association estimates that the realization of the offshore wind capacity targets in the Polish Offshore Wind Act will unlock EUR 29 billion investments.

Several Polish companies are already active in the offshore wind industry as suppliers of cables, foundations, cranes and vessels for installation and service of offshore wind turbines. And Polish ports in the Baltic Sea region have the potential to become hubs for installation, service and maintenance of offshore wind farms.

The information provided in this announcement does not change rsteds previous financial guidance for the financial year 2021 or the announced expected investment level for 2021.

For further information please contact:



rsted Group Media Relations

Tom Christiansen

+45 99 55 60 17

tomlc@orsted.dk



rsted Investor Relations

Allan Bdskov Andersen

+45 99 55 79 96

alban@orsted.dk

About rsted

The rsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. rsted develops, constructs, and operates offshore and onshore wind farms, solar farms, energy storage facilities, and bioenergy plants, and provides energy products to its customers. rsted ranks as the worlds most sustainable energy company in Corporate Knights' 2021 index of the Global 100 most sustainable corporations in the world and is recognised on the CDP Climate Change A List as a global leader on climate action. Headquartered in Denmark, rsted employs 6,179 people. rsted's shares are listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen (Orsted). In 2020, the group's revenue was DKK 52.6 billion (EUR 7.1 billion). Visit orsted.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.

Attachment




The number of Massachusetts residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19 increased by nearly 39,000 on Sunday as state health officials reported 1,831 new cases and eight more pandemic-linked deaths.

Sundays new coronavirus data, based on 85,910 new molecular tests, brings the estimated number of active cases in the state to 36,466, up by 619 from Saturdays 35,847.

As of Sunday, 1,765,666 residents have completed either the two-shot Pfizer or Moderna inoculations or received the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, up from a combined total of 1,727,001 on Saturday, according to the state Department of Public Health. More than 4 million residents have received at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna shots.

The seven-day average rate of positive tests now stands at 2.2%, slightly down from Saturdays 2.3%. Last September, the state saw averages as low as 0.8%.

Since the pandemic hit the U.S. more than a year ago, at least 619,885 residents have tested positive for the virus and 17,042 have died.

As of Sunday, 698 people are being treated in the hospital for the coronavirus, including 172 in the intensive care unit and 100 who are intubated.

Massachusetts currently lists 77 towns and cities as high risk for transmission of the deadly virus, up from 55 the week prior.

With more young people testing positive across the U.S., where more than two-thirds of seniors have gotten shots, Pfizer requested authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to expand the vaccine for children between 12 and 15 years old.

With health officials concerned about summer weather and travel bringing about another surge, the Transportation Security Administration reports that travel remains relatively high, The New York Times reported. More than 1.5 million people traveled on Thursday and Friday, nearly the same number of travelers during Easter weekend, according to the Times.

The nation averaged nearly 68,000 cases per day last week, an 11% uptick over the average two weeks ago. More than 31 million Americans have tested positive for the virus, and more than 562,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Here are the total COVID-19 cases in each county:

Barnstable County: 12,895

Berkshire County: 5,879

Bristol County: 61,947

Dukes County: 1,097

Essex County: 92,025

Franklin County: 2,321

Hampden County: 47,792

Hampshire County: 8,632

Middlesex County: 127,007

Nantucket County: 1,401

Norfolk County: 51,634

Plymouth County: 45,752

Suffolk County: 87,782

Worcester County: 72,520

Related Content:
Few of Indigenous actor Shareena Clantons fellow cast members on Neighbours were prepared for the bombshell she dropped via Instagram on the long-running soap opera last week, revealing an appalling account of racist, sexist and inappropriate behaviour she claims to have witnessed.

Shareena Clanton dropped a bombshell on her fellow cast and crew members on the set of Neighbours amid claims of racism and sexism on set. Credit:Instagram

Clanton doubled down on her claims as the media picked up on the story, describing a toxic workplace culture behind one of Australias most loved television shows.

To say her former fellow cast members and crew were left feeling a little wounded would be an understatement.

Privately, Neighbours most senior actors, including Colette Mann and Alan Fletcher, have confided in friends they were left deeply hurt by the ensuing media tsunami and were not allowed to let their feelings be known, having been gagged by bosses at Fremantle Media and the Ten Network.
LUDLOW  A motorcycle operator was killed after crashing into a utility pole Saturday night.

The bike burst into flames after the collision that occurred at about 10:20 p.m. on Miller Street near the intersection of Marias Way, Police Chief Daniel Valadas said.

When Ludlow Police responded to multiple reports of the crash, they found the bike engulfed in flames. Some officers immediately provided first aid to the operator while others worked to extinguish the flames, he said.

I would like to commend all responding officers for their efforts at the scene of the crash, especially the off-duty Pelham Police Officer who assisted us, Valadas said. The first responding officers performed exemplary service by desperately trying to aid the operator. This was an extremely delicate situation as our officers had the added danger of working around potentially live wires and they did a great job in their response efforts.

Ludlow Fire Department paramedics responded quickly and treated the victim, who died at the scene. Firefighters also worked to extinguish the fire, he said.

Police remained at the scene until 8:30 a.m. until Eversource technicians could replace the pole.

The Massachusetts State Polices detective and crime scene units responded to the scene. The crash is currently under investigation by Ludlow Police and the Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gullunis office.

The name of the victim is not being released until family members are notified. Further information about the crash will be released by Gullunis office, Valadas said.

Related content:
People walk through closed Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Iran on Saturday imposed partial lockdown on businesses in major shopping centers as well as intercity travels through personal cars in major cities including capital Tehran as it struggles with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Mideast region. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iran on Saturday began a 10-day lockdown amid a fourth wave of coronavirus infections, state TV reported, a worrisome trend after more than a year of the country battling the Middle East's worst outbreak.

Iran's coronavirus task force, charged with determining virus restrictions, ordered most shops closed and offices restricted to one-third capacity in cities declared as "red-zones."

The capital Tehran and 250 other cities and towns across the country have been declared red zones. They have the highest virus positivity rates and the most severe restrictions in place. Over 85% of the country now has either a red or orange infection status, authorities said.

The severe surge in infections follows a two-week public holiday for Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Millions traveled to the Caspian coast and other popular vacation spots, packed markets to shop for new clothes and toys and congregated in homes for parties in defiance of government health guidelines.

The new lockdown also affects all parks, restaurants, bakeries, beauty salons, malls and bookstores.

There appeared to be no respite in sight to the virus's spread as Iran's vaccine rollout lagged. Only some 200,000 doses have been administered in the country of 84 million, according to the World Health Organization.

Arman, 2, plays in front of closed shops of Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Iran on Saturday imposed partial lockdown on businesses in major shopping centers as well as intercity travels through personal cars in major cities including capital Tehran as it struggles with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Mideast region. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

COVAX, an international collaboration to deliver the vaccine equitably across the world, delivered its first shipment to Iran on Monday from the Netherlands containing 700,000 Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine doses.

The Health Ministry said there were more than 19,600 new infections on Saturday, including 193 deaths. The confirmed death toll since the beginning of the outbreak stood at more than 64,200.

Hadi Minaie, a shop owner at Tehran's Grand Bazaar, said mismanagement was the reason for the new surge and the government should have prevented people's movements during Nowruznot at a time when people need to earn a living.

"Nobody can say the lockdown should not have been imposed. But better management would have been enforcing it during Nowruz holiday when everywhere was already closed not now that everyone wants to work and earn a living," he said.

A man walks through closed Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Iran on Saturday imposed partial lockdown on businesses in major shopping centers as well as intercity travels through personal cars in major cities including capital Tehran as it struggles with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Mideast region. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

"Lockdowns are only effective to some extent but for how long should the people be paying the price," said Alireza Ghadirian, a carpet seller at the bazaar. He said the government needed to do more to provide vaccines.

Authorities have done little to enforce lockdown restrictions and originally resisted a nationwide lockdown to salvage an economy already devastated by tough U.S. sanctions. A year into the pandemic, public fatigue and intransigence has deepened.

Saeed Valizadeh, a motorcyclist who earns his living transporting passengers and light packages from the bazaar, said if the government paid a stipend to low-income citizens, then they could afford to stay at home.

"Those who are wealthy have no problem staying home but we can't," he said.

President Hassan Rouhani said several factors played a role in the rising number of cases but the prime culprit was the U.K. variant of the virus that entered Iran from Iraq.

A man walks through closed Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Iran on Saturday imposed partial lockdown on businesses in major shopping centers as well as intercity travels through personal cars in major cities including capital Tehran as it struggles with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Mideast region. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People walk through closed Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Iran on Saturday imposed partial lockdown on businesses in major shopping centers as well as intercity travels through personal cars in major cities including capital Tehran as it struggles with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Mideast region. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A cleric walks past a closed shop of Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Iran on Saturday imposed partial lockdown on businesses in major shopping centers as well as intercity travels through personal cars in major cities including capital Tehran as it struggles with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Mideast region. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A man sits in front of closed shops of Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Iran on Saturday imposed partial lockdown on businesses in major shopping centers as well as intercity travels through personal cars in major cities including capital Tehran as it struggles with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Mideast region. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People walk through closed Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Iran on Saturday imposed partial lockdown on businesses in major shopping centers as well as intercity travels through personal cars in major cities including capital Tehran as it struggles with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Mideast region. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Earlier this year, the country kicked off its coronavirus inoculation campaign, administering a limited number of Russian Sputnik V vaccine doses to medical workers.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Iraq, authorities introduced new measures to bolster vaccinations among citizens including restrictions on air travel.

The health ministry said it requested airlines to not sell tickets to travelers unless they show proof they were vaccinated. Workers at hospitals, restaurants, malls and shops would require a vaccination card as well.

The measures have been introduced amid a low demand in vaccinations among Iraqis, many of whom remain suspicious of the government's inoculation plans.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The Prime Minister's Office has rubbished an ABC reporter's claim that Scott Morrison didn't know a gender pay gap exists in Australia.

Journalist Andrew Probyn claimed Mr Morrison was 'gobsmacked' to learn gender pay inequality is still rife.

'I think what we are witnessing, though, is the slow transformation of Scott Morrison from someone who didn't understand it at all to someone who is getting some understanding,' Mr Probyn said on Sunday morning's Insiders program on ABC.

Journalist Andrew Probyn claimed Mr Morrison was 'gobsmacked' to learn gender pay inequality is still rife

'I've heard inside some of these (government) meetings Scott Morrison was gobsmacked there was even a gender pay gap, because he can't understand why you would have women and men paid differently for doing the same job, and you've got some of his colleagues say, "Well, Prime Minister, that actually does happen".

'So you would have noticed that two weeks ago the Prime Minister actually started talking about the gender pay gap, but maybe a day or so before that he had no understanding that that actually happened.'

Within hours a spokesperson for the Prime Minister said Probyn's claim is 'demonstrably false'.

'The Prime Minister has for many years discussed and sought to directly address the gender pay gap in Australia,' the spokesperson said.

'Under our government, the gender pay gap has shrunk from 17.4 per cent in September 2013 to 13.9 per cent in the latest figures.'

Mr Morrison posted a tweet in August 2018 saying he promised the gender pay gap issue was 'heading in the right direction'.

'Under Labor, the gender pay gap increased from 15.5 per cent to 17.2 per cent. Under our Government it has fallen to 14.5 per cent and heading in right direction #Moretodo,' he said.

Probyn's comments sparked fierce debate on Twitter.

'So, the head of the govt, the 'leader' of Aust, who repeatedly claims to be working for 'all Australians' has openly admitted he has no idea about issues that effort 51 per cent of the population despite being in govt for seven years, including time as Treasurer. Good govt starts here?' One person wrote.

Within hours a spokesperson for the prime minister said Probyn's claim is 'demonstrably false'

'Sorry, but what utter nonsense. How can anyone of his age, and with his political and professional experience and standing not know this?' Another person wrote.

A new report - titled Gender Equity Insights 2021: Making it a Priority - said gender equality is likely to be an issue in Australia for another 26 years.

It comes after Annastacia Palaszczuk wrote a letter to Mr Morrison calling for National Cabinet to host a gender equality summit.

The Queensland Premier said she wants a National Women's Summit to address 'ongoing economic and social inequality facing Australian women'.

Ms Palaszczuk posted her letter on Twitter where federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese re-tweeted it with the caption 'leadership' in yet another dig at Mr Morrison.

Even though it's routine for politicians to address each other on first-name terms, some on social media believed Ms Palaszczuk added extra sass to her letter by calling him 'Scott' and crossing out 'Prime Minister'.

It comes after Annastacia Palaszczuk wrote a letter to Mr Morrison calling for National Cabinet to host a gender equality summit

She also demanded 'action to address the gender pay gap, the gender superannuation gap, affordable childcare and sexual harassment'.

'Right now I believe our nation is at a point in time when real and enduring action must be taken to address the economic equality endured by Australian women for far too long,' the state Labor leader wrote.

A Labor source told Daily Mail Australia the letter was a 'swipe' at Mr Morrison because it implied the government was not doing enough to address equality and safety after former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins alleged she was raped in parliament.

The source said the letter also implies that state governments will need to be involved in finding and implementing national policies to benefit women.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Probyn.
A turkey has copped a roasting after causing a flurry of chaos at a suburban delicatessen in Adelaide.

Police were called to the Para Hills deli in the city's north on Sunday morning following reports a turkey was terrorising shoppers - and even refused to let them leave.

Footage shows the brazen bird roaming the store as if he owned the place.

Local Sam Hayes was on his way to work at the nearby butcher when he became caught up in the drama.

The turkey was placed in a police paddy wagon and taken to an animal shelter

'The cleaner looked like she was bailed up in the corner by this turkey. It was a pretty big turkey,' Mr Hayes told Nine News.

'It definitely wouldn't let anyone through.'

'It was a strange thing to rock up to work and have a turkey and police at the front of your shop.'

Three police officers called the scene were unsuccessful in their efforts to capture the turkey.

A local named Frank eventually intervened and caught the bird with a blanket.

A local named Frank (left) managed to capture the feathered felon (pictured) for police

The feathered felon was taken into custody and placed in a police paddy wagon without incident.

'After a brief interview, police discovered he was simply talking turkey as he kept repeating 'gobble, gobble,' South Australian Police posted on Facebook.

It's currently unclear where the turkey escaped from.

The turkey was taken to an animal shelter, where he has already earned the nickname Constable Clump.

Police were called to the deli following report the feathered felon was terrorising customers

'He is currently in detention awaiting bail,' Fairview Lodge Animal Shelter later posted.

President Kerri Bryant said the shelter's newest resident is settling in well and has already caused more havoc by chasing her grandson.

'He will stay here, if someone makes inquiries as to owning him well certainly have those discussions,' she told the Adelaide Advertiser.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal stated on Sunday that the COVID-19 situation in the national capital is "very serious". Delhi recorded 10,732 new cases of COVID-19 infection in the last 24 hours, stated Kejriwal. He also asked Delhiites to stay inside their homes and not go out unless it is urgent. He urged people to wear face masks, use sanitisers and to practice social distancing.

The Chief Minister maintained that the Delhi government does not want to impose a lockdown. "I believe lockdown is not a solution to deal with COVID-19. It should only be imposed if the hospital system collapses," said Kejriwal.

Kejriwal asked infected people to remain under home isolation and not to rush to hospitals. "The hospital beds should be left vacant for serious patients. It should not be so that people rush to hospitals and all beds are occupied and then lockdown is to be imposed," Kejriwal said during a press conference.

Kejriwal has asked all political parties to work together in order to fight the coronavirus spread. He stated that this was not the time to do politics or to point fingers.

Also Read: India reports highest-ever one-day spike with over 1.52 lakh COVID-19 cases

Also Read: 20-30% recovered people lose natural immunity against COVID-19 in 6 months
An Asiana Airline flight takes off Jeju International Airport, April 9. Korea Times file



A rapid growth in tourist numbers is bringing joy to and causing concern among residents of Jeju, the southern holiday island increasingly favored by locals as an alternative to overseas travel amid the COVID-19 outbreaks.



Tourist arrivals on Jeju Island have rapidly recovered to pre-coronavirus levels in recent months to the delight of its tourism sector, but residents are concerned about growing COVID-19 cases among visitors.



According to Jeju provincial authorities on Sunday, the number of tourists who visited Jeju last month was 880,000, nearly double from 470,000 in the same month of last year.



The latest monthly tally also represented 85 percent of the pre-COVID-19 level of 1.03 million recorded for the same month in 2019. Provincial officials say Jeju's tourist arrivals were rapidly recovering to pre-pandemic levels.



At the same time, however, unknown numbers of coronavirus carriers among tourists are posing a headache to both Jeju residents and quarantine officials.



Eleven of 12 COVID-19 cases confirmed on the island in the first seven days of this month were from visitors from the mainland or Jeju residents who contracted the virus from tourists.



To the dismay of Jeju residents, some infected tourists were found to have come to Jeju despite having suspected symptoms of COVID-19 or learning of infections of fellow workers before entering the island.



"Coronavirus cases are rising among visitors as spring tourism becomes more active in April," a Jeju provincial government official said, urging island residents to observe social distancing rules in dealing with visitors.



A senior official from the Jeju Tourism Organization also said that the authorities of Jeju have no choice but to focus on antivirus measures for now. "Jeju residents are concerned about COVID-19 transmissions from tourists, but they also know well that the island's economy itself will be hit hard if the tourism industry is stagnant," the official said. (Yonhap)




Space News space history and artifacts articles Messages space history discussion forums Sightings worldwide astronaut appearances Resources selected space history documents





advertisements



UAE names two new astronauts, including first woman candidate



April 10, 2021  The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has selected two new trainees for its burgeoning astronaut corps, including it first female candidate.



Nora AlMatrooshi, a 28-year-old mechanical engineer, and Mohammad AlMulla, a 32-year-old pilot for the Dubai Police, were announced on Saturday (April 10) by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) in Dubai. Their addition doubles the number of UAE astronauts, joining Hazza AlMansouri, who spent 8 days on the International Space Station in 2019, and Sultan AlNeyadi, his backup.



"With the support of our wise leadership, Emirati youth continue to make great strides and push their ambition to new limits. Today, two new Emirati astronauts joined the UAE Astronaut Program. Our young talents continue to set a model example to the world with their determination," Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, the Crown Prince of Dubai, wrote on Twitter.



AlMatrooshi and AlMulla were chosen from a initial pool of 4,305 applicants who replied to the UAE Space Agency's call for recruits in 2019. The two were among 14 finalists  nine men and five women  who qualified for the last round of interviews conducted by Al Mansoori and AlNeyadi, as well as NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Jessica Meir.



AlMatrooshi and AlMulla will join NASA's next astronaut class to undergo basic training and to prepare for missions to the space station and possibly the moon. In September 2020, NASA and the MBRSC signed an agreement to train UAE astronauts at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Under the pact, Al Mansoori and AlNeyadi have already undergone training on space station systems, robotics and spacewalking at Johnson.



"Congratulations to Nora AlMatrooshi and Mohammed AlMulla for joining the team of the UAE Astronaut Program," said Al Mansoori on Twitter. "We await you in preparation for new missions and exchange our expertise."



"I wish that we succeed together in raising the name of our nation ever higher," he said.



AlMatrooshi earned her bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi before accepting a position at the National Petroleum Construction Company, where she was also vice president of the Youth Council. AlMatrooshi ranked first in the UAE in the 2011 International Mathematical Olympiad and is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).



"Her passion for space began at a young age, as she enjoyed going to stargazing events," the MBRSC said in a video statement.



"The nation gave me unforgettable moments today. I aim to work hard to script historical moments and achievements that will be etched forever in the memory of our people," AlMatrooshi said on Twitter. "Preparations and work begin now."



AlMulla received his bachelor's degree in law and economics and earned his Executive Master of Public Administration from the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government in Dubai. A commercial pilot and flight instructor licensed by the Australian Civil Aviation Authority, he was the youngest pilot in the Dubai Police at age 19 and youngest flight trainer at 28 years old.



"His passion for space was born out of his love for aviation," the MSBRC said. "He got further interested in the field after the announcement of the first batch of the UAE Astronaut Program."



"What was a dream I worked to achieve has today become a responsibility that I will put all my efforts to meet," AlMulla wrote on Twitter. "Proud to join the UAE Astronaut Program and get ready for new missions."



The UAE Astronaut Program was founded in 2017 to prepare an Emirati astronaut corps and to create "a culture of scientific endeavor [to motivate UAE] youth to pursue space science and technology." The astronaut corps is managed by the UAE Space Agency and is funded by the ICT Fund of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), which promotes the country's integration on the global stage.



Nora AlMatrooshi and Mohammad AlMulla have been selected as the new astronaut candidates for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) corps. They will train at NASA's Johnson Space Center. (MBRSC)





Nora AlMatrooshi, a 28-year-old mechanical engineer, is the first Arab woman selected to train as an astronaut. (MBRSC)





First Emirati astronaut Hazza AlMansouri (at right), who flew to the International Space Station, and his backup Sultan AlNeyadi, are now training at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. (MBRSC)



 2021 collectSPACE.com All rights reserved.
Prince Harry is flying back home to attend his grandfathers funeral next weekend, a move that immediately raised speculation that it could serve as the launching pad for a reconciliation in the Royal Family. Harry will travel alone to Prince Philips funeral as his wife Meghan will be staying in Southern California. Meghan is pregnant with the couples second child due in the summer and her doctor advised her not to travel.

The speculation about what Harrys visit could mean for the family comes as Buckingham Palace unveiled details of the Duke of Edinburghs funeral, which will be a decidedly low-key affair as far as royal events are concerned without any access for the public. Philip had said he didnt want a big funeral but initial plans for public processions were nixed to avoid large gatherings of people that would violate public health guidelines. The funeral will take place entirely in Windsor Castle grounds and will include a short eight-minute ceremonial procession. The number of mourners will be limited to 30 as officials from the government and the Royal Family are urging people to watch it from home. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he wont be attending because he doesnt want to take a seat that could be filled by a member of Philips family.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

As the Royal Family released details of the funeral, Prince Charles paid tribute to his father, saying he and his family already missed him enormously. Philip added his dear papa was a very special person who above all else would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that have been said about him. The Royal Family expressed hope that the next week until the funeral can be used as an opportunity to celebrate Philips remarkable life, a spokesman said. The country will continue to be in national mourning until the day of the funeral. There will be a national minute of silence at the start of the funeral next Saturday.

Although authorities have called on the British public to stay at home, many have gone against those explicit wishes and are gathering at royal palaces to mourn Philip. The Royal Family had asked people on Friday to consider donating to charity instead of buying flowers but many still laid bouquets at the gates of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Caste on Saturday.




South Korea's presidential office on Sunday denied as "incorrect" a Japanese report that the United States asked Seoul to join the U.S.-led Quad forum.







The Yomiuri Shimbun, a major Japanese daily, reported earlier in the day that U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had strongly requested Seoul join the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue group, also known as Quad, during a meeting with his South Korean counterpart Suh Hoon early this month.







"(The newspaper's) citation is very inaccurate and the article itself does not reflect what was discussed between South Korea and the U.S.," a senior official at Cheong Wa Dae said.







The official stressed that "close" and "productive" discussions about their North Korea policies and cooperation among the allies took place at the bilateral meeting between South Korean and U.S. national security advisers and the three-way meeting with their Japanese counterpart at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.







Another Cheong Wa Dae official also dismissed the report, saying South Korea has never been asked to join the U.S.-forum also involving Japan, Australia and India.







During his visit to South Korea last month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the Quad as "an informal grouping of like-minded countries" and said that the U.S. is already working closely with Seoul on deepening cooperation on many issues. (Yonhap)






Meitra Care Network (MCN), an initiative by KEF Healthcare, has announced its partnership with Canadian Specialist Hospital (CSH) to launch a collaborative Centre of Excellence that will offer heart and vascular care services to patients.

CSH and KEF Healthcare are at advanced stages of signing MoU for the full spectrum of services, and in the first phase, the centre will offer advanced interventional cardiology procedures and electro physiology department.

A full-time MCN team will also be located at the CSH as per the terms. In the second phase, the Centre will have a full-fledged cardiac sciences department that will offer all heart-related surgical procedures.

Centres of Excellence in Orthopedics & Robotic surgery, Advanced Neurosciences & Spine will also be introduced during the second phase.

The Centre will be a first-of-its-kind healthcare hub in Dubai and the Middle East providing seamless healthcare services by leveraging the MCN platform of KEF Healthcare. It will also deploy cutting-edge digital technology that will open up a host of diversified medical interventions across tele-consultation, tele-medicine to diagnosis, critical care to surgical support and advisory.

This is a groundbreaking collaboration, and with Meitra Care Network, the pioneering disruptive medical and healthcare ecosystem, we will be able to enhance patient-centric care connecting with multiple specialist healthcare experts and entities from around the world. We will be offering the full spectrum of heart and vascular care services to patients that will complement Dubais reputation as a regional healthcare and medical tourism hub, said Mohammad Rashid Al Falasi, Chairman, Canadian Specialist Hospital.

Dr KR Balakrishnan, world-renowned expert in heart and lung transplant & mechanical circulatory support, will play a key role in this partnership of Meitra Care Network with Canadian Specialist Hospital. Dr KR Balakrishnan is an acknowledged expert in cardiothoracic surgery who has mastered evidence-based approach to healthcare practices. He is known for refining clinical expertise in surgery, and his areas of expertise include end-stage heart failure management, pediatric cardiac surgery, lung transplant, and heart and lung transplant.

CSH is a reputable acute cum critical care hospital catering to the tertiary healthcare needs of the UAE and the region. Our goal with this collaboration is to create an ever-expanding healthcare eco-system, bringing patients and doctors, as well as primary, secondary, tertiary and critical care service providers, under one integrated system, connected through hard and soft infrastructure  that will reduce downtime and wastage of resources, and result in better utilisation of doctors, laboratories, operation theatres, and healthcare facilities  to offer the best healthcare services at an affordable price.

We believe Meitra Care Network addresses the critical gap in collaborative healthcare supported by technology, and our debut in Dubai with CSH is a milestone in bringing quality global healthcare to patients in Dubai and the UAE, said Faizal E. Kottikollon, Founder Chairman of KEF Holdings and Meitra Hospital.

Canadian Specialist Hospital is a super specialty hospital provides high-end treatments including acute cardiac care to angioplasties, neuro spine surgeries, joint replacements, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, neonatal care including and so on. The partnership will also pave the way for Canadian Specialist Hospital to develop specially designed healthcare packages as well as introduce specialised surgeries at affordable prices. -- Tradearabia News Service
After two weeks of testimony, the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, the former officer charged in the death of George Floyd, has gripped viewers  including the hosts of a fictional news program on Saturday Night Live, who drew very different conclusions from what theyd seen.

This weekend, S.N.L. began with a sendup of a local midday show, called Eye on Minnesota and hosted by Ego Nwodim, Kenan Thompson, Kate McKinnon and Alex Moffat.

Reacting to the case so far, Nwodim said, Watching this trial brought back so many bad feelings from last summer.

Moffat supportively added, The video footage alone should tell you everything you need to know about what happened. And hopefully justice will be served.
Finished AR-15 rifle barrels are stacked on shelves at Delta Team Tactical in Orem, Utah, on March 20, 2020. (George Frey/AFP via Getty Images)

Utah County Sheriff Vows to Not Enforce Unconstitutional Gun Control

Deputies of Cache County, Utah, are not going to enforce any federal policy that may infringe on residents Second Amendment rights, the County Sheriffs office said, in response to new gun control measures introduced by President Joe Biden.

Shortly after Biden revealed the planned executive actions on guns, County Sheriff D. Chad Jensen took to the official Facebook page of his department to assure people that unconstitutional gun control will not happen in the county on his watch.

I have always supported and wholeheartedly enforced all constitutionally-sound laws that deter and penalize gun violence, Jensen wrote in the April 9 statement. It is critical we continue to work to keep firearms out of the hands of those who would use them to commit acts of violence against our citizens.

Jensen noted that the state of Utah already restricts certain people from owning firearms, including drug addicts, convicted felons, convicted domestic abusers, those with an active order of protection, and those with certified mental health conditions. He also highlighted his departments great symbiotic working relationship with the federal law enforcement partners in combating crimes.

That being said, the county sheriff added he will never support any action from the federal government he deemed in conflict with the Constitution.

As your sheriff, I will always stand and fight for ALL your constitutional rights, the statement reads. I stand at the forefront of this county to protect your rights from government overreach.

Jensens statement, which has drawn more than a thousand responses on Facebook, was met with a mixed reaction. While many commenters said they appreciated his commitment to the Second Amendment, some others questioned why he gets to pick and choose which laws to enforce.

In an effort to address what he described as a gun violence epidemic, Biden on April 8 introduced a gun control package that limits the availability of certain guns an accessories and encourages states themselves to tighten gun control. One of the executive orders seeks to restrict ghost guns, or homemade, unregistered firearms usually built from a kit that could be ordered online. Another order restricts the sale of stabilizing braces designed to increase the accuracy and reduce the recoil of pistols, making them behave more like rifles.

Several high-profile Republicans, including Utah Sen. Mike Lee, have criticized Bidens gun control proposals as unconstitutional. Lee warned that those actions might be just the first step of a broader and more restrictive gun control plan in the future.

It doesnt get him to where he wants to go here, which is, I suspect, a national gun registry system and a massive process of federally banning a number of firearms commonly held by law-abiding persons, Lee said on Fox News last month.

Thats not going to fly and thats not consistent with the Constitution or what the American people will accept, he added.
The fourth episode of Line of Duty's sixth season left fans on a major cliffhanger on Sunday night.

Having harvested DNA samples from PS Farida Jatri's home, AC-12 found that DCI Jo Davidson had indeed been at the property, despite denying any personal relation with the Police Sergeant in the past.

But as the latest instalment came to a close, DI Steve Arnott informed Superintendent Ted Hastings that there was another DNA match to Davidson - a mystery blood relative.

Who is it? The fourth episode of Line Of Duty's sixth season left fans on a major cliffhanger on Sunday night

While Hastings was seen learning the identity of the mystery figure, uttering his favourite catchphrase 'mother of God!' at the revelation, viewers were left having to wait for next week's episode.

This didn't stop a slew of theories from spilling onto Twitter.

Notably, fans deciphered that the DNA match was male - noting that the BBC's subtitled captioned the Arnott's line 'he's identified over the page'.

'Well #LineOfDuty has got us all craning our heads to investigate! And its a he thanks to subtitles... Tommy Hunter is my guess!' one amateur sleuth posted to Twitter.

Blood relative: Having harvested DNA samples from PS Farida Jatri's home, AC-12 found that DCI Jo Davidson had indeed been at the property. DI Steve Arnott informed Superintendent Ted Hastings that there was another DNA match to Davidson

Looking for a man: Notably, fans deciphered that the DNA match was male - noting that the BBC's subtitled captioned the Arnott's line 'he's identified over the page'

Another penned, 'Jo Davidson is related to Tommy Hunter. Same accent, would certainly cause a reaction like that from Hastings, not a copper and hes a man. Bingo,' as another posted: 'HE????!!!!??'

'Just listened back; Steve says "HE is identified over the page"; we are looking for a bloke,' another savvy fan pointed out.

'Wondering if Tommy hunter is Jo's dad!!!!!????' came one prediction.

Someone else theorized: 'Who is Jo Davidson related to? My guesses: John Corbett (and therefore possibly Hastings), Derek Hilton, Mike Dryden!'

'He's over the page!' Notably, fans deciphered that the DNA match was male - noting that the BBC's subtitled captioned the Arnott's line 'he's identified over the page'

Sweet Jesus! While Hastings was seen learning the identity of the mystery figure, uttering his favoautie catchphrase 'mother of God!' at the revelation, viewers were left having to wait for next week's episode

ID? Arnott knows whose DNA was a match to Davidson's

Another penned: 'Ive got my theory. I reckon Jo Davidsons blood relative is Superintendent Powell from Season 5. Scottish accent, Corbetts boss in a clandestine unit. Would be in line for promotion to Chief Super in a new Anti Corruption Unit!'

'My theory - the DNA that flagged on the nominal database was either Corbetts (police files removed when deep undercover) OR Teds (older police officer so DNA not on system and was cautioned once) so Jo is Teds daughter, Anne Marie is her mum!' someone else wrote.

'I'm thinking DCC Wise,' came another theory, followed by someone else tweeting: 'Partial detection to a nominal. That would mean Laverty, Hunter, Roach, Biggeloe, Lakewell are the ones to narrow it down to.'

The overriding theories suggested that Davidson's relative was either Tommy Hunter, of series one and two, Mike Dryden of series two, John Corbett of series five, or Derek Hilton, killed off in series four.

Overriding theories: Davidson's relative could be [L-R] John Corbett of series five or Tommy Hunter of series one and two

Theories: The overriding theories suggested that Davidson's relative was either Tommy Hunter, of series one and two, Mike Dryden of series two, John Corbett of series five, or Derek Hilton, killed off in series four

Could it be? Fans believe it could be [L-R] Mike Dryden or Derek Hilton

Tommy Hunter was the leader of the OCG in earlier series of the show, and a paedophile. His character is dead.

Mike Dryden, the former Deputy Chief Constable, was last seen resigning from his post for perverting the course of justice in series two. His Scottish links also suggest he could be related to Davidson.

John Corbett was an undercover cop in series five who had his throat slit, leaving behind a wife, two daughters, and a mysterious link to a woman, Anne-Marie, whom fans claim could also be Davidson's mother.

Derek Hilton was a Chief Superintendent and later the Assistant Chief Constable of Central Police. He was also secretly affiliated with organised crime. He was shot in the mouth in a staged suicide in season four.

Line Of Duty continues Sunday at 9PM on BBC One.


Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 12:44:59|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

ULAN BATOR, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Two Mongolian soldiers were arrested on Sunday for killing their commander and fleeing, according to the country's national police agency.

The 19-year-old soldiers fled with two guns and more than 40 bullets after they shot dead their commander at a border outpost in Altai soum (administrative subdivision) of Govi-Altai Province in western Mongolia on Thursday.

"This morning, the two soldiers were arrested 50 km from Altai soum without any resistance and with the help of their parents," said the police agency. Enditem
The impact of the Derek Chauvin trial is reverberating far beyond the walls of the downtown Minneapolis courtroom.

The state of play: With the trial set to enter its third week, activists across America are watching the proceedings unfold with heavy skepticism that what they perceive as justice will be served.

Plus, nearly a year after George Floyds death, cities are continuing to confront heightened tensions in their communities while taking steps to curb use of force among law enforcement and hold them accountable for unfair treatment of people of color.

"We still fear that this cycle of intergenerational trauma due to state-sanctioned violence will continue," said Apryl Alexander, a psychology professor at the University of Denver and local Black Lives Matter activist.

In Denver, where protests over Floyds death renewed attention to the 2019 police killing of Elijah McClain, Democratic state lawmakers recently introduced two bills aimed at preventing both tragedies from happening again.

One bill would, among other things, limit law enforcement's ability to use deadly force, allowing it only as a "last resort" after all other deescalation strategies have been exhausted.

"last resort" after all other deescalation strategies have been exhausted. The other responds directly to the McClain case and calls for guardrails for the use of ketamine  a powerful sedative McClain was injected with after officers used a chokehold on him  outside of hospital settings.

The Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police opposes the legislation, seeing it as excessive, the Colorado Sun reports.

Meanwhile, in Charlotte, Kass Ottley, a 56-year-old grandmother and one of the citys most prominent activists, has been dealing with stomach pains while watching the trial. Shes sure theyre from the stress.

"I am praying they get this right," Ottley told Axios last week. "Because if not, the reaction is going to be like nothing weve ever seen before."

Flashback: Both Ottley and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police chief Johnny Jennings said the Chauvin trial brings back memories of the 2015 mistrial of officer Randall "Wes" Kerrick, who shot an unarmed Black man named Jonathan Ferrell 10 times in September 2013.

Like the Chauvin case, it seemed like clear-cut murder to many, including then-police chief Rodney Monroe, who arrested Kerrick within 18 hours of the incident.

The city settled a civil suit with Ferrells family just two months before the trial, but a jury couldnt reach a verdict on criminal charges.

"I really thought we were going to get this right. This is going to be the one to change everything, Ottley said of the Kerrick trial, echoing what many across America are saying about the Chauvin trial.

In Des Moines, the city passed an ordinance last June that prohibits racial profiling by police. It also created a new committee to make recommendations about how to further improve police enforcement.

But tensions remain high, frequently leading to calls to restore decorum during the citys virtual meetings. Relations between the public  especially activists  and city officials have become so fraught that Mayor Frank Cownie is now pursuing new rules for City Hall.

That includes a weapons ban and the installation of metal detectors before the city resumes in-person meetings later this year.

Across Tampa Bay, organizers and activists felt anxious and hopeful but also jaded as the trial started.

Jae Passmore, who has been on the front lines of recent protests and was roughly arrested by Tampa police during a demonstration downtown last summer, said she was avoiding watching the trial.

"It's a tale as old as time," Passmore said. "From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, and Eric Garner, I don't need to re-traumatize myself with the acknowledgment that this country doesn't care about Black life by watching this trial."

This story contains reporting from Axios Charlotte's Michael Graff; Axios Denver's Alayna Alvarez; Axios Des Moines Jason Clayworth; and Axios Tampa Bays Ben Montgomery. Yacob Reyes contributed to this report.

This is an Axios Local collaboration. If you live in Charlotte, Denver, Des Moines, Tampa Bay or the Twin Cities, sign up to receive newsletters designed to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news unfolding in their own backyard.
Advertisement

Princess Anne has paid tribute to her father Prince Philip, describing him as her 'teacher, supporter and critic' following his death on Friday.

In a statement released this afternoon, the Princess Royal, 70, said: 'You know it's going to happen but you are never really ready.

'My father has been my teacher, my supporter and my critic, but mostly it is his example of a life well lived and service freely given that I most wanted to emulate.

'His ability to treat every person as an individual in their own right with their own skills comes through all the organisations with which he was involved.

'I regard it as an honour and a privilege to have been asked to follow in his footsteps and it has been a pleasure to have kept him in touch with their activities.

'I know how much he meant to them, in the UK, across the Commonwealth and in the wider world.

'I would like to emphasise how much the family appreciate the messages and memories of so many people whose lives he also touched. We will miss him but he leaves a legacy which can inspire us all.'

Princess Anne's statement came after tributes from other members of the royal family.

Sophie, Countess of Wessex, has described Price Philip's death as 'so gentle,' saying 'it's just like someone took him by the hand and off he went.'

Sharing a tribute via The Royal Family's Instagram page, the Princess Royal said it was an 'honour and a privilege' to follow in Prince Philip's footsteps

Princess Anne, pictured with the Duke of Edinburgh during the London 2012 Olympic games, said her father's 'example of a life well lived and service freely given that I most wanted to emulate'

Sophie was among those attending a Sunday service at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge in Windsor today.

The service comes two days after Prince Philip died aged 99.

'You know it's going to happen but when it happens it's just this massive, massive hole,' Sophie told a group of three mourners outside the chapel.

'It was so gentle, it was just like someone took him by the hand and off he went. Very, very peaceful and that's all you want with somebody isn't it?

'I think it's so much easier for the person that goes than the people left behind, we're all sitting here looking at each other going 'This is awful,'' Sophie said.

She added that all the tributes that had come for Philip had been 'amazing' especially considering the restrictions of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

She shared a joke about the manicured lawn of the church yard.

Pointing to the sky, Sophie said: 'Well we know if [staff] had not done such a great job, there is one person who would have noticed!'

Sophie also joined her husband Prince Edward and daughter Lady Louise Windsor to speak to the media outside the chapel.

'It's been a bit of a shock. However one tries to prepare oneself for something like this, it's still a dreadful shock and we're sort of trying to come to terms with that,' Edward told ITV.

'It's very, very, sad, but I have to say, the extraordinary tributes and the memories that everybody's had and been willing to share has been so fantastic and it just goes to show, he might have been our father, grandfather, father-in-law, but he meant so much to so many other people.

Sophie, Countess of Wessex (right), has described Price Philip's death as 'so gentle,' saying 'it's just like someone took him by the hand and off he went.' Sophie was among those attending a Sunday service at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge in Windsor today

Sophie (right) also joined her husband Prince Edward (left) and daughter Lady Louise Windsor (centre) to speak to the media outside the chapel

Prince Philip died peacefully in his sleep at Windsor Castle on Friday, two months before his 100th birthday, leaving the Queen and the royal family 'mourning his loss'

'And just being here this morning with everybody from Windsor Great Park and he was a ranger here for, I think, more years than any other ranger and he means so much to so many people here and it's the same for those who lived and worked at Balmoral and Sandringham.

'For all those past and present, he means a huge huge amount to them ... they all have their own personal memories and stories and our hearts go out to all of them as well,' Edward said.

'He always exchanged words with everybody because it didn't matter what anybody was doing in and around the estate, here and everywhere else, they all meant a lot to him and he always took a very personal interest in everything that they were doing. So they've all got stories to tell and most of them are quite funny as well' Sophie added.

Separately, Edward added that his mother was 'bearing up' and the royal family appreciated 'the wave of affection' for the Duke of Edinburgh from the public since his death was announced on Friday.

The earl said: 'That wave of affection for him and just those lovely stories.

'They just mean so much and the tributes have been just fantastic.

'That's really, really important and we really do appreciate it.'

Referring to the warm wishes that have poured in from around the world, Sophie said it had been 'so lovely for so many people to learn about what he did'.

She added: 'I just think quite a lot of things that have come out will have surprised some people and how intrinsic he was to every element of society, if you look at it.'

The couple recalled some of the scrapes Philip got into while carriage driving around the Windsor estate.

Smiling, Sophie said Philip had been 'pulled out of a few ditches here I seem to remember as well'.

Laughing, Edward said: 'In the early days, yes, he used to have a few problems.'

Sophie added: 'More recently too.'

Philip took up carriage driving after being forced to retire from polo in 1971 due to a wrist injury.

He was driving competitively just two years later and would go on to teach Sophie, while Lady Louise is also a keen participant.

The sport can be dangerous and Philip had what he dubbed his own 'annus horribilis' in 1994 with 'no less than eight disasters'.

Prince Andrew was also in attendance at the service and said the Queen had described the loss of her husband as 'having left a huge void in her life'.

Andrew said the Queen is 'an incredibly stoic person', but said Philip's death had left her grieving and 'she is feeling it more than anyone'.

He said: 'She described his passing as a miracle and she's contemplating, I think is the way that I would put it.

'She described it as having left a huge void in her life but we, the family, the ones that are close, are rallying round to make sure that we're there to support her.'

Andrew added of his father: 'He was a remarkable man. I loved him as a father. He was so calm. He was always someone you could go to. We have lost the grandfather of the nation.'

Prince Andrew was also in attendance at the service and said the Queen had described the loss of her husband as 'having left a huge void in her life'. Pictured: Prince Andrew (right) with Sophie on Sunday

The Duke of York, who stepped down from royal duties amid the scandal over his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, also said today: 'It's a terrible loss. My father said to me on the telephone a few months ago, ''We are all in the same boat and we must always remember that, but occasionally we, the family, are asked to stand up and show compassion and leadership''.

'And unfortunately, with my father's death, it has brought it home to me, not just our loss, but actually the loss that everybody else has felt, for so many people who have died and lost loved ones during the pandemic.

'And so, we are all in the same boat - slightly different circumstances because he didn't die from Covid, but we're all feeling a great sense of loss.'

Prince Philip died peacefully in his sleep at Windsor Castle on Friday, two months before his 100th birthday, leaving the Queen and the royal family 'mourning his loss'.

Canon Martin Poll, chaplain to Windsor Great Park, greeted Edward, Sophie, their teenage daughter and Andrew before the service today.

Looking sombre and reflective, the royal party spoke to workers from the Windsor estate and the congregation when they arrived at All Saints, which the Queen normally attends outside of lockdown.

The royals thanked everyone for their support particularly over the last few days following the duke's death on Friday.

Philip's funeral at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, next Saturday will be like no other royal funeral, with the Queen and her family wearing face masks and socially distancing as they gather to say their final farewell amid coronavirus restrictions.

Buckingham Palace announced yesterday that Prince Philip's ceremonial royal funeral will take place on April 17 at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, and a national minute's silence will be observed as it begins at 3pm. The funeral service will be broadcast worldwide.

The Archbishop of Canterbury also led a solemn remembrance service for Prince Philip at Canterbury Cathedral today.

The Queen has described the loss of the Duke of Edinburgh (pictured with the Queen in 2007) as 'having left a huge void in her life', according to Prince Andrew

The Countess of Wessex, attends the Sunday service at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor, following Prince Philip's death

A specially modified Land Rover, Naval procession and royal mourning: Prince Philip's funeral details are released by palace 2.40pm: Coffin emerges from State Entrance of Windsor Castle The duke's coffin, accompanied by the Dean of Windsor and the Lord Chamberlain, will be moved to the State Entrance of Windsor Castle by a Bearer Party of The Queen's Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards. The coffin will emerge and the Bearer Party will place it onto a specially modified Land Rover, which Philip helped to design, to transport it to St George's Chapel. 2.45pm: The procession leaves for St George's Chapel The procession from the state entrance to the West Steps of the chapel will take eight minutes. The Prince of Wales and members of the royal family will take part in the procession on foot, immediately behind the duke's coffin, together with staff from Philip's household. The route of the procession will be lined by representatives drawn from the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the Highlanders, 4th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland and the Royal Air Force. Minute guns will be fired by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery from the east lawn of Windsor Castle for the duration of the procession, and the Curfew Tower Bell will toll. 2.53pm: The Land Rover reaches the West Steps of the chapel A Guard of Honour and Band from The Rifles will receive the coffin at the foot of the West Steps, with the national anthem being played as the coffin enters Horseshoe Cloister. A bearing party of Royal Marines will carry the coffin up the steps and pause for the minute's silence. 3.00pm: National minute of silence Following the minute's silence, the Dean of Windsor, together with the Archbishop of Canterbury, will receive the coffin at the top of the West Steps. In keeping with coronavirus guidelines to limit guests inside the chapel, most of the procession will not enter the chapel, except for members of the royal family, and the duke's private secretary Archie Miller Bakewell. The funeral service will begin as the coffin enters St George's Chapel. Advertisement

The service started at 10.30am with Justin Welby paying tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh after his death on Friday morning.

It was a small, socially distanced gathering with the Queen represented by Lady Colgrain, the Lord-Lieutenant of Kent. Also in attendance was the High Sheriff of Kent, the Lord Mayor of Kent, the Sheriff of Canterbury and the chief executive of Canterbury.

Edward Elgar's stirring Nimrod was played, the piece of music that accompanies many British funerals and memorial services and is played annually at the Cenotaph in London to mark the National Service of Remembrance.

In his sermon, the Archbishop said that the Duke of Edinburgh had a 'remarkable willingness' to 'take the hand he was dealt in life'. However, he added that the Duke 'would have been the first to harrumph strongly at over-spiritualisation of himself'.

The Reverend Canon Tim Naish spoke after the Archbishop and added: 'We pray for all those who mourn Prince Philip's death. We pray for comfort and strength for Elizabeth our Queen.'

Marking the third of eight days of national morning, people also gathered at royal palaces to leave flowers despite calls from the palace and the government to stay away to maintain social distancing guidelines.

Paying tribute to the late Duke at the special service today, Mr Welby said: 'It is God who creates, God who calls, and God who sends. For His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, there was a willingness, a remarkable willingness, to take the hand he was dealt in life, and straightforwardly to follow its call. To search its meaning, to go out and on as sent, to inquire and think, to trust and to pray.

He added: 'For the royal family, as for every other, no words can reach into the depth of sorrow that goes into bereavement. We all know that it is not simply a factor of age or familiarity. It is not obliterated by the reality of a very long life remarkably led, nor is the predictability of death's arrival a softening of the blow. Loss is loss.'

The archbishop urged prayers for the family and others who are grieving.

He said: 'Our lives are not completed before death, but their eternity is prepared. So we can indeed pray that the Duke of Edinburgh may rest in peace and rise in glory. We may pray for comfort. We may pray and offer love for all who find that a great life leaves a very great gap.

'For the royal family and the millions who have themselves suffered loss, we can know that the presence of Christ will bring peace, and the light of Christ will shine strongly, and it is in that light that we can strengthen one another with eternal hope.'

The Duke will be taken to St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on a Land Rover he helped to design, and will be flanked by pall bearers from the Royal Marines, Regiments, Corps and Air Stations.

The decision to carry Philip in the custom-built car comes after he is said to have told the Queen: 'Just stick me in the back of a Land Rover and drive me to Windsor.'

Immediately behind the Land Rover, the Prince of Wales and other members of the family, likely to be the Duke's other children and some of his grandchildren including Harry and William, will proceed on foot.

Prince Harry will travel to the UK to be with his family for the service, but his pregnant wife Meghan will remain at their home in California after being advised not to travel by her doctor.

Official royal mourning will then take place for two weeks after the funeral.

Only 30 people - expected to be the Duke's children, grandchildren and other close family - will attend as guests.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not be among guests, having stepped aside to allow for the attendance of as many family members as possible during coronavirus restrictions, No 10 said last night.

The Land Rover's poignant role in the funeral proceedings always formed part of Operation Forth Bridge - the codename given to the plans following Philip's death.

A senior Palace official said: 'The Duke of Edinburgh had a hand many years ago in the design of these vehicles.' The official added that there were two Land Rovers for 'belt and braces'.

The Queen has approved the Prime Minister's recommendation of national mourning, which began on April 9 and runs until and including the day of the funeral.

Originally 800 people would have been due to gather to pay their respects to the nation's longest serving consort, but Philip is known to have wanted a low key affair.

The first guest confirmed by the palace was the duke's long-standing close aide, his private secretary Brigadier Archie Miller Bakewell, who will be one of the few, and possibly only, non-royals invited to attend.

Brigadier Miller Bakewell had been the Duke's right hand man for 11 years, taking on the role in 2010.

And brothers William and Harry are expected to stand 'shoulder to shoulder' a they come together for the first time since Harry's bombshell Oprah interview.

All public elements of the funeral have been cancelled, and it will be televised but take place entirely in the grounds of the castle, the Palace said.

The Queen has decided the royal family will enter two weeks of royal mourning, and engagements will continue appropriate to the circumstances, a senior royal official said.
An ousting, a challenge for duel and other boisterous scenes rock the House By Sandun Jayawardana, our Parliament correspondent View(s): View(s):

Heated verbal exchanges, protests, insults and an open challenge to a fight outside the Chamber marked yet another tumultuous week for the countrys Ninth Parliament.

The reason for the mayhem stemmed from the announcement made by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Wednesday that the Secretary General of Parliament had written to the Election Commission (EC) announcing that the Parliamentary seat of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Gampaha District MP Ranjan Ramanayake had fallen vacant. Mr Ramanayake is currently serving a four-year prison sentence after the Supreme Court found him guilty of Contempt of Court.

In his announcement, Speaker Abeywardena said that the Secretary General of Parliament had written to the EC that Mr Ramanayake had ceased to be a Member of Parliament in terms of Article 66 (d) of the Constitution. The provision deals with how a seat of an MP becomes vacant. In Mr Ramanayakes case, he has been disqualified to be an MP in terms of Article 89 or 91 of the Constitution, as he has been sentenced to a prison term of four years by the Supreme Court.

Mr Ramanayake had earlier filed a writ petition in the Court of Appeal (CA) seeking an interim injunction preventing the Secretary General of Parliament from taking any action regarding his Parliamentary seat. A two judge bench of the CA rejected the petition on Monday, which led to the letter being sent to the EC.

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa protested the Speakers ruling, arguing that he should have announced his decision first to Parliament instead of doing so after the letter had been forwarded to the EC. Why this undue haste to remove him (Ramanayake) from his MP seat. This is unjust, he stressed. Mr Premadasa also erroneously claimed that the Speaker had ruled Mr Ramanayake was disqualified from being an MP on the grounds that he had not attended Parliament for three months without leave, and noted that the Speaker had refused to approve a leave motion for the MP earlier on the grounds that a court case over the MPs seat was pending.

The section which Mr Premadasa quoted regarding an MPs seat being vacant if he absents himself without leave from Parliament was actually Article 66 (f) and not 66 (d).

SJB MPs then attempted to approach the Speakers Chair, leading to tense scenes. Order however, was eventually restored.

Speaker Abeywardena gave a far more extensive explanation on Thursday regarding the content of the letter sent to the EC. He pointed out that the Opposition Leaders position that Mr Ramanayakes seat had been deemed vacant due to non-attendance of Parliament for three months was wrong. He called the behaviour and allegations levelled by some MPs over the incident unwanted and baseless and asked them to conduct themselves in a more dignified manner.

Mr Premadasa, who wore a black armband along with other SJB MPs to protest the decision on Mr Ramanayake, expressed regret for misquoting the relevant provision of the Constitution. He however, insisted that the House should recognise that Mr Ramanayake had recourse to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal regarding his Parliamentary seat and that he will challenge the decision in the Supreme Court. As such, Mr Premadasa maintained that the decision to write to the EC about the seat failing vacant was wrong and said that the decent thing for the House to do was to approve a leave of absence for Mr Ramanayake until the Supreme Court reached a decision on the matter.

The Opposition Leader further alleged that there was a conspiracy on the part of the Government to deprive Mr Ramanayake of his Parliamentary seat. Unfortunately, you seem to be involved in that conspiracy, he told the Speaker.

Speaker Abeywardena dismissed the Opposition Leaders allegations as baseless, and said his decision was based on the ruling given by the CA and relevant provisions of the Constitution. Leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardena meanwhile, pointed out that Mr Ramanayake was not the first person to lose his MP seat following a court ruling. He noted that a significant number of MPs, including the late Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake had lost their seats following court rulings. Whether we like the decision or not, we have to set aside our emotions and respect the Constitution.

Matters quickly got out of hand when SJB MP Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka rose to remind the Government how it had treated him during the period from 2010 to 2015. The Speaker who was party to the barbaric treatment meted out to me is sitting in this Chamber now, the MP said, referring to former Speaker and current Minister Chamal Rajapaksa. A kangaroo court of the army convicted me and I spent eight months in remand. I appealed to three different courts over this ruling. While all those cases were pending, the former Speaker sitting here did not allow me to come to Parliament from the day the sentence was imposed on me, he accused.

A furious Mr Rajapaksa countered that it was he who had allowed the Field Marshal to ultimately attend Parliament. The heated exchange between the two led to other MPs from both sides joining in, with insults and unparliamentary language being hurled back and forth. At one point, Mr Rajapaksa even challenged Field Marshal Fonseka to step outside to settle the matter.

All attempts to restore order thereafter failed and SJB MPs, carrying placards in support of Mr Ramanayake, started shouting loudly and protesting from the Opposition benches. Government MPs too, then came to the well of the House to confront the SJB MPs, with some putting up hastily scrawled placards countering those from the SJB. The Speaker had to briefly suspend sittings for close to 20 minutes. There was however, no physical violence between the two sides.

When sittings recommenced, Mr Rajapaksa apologised for his outburst.

The SJBs protests were to no avail. On Friday, after his name was gazetted by the Election Commission, Ajith Mannapperuma took oaths as the SJB MP from Gampaha to fill the seat left vacant by Mr Ramanayake. He had obtained 47, 212 preferential votes at the last Parliamentary election and finished fifth in the district from the SJB, making him next in line to enter Parliament.

Parliament will reconvene at 10 a.m. on April 20.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  New Mexico Department of Health officials flagged multiple violations beyond the alleged closed-loop extraction system at New MexiCann Natural Medicine when they responded to the October explosion on San Mateo Lane in Santa Fe.

A recent public records request revealed department of health workers witnessed unlabeled edibles, food safety violations, non-working cameras, unlicensed marijuana plants and more when they responded to the site after an explosion there critically injured two employees.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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

The explosion occurred while two workers were using equipment to extract THC from the cannabis plant.

The incident is now the center of a criminal investigation in which New MexiCann owner Carlos Gonzales, 56, of Santa Fe, was charged with two counts of negligent arson. His case is still making its way through Santa Fe Magistrate Court.

Gonzales attorney, John Day, declined to say much because he did not want to try the case in the media. But Day did say that New MexiCann had its licensing hearing in March to determine whether its license will be permanently revoked. The hearing officer has, however, yet to render a decision.

Gonzales is accused of altering the hot plate system used to extract THC from the cannabis plant at the facility. The Department of Health allows only closed-loop extractions and Gonzales allegedly switched the hot plates to an open-loop system.

That exposed the ethanol used in the extraction process, which is how the October explosion occurred.

But inspectors say they found other problems unrelated to the explosion.

DOH reports show that inspectors noticed a marijuana plant growing outside in New MexiCanns parking lot. The plant didnt have a bio-tracking number, and was accessible to people outside of the building.

Gonzales said he didnt know about the plant in the parking lot, while acknowledging that he would regularly walk the facility, the report said. In addition to the parking lot plant, there were 20 unlicensed plants without bio-tracking numbers in the dispensarys greenhouse.

Department inspectors said they also noticed marijuana buds on the tables in the grow-rooms in unsanitary conditions, according to the report. There were also expired cannabis products being kept with unexpired cannabis products, the reports show.

In addition, cameras throughout the facility were not working, according to the report. The Department of Health requires operating cameras at all times in cannabis dispensaries.

The cameras hadnt been functioning since September, so there is no footage of the explosion. There was also no camera footage to document how the other violations occurred at the dispensary, according to the report.

The explosion was the second to occur at the facility.

In 2015, another explosion injured two workers. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the business $13,500 for violations associated with that mishap.
Police believe no foul play or criminal activity was involved in the disappearance of LSU student Kori Gauthier, the University said in a statement Saturday night.

UPDATE: Kori Gauthier, missing LSU student, identified as body found in Mississippi River

On Saturday, cadaver dogs with Mercy Search & Rescue alerted twice in the same area on the Mississippi River, the statement said. But that part of the river is 85-90 feet deep and conditions were unsafe for divers.

The search will continue Sunday with mounted patrol officers, boats and sonar technology.

+8 Family of missing LSU student from Opelousas holds vigil near where she disappeared The family of Kori Gauthier, the LSU student from Opelousas who disappeared Wednesday, held a prayer service for her on the Mississippi River 

Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Gauthier was reported missing on Wednesday after someone crashed into her empty car on the Mississippi River Bridge.

Below is the statement LSU released Saturday night:

"Search efforts are continuing in a targeted area of the Mississippi River throughout the weekend for missing LSU student Kori Gauthier. On Saturday, a K9 cadaver dog with Mercy Search & Rescue alerted twice in the same area on the river, which is 85-90 feet deep with conditions that were unsafe to deploy divers. On Sunday, April 11, Mounted Patrol will be searching the levee in both directions from Farr Park, while EBRSO, LDWF, LSUPD and BRPD will continue boat searches, including with the latest available sonar technology.

At this time, based on evidence collected during the investigation thus far, law enforcement officials suspect that no criminal activity or foul play took place. Officials continue to keep in close contact with Koris parents to keep them updated on any developments. We ask everyone to respect their privacy during this time and to keep them in your thoughts.

LSU PD has opened a command center, and anyone with information is asked to call 225-578-0807."
Fitness fans desperate to feel the burn again will be lining up outside their gyms before the doors are flung open tomorrow, Duncan Bannatyne has predicted.

Swimming pools and other indoor exercise facilities will also reopen as lockdown rules are relaxed.

The former BBC Dragons Den star, who owns a chain of health clubs, spas and hotels, said: Therell be a queue outside each health club on Monday morning waiting to get in. We experienced that last time.

Dragons' Den star Duncan Bannatyne, pictured, believes gym fans will be queuing outside from early morning to resume their fitness regimes

Social distancing rules will still be in place, including the ban on different households mixing in indoor venues until at least May 17

We had queues out of the door of people coming in, trying to be first in the swimming pool or gym after the lockdown. There was such a great atmosphere.

Social distancing rules will still be in place, including the ban on different households mixing in indoor venues until at least May 17.

Mr Bannatyne added: If people are not going abroad for a holiday, theyre more likely to join a health club and take the kids to the swimming pool, and things like that.

Glenn Earlam, chief executive of David Lloyd Leisure, added: Its great welcoming everyone back. Our clubs are a big part of our members lives.
Legendary rapper DMX is being mourned around the world after his tragic death in April 2021 at the age of 50. The X Gon Give It to Ya rapper was known in the music industry for his down-to-earth attitude regardless of how famous he got, and he always remembered where he came from.

DMX performs at the DGK Agenda Party at Cafe Sevilla on January 5, 2012 in Long Beach, California | Jerod Harris/WireImage/Getty Images

DMX was a legendary rapper

DMX put in a decade of work as an underground rapper in New York before his breakout in the late 1990s. He collaborated with the likes of Jay-Z, Ja Rule, LL Cool J, Mase, and The LOX, and his 1998 debut album Its Dark and Hell is Hot put the music industry on notice. The LP included the hit singles Get At Me Dog, Ruff Ryders Anthem, Stop Being Greedy, and Hows It Goin Down.

By the end of 1998, he had already recorded and released his second album, Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood. That following year, he released his third and best-selling album And Then There Was X  his third album in a row to debut at number one on the Billboard albums chart.

DMXs legacy in New York hip-hop  and East Coast rap in general  was celebrated in a 2020 Verzuz battle with California rapper Snoop Dogg. Despite his larger-than-life presence on wax, the session felt more like two friends having fun and enjoying each others music than a competition.

DMX | John Lamparski/FilmMagic

DMX was known for his humble attitude

DMX had a difficult upbringing that led him to being incarcerated many times throughout his life. Yet despite his personal and legal troubles, the Yonkers-bred rapper continued to project positivity into the world and remained humble regardless of how big his career was as an artist.

For over a decade, DMX spoke about his call to become a pastor after he found clarity in Christianity while in prison. God had his hand on me since before the womb, he said after being released from jail in 2019. I am Gods child.

DMX | John Lamparski/Getty Images

RELATED: DMX Had Major Issues With the Music Industry

DMX once helped clean a Waffle House at 4 A.M.

In 2011, DMX stopped in at a Waffle House in Greenville, South Carolina at 4 oclock in the morning to get some food after leaving a nearby party.

One of the Waffle House employees told TMZ that he was mopping the floors when he realized who had walked in. He told DMX that he was a big fan of his, and the Party Up rapper was so touched that he grabbed the mop from his hands and finished cleaning the restaurant for him.

I was in a good mood and felt that I would do that for him since it was 4 a.m. and [the employee] had been working all night, the rapper said. The minute you get too big to mop a floor or wipe a counter, thats the exact minute you have life f**ked up.
ADVERTISEMENT

Governors of the South-East states have resolved to maintain a joint security outfit for the code named Ebube Agu (Wonderful Tiger).

The governors made the resolution in a communique during the first south-east security summit held in Owerri on Sunday.

The communique was presented by Dave Umahi, Chairman of the South-East Governors Conference and Ebonyi governor.

The governors conference said the joint security outfit would have its headquarters in Enugu to coordinate the vigilance groups in the zone.

They also resolved to set up a committee comprising security personnel, government officials and other relevant stakeholders to coordinate and monitor the implementation of the joint security platform.

During the meeting, the governors also condemned terrorism and banditry in every part of Nigeria particularly in the south-east where some security formations were destroyed.

The governors expressed support to the federal government efforts in tackling security challenges in the country.

They also resolved to pool resources as one united zone to fight crime and terrorism in the South-East zone.

They stressed the need to galvanise all relevant stakeholders, bureaucrats and political class to provide support to security agencies in order to achieve their goals.

They also banned open grazing and urged the security agencies to enforce the ban in the states.

They however, called for peaceful coexistence between farmers and herders to enable them to succeed in the fight against criminality.

The meeting was attended by Governors Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, Willie Obiano of Anambra, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu and Hope Uzodinma of Imo as well as heads of various security agencies in the zone.

(NAN)
Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print.

Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition.

If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create.
The Watsonian Society is an organization of CDC/ATSDR Public Health Program Specialists, including Public Health Advisors and Analysts (PHAs) established in 1985. The Society is named in honor of William C. Watson, Jr., one of the first six Public Health Advisors hired in 1948. He ultimately became Deputy Director of CDC.

Bill Watson at His Desk, late 70s.

Bill Watson Biography

Some things cannot be exaggerated. We cant exaggerate the impact Bill had on our lives, or the health of the world. Dr. William Foege

A native South Carolinian, Watson attended the Citadel before joining the U.S. Army during World War II. In 1944 he was captured in the Vosges Mountains of eastern France and endured six months of intense hunger and frostbite in a German POW camp.

After the war, Watson earned a degree in political science at the University of South Carolina, intending to become a lawyer. Instead, he was recruited by the U.S. Public Health Service to be an adviser in its campaign against venereal disease, a program that was later shifted to the CDC.

Bill was cut out for work in public health, said Dr. William Foege of Atlanta, a former director of the CDC. He was good at interviewing patients, at organizing immunizations, at managing personnel  so good that he kept working his way to the top at the CDC, retiring in 1984 as deputy director, the first and only person without a doctorate to reach that rank.

Bill was an ingenious manager who took delight in figuring out unsolvable problems, Foege said. I trusted his judgment more than my own.

Bill was the center of stability at the CDC, said another retired CDC colleague, Elvin Hilyer of Dahlonega. He also was a guardian of scientific integrity, protecting the CDC from political intrusion.

Steve Sencer of Atlanta, son of the late former CDC director David Sencer, said, When asked, my dad would say that Bill Watson was key to creating the esprit de corps that helped CDC achieve so much during the 60s and 70s.

In 1973 Foege went to India to work in a program to eradicate smallpox in its last bastion on Earth. Foege said it became clear to him that the effort required a top-flight manager, and he cabled Sencer, then CDC director, to request one.

Dave didnt send just anyone. He sent his top assistant, Bill Watson, and in three months Bill got the program established that eventually wiped out smallpox.

Mark Rosenberg of Atlanta, president and CEO of the Task Force for Global Health, said, What stands out for me about Bill Watson is the remarkable courage it took for him and two CDC colleagues, Bill Foege and Carol Walters, to leave the worlds pre-eminent public health organization in 1984 to found a tiny venture that has become todays Task Force for Global Health.

With no organizational backing, Rosenberg went on, they were like three people on a raft in a sea of disease and disaster, and now the institution they started has helped to save 3,000 childrens lives a day and has an annual budget of $2 billion. Watson spent 15 years with the Task Force.

Dr. Alan Hinman, a CDC colleague, credited Watson and Foege with making great progress with multinational immunization programs that had stalled in the early 1980s because of poor management and interagency bickering. After a veterinary drug was found to be effective in preventing river blindness in humans, Hinman said Foeges vision and Watsons managerial skills sped the Task Forces effort to wipe out a disease that once plagued tropical Africa.

Excerpt from Obituary in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

https://www.ajc.com/news/william-watson-national-global-public-health-giant/otBbdwhJrZjiO5k3Iu4d3K/
Ronnie de Mel celebrates 96th birthday View(s):

Ronnie de Mel, Sri Lankas veteran, retired politician and who holds the record for the largest number of budgets presented by a finance minister, celebrates his 96th birthday today (April 11).

A former civil servant, he was the Minister of Finance from 1977 to 1988 under the United National Party government and was instrumental in guiding economic reforms and the free market economy in Sri Lanka.

He joined the Ceylon Civil Service (CCS) in 1948, and was appointed as Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, thereafter quitting in 1967 to enter politics.

If not for the free market economy we would still be having scarcities, queues and we would be struggling like North Korea today. It was because of this change that everything in this country blossomed and developed, he was once quoted by newspapers as saying.

According to observers, one of the most important changes in those economic reforms was reducing state involvement in economic activity and a reduction of welfare measures.




Haiti - News : Zapping...





NOTICE Diaspora France : passports have arrived

The Consulate General of the Republic of Haiti in Paris informs the community that the Consultate has received 1,500 passports from the competent Haitian authorities in Washington. All those who have applied for a passport renewal before January 2021 are invited to send a brief message to the Consulate, by WhatsApp, at +33 7 58 50 50 53, with a photo of the receipt of their passport application. This service will be available from Monday to Friday, between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., in order to confirm the availability of their passport. The Consulate General of Haiti in Paris thanks the public for their patience with the extension of the processing time for their passport applications.



Guerline Joseph freed by her captors

On Saturday, policewoman Guerline Joseph of the Presidential Security Unit (USP) kidnapped on April 7 was released by her captors for ransom.



Eruption : Words of Jovenel Moise

"The sister island of Saint-Vincent and the Grenadines is bravely facing the eruption of the volcano "La Soufriere". Haitians express their solidarity with this neighboring people of the Caribbean, in these times of trial and stand by their side, in a surge of great friendship "Jovenel Moise.



PoliFront : Training on "Protection of migrants rights...

From April 6 to 13, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Haiti is coordinating a series of trainings on "Protection of migrants rights and management of vulnerable cases" for the benefit of PoliFront agents thanks to the financial support of Le Canadian International Development - Global Affairs Canada and the United States Embassy, Port-au-Prince (Haiti)



Strengthening health protection for ambulance drivers

As part of World Health Day (April 7), the Haitian Red Cross has strengthened the health protection of its paramedics who now have better personal protective equipment for their humanitarian mission. Thanks to the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC).



Installation of Inspector General Marc Justin

Inspector General Marc Justin has been installed as the new Director of the National Police Academy.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Windsor officials are discussing methods to remove Mayor Dominic Foppoli from office if he refuses to resign, amid swift and growing condemnation of the local leader in response to a Chronicle investigation documenting several womens allegations of sexual assault.

Esther Lemus, a Windsor Town Council member, said the council has scheduled an emergency meeting for Wednesday, during which members will chiefly discuss how to support residents through a voter-recall effort. All three of Foppolis Town Council colleagues, including Lemus, have demanded his resignation since the Chronicle investigation published Thursday.

Foppoli, who denied allegations of sexual assault by four women in a statement to The Chronicle on Wednesday, has not heeded these calls or said anything further publicly about the matter. Late Saturday morning, the 38-year-old politician and winemaker said in email, I plan on having a full response about all of the allegations today. As of Saturday evening, he had made no additional comments.

A fifth woman accused Foppoli of sexual assault in a Chronicle story published Saturday. Yet officials said they had not heard from him since Thursday, when he declared his intention to stay in office. Jason Turner, the mayor of Cloverdale, said Foppoli had flatout told (him) he will refuse to resign.

As residents took to the streets to rally Friday, and planned to do so again Sunday, Lemus said Windsor officials were left with no choice but to explore their options to force out Foppoli.

As you can imagine, this is an absolute crisis, Lemus said. Beyond comprehension.

The Wednesday meeting will take place on Zoom at 6 p.m., Lemus said. The conversation will focus on what the town can and cannot legally do in regards to recalling Foppoli. Lemus said she is urging the public to attend to learn more about the recall process, which allows voters to remove elected officials from office.

Foppoli was first appointed mayor in 2018 by his Town Council colleagues. In November 2020, for the first time, Windsor held an election for its mayoral seat and Foppoli won. Because he was chosen by voters, Foppoli can be stripped of his title only through a felony conviction or a recall election.

The Sonoma County Sheriffs Office announced this past week that it had opened a criminal investigation into allegations of sexual assault made against Foppoli. It was unclear what charges he could face; in some cases, the legal statute of limitations for prosecution may have passed.

We need our town to mobilize, Lemus said.

The council member, who said she has been fielding hundreds of emails, phone calls and Facebook comments on the matter, said Wednesdays meeting will provide residents a window into the Towns closed-door discussions since learning of the allegations against Foppoli.

The Chronicle investigation detailed the accounts of four women who said Foppoli isolated and sexually assaulted them after nights of drinking alcohol. The alleged assaults, ranging from groping to rape, took place between 2003 and 2019 as Foppoli gained prominence as a local politician and co-owner of Christopher Creek Winery, just outside Healdsburg.

The fifth woman, who came forward after reading the investigation, said that Foppoli forced her to engage in oral copulation dozens of times throughout a three-year relationship that began in 2001 when they were both 19. On one occasion in 2002, Shannon McCarthy said, Foppoli handcuffed her to their bed and sexually abused her as she struggled and begged him to stop.

When asked about McCarthys account, Foppoli responded over email to inform The Chronicle about a forthcoming statement. He did not address the specific allegations.

Through his attorney, Bethany Kristovich of Los Angeles, Foppoli categorically denied the allegations in the Chronicle investigation.

Sexual assault and sexual misconduct are very serious issues, and Mr. Foppoli takes these allegations very seriously, Kristovich said in an emailed statement. He has a long history of supporting women in his business, personal, and political lives, and the accusation that he has engaged in any of these misdeeds is deeply troubling. Mr. Foppoli prides himself on working to improve life for all of his constituents, and he will continue to maintain the fundamental value of treating everyone with respect.

The elected officials who have asked Foppoli to resign include all eight of the other Sonoma County mayors and the two U.S. congressmen who represent the region, Reps. Jared Huffman of San Rafael and Mike Thompson of St. Helena.

Active 20-30, a national civic organization that Foppoli has belonged to for at least a decade, expelled him and announced it is conducting an internal investigation. The League of California Cities voted unanimously to remove Foppoli from a leadership post. Both the Russian River Valley Winegrowers and the Sonoma County Vintners announced they were cutting ties with Christopher Creek Winery.

Alexandria Bordas and Cynthia Dizikes are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: alexandria.bordas@sfchronicle.com, cdizikes@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @crossingbordas, @cdizikes
Strictly Come Dancing will reportedly welcome back celebrity contestants over the age of 60 this year.

An alleged age ban was put in place on last year's instalment in light of the coronavirus pandemic, with bosses wanting to protect vulnerable groups.

However ahead of the next series future celebrities that partake in the popular ballroom show over the age of 60 will likely be vaccinated.

Good news: Strictly Come Dancing will reportedly welcome back celebrity contestants over the age of 60 this year

A source told The Sun: 'Last year's ban was a shame to some older hopefuls desperate to take part.

'Now the seniors are being welcomed back with open arms, which is great news for viewers who like watching showbiz veterans have a go.

'Bosses now have everything in place if necessary, but they're hoping a lot of the rules will have been relaxed and will be encouraging everyone to get the jab.'

Bill Bailey and his partner Oti Mabuse won Strictly Come Dancing 2020, with the comedian being the oldest-ever winner at 55. However, actress Caroline Quentin also took part in the series at the age of 60.

Representatives for Strictly Come Dancing declined to comment when approached by MailOnline.

The exciting development follows reports that the BBC is also planning for the 2021 series to resume its full 13-show run this autumn after the 2020 show was reduced to just nine weeks due to Covid restrictions.

Over 60: Actress Caroline Quentin took part in last year's series at the age of 60 (pictured with her professional dance partner Johannes Radebe in 2020)

It was also reported that the much-anticipated Blackpool special will be back this year, after travel restrictions meant a trip to the seaside town last year was impossible.

A source confirmed to The Sun: 'They're going to put on a full series this year. That means 13 episodes will and all of the themed weeks. The pinnacle will be the trip to Blackpool and that's always been the way on Strictly.

'As things stand, the whole show will head to the North West in November. Everyone is really excited.'

Strictly's eighteenth series faced major setbacks and was forced to go ahead with strict social distancing protocols in place.

This meant the annual Blackpool trip was scrapped, and the competition only ran for nine episodes.

However, the BBC succeeded in keeping the show on air despite a handful of COVID-19 outbreaks, with the likes of Katya and her celebrity partner, world champion boxer Nicola Adams, 38, testing positive for the virus and leaving the show early.

Popstar HRVY, 22, also tested positive before the show aired, however was able to recover in time to take part.

Last month BBC confirmed the 16 dancers who will hit the dance floor this Autumn, with fan favourites such as Anton Du Beke, Johannes Radebe and Dianne Buswell all back.

Here come the girls! Making up the female pros are Amy Dowden, Oti, Luba Mushtuk, Nadiya Bychkova, Dianne Buswell, Janette Manrara, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones and Nancy Xu (pictured L-R in 2020)

Anton, 54, is to continue his reign as Strictly Come Dancing's longest-serving professional dancer by marking his 19th season on the show.

Making up the female pros are Oti, Janette Manrara, Amy Dowden, Dianne Buswell, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Luba Mushtuk, Nadiya Bychkova and Nancy Xu.

While Aljaz Skorjanec, Anton Du Beke, Giovanni Pernice, Gorka Marquez, Graziano Di Prima, Johannes Radebe and Neil Jones make up the male pros.
Resident doctors have suspended their nationwide strike after 10 days. Their president, Dr. Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, told newsmen on Saturday. ...





Resident doctors have suspended their nationwide strike after 10 days.

Their president, Dr. Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, told newsmen on Saturday.

He said, We suspended the strike about one hour ago. We are responsible to Nigerians, the government has acceded to some demands.

According to him, the strike was suspended after meetings with various stakeholders in the health sector.





Details later
Kat West's lifeless body was found outside of her Calera, Alabama, home by a neighbor who noticed her lying partially dressed in the street. Police soon learned the 42-year-old stay-at-home mom had an active social media life, including an active OnlyFans account. Authorities initially considered whether an overzealous fan caused her death.

"A beautiful woman, nude in a street, in a nice subdivision," says reporter Carol Robinson, a CBS News consultant. "That is what doesn't happen every day around here. And that is what drove this story."

Kat West had hundreds of fans on OnlyFans, a subscription-only website popular with celebrities and social media influencers alike, where content providers and consumers can communicate. Just last week, 18-year-old rapper "Bhad Bhabie" made more than $1 million dollars posting lifestyle content on OnlyFans in only six hours.

Kat West's half-naked body was found outside her suburban Alabama home in January 2018. She was lying in a pool of blood with a roughly two-inch gash on the left side of her head. / Credit: Kat West/Facebook

Like many, Kat West had used the site to post adult content.

For three years, correspondent Maureen Maher and "48 Hours" have been investigating Kat's death. It's a case about an unconventional marriage, a mom with a fixation on Marilyn Monroe and the question of whether her online life could have led to her death.

Lauren Kwei knows some of the risks of OnlyFans all too well. When she couldn't live on a paramedic's modest salary in New York City, Kwei says she turned to the popular platform as a way to make ends meet, posting nudes under an alias. She says her world exploded last December when a tabloid newspaper went public with her full name, the name of her employer, and even where she lived.

"I definitely wish things had gone differently in my experience, however  I'm pretty proud of who I am today," Kwei says in her first television interview.

Generating money from subscribers was a way to survive in New York City, she says, adding that she worried about the risks of being so exposed on the internet. And while she lost her anonymity, Kwei says she knows that, by being outed online, she could have lost a lot more.

Story continues

"Sometimes I think about Kat West and I think about where she would be today and how much more of her life she could have fulfilled," Kwei says.

But how did Kat West die? Was it murder and if so by whom? Could it have been an accident?

There were many things about her death that struck police as odd. At the death scene, Kat's husband Jeff was oddly reserved, police say. She was found with a fatal head wound and a bottle of absinthe lying on top of her phone nearby.

"It just did not seem right that it  would have landed in such a way  other than being staged," says Calera Police Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff.

LIFE OF THE PARTY

One look at her online presence made it clear: Kathleen West put the "social" in "social media."

Brittany Driesler: It was out there  for the whole world to see.

And friends like Brittany Driesler say, "Kat was very extroverted." In the real world, she was always the life of the party, as well.

Brittany Driesler: Kat would get on stages and sing. She couldn't sing for the life of her, but she would sing!

Carol Robinson: Kat was proud of who she was.

So, on January 13, 2018, when the 42-year-old wife and mother, widely known as Kat, was found dead in the street near her Alabama home, veteran reporter and CBS consultant Carol Robinson smelled a story. In the tight-knit Birmingham suburbs, she's known as "The Coco Chanel of Crime."

Carol Robinson: I don't let what I cover dictate what I wear.

She later arrived at the scene and started hunting to see if Kat's past could help explain her death.

Nancy Martin: She loved to be outside.

John Martin: Yes.

Nancy Martin: That was her big deal. She had a swing set.

Kat's parents Nancy and John Martin say as a kid in Florida, she doted on her dolls.

Maureen Maher: And did she want to be a mom someday?

Nancy Martin: Absolutely. Yes.

John Martin: When she got a little bit older  she wanted to do modeling.

Maureen Maher: What was the obsession with Marilyn Monroe?

Brittany Driesler [laughs]: She kinda looked like her, she says  She tried to recreate some of her photos, her hairdos. She loved her.

Carol Robinson: She was obsessed with Marilyn Monroe and  was trying to emulate her in every way.

As Carol Robinson retraced the lines of Kat's life, she realized her resemblance to the troubled movie star was more than skin deep.

Carol Robinson: There were always self-esteem issues there.  She craved adulation  from some people whether she knew them or not.

John Martin: You'd tell her she's beautiful. She says, "You're just my mom and dad."

As time went on, Kat's parents say her feelings of isolation, self-doubt, and depression spiraled out of control.

Nancy Martin: I don't know how many different places we took her to.

John Martin: She went to a lot of counseling.

It was a tough few years. Her parents say she was battling bipolar disorder and drinking too much. But by 2004, the broken pieces of Kat's life finally began to fall into place. It happened at a Super Bowl party.

Nancy Martin: And that's where she met Jeff.

Kat struck up a conversation with a local Army recruiter named Jeff West.

Nancy Martin: They fell in love on their first date.

Maureen Maher: It was really love at first sight?

John and Nancy Martin: Yes. Yes, it was.

Carol Robinson: Within the year  They were married in Las Vegas.

Jeff and Kat West / Credit: Kat West/Facebook

They moved around the country for Jeff's job and in 2005 they had a daughter, Lola.

Brittany Driesler: Lola was her light. Lola was her gift, and she adored her daughter.

In 2011, the West family moved to Southern California where Army veteran Brittany Driesler's husband was thinking of enlisting. At the recruiting station, Brittany says Jeff West basically had her husband at hello.

Maureen Maher: What was your impression of him?

Brittany Driesler: He was just super reassuring and nice. He was just nice.

So nice, she says, that he even invited the Drieslers to his home. His wife Kat answered the door.

Brittany Driesler: She was just in her tank top and shorts and  really happy, bubbly and, "Hey girl!"  Right off the bat, she was like, "You want a drink?"

Brittany says as far as she could tell, Kat and Jeff West were a happy  if somewhat unlikely  couple.

Brittany Driesler: Seeing how Kat carried herself and what she looked like and then seeing Jeff  I know opposites attract. But I was like, "That guy pulled that girl? Uh " You know, it never really made sense to me until I started getting to know them more.

Maureen Maher: You would not describe this as a conventional marriage.

Brittany Driesler: Definitely not. [laughs]

When it came to the unspoken rules of entertaining, she admits Kat was so colorful that she sometimes colored outside the lines.

Brittany Driesler: She would  jump from the kitchen counter to the sofa and shirtless, braless.

Maureen Maher: Wait! In front of you and your husband?

Brittany Driesler: Yes! My husband would go, "Oh my gosh!" [Laughs]

The couples hung out at home, but also started going to bars and clubs.

Brittany Driesler: She'd be lively, animated.  He would just be sitting on the couch, relaxing, having his drink.

Maureen Maher: Did you ever see the two of them fight?

Brittany Driesler: Kat would fight. Jeff would not. Kat would get emotional. When she was drunk, she would get loud. She would get, umm, feisty. But  he would sit there  and just say "OK, Boo Boo. OK. I love you. All right, baby girl."

Maureen Maher: You never saw an ounce of jealousy from him?

Brittany Driesler: Never [laughs] never.

Carol Robinson: That surprised me because  I don't think many men would feel that way.

Carol says Jeff was proud of having an attractive wife. In 2014, the Wests had moved to Alabama, where he had a job as a campus police officer. The couple always made time to be together with a regular date night, including on the night of January 12, 2018. Jeff's parents had then-12-year-old Lola for the evening.

Carol Robinson: They go out to a restaurant.  You know, they have some drinks and dinner.

After dinner, they stopped at a liquor store. Security cameras show the couple shopping  apparently without a care in the world.

The couple had a standing date night, and on the night of Jan 12, 2018, while Jeff's parents watched then-12-year-old Lola, Jeff and Kat went out for dinner and drinks. After dinner, a liquor store security camera captured them buying alcohol on the way home.It was the last time Kat West was seen alive. / Credit: Inside Edition

Carol Robinson: Everything seemed fine. At one point, he even patted her on the butt.

But it would be the last time Kat West would be seen alive.

WHAT HAPPENED TO KAT?

When Brittany Driesler learned of Kat's death, she immediately contacted Jeff West.

Brittany Driesler: I just was shocked, baffled  I don't believe it.  "What happened? How did this happen?" And his answer was just, "I don't know."

Neither did Macorsha Purifoy.

Macorsha Purifoy: It was dark. It was cold.

Macorsha Purifoy: I wasn't sure, like, what I was seeing

Macorsha had been driving to work before dawn that day, when she spotted something.

Macorsha Purifoy: I think I see  a person laying in the road well, halfway.

Macorsha went home to get her parents. They returned to the scene.

Macorsha Purifoy: Her body was frozen, like frozen.  I was traumatized. I was just in the car crying.

Macorsha's mother called 911.

Macorsha Purifoy: They asked to see if she was breathing or not. She wasn't. And we just waited for the police to get there.

Calera police Sergeant Mike Mehlhoff, a veteran criminal investigator, arrived about 30 minutes later.

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: Looking at the scene  Kathleen's head is laying in the road. Her body is actually laying in the grass.

And there was something else he noticed right away.

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: It did appear that the body had been moved  more than once.

Kat West was found lying in a pool of blood across the street from her house. Mehlhoff noticed there was another blood pool nearby. Next to Kat's body: her cell phone and an open bottle of absinthe liquor  the kind she and her husband had been seen purchasing the night before.

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: The absinthe bottle  it was just propped up on the phone just like that. It just did not seem right that it  would have landed in such a way if it  other than being staged.

Carol Robinson, who saw the crime scene photos, also thought it looked staged.

Carol Robinson: That bottle was placed on the phone.

Maureen Maher: By somebody.

Carol Robinson: By somebody.

She says there was somebody at the scene whose behavior caught authorities' attention.

Carol Robinson: Jeff West standing in the doorway.  At one point, he was on the porch smoking a cigarette  and watching.

And when Mehlhoff spoke to Jeff inside 

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: His behavior was not what I expected it to be knowing that his wife was outside.

Maureen Maher: What was your reaction to it?

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: It was  Everybody grieves in a different way. And that was something I kept telling myself...

Kat had a roughly two-inch gash on the left side of her head. The cause of death was blunt force trauma.

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: The injury that she suffered was enough to actually fracture the skull.

The autopsy showed signs of sex, but there was no indication of sexual assault. Also, her blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit. Still, the medical examiner could not say exactly how Kat sustained the injury.

Carol Robinson: The manner of death was undetermined.

Was it an accident? Was Kat so intoxicated that she fell and cracked her head? Or was it murder? And if so, who killed Kat West? While authorities searched the neighborhood for clues and witnesses, Jeff went to headquarters. Police say he stayed for about six hours.

Maureen Maher: Was Jeff cooperative?

Carol Robinson: Absolutely.

Jeff was adamant with police - he had no idea what had happened to Kat. He speculated she may have died by accident. He also said their marriage was in a good place. Police later discovered what the couple's friends already knew.

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: I think it would be fair to characterize her as an exhibitionist. She enjoyed the attention.

Jeff revealed he would actually photograph Kat and help her post suggestive photos online, where hundreds of paying subscribers knew her as "Kitty Kat West."

Brittany Driesler: She was very out loud about it.  She was making money.

But Brittany says, for Kat, it was about a lot more than money

Brittany Driesler: Kat, when not behind the website, was not always confident  Yes, you have your husband, but you always want to be pretty to others.

 and remarkably, Jeff seemed to love it.

Brittany Driesler: Jeff got the best of both worlds  He was able to be with his wife.  She got what she wanted, which was I get to make my money  I get to show off what I have  and he's not going to leave me.

Brittany says by 2018 Kat's online activity had really ramped up. She'd been using that subscription-only website, OnlyFans to share adult photos and videos.

Brittany Driesler: She was starting to get knee-deep in that type of industry.

And with OnlyFans came a new feature for Kat: providers and subscribers could communicate. Subscribers could also make requests.

Maureen Maher: Had you heard of OnlyFans?

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: No, ma'am.

Mehlhoff was interested to learn that Jeff had photographed Kat for her site the night she died, and her page contained subscriber requests for personalized content. Could one of her OnlyFans subscribers have stalked and murdered her?

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: Do we have somebody else out there that's actually killing people?

He says they knew they had to cast a wider net  so they sent Jeff home. Mehlhoff says they spent about three weeks looking for other suspects.

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: There were thousands of names that had to be culled through  in order to properly investigate this.

As police continued gathering evidence, Carol Robinson says they had more public involvement than they wanted. Kat's death had set the internet on fire.

Carol Robinson: You had this huge online presence.  These murder discussion Facebook groups.  While they may have started in Calera  there were people from all over and they aren't quiet about their opinions.

It seemed everyone had an opinion on the way Kat died.

CAROL ROBINSON [reading posts]: " it's the husband," "I vote stalker," " it might have been a freak accident."

And the way she lived.

CAROL ROBINSON [reading posts]: "I don't agree with her lifestyle," " she brought this on herself " "She was proud to have such an amazing figure  Good for her!"

Carol Robinson: She was a sympathetic victim to many. She was an unsympathetic victim to many.

On Facebook, Jeff later made it clear that all the online chatter had taken a toll on the family. "To the public, our tragedy is juicy gossip" he wrote.

Carol Robinson: The Facebook thing was really intruding on their lives, in his opinion.

Investigators had formed their own opinion: Kat's death had been no accident. And on February 22, 2018, they made their move.

PRESS CONFERENCE: William Jeffrey West, the victim's husband, has been arrested and charged with the murder.

On February 22, 2018, police arrested Jeff West and charged him with his wife's murder. His bail was set at $500,000. / Credit: Stephen Quinn  ABC 33/40

Bail was set at half-a-million dollars. Brittany Driesler says Jeff should never have been arrested  firmly believing that police failed to fully investigate the hundreds of OnlyFans subscribers who had paid to see the racy content Kat posted.

Brittany Driesler: Did someone else kill her?

WELCOME TO ONLYFANS

Some see it as unseemly; others call it harmless fun. Either way, the online venue where Kat West posted her racy photos, known as OnlyFans, is a lot more than only a website, says Carol Robinson.

Carol Robinson: It's sort of the happy median between  porn  and "The Brady Bunch."

ONLYFANS PROMOTIONAL VIDEO: "Whether you're a blogger . celebrity, model, whatever, you can reward your loyal fans with even more of the great content you already produce but get paid for it!"

Since COVID-19 caused widespread lockdowns, OnlyFans has become a provocative and profitable platform for celebrities. Last summer, former Disney star Bella Thorne reportedly made a $1 million in one day, posting lifestyle content. And the site has become an exotic destination for more salacious "staycationers" as well: A place to dream of living large and potentially to make a good living in the process.

A former teacher in one YouTube video told a reporter she quadrupled her income posting nudes on OnlyFans: "I wear things that allow me to feel sexy, because when I feel sexy, I feel powerful."

Another woman says she is paying her way through a neuroscience Master's program.

And a Minnesota pastor made headlines when she left the pulpit: Not for a higher calling, but she did eventually make a higher paycheck posting on OnlyFans and now reportedly earns tens of thousands of dollars a month.

By the end of 2020, the London-based site had grown to more than a million content providers and more than 90 million subscribers.

Maureen Maher: Does it surprise you at all to hear that as soon as the pandemic hit, OnlyFans, the popularity and the usage of it, jumped by 75%?

Lauren Kwei: Not at all.

In 2015, Lauren Kwei moved to New York from her home in West Virginia with dreams of making it big on Broadway.

Lauren Kwei: I really wanted to make something of myself.

Soon frustrated with the rat race, the 23-year-old daughter of a doctor and nurse began studying emergency medicine and became a paramedic around the time the pandemic began.

Lauren Kwei: I knew there was a job that needed to be done.

Almost immediately, she found herself treating and transporting critically ill COVID patients  working at the intersection of life and death.

Lauren Kwei: I still remember taking patients away whose family members couldn't come with us.  They didn't know if it was going to be the last time they saw each other. That was really rough for me.

Rougher still, she says, because even though she was saving lives, it was impossible to save any money. She was making only about $40,000 a year  less than other first responders like many New York police and firefighters.

Maureen Maher: Is what you were getting paid  enough to cover your monthly nut?

Lauren Kwei: No, not at all  it wasn't feasible to live off of that salary.

As her bills piled up and employment options dwindled, Lauren turned to OnlyFans.

Lauren Kwei: I don't have to go outside of my house, you know  this could be an easy business.

Using an alias, she started by posting lingerie pics, cropping out her face. But she says she soon stopped cropping. And before long, the paramedic who by day was covering every inch of her body in protective clothing, started taking it all off online.

Maureen Maher: Did you post full nude shots?

Lauren Kwei: Yes, I did.

And she says if Kat West was proud to be on OnlyFans, she would have had reason to be.

Lauren Kwei: The human body, I believe it should be celebrated.

Maureen Maher: And how did it make you feel when you were posting?

Lauren Kwei: I felt empowered. I did not feel like I was degrading myself.

Maureen Maher: And just to be clear  This was money you were using to put food on your table?

Lauren Kwei: A hundred percent.

But Lauren admits she was worried about the exposure.

Lauren Kwei: It was scary to think that, you know, I'd be taking pictures of myself that would be on the Internet.

Especially as her pool of OnlyFans subscribers started to grow. She says some of the requests for personalized content were disrespectful.

Lauren Kwei: There's some really weird people on the Internet.

Maureen Maher wondered if West's attorney was thinking the same thing.

Maureen Maher: Did you ever consider that maybe someone from her online life could have played a role in what happened to her that night?

John Robbins: We looked into that  and  there just wasn't that evidence out there.

No evidence that an OnlyFans online user was involved in Kat West's death. What the evidence does show, says Jeff's attorney John Robbins, is that Kat wasn't murdered.

John Robbins: She fell and hit her head.

Jeff's parents, Jerry and Suzi, agree. They aren't sure exactly how Kat hit her head and they don't think authorities can prove it either.

William "Jerry" West: They set out to get Jeff. There was no investigation.

Carolyn "Suzi" West: I know he's innocent.

William "Jerry" West: I don't care what anybody says. He did not do this.

Jeff's parents say he was incapable of harming his family. Now that is exactly what you would expect to hear from the parents of an accused killer. But you would probably not expect to hear the same thing from the parents of the alleged victim.

John Martin: He's honorable, and he loved my daughter.  I know he didn't do it.

Nancy Martin: He didn't do this.

Kat's parents, John and Nancy, say their daughter was conspicuously clumsy  and the drinking did not help. Brittany Driesler concedes anything is possible.

Brittany Driesler: She could have ran outside in the street, right?  Because she was so intoxicated.

Authorities insist Jeff West is a murderer. But their tactics suggest otherwise.

A few months before his trial, Jeff West turned down a plea deal. / Credit: Shelby County Sheriff's Office

John Robbins says just a few months before trial, the prosecution offered Jeff West a deal. It's called an Alford Plea. Jeff would not have to admit that he had committed a crime, but he would have to acknowledge that the State had enough evidence to likely convict. Now if the judge accepted that deal, it means that Jeff would be let off with time served and only two years' probation. He could walk out of jail almost immediately.

Maureen Maher: What does it tell you, as a defense attorney, when the prosecution is offering a deal?

John Robbins: That tells you, as a defense lawyer  the prosecution  has  some problems with their case, and they recognize that.

According to Shelby County prosecutors, plea deals are standard in every case and Robbins says he told Jeff it was a reasonable offer.

John Robbins: He  rejected it immediately.

Maureen Maher: Why did he reject the offer?

John Robbins: Because he says  "I cannot say that I'm guilty of something that I didn't do."

Jeff West decides to roll the dice and take his chances in court.

John Robbins: He understands  the risk of going to trial.

JEFF WEST GOES TO TRIAL

For more than two years, Jeff West has awaited trial in custody.

Carol Robinson: We weren't getting a lot of information at the time.  The police were holding things close to their vest.

Defense attorney John Robbins believes prosecutors have problems with their case. He says, the Friday before trial, they called him with more talk of a plea deal.

John Robbins: We discussed what would it take to settle the case.

But they could not come to terms. The prosecution has also notified the court it will make a new filing of evidence: text messages between Jeff and Kat.

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: It was very apparent that it was a very volatile relationship.

Jeff and Kat West / Credit: Kat West/Facebook

Prosecutors will tell the jury that the Wests did not have a harmonious marriage. "You're throwing almost 14 yrs [sic] of a relationship away" she'd written a week before she died. "You don't want me , fine. Someone will." "I always want you," he'd replied. The texts went from erratic to erotic so fast that Robbins actually wants to use them to defend Jeff.

John Robbins: Any time Kat said something that, quote, "can be considered an argument." His response is, "I love you.  I want you. You're sexy."

Carol Robinson [at court]: Today is the first day of the murder trial against Jeff West in the murder of Kat West.

The judge banned news cameras from the courtroom, but "48 Hours" was at the courthouse taking notes. And it soon became clear there were at least two things the defense and prosecution agreed on: the cause of death  blunt force trauma  and how the night began. Jeff and Kat had started drinking at dinner and bought more booze on the way home.

The picture of the absinthe liquor bottle Jeff West posted on Instagram the night Kat died. Authorities contend he would bludgeon his wife to death with the very same bottle. / Credit: Jeff West/Instagram

It was later that Kat apparently had changed into lingerie and asked Jeff to photograph her for her online fans. On Instagram, that night, he posted a picture of the absinthe liquor bottle. Authorities contend he would bludgeon her to death with the very same bottle. But why would Jeff West want to kill his wife?

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: I wouldn't want to speculate as to, you know, what drove him to that point. But I can certainly say, that I feel that yes he's- he's the one responsible for his wife's death.

At the scene, Mehlhoff says he found it odd that Jeff did not ask for details about his wife's condition.

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: I would have thought that he would have at least asked, you know, "Can I see her?"

Carol believes what Jeff did say made authorities suspicious too.

Carol Robinson: According to Jeff, he went to bed about 10:30  Kat stayed up.

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: Now, that's Jeff's version of what happened.

But before long, Mehlhoff unearthed a different story on a health tracker app on Jeff's cell phone.

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: Well, the health app actually shows Jeff's phone moving  as late as 10 minutes after 11 o'clock.

And Mehlhoff says he believes Jeff also lied about when he woke up that morning. Jeff told authorities his dogs got him up by barking at the police cruisers out front. But a neighbor reported seeing Jeff before police arrived.

Carol Robinson: She could see a man in the house pacing back and forth.

Having laid out what they believed were Jeff's movements that night, police looked at Kat's phone, which also had a health tracker app. It showed her phone had stopped moving 16 minutes before Jeff's. But what had actually caused Kat's fatal wound? About a month after her death, police got test results from that absinthe bottle. It had a sliver of glass chipped off. And there were two spots of Kat's blood on the bottom.

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: We had Jeff's fingerprints on it.

Maureen Maher: Wouldn't you expect that given that they bought it together and they said they'd been drinking, that his prints would be on it?

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: Oh, absolutely.

But Mehlhoff says there was something specific about the prints that helped point the finger of blame at Jeff.

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: Basically, the bottle was held inverted  much like he'd be holding it like a club.

Carol Robinson [demonstrates]: Jeff's thumb print was found in a downward position on the bottle and his ring fingerprint was found over here.

John Robbins: She was not hit in the head with that bottle.

Robbins says that's clear, because Jeff is a righty and the prints on the bottle were from his left hand. And there's a good reason they're upside down.

John Robbins: The bottle was in a bag. You would pull it out of the bag in the same way, where your thumbprint would be going down.

But to win this case, the defense will tell the jury that Jeff West could not have murdered his wife because Kat wasn't murdered.

John Robbins: I've handled well over 100 murder cases  never  went forward on a murder case where the manner of death was classified as undetermined.

Maureen Maher: What  happened that night to Kat West?

John Robbins: In a nutshell  she fell, she hit her head.

Robbins says police found Jeff dressed in the same clothes as seen in the security video the night before.

John Robbins: There was nothing on his clothes, no liquor, no blood, no bodily fluid, no tissue, no hair. And there was no hair on the bottle  There's no glass in her wound.

And, despite what police told "48 Hours," no real effort  Robbins maintains  to consider other suspects or theories about Kat's death.

John Robbins: The only person they ever looked at was Jeff and they really never looked at it whether it was an accident.

Maureen Maher: Was there ever a time when you or anyone in the police department  looked into the possibility of it being an accident?

Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff: Absolutely not.  I don't want to sit here and say that I immediately ruled out an accident, but just the head trauma alone  knowing that the body had been moved  it was  very hard to try to look at this as an accident.

Not hard at all, insists Robbins. The two blood pools at the scene suggest that after Kat fell, she could have gotten up and fallen again.

John Robbins: 'Cause it's clear that  she moved around after she had that head injury.

John Robbins has whittled his entire case down to only one witness  a witness guaranteed to get the jury's attention: Kat's mother Nancy Martin takes the stand to tell the jury about her daughter's lifelong struggles.

Maureen Maher: It's a lot of pressure.

Nancy Martin: Yeah, it was. It really was.

Carol Robinson: Martin testified that she, herself, had witnessed Kat West in an intoxicated state go outside barefoot, in any  whether it was hot or cold, she said. She would be in varying stages of dress.

Maureen Maher: Were you surprised at how supportive Kat's parents, particularly her mother, was of the man police say killed her daughter?

Carol Robinson: You know  I can't really recall another case where the mother of the victim and the father of the victim were so attached to the suspect.

Kat's parents are even giving Jeff legal advice. They help convince him not to testify.

John Robbins [at court]: Jeff's in a good mood. He's fired up.

In closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Daniel McBrayer finally ties together the state's theory of what happened that night and why: He says Jeff had lost his temper with his wife.

Daniel McBrayer: He had a problem with her drinking and her social media usage.

Prosecutors say the evidence from that night shows it: Jeff had thrown her phone into the street and clubbed her to death with the liquor bottle when she went after it. And McBrayer says the way the bottle and phone were positioned convinced authorities it could not have been an accident.

Daniel McBrayer: There were those two items stacked perfectly together.  right there on the street next to her body.

John Robbins: Jeff loved his wife.

Maureen Maher: Did you ever consider the possibility that  this guy just snapped one night?

John Robbins: But there's no evidence to that. He has  does not have a history of violence.

The trial is ending when prosecutors make a last-minute move. They convince the judge to let the jury consider a lesser charge than murder: reckless manslaughter.

Carol Robinson [at court]: I think that we could see a verdict tonight.

John Robbins: This is this is the hard part, just  just waiting.

A STUNNING VERDICT

John Robbins: They were afraid that they were going to lose the case.

John Robbins says he wasn't happy about the last-minute lesser charge that prosecutors introduced, and it's easy to see why. It takes the jury less than five hours to convict Jeff West of reckless manslaughter.

John Robbins: Jeff is  is stunned.

Both sets of parents are also stunned by the verdict.

WILLIAM "JERRY" WEST [to reporters]: That was [expletive] and you know it 

John Martin: I couldn't believe it. I really couldn't.

Almost three months later, Judge Bill Bostick sentenced Jeff West to 16 years.

Maureen Maher: How did you react when you heard 16 years?

Nancy Martin: I just wanted to cry.

With credit for time served, Jeff will be behind bars for 13 more years. For the prosecutors, it's a kind of split decision but they declare victory anyway.

ADA DANIEL MCBRAYER [to reporters]: Obviously, we would have preferred a  murder verdict.  We're glad to get a sentence as we did.

For the defense, it is a stinging defeat. Jeff knows if he had accepted that plea deal from the prosecutors, he'd probably already be home.

John Robbins: In retrospect, that probably  he should have taken the deal.

Both sets of parents stand behind Jeff's decision.

Maureen Maher: By a show of hands: Who thinks Jeff is not guilty? [They all raise their hands.]

Carolyn "Suzi" West: We all think he's not guilty

William "Jerry" West: We all think he's not guilty.

Jeff and Kat West's parents. Clockwise from top William

They sat down with "48 Hours" as a group three days after sentencing.

Maureen Maher: Who thinks that he got a fair trial?

William "Jerry" West: Nobody.

Maureen Maher: No hands.

They believe the judge threw the book at Jeff West in sentencing for refusing to settle the case, and that from the moment Kat's death made news, she was harshly judged in the court of public opinion.

Nancy Martin: It was the fact that she was  doing these things that small towns don't understand.

New York City paramedic Lauren Kwei says, for her, the harsh judgements did not start until last November.

Lauren Kwei: I think society is always going to be hard on women for anything that we do.

She says a newspaper reporter contacted her out of the blue.

He told her he was investigating whether her OnlyFans page violated her employer's code of conduct.

Lauren Kwei: And in that moment I  I wanted to just, like, crawl in a hole and die.

Lauren says she canceled her OnlyFans account immediately. The expose  including her real name, and where she lived and worked  began circulating a few weeks later.

Lauren Kwei: I opened my Instagram and saw, you know, 600 follow requests.

Maureen Maher: Were you afraid for your safety?

Lauren Kwei: Absolutely.

Maureen Maher: What do you think would have happened  if you had kept your OnlyFans website going after the article dropped?

Lauren Kwei: Well, I - I think it definitely would have made a lot of money.

As it happens, she did anyway. Worried that Lauren might lose her job, a friend set up a GoFundMe page for her. Supporters contributed more than $100,000. But in the end, the private ambulance company she works for kept her on the clock. We caught up with her at work.

Lauren Kwei: It's always really hard to watch people  pass away.  Sometimes I think about Kat West and I think about where she would be today.

Kat West / Credit: Kat West/Facebook

Brittany Driesler [Crying]: It sucks that she was taken so early.

Kat's friend Brittany Driesler is living with loss, too.

Brittany Driesler [Crying]: She's gone. That  that  that's heart wrenching.  They have a daughter that's in the mix of everything.

Maureen Maher: I think people forget that a child is involved.

Nancy Martin: Right.

Every week, Lola, now 16-years-old, goes with all her grandparents to see Jeff.

Maureen Maher: Are the four of you sticking together just for the sake of Lola?

Nancy Martin: No [laughs].

Suzi West: No.

Nancy Martin: They're family!

But even when Jeff West does get out of prison, this will always be a family with someone missing.

Maureen Maher: In an honest light, how would you like her to be remembered?

William "Jerry" West: Kind, caring mother.

Nancy Martin: Kind, caring person who loved her husband and loved her daughter very much.

Lola is being raised by both sets of grandparents.

Jeff West has filed an appeal.

Produced by Josh Yager and Lauren A. White. Ryan N. Smith is the development producer. Elizabeth Caholo is the field producer. George Baluzy, Greg Kaplan, Joan Adelman, Diana Modica, and Grayce Arlotta-Berner are the editors. Peter Schweitzer is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.

Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark dies at 93

Activists fear environmental impact after toxic wastewater dumped in Tampa Bay

Record numbers of migrants attempt to enter U.S. amid worsening economic conditions at home




South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities believe North Korea is ready to roll out a new 3,000-ton submarine, only waiting for the right timing, sources said Sunday.







The assessment comes after a U.S. think tank said the North has moved a submersible missile test barge at its missile test site to a different position, possibly indicating an upcoming test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).







"Both South Korea and U.S. intelligence authorities made the assessment that North Korea has already finished building the 3,000-ton submarine unveiled in July 2019," according to sources.







"The authorities assess that North Korea is reviewing the right timing to roll out the submarine for a strategic effect, including maximizing pressure against the United States," a source said.







The source added that the North could reveal the submarine at a launching ceremony and actually roll out an SLBM, such as the Pukguksong-3.







Last month, 38 North, a U.S. website monitoring North Korea, reported that a dry dock at the North's Sinpo shipyard on its east coast has recently been repositioned along the submarine launch quay, saying the move could indicate that the North's new ballistic missile submarine "may be nearing completion or is ready to be rolled out and launched in the near future."







Beyond Parallel, a project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, also revealed last week that the North has moved a submersible missile test stand barge at a shipyard on its east coast, citing satellite imagery.







The think tank said the movement could indicate preparations for a forthcoming SLBM test or the launching of its "long-anticipated first true ballistic missile submarine (SSB)."


Queen Rania of Jordan has praised the Duke of Edinburgh for being a "constant anchor" for the Queen.

The 50-year-old Queen Consort of Jordan - who married King Abdullah of Jordan in 1993 - has suggested that the monarch might not have been able to "carry on her journey the way she did without him by her side".

Speaking about the challenge Prince Philip faced, she told ITV News: "Being married to someone who is under so much pressure means you have to do whatever you can to try and alleviate some of that pressure. Even if thats by being a distraction.

"The wellbeing of your spouse eventually has an impact on how well they can carry out their duties."

She added that there "must have been times when it wasn't easy for him".

Meanwhile, Prince Charles has admitted he will miss the Duke of Edinburgh "enormously".

The 72-year-old royal praised Prince Philip for his "remarkable, devoted service" to the Queen, his family, the country and the Commonwealth.

He said: "I particularly wanted to say that my father, for I suppose the last 70 years, has given the most remarkable, devoted service to the Queen, to my family and to the country, but also to the whole of the Commonwealth.

"As you can imagine, my family and I miss my father enormously."

Prince Charles also thinks the Duke of Edinburgh would've been "amazed" by the reaction to his passing.

He said: "My dear Papa was a very special person who I think above all else would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that have been said about him, and from that point of view we are, my family, deeply grateful for all that.

"It will sustain us in this particular loss and at this particularly sad time."
Vesuvius plc (LON:VSVS) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in three days. You will need to purchase shares before the 15th of April to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 21st of May.

Vesuvius's next dividend payment will be UK0.14 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed UK0.17 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Vesuvius has a trailing yield of 3.1% on the current stock price of 5.615. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

View our latest analysis for Vesuvius

Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Vesuvius paid out 114% of profit in the past year, which we think is typically not sustainable unless there are mitigating characteristics such as unusually strong cash flow or a large cash balance. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Vesuvius generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. Luckily it paid out just 7.5% of its free cash flow last year.

It's disappointing to see that the dividend was not covered by profits, but cash is more important from a dividend sustainability perspective, and Vesuvius fortunately did generate enough cash to fund its dividend. If executives were to continue paying more in dividends than the company reported in profits, we'd view this as a warning sign. Extraordinarily few companies are capable of persistently paying a dividend that is greater than their profits.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies with falling earnings are riskier for dividend shareholders. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. So we're not too excited that Vesuvius's earnings are down 2.7% a year over the past five years.

Story continues

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Vesuvius has seen its dividend decline 1.1% per annum on average over the past eight years, which is not great to see.

Final Takeaway

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Vesuvius? It's never great to see earnings per share declining, especially when a company is paying out 114% of its profit as dividends, which we feel is uncomfortably high. Yet cashflow was much stronger, which makes us wonder if there are some large timing issues in Vesuvius's cash flows, or perhaps the company has written down some assets aggressively, reducing its income. It's not an attractive combination from a dividend perspective, and we're inclined to pass on this one for the time being.

With that being said, if you're still considering Vesuvius as an investment, you'll find it beneficial to know what risks this stock is facing. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Vesuvius you should be aware of.

We wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see, though. Here's a list of interesting dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

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.
New Delhi: The security forces killed 12 terrorists in four separate operations over the last 72 hours in the valley, which has led to the elimination of the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH) terror outfit.

The director general of police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh informed reporters that the slain militants belonged to Al-Badr, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Ansar Ghazwatul Hind (AGUH) outfits. "Seven of them belonged to AGUH including the group`s chief, 3 to Al-Badr and 2 to LeT", the DGP said.

The slain LeT terrorists had carried out the killing of a territorial army soldier on Friday at Anantnag's Bijbehara.

The encounter in Anantnag between terrorists and security forces broke out late at night on April 10. A search operation is still underway, as per reports.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar in a quote to ANI said, "Terrorists responsible for the killing of Army jawan neutralised within two days in Bijbehara encounter."

Dilbagh Singh, Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police said that both terrorists were active for a long time and were wanted anted in many cases of terror crimes. "Both the hardcore local terrorists have been neutralised. Have been active for a long and wanted in many cases of terror crime," said DG Singh.

Notably, three terrorists were killed in an encounter in Shopian on Saturday by security forces.
MANISTEE COUNTY  After pausing some fish-rearing activities in 2020 due to issues related to the pandemic, the state's fish hatcheries are back at it raising a variety of species.

Ed Eisch, statewide fish production manager, said egg takes for both walleye and steelhead are going "full bore."

"We're doing much better than we did last year," Eisch said. "We've completed the Muskegon walleye egg take, and those eggs are being incubated at the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery and the Platte River State Fish Hatchery. The walleye egg take for the Upper Peninsula will be happening this week or next week, and those eggs will be going to the Thompson State Fish Hatchery."

The steelhead egg take at the Little Manistee River Weir is also about to begin.

At the Manistee County Public Safety Committee meeting on Friday, Sam Koscinski with the Department of Natural Resources, said there are roughly 1,000 steelhead in the maturation pond.

"And it looks like next week we're going to start doing some egg take for future fish funds," he said at the meeting where each public safety agency reports recent highlights and statistics from the individual departments on a monthly basis.

Eisch said the muskellunge egg take on the Detroit River would also be done this year.

Both the walleye and muskie egg takes were canceled in 2020 due to concerns about employees being close together in order to collect eggs at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic was ramping up in Michigan. Because the egg takes were canceled, the Thompson and Wolf Lake hatcheries did not rear fish in 2020.

However, it gave the state time to do some deep cleaning.

"The deep cleaning did as well as we hoped for," Eisch said. "It provided an opportunity to do some deep disinfecting at Thompson and Wolf Lake, since they had no fish on hand, and that was the first time that had ever happened. We also got to do some maintenance on aeration structures."

The pause also gave the state time to finish a cool water rearing facility at the Thompson hatchery, which will raise fish like walleye and muskie, which are cold-water fish.

"The new cool water facility is coming online and we should be able to incubate and hatch eggs there no problem," Eisch said. "The new facility will raise nothing but cool water fish. We'll have a quarter of a million spring walleye fingerlings and 18,000 muskie."

The new facility is the first one in the state.

Eisch noted that the rain would likely be a good thing for the egg take process.

"It would draw fish in. Snow came off early and we didn't get that big pulse of runoff water to draw in the fish," Eisch said.

Eisch also said some brown trout from the Oden State Fish Hatchery were already planted at the Tippy Dam.

Fish stocking operations will proceed normally in 2021, without the condensed plants that were made in 2020 to make sure the fish got stocked as fast as possible before the state went under COVID-19 restrictions, though fish rearing was deemed essential work.

Another activity, tagging fish, has resumed, after being paused in 2020.

"We were able to do some marking, but nowhere near what we had hoped," Eisch said. "We're looking like we're back in full in the spring and fall. The federal government has their marking trailers at Wolf Lake and they're marking Chinook salmon. They'll be doing Atlantic salmon at the Platte River and the Harietta State Fish Hatchery."

Eisch also said that the state would be able to begin its Arctic grayling reintroduction efforts again in 2021 as well. The state could not get grayling eggs from Alaska in 2020.

RELATED: State fish hatcheries continue to stock fish

DNR holds last egg harvest of the season at local weir

STOCKING FISH IN NEIGHBORING BENZIE

Fish stocking in Benzie County has already begun, according to Paul Stowe, national resources manager for the region.

So far, stocking has taken place in the following locations:

 Crystal Lake

43,000 Lake trout yearlings from Marquette State Fish Hatchery

 Lake Michigan, mouth of the Platte River

40,000 Brown Trout yearlings from Oden State Fish Hatchery

 Lake Michigan, Frankfort Coast Guard Station

24,800 Brown trout yearling from Oden State Fish Hatchery

 Upper Platte River

273,670 Coho salmon yearlings from Platte River State Fish Hatchery

Stowe said there would be more stocking in Benzie County in the spring.
AJMAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 11th Apr, 2021) H.H. Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ajman, has ordered the release of 55 prisoners of various nationalities, who have demonstrated good conduct during their sentences in punitive and corrective institutions in the Emirate, on the occasion of the Holy Month of Ramadan.

The pardon is a gesture by the Ruler of Ajman to provide prisoners an opportunity to start a new life and alleviate their families hardships.

Major General Shaikh Sultan bin Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Commander-in-Chief of Ajman Police, has lauded Ajman Ruler's noble gesture, which's aimed at bringing happiness to people and ensuring social cohesion.
Rain is being caused by a trough extending from Chhatisgarh to interior Tamil Nadu, for which moisture is coming from the Bay of Bengal.  Representational image/PTI

Hyderabad: The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday issued a caution regarding rain, accompanied by lightning, hailstorms and 40 kmph winds for the next four days in Hyderabad and several districts of the state.

As per the IMD, thunderstorms are very likely to occur at isolated places in Hyderabad and nearby districts such as Ranga Reddy, Medak, Medchal-Malkajgiri, Vikarabad, Mahbubnagar and Sangareddy.

The warning also covered Adilabad, Komaram Bheem-Asifabad, Mancherial, Nirmal, Jagtial, Kamareddy, Narayanpet and Rajanna-Sircilla districts

Mahesh Palawat, vice-president, Meteorology and Climate Change, Skymet Weather, said that these were pre-monsoon showers occuring due to the significant increase in the heat that the region has been experiencing since the last week of March.

He said that the rain was being caused by a trough extending from Chhatisgarh to interior Tamil Nadu, for which moisture is coming from the Bay of Bengal. The rainfall will be seen mostly during afternoon and evening, for about an hour or two, Palawat said.

He added that while the northern region experienced rain and thundershowers in March, the peninsula will witness a change in weather this month, especially in Telangana state, northern Karnataka and Rayalaseema. The intensity in Telangana, Vidarbha and adjoining areas will be higher than the rest of the areas.
Joe Bidens anti-Second Amendment nominee to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) has a background ripe with controversy.

Currently serving as a senior policy advisor at former representative Gabriel Giffords anti-gun lobbying group Giffords, David Chipman used to carry a semi-automatic rifle while raking in a taxpayer-funded paycheck.

The Biden nominees government career places him on location or being directly involved in some of Americas most infamous events over the last few decades.

Daily Mail reports that Chipman was at the Ruby Ridge standoff, in 1992 near Naples, Idaho.

After the federal government entrapped a man into selling two sawed-off shotguns with barrels shorter than the legal limit, the individual suspected a conspiracy against him and refused to surrender when agents showed up to his home.

In what turned into an 11-day standoff, the mans 14-year-old son, his wife and their dog were all killed by U.S. Marshals and FBI agents.

The father, Randy Weaver, and his three daughters, surrendered after the mother, son and pets were murdered.

The Weaver family was given $3.1 million by the government as part of a court settlement following the tragic incident.

The very next year, Chipman was directly involved in overseeing the Waco Siege.

Breitbart refers to the Waco standoff as a big, sexy, made-for-TV siege  a PR move to rebuild reputations after the governments breathtaking debacle at Ruby Ridge.

According to his own resume, Chipman was the Case agent in the Branch Davidian Trial.

The following image shows the Biden ATF nominee standing over a burning pile of rubble while ironically holding a long rifle.

Somewhere in the ashes behind him laid the remains of some 82 Americans, including 25 children and two pregnant women.

Discussing his involvement in the government-sanctioned slaughter, Chipman lied to Reddit users during an AMA and claimed Branch Davidian members shot down two Texas Air National Guard helicopters using .50 caliber rifles.

In reality, the choppers were fired upon but were never shot down.

During the Waco standoff, federal agents played audio of animals being slaughtered as part of a psychological warfare tactic, used CS tear gas and eventually hit the building with a round from a tank that burned the people inside alive.

Women and children were subjected to all of the previously mentioned maneuvers.

Both the Ruby Ridge and Waco killings were sparked by the overzealous ATF infringing upon the Second Amendment rights of U.S. citizens, so its understandable that people would be cautious of hiring Chipman to run the entire agency.

In the next historical event Chipman found himself at the center of, the Biden ATF nominee says he responded to the Oklahoma City Bombing as a Western NRT member.

Alex Jones was one of the first people to reveal the truth behind the suspicious attack in his 1997 film America Destroyed By Design.

The 2011 film A Noble Lie: Oklahoma City 1995 also helped expose the terror attack as a false flag event staged to strip more freedoms from Americans.

The fall-guy for the Oklahoma City attack, Timothy McVey, was ironically spotted on video showing support for the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas in 1993.

Chipmans exact role in the Oklahoma City Bombing is largely unknown at this time, but government stooges were involved in the planning, execution and cover-up of the attack.

Fast-forward through a decade or so of government service and Chipmans career comes to the infamous Fast and Furious scandal of Obamas ATF under then-Attorney General Eric Holder.

Essentially, the ATF used Operation Fast and Furious to convince straw purchasers to sell guns to weapons traffickers who then sold the firearms to Mexican drug cartels.

Meanwhile, during last years Reddit AMA, Chipman was bold enough to note that victims of drug lords in Mexico are often killed with .50 caliber rifles.

America plays a role in fueling the violence south of the border, he admitted without a hint of self-awareness.

While the specific details of Chipmans involvement in all of these scandals have yet to be revealed, that information could help America further understand the man who may soon be leading one of the nations most powerful armed agencies.

Regardless of the fact that he used to play soldier in his younger days in the ATF and that he could soon be in control of a government agency equipped with enough firepower to fight a small war, Chipman will now be using his power to strip the American people of their God-given right to self-defense.

The Biden nominee even supports disarming citizens who have never committed a crime!

While at ATF I conducted studies involving people who failed background checks to determine how many later committed crimes with a gunmany did, Chipman said. This is a perfect opportunity to arrest people before committing crimes rather than responding after the fact.

If this man is appointed to head the ATF despite the laundry list of red flags showing hes unqualified, our Second Amendment will be unironically within the crosshairs of the Biden-Harris Administration.

Fox News Tucker Carlson recently touched on the unhinged David Chipman being nominated by Biden.

Carlson noted Chipman had recently made his Twitter account private, but that the Daily Wire was able to obtain an archived version showing he deleted at least 1,000 tweets in recent days.

However, as Tucker explains, Chipman told The Hill that AR-15s should be treated just like machine guns  meaning banned. Chipman made that remark in his capacity as a policy adviser for an anti-gun group. In 2012, he suggested on MSNBC that the Secret Service shouldnt carry firearms. And last year, David Chipman openly mocked the millions of Americans who are buying guns to protect their families from the crime wave Chipmans party started.

Chipman said of American gun owners: They might think that theyre Die Hard, ready to go, but unfortunately theyre more like Tiger King and theyre putting themselves and their family in danger, and so what I would suggest is to those first-time gun owners  I would secure that gun locked and unloaded and hide it behind the cans of tuna and beef jerky stored in a cabinet and only bring that out if the zombies start to appear and I dont think they are.

Watch the full Tucker Carlson Tonight segment below:

Watch the latest video at foxnews.com

Watch the latest video at foxnews.com

From the Infowars Archives, this compilation of interviews over the years with Hoppy Heidelberg, former Federal Grand Juror for the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building court case in Oklahoma City, reveals why we still have a lot of work to do in draining the swamp. Almost 20 years later, Hoppy continues to indict the Deep State, FBI, CIA, ATF, and many of the actors who to date have yet to be brought to justice.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  After navigating political minefields and popping champagne corks, New Mexico officials now face the daunting task of trying to create a regulatory and oversight framework for a new legal cannabis industry in a matter of months.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham acknowledged in a recent interview that theres a mountain of work to be done to prepare for commercial sales to start by no later than April 2022, under a legalization bill approved by lawmakers during a two-day special session that ended March 31.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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

That includes creating a new advisory committee, conducting a market analysis focused on other states that have enacted cannabis legalization laws and readying for marijuana production license applications to start being filed in September.

We have to start getting our producers, growers and farmers ready to go right now, said the Democratic governor, who is expected to sign the cannabis legalization bill into law in the coming days.

While New Mexicos newest industry wont be full-fledged for another year, the states new stance on pot could start being felt by as soon as this summer.

Thats because possession and use of cannabis for those age 21 and older would become legal June 29 under the bill lawmakers passed during a recent special session, assuming the governor signs it.

New Mexico adults would also be able to start growing up to six mature cannabis plants for personal consumption without a license on that date.

That gray area of allowing pot possession  but not legal sales  for up to eight months could pose a little bit of an issue, said Linda Trujillo, superintendent of the state Regulation and Licensing Department, which is tasked with overseeing and implementing much of the proposed cannabis legalization law.

She said the agency is already looking into legal issues about cannabis being transported across state lines, among other concerns.

In addition, the Regulation and Licensing Department is working to line up a study that would be focused on other states retail sales and other data. That study could then be used to set possible plant count limits for producers once the weed industry is up and running.

And the agency already has a website set up with key dates and other information for its fledgling Cannabis Control Division.

Were on a really short timeline, Trujillo told the Journal.

Local control limited

Unlike in some other states that have legalized recreational cannabis for adult users, New Mexico cities and counties would not be able to opt out of the states weed industry.

However, local governments would be able to reasonably limit the density of cannabis licenses and the operating hours of dispensaries, under the approved bill.

That authority would allow cities and counties to avoid the green mile phenomenon of multiple cannabis retail stores near one another, Trujillo said.

But she said cities and counties would have to justify such restrictions and could not use them to simply bar cannabis dispensaries or producers from setting up shop.

They cant make it so strict that nobody can open up retail or production, she said.

Hobbs Mayor Sam Cobb, whose city is just six miles from the Texas line, said he and other officials have ample concerns about cannabis legalization.

Were going to have a lot of people coming from out of state, especially Texas, and thats going to add to the issues, said Cobb, who alluded to driving while under the influence of marijuana as chief among his concerns.

Head start on growing

New Mexicos soon-to-be-enacted cannabis legalization law will give manufacturers and producers  and smaller micro-business producers  the chance to start growing several months before sales begin.

Ben Lewinger, the executive director of the New Mexico Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, called that provision positive and said it could allow for a sufficient supply of cannabis products for both recreational users and medical pot patients once the new industry fully opens.

There should be a head start to ensure that when we open up the floodgates in April there have already been a couple harvests, Lewinger told the Journal.

Trujillo, a former state legislator who was recently appointed as superintendent of the Regulation and Licensing Department by Lujan Grisham, said licensing applications will be considered public documents under the states Inspection of Public Records Act.

Theres nothing in this act that makes licensing confidential, she told the Journal.

However, she said that, as with New Mexico alcohol sales, no database of retail purchasers will be kept. Customers will have to provide proof of legal age to make purchases, though.

For her part, Lujan Grisham has said she envisions New Mexicos industry ending up as a national model.

After a year dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 New Mexicans and disrupted the states economy, the governor said, the timing of the new cannabis legalization could provide the state with a much-needed dose of optimism.

Were all still feeling like weve been shell-shocked, the governor said. People need something to hang on to and believe in.
Occasionally a prominent persons life traverses an epoch so long that few can remember a time before they existed. Prince Philip, the now-deceased Duke of Edinburgh and consort to the longest-serving British monarch, is one such man. He led a remarkable and long life (falling short of his 100th birthday by just 62 days), with much of it the focus of intense public interest.

While in recent years he had stepped back from royal duties, his death has touched off numerous recollections of his long association with Australia. From his first visit in 1940, as a junior British naval officer, he drew attention to what was to become his trademark dry wit and directness of speech and manner. He returned on many occasions, mostly in more formal surrounds, but never managed to completely temper his willingness to say what was on his mind, no matter the consequence.

While his off-the-cuff remarks could be disconcerting  or downright offensive, as when he asked an Indigenous leader, Do you still throw spears at each other?  his unconventional ways endeared him to many.

And yet, from the day he exchanged wedding vows with the future British Queen in 1947, he also managed to carry out with dignity and steadiness his principal role as supportive husband to one of the most powerful women in the world. It was a double act that endured for more than seven decades.

But during the past few days many have also come forward to speak of his character, not just his service. Former US president Barack Obama eloquently reminisced of his first visit with the royal family as two Americans unaccustomed to palaces and pomp. In a touching tribute, Mr Obama disclosed that the Queen and Prince Philip immediately put us at ease with their grace and generosity, turning a ceremonial occasion into something far more natural, even comfortable. Prince Philip in particular was kind and warm, with a sharp wit and unfailing good humour.
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt on Friday declared that Tucker Carlson "must go" for daring to calmly discuss how Democrats importing voters dilutes the voting power of current American citizens and is a form of disenfranchisement.



"'Replacement theory' is a white supremacist tenet that the white race is in danger by a rising tide of non-whites," Greenblatt said on Twitter. "It is antisemitic, racist and toxic. It has informed the ideology of mass shooters in El Paso, Christchurch and Pittsburgh."



"Tucker must go," Greenblatt demanded.





.@TuckerCarlson: replacement theory is a white supremacist tenet that the white race is in danger by a rising tide of non-whites.



It is antisemitic, racist and toxic. It has informed the ideology of mass shooters in El Paso, Christchurch and Pittsburgh.



Tucker must go. https://t.co/FSvgNfR1KO  Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) April 9, 2021



Fox News posted the full segment on their front page.







Transcript:

TUCKER CARLSON (GUEST): I'm laughing because this is one of about 10 stories that I know you have covered where the government shows preference to people who have shown absolute contempt for our customs, our laws, our system itself and they are being treated better than American citizens. Now, I know that the left and all the little gatekeepers on Twitter become literally hysterical if you use the term "replacement," if you suggest that the Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate, the voters now casting ballots, with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World. But they become hysterical because that's what's happening actually. Let's just say it: That's true.



...



If you change the population, you dilute the political power of the people who live there. So every time they import a new voter, I become disenfranchised as a current voter. So I don't understand what we don't understand cause, I mean, everyone wants to make a racial issue out of it. Oh, you know, the white replacement theory? No, no, no. This is a voting right question. I have less political power because they are importing a brand new electorate. Why should I sit back and take that? The power that I have as an American guaranteed at birth is one man, one vote, and they are diluting it. No, they are not allowed to do it. Why are we putting up with this?

Though the ADL rejects replacement theory when it comes to America, the ADL embraces replacement theory when it comes to Israel.



In a guide on their website for pro-Israel activists, the ADL tells followers to say that the idea of "bi-nationalism" in Israel "is unworkable given current realities and historic animosities."



"With historically high birth rates among the Palestinians, and a possible influx of Palestinian refugees and their descendants now living around the world, Jews would quickly be a minority within a bi-national state, thus likely ending any semblance of equal representation and protections," the ADL says. "In this situation, the Jewish population would be increasingly politically  and potentially physically  vulnerable."



"It is unrealistic and unacceptable to expect the State of Israel to voluntarily subvert its own sovereign existence and nationalist identity and become a vulnerable minority within what was once its own territory."







Follow InformationLiberation on Twitter, Facebook, Gab, Minds, Parler and Telegram.
A study by PRICELESS-SA and partners shows that SAs 2018 sugar tax led to a reduction in purchases of sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs).

This could mean that purchasers are consuming less excess sugar and calories, which suggests less obesity.

The findings are consistent with evaluations in other countries with sugar-sweetened beverages taxes, where taxing sugary drinks is an effective public health strategy to reduce the burden of health conditions linked to overconsumption of sugar.

South Africa faces an increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and cancers  diseases that can be linked to increased consumption of sugar, particularly from beverages.

Many countries, including Mexico, have used policies such as taxation to successfully curb consumption of sugary beverages.

South Africas 2018 Health Promotion Levy placed a tax on sugary beverages with the tax amount related to the amount of sugar in the drink, and the first teaspoon untaxed.

Led by a South African team at the South African Medical Research Council Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science (PRICELESS-SA) in the School of Public Health at Wits and the University of the Western Cape, in partnership with the University of North Carolina, USA, the study was published on 8 April in The Lancet Planetary Health.

This is the first study to evaluate the impact of South Africas tax on sugar and caloric intake.

Less sugar, calories and SSB purchases

In the study, titled "Changes in beverage purchases following the announcement and implementation of South Africa's Health Promotion Levy: an observational study", researchers examined the nutritional data of over 3,000 households' purchases before and after the tax to assess any changes in daily sugar, calories, and volume of taxed and non-taxed beverages.

Mr Nicholas Stacey, first author and Senior Researcher at PRICELESS-SA and the team found a 51% reduction in sugar, a 52% reduction in calories, and a 29% reduction in volume of beverages purchased per person per day following implementation of the tax.

We also found that the relative reduction in the sugar content of taxable beverages was larger than that for volume, showing that industry reformulated products." Mr Nicholas Stacey, First Author and Senior Researcher at PRICELESS-SA

Changing consumer behavior beneficial

The researchers also analyzed differences in purchasing behavior by household socioeconomic status, finding that households with lower socioeconomic status had purchased more taxable beverages prior to the announcement of the tax than higher socioeconomic status households, but experienced larger reductions after the announcement and implementation of the tax.

These results back up the impact we've seen from similar policies in other countries - that beverage taxes based on sugar content can help reduce excessive sugar and energy intake. Importantly, this shows that the lower income households that experience the greater burden of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and other nutrition-related non-communicable diseases, benefit greatly from this Health Promotion Levy." Professor Karen Hofman, Director of PRICELESS-SA
Chinas BYD confirmed that it is going all-in on LFP (lithium-iron-phosphate) batteries, scrapping NCM (nickel, cobalt, manganese) technology from its model line-up entirely.

BYD, which is backed by legendary US investor Warren Buffet through a 21% stake, is the second-largest electric vehicle brand by volume behind Tesla and also supplies other carmakers with its battery technology.

The Shenzen-based company is not only touting its Blade technology as a significantly cheaper option but is making much of the safety of LFP versus ternary chemistries, particularly those with high nickel and low cobalt content, which carry a greater risk of fire.

BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu told the South China Morning Post some 124 incidents of NEVs emitting smoke were recorded in China last year.

Some industry participants have irrationally gone after NCM batteries [to chase after] ever-higher driving range, at the expense of stability and safety.

BYDs blade battery packs achieve the highest energy density among the current crop of LFP-equipped cars, vastly improving its biggest drawback  low driving range and long charging times.

For its new Tang SUV, which is being exported to Europe, the company claims a 505km (314mi) range and a 30-minute charge time from 30% to 80%. The entry-level Tesla Model 3 sold in the US has a 263-mile range.

In a note, BMO Capital Markets says given BYD is the industry leader in LFP this announcement isnt too surprising, and has given them a good platform to put down their ternary competition, but it does once again reinforce that a wide portfolio of battery chemistries will be used for electric vehicles over the coming years. It is however a net negative for nickel and cobalt demand.

By Mining.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Sorry!

This content is not available in your region
DEAR ABBY: I have been married to my husband for seven years. We are in our 60s. He refuses to make a will. He tells me what he "would" put in his will and asks me if I am OK with his wishes.

He has an adult child from his first marriage and would like to include her in the will. I'm fine with what he wants. This conversation has been going on for more than five years now, but he never acts on it. I am very hurt and frustrated.

The house is in his name, and my name isn't even on his checking accounts. I resent him for this. There are times when I want to get a divorce because I feel if something should happen to him, I will have no security. I also think he is being selfish and unloving to me and his adult child to leave us in a situation where we would have to go through the probate process. Please help me to get through to him. -- RESENTFUL IN MAINE

DEAR RESENTFUL: Your husband may be afraid to face the idea of his own mortality. He wouldn't be the first. The two of you need to make an appointment with an attorney who specializes in wills and estates. If he doesn't put his wishes in writing, the assets he has worked so hard for may be seriously diminished when the state decides "for him" and takes a sizable chunk out of the estate.

While you are talking with the lawyer, there should also be a discussion of end-of-life planning. Does he want hospice? Palliative care? Do you know what his wishes are in the event he is unable to speak for himself? Those wishes should be in writing and so should YOURS. (This subject should also be raised with your doctor(s).)

Most people want to keep what they have worked for and decide for themselves what will happen when they die. Death is a fact of life, and hiding from it won't make it go away.

DEAR ABBY: I send out lots of greeting cards every year for birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas. I keep a large number of them on hand so I am prepared.

I received a Christmas card this year from an elderly family member that said: "Thank you for the insulting anniversary card." "Insulting" was underlined twice. I was dismayed. Their anniversary was last August. I have no idea which card I sent since I keep so many on hand. I am guessing it may have been a humorous card that they didn't find funny, but I'm not sure.

Both are very alert and oriented. What is the proper thing to do here? Do I call them and apologize when I have no idea what it said? Should I not send an anniversary card next year or send a very generic one? I have been very upset that my good wishes were so poorly received. Any advice you can give would be appreciated. Thank you. -- CONFUSED IN THE MIDWEST

DEAR CONFUSED: Call the couple and ASK what it was about the card that upset them. Explain that it wasn't your intention to offend them, and apologize. DO send an anniversary card when the time comes, but when you do, make absolutely certain the message inside is appropriate.

Trainer turns woman's head, and husband starts to notice

DEAR ABBY: I have grown really close to "Pete," my trainer at the gym I joined two years ago. We are both married. I know it's wrong to feel this way. I love my husband, but I'm not sure I am "in love" with him anymore.

I think what I feel for Pete may be more than just a physical attraction and connection. Our lives are so parallel. We are both loyal to our spouses, so nothing has happened.

I'm not sure if he feels the same about me, but I sense our chemistry when we are together. Our friendship hugs are lasting longer, and our flirting has increased to a different level. We text every week in the morning and now, since he quit his job at the gym, we have started to miss each other. I can't stop thinking about him. He's on my mind constantly.

I know I shouldn't open up Pandora's box because it could destroy lives. My best friend has picked up that I talk about Pete more than my husband. My husband overheard one of my virtual workout sessions with him and afterward was cold and different toward me, so I know he was picking up on our connection, too. Should I talk to Pete about how I'm feeling or leave it alone? -- WORKING IT OUT

DEAR WORKING: It's time to ask yourself what, exactly, you want from Pete. Is it a fling? Do you want to wreck your marriage and possibly ruin his? Crushing on a perfect physical specimen is common, and when something is missing in your life, it's easy to fixate on someone you have contact with regularly. If you feel the urge to work out, work things out with your husband because, if your letter is an accurate description of what's going on, that marriage of yours could use some toning up.

DEAR ABBY: I work for a small company in Colorado. It pays well. I will be quitting my job as soon as I'm out of debt, which will be soon. My job is way too stressful, and I'll be able to afford the pay cut.

The problem is, my boss is a relative by marriage and a good friend. Most of the stress in my job comes from the way he communicates with me and everyone else in emails. He is often rude, condescending and accusatory. It has become more than my fragile nerves can handle.

When I quit, how can I exit without calling him out when I'm asked my reason for leaving? Do you have any advice as to a vague yet satisfactory "reason" for leaving? I don't want to bring up the actual problem because he already knows how he is, and his actions won't change. Also, I value the peaceful relationship we have and don't want to cause any drama in the family. -- KEEPING THE PEACE IN COLORADO

DEAR KEEPING: When the question is asked during your exit interview, express gratitude for having had the opportunity to work there. Your reason for leaving will be to "explore other opportunities."

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.
The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has granted the state of Tennessee's petition for an en banc appeal of an earlier decision by the Appeals Court to uphold the injunction against Tennessees 48-hour waiting period with regard to abortions.

The en banc appeal will allow for the full panel of judges to decide on the merits of the case instead of the usual three-judge panel. In February, a panel of three judges upheld an injunction against the enforcement of the waiting period granted by the Federal District Court of Middle Tennessee. The state Attorney General then petitioned the Sixth Circuit to have the full panel review that three-judge decision in hopes of overruling it. On Friday, the court announced that the majority of its judges decided to grant the appeal. On Friday, the court announced that the majority of its judges decided to grant the appeal.





Earlier this week, in another appellate maneuver, the Attorney General also petitioned for an emergency stay from the injunction from the U.S. Supreme Court and is currently awaiting the U.S. Supreme Courts decision.





Tennessee passed the 48-hour waiting period law in 2015. On June 25, 2015, abortion facility owner-operators filed suit against the Tennessee law. The complaint was filed in federal court by operators of Choices abortion facility in Memphis and owners of unlicensed abortion centers in Bristol and Nashville. New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights is representing the abortion facilities and Tennessee's Attorney General is defending the constitutionality of the protective laws.







The waiting period law was allowed to remain in effect during the court challenge from 2015 to October 14, 2020 when with complete disregard for the health and safety of Tennessee's women and unborn children, Senior United States District Judge Bernard A. Friedman permanently enjoined enforcement of Tennessee's 48-hour waiting period.




New images have been released by police of a suspect being hunted in connection with the murder of a teenager in Cardiff in 2010.

Mohammed Ali Ege, 42, fled to India before he could be arrested over the death of 17-year-old Aamir Siddiqi, who was stabbed at his family home in a mistaken identity attack.

Ege was arrested in India in 2013 but escaped from custody in 2017 while awaiting extradition.

New images have been released by police of Mohammed Ali Ege, 42, who is being hunted in connection with the murder of a teenager in Cardiff in 2010

Reports in India from 2017 say Ege told police he needed to use a toilet at a train station - and then escaped out of the window.

South Wales Police, who have described Ege as Wales's most wanted man, said his whereabouts remain unknown.

Detectives have released new images of the suspect, taken following his arrest in India, in the hope it will lead to recent sightings being reported.

A spokeswoman said: 'We continue to work with the National Crime Agency and international law enforcement agencies to trace Ege and return him to the UK.

Aamir (pictured) was killed in the Roath area of Cardiff on the afternoon of April 11, 2010

Pictured: Investigators work at Aamir Siddiqi's home in Cardiff after his murder in 2010

'Two other men convicted of Aamir's murder continue to serve life sentences in prison.

'Aamir's family continue to be updated and supported by specially trained family liaison officers.

'We urge anyone with information about the whereabouts of Mohammed Ali Ege to get in touch.'

Aamir was killed in the Roath area of Cardiff on the afternoon of April 11 2010.

In 2013 Jason Richards and Ben Hope were sentenced to 40 years in prison each at Swansea Crown Court after being found guilty of Aamir's murder and the attempted murder of his parents.

Jason Richards (left) and Ben Hope (right) were sentenced to 40 years in prison each at Swansea Crown Court in 2013 after being found guilty of Aamir's murder and the attempted murder of his parents

They had each been paid 1,000 in blood money to kill a middle-aged man who owed money to a businessman.

But the balaclava-wearing assassins went to the Siddiqi family home by mistake.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Major Incident Public Portal or to contact South Wales Police on 101 quoting reference 1700150924.

Crimestoppers can also be contacted anonymously on 0800 555111.
David Cameron took scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill for a 'private drink' with Health Secretary Matt Hancock to discuss a payment scheme later rolled out in the NHS.

As Prime Minister, Mr Cameron brought Lex Greensill - the Australian who ran the company - into No10 as an unpaid adviser on supply chain finance and went to work for his firm after leaving office.

Mr Cameron is now facing mounting scrutiny over his efforts to get the company access to Covid loans  efforts which involved lobbying Chancellor Rishi Sunak and two other Treasury Ministers.

Prior to that, Mr Greensill was understood to have written to Mr Hancock's office about the payment scheme in August 2019, copying in NHS England chairman Lord Prior, before the Health Secretary commissioned advice from officials.

An ally of Mr Hancock confirmed a drink took place between Mr Cameron, the Health Secretary and the Australian financier in October 2019.

Mr Greensill's firm at the time wanted to introduce a flexible scheme to pay doctors and nurses either daily or weekly.

NHS SBS, a joint venture between the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and a French IT firm, went on to announce in October last year that Earnd, a mobile app that was then a division of Greensill, would be available free-of-charge to NHS employees to access their pay.

David Cameron took scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill (right) for a 'private drink' with Health Secretary Matt Hancock to discuss a payment scheme later rolled out in the NHS

Mr Hancock had referred Mr Greensill to work directly with the NHS rather than his department, according to the ally, who insisted the final decision to use the scheme was for local NHS employers.

'Matt acted in entirely the correct way  he updated officials on the business that was discussed, as is appropriate,' the friend said.

Greensill Capital has now filed for insolvency although Mr Sunak faced claims yesterday his officials tried to redesign one of the main pandemic support schemes to accommodate the firm.

The Treasury reconsidered Mr Greensill's application for an emergency coronavirus loan after the former Prime Minister messaged a senior adviser to Boris Johnson. The Sunday Times reports.

The Treasury released the Chancellor's texts after a freedom of information request into efforts by the ex-Tory leader to contact ministers in search of millions of pounds of extra Covid rescue cash.

On April 3 last year, Mr Sunak wrote: 'Hi David, thanks for your message. I am stuck back to back on calls but will try you later this evening and if gets too late, first thing tomorrow. Best, Rishi'

Almost three weeks later on 23rd April he messaged again, saying: 'Hi David, apologies for the delay. I think the proposals in the end did require a change to the Market Notice but I have pushed the team to explore an alternative with the Bank that might work.

'No guarantees, but the Bank are currently looking at it and Charles should be in touch. Best, Rishi'.

The paper also claimed the ex-PM emailed Boris Johnson's senior special adviser last year to say the Treasury was 'nuts' to exclude Mr Greensill's company from a Covid loan scheme.

'What we need is for Rishi (Sunak) to have a good look at this and ask officials to find a way of making it work,' Mr Cameron wrote last year.

And it was today suggested that Mr Camerons embarrassment has been stoked by aides of Michael Gove.

Allies of the former PM  cleared of breaking lobbying rules  claim he has been caught in a 'pincer movement' between No10 aides loyal to Mr Gove and former mandarins Lord Macpherson and Lord Kerslake, now crossbench peers.

Mr Greensill was understood to have written to Mr Hancock's office about the payment scheme in August 2019, copying in NHS England chairman Lord Prior, before the Health Secretary commissioned advice from officials

Greensill (its UK base is pictured) wanted the Bank of England to act as a final guarantor to protect its clients in the event of further economic difficulties

Mr Cameron was said to have described the decision to exclude his employer's firm, Greensill Capital, from Rishi Sunak's multibillion-pound Covid scheme as 'nuts' and pressed for the Chancellor to reconsider

And it was today suggested that Mr Cameron s embarrassment has been stoked by aides of Michael Gove (pictured)

They are suspicious about the roles played by Simone Finn, Downing Streets Deputy Chief of Staff, and Henry Newman, senior adviser, who both worked for Francis Maude when Paymaster General in the Cameron government, before joining Mr Goves leadership campaign.

Plans to stop steel tycoon buying own plants on the cheap Jobs fears: Sanjeev Gupta employs around 5,000 people in the UK including 3,000 at Liberty Steel Liberty Steel boss Sanjeev Gupta will be prevented from buying back his plants at bargain prices if they go bust, under plans being drawn up by the Government. The metals magnate's empire has been left on the brink of collapse after its largest lender Greensill Capital, which David Cameron worked for, imploded. He is scrambling to raise cash after ministers rejected a 170million bailout of Liberty's parent company GFG Alliance last month. Whitehall officials are reportedly now concerned Mr Gupta might declare his steel business insolvent and later try to repurchase it. This is a process known as 'phoenixing'  which company directors are strongly advised against doing. GFG employs 5,000 people in the UK, of which 3,000 are steelworkers spread across 12 sites. Boris Johnson has said he is 'very hopeful' that the Government can save Liberty and all options  including nationalisation  are on the table. To block Mr Gupta from potentially buying back parts of Liberty, officials are considering appointing accounting firm Deloitte to handle a possible insolvency that would carve it out from the rest of the company, according to The Sunday Times. A GFG spokesman said: 'Liberty Steel UK is undertaking significant self-help measures... working with our customers to achieve terms that will bring in cash earlier.' Advertisement

Baroness Finn was also romantically involved with Mr Gove after they left Oxford University.

It had been reported that a proposal from Mr Greensill, while he worked in No10, for NHS-affiliated pharmacies to be paid using private finance was handed directly to Mr Cameron, who signed it off... bypassing Francis Maude entirely.

One of the Cameron friends said: It has been noted how Maude has come out of all this smelling of roses. It has also helped to put Rishi back in his box a bit, and distracted from stories about the cost of renovations to Downing Street.

Both ex-civil servants dismissed the allegations, while a No10 source also categorically denied Ms Finn and Mr Newman were involved.

Lord Kerslake was head of the Civil Service during Mr Camerons premiership, and at the time Mr Greensill joined the Number 10 team in 2012.

After stepping down in 2014, Lord Kerslake was commissioned by Jeremy Corbyn to help prepare Labour for power. Cameron allies suspect he fed information over the affair to the media through Labour contacts.

Senior sources also suggest Lord Macpherson, Treasury permanent secretary under Mr Cameron, could have briefed against him and the late Lord Heywood  now post-humously embroiled in the row  after losing out to Heywood for the plum Cabinet Secretary job.

Lord Macpherson has denied the claims saying: I have never met Greensill and never saw anything relating to him while at HM Treasury. He also insisted he had never had access to inside information or documents relating to Greensill.

Lord Kerslake dismissed any suggestion he had briefed against Mr Cameron as complete nonsense.

Allies of Mr Hancock insisted he had behaved entirely correctly and informed officials of the meeting. Sources close to the ex-PM said last night Mr Cameron himself was not casting blame on anyone.

Labour was this week dragged into the Greensill scandal after it was revealed its shadow defence secretary John Healey lobbied ministers to hand the cash-strapped company 200million in COVID-19 loans 'without delay'.

The shadow defence secretary wrote to Business Secretary Nadhim Zahawi in May 2020 urging him to give Greensill, run by Australian financier Lex Greensill and owners of Liberty Steel, greater access to the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme [CLBILS].

Mr Healey said Liberty needed the cash and 'their application for CLBILS remains dependent on their lender, Greensill, being accredited for the higher cap loan scheme, which I trust can now be done without delay'.

Shadow defence secretary John Healey (left) lobbied the Business Secretary Nadhim Zahawi (right) to hand Greensill 200million in COVID-19 loans 'without delay'. He claims he was protecting jobs in his constituency

But in spite of lobbying by Mr Healey and former prime minister David Cameron, who advised Greensill, Rishi Sunak's Treasury capped the loans at 50million.

Mr Healey told the Financial Times today that he felt his letter was the right thing to do as 'the local constituency MP' for Liberty Steel's Rotherham plant, just as Labour demanded a new law on political lobbying and accused the Tories of being 'consumed by cronyism'.

He said: 'I was doing my job for the big Rotherham plant that Liberty had recently bought and expanded'.

His involvement was revealed by Mr Sunak, who struck back yesterday via an aide who said: 'A member of the Labour front bench was lobbying on behalf of Greensill to be accredited for the higher cap loan scheme'.
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
Roseburg, OR (97470)

Today

A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low 49F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low 49F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
As state lawmakers in Austin wrap up the latest legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday threatened to withhold their pay by vetoing a line item in the states budget because a Democratic walkout killed his priority elections bill. No pay for those who abandon their responsibilities, Abbott tweeted. Should the governor veto Legislature funding?

You voted:
NORTH CHESTERFIELD, Va.  Abigail Spanberger's congressional district, two hours outside Washington, has been a hot spot for political movements over the last decade, from the rise of the tea party to the "blue wave."

Now, in the time of President Joe Biden, temperatures appear to have cooled. Maybe it's a fleeting calm due to the receding Covid-19 pandemic and the improving economy.

"I'm seeing, gradually, the anxieties tamping down a little bit in the engagement that I'm having with people," Spanberger, a two-term Democrat, said in a wide-ranging interview at the Urban Farmhouse Market & Cafe outside Richmond. "And I can't ascribe that wholly to Biden  it's also Covid moving in the right direction, and people are starting to get their vaccine."

Democrats hope it's a harbinger of their ability to buck the historical trends and win the midterm elections as the party in charge. Spanberger's district has had an uncanny knack for reflecting the national mood, and both parties again see it as a key to the battle for House control next year.

She said that the reaction to Biden's $1.9 trillion economic stimulus has been "generally positive" and that she has experienced "wow" moments, such as when she told a superintendent what the school district would be getting. But she also warned of "negativity" about the high cost and confusion about what's in the law, which she said Democrats must keep explaining to voters.

"I won't call it backlash. I think there's a little bit of disappointment" about the party-line vote, she said. "But we're not getting much feedback in terms of 'I hate that, or you guys shouldn't have done this.'"

The moment is unlike the spring after the last two presidents took office.

In 2009, a swift backlash to President Barack Obama's stimulus plan triggered nationwide tea party protests, fueling a "shellacking" for Democrats in this district and others in 2010.

Story continues

By this time in 2017, the national women's uprising had taken shape, as thousands of women filled the streets the day after President Donald Trump's inauguration, a movement that would fuel a Democratic "blue wave" in the 2018 elections.

So far, there hasn't been a grassroots uprising against the new president's agenda. And the stimulus doesn't appear likely to ignite one.

Image: NBC News' Sahil Kapur interviews Rep. Abigail Spanberger (NBC News)

Democrats acknowledge that Spanberger's seat will be one of the most difficult to keep. Redrawn maps could affect the battle, but she said she expects the district to look largely the same.

Her re-election bid is a snapshot of the national fight. Republicans are banking on disaffected white and rural voters who turned out for Trump to stay engaged. Democrats hope that suburbanites who left the GOP in recent years will stick with their party and that a growing economy will minimize the backlash.

Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher said that Biden hasn't triggered partisan attitudes the same way Trump and Obama did and that his political capital can help Democrats if he spends it well.

"People are comfortable with 'Uncle Joe,'" he said.

They hope that keeps voters like Kara Floyd, an educator and supporter of Trump, from feeling too motivated. She said that she's "not a fan" of Spanberger and that she intends to vote for someone who opposes abortion and supports gun rights. But she's not unhappy about Biden's stimulus package.

"Of course, like every other American, I was really happy to get my stimulus check. It's going to pay for my vacation," Floyd said.

Fight for the suburbs

Republicans are banking on their ability to convince voters that Democrats are governing recklessly and don't deserve to hold on to power.

The National Republican Congressional Committee, or NRCC, puts Spanberger's district among the top 47 districts it wants to flip. The party doesn't have a candidate yet, and some operatives expect a competitive primary.

"Whether it's kowtowing to the teachers' unions or voting with the Democrats' socialist agenda, Abigail Spanberger will never put Virginians first, and it will cost her re-election in 2022," NRCC spokeswoman Camille Gallo said.

Spanberger wants her critics to define "socialism."

"The NRCC  they're going to say, 'Oh, she votes for a socialist agenda.' Well, what the heck is that? Vaccines?" she said. "That's not socialism. That's a functioning government."

Her district has swung sharply. It was the home of Eric Cantor, then the House Republican leader, when Republicans were known as the party of business and the suburbs. But voters delivered a shocking victory to right-wing populist Dave Brat in 2014.

"It has been a bellwether within the party and outside of that, as well," said Doug Heye, a veteran Republican strategist who worked for Cantor. "It's a Republican-leaning district, and Spanberger is the perfect Democrat for the district  but she's still a Democrat."

Spanberger, who was first elected in 2018, held on by just over 8,000 votes last year. She carried the booming Richmond suburbs and lost the rural areas stretching south from Culpeper for 100 miles.

"That is the change that should scare Republicans  the suburbs of Richmond. But the rest of the district is still very Republican," Heye said. "And that's the same conversation as Atlanta and Charlotte and Raleigh and Houston."

David Wasserman, House editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said Spanberger's race will reveal "a great deal" about whether the suburban shifts will persist.

"I expect it's a long-term realignment," Wasserman said, adding: "I'd say her prospects are very good. Surviving 2020 was tough, and the district's demographics and lines could both get bluer."

Trump-Spanberger voters

Of the big battle ahead in Congress, Spanberger said she's undecided about Biden's call to raise the corporate tax rate to 28 percent to finance a sprawling infrastructure and safety net proposal.

"My approach to lawmaking is I have to do a deep dive on everything," she said. "My obligation is to not just jump on board because the president says we want to do it."

Spanberger, 41, a former CIA officer, resists labels. Her political career in a divided district like this one hinges on defying caricatures of her party. She's eager to discuss noncontroversial issues that generate fewer headlines, like rural broadband.

She said Republican-leaning constituents voted for her and could do so again.

"It happened! Numbers-wise, I outperformed Biden in the district," she said. "I know there are people who voted for Trump and voted for me. The numbers reflect it, and I've heard it directly from voters."

Shortly after the election last year, Spanberger made headlines for her comments in a leaked caucus call, in which she blasted fellow Democrats who she said had fueled Republican attacks linking the party to "socialism" and the "defund the police" movement, which she said cost the party valuable House seats.

Spanberger stands by her criticisms. She said Democrats must think hard about "where we allowed ourselves to be reduced to something" they aren't.

"Some of it is that they launched really good attacks that really permeated," she said. "And we couldn't say they're just going to say bad things anyway, so just ignore it. No, there's a point in time where, if you don't tell people what you are for, the attacks that are made against you  if you don't answer it or you don't give a counter-discussion point, what else do people have to go off of?"

For Spanberger and the rest of the Democrats who hope to keep the temperature low among the opposition, sometimes that means embracing a low profile.

Isabella Davis, 22, a barista at the cafe Spanberger visited outside Richmond, acknowledged that she didn't recognize her congresswoman when she walked in. But she voted for her, and she expects to do so again in the fall.

"I just think she's doing a good job," she said.
The Texas rent relief program so far has paid out only 730 applicants from its $1 billion fund, according to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

The state housing agency came under fire last week after a scathing report from the Texas State House Committee on Urban Affairs detailed problems that applicants have complained about since the programs inception: A complicated website, unstaffed phone lines and a lack of communication. The report found that only 250 applicants had received assistance by the end of March.

The agency since has about tripled the number of people assisted since then, yet thousands of applicants are still in line.

Committee members are rightfully concerned that the assistance tens of thousands of Texans need is not getting to them, committee staff wrote in the report. Despite having applied, in many cases weeks ago, tenants remain anxious and stressed about the lack of approval or denial. Landlords, too, await decisions as rent goes uncollected or greatly reduced.

RELATED: How to fix the U.S. public housing problem? Ask the tenants.

The program is run through the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs with federal dollars from the U.S. Treasurys Emergency Rental Assistance program, meant to help the lowest-income Texans with rent and utilities amidst the economic fallout of the pandemic.

Most applications in the system, per the report, were at least 30 days old. As of March 31, more than 170,000 tenants had begun the application, and more than 72,000 had submitted the form. Less than 1 percent of tenants who began the application have received money.

By April 9, nearly 87,000 people had submitted applications, 730 of which had received assistance.

Reports represent a snapshot in time. The Texas Rent Relief program has made tremendous strides in our efforts to provide assistance to Texas renters in need, and were continuing to help more people each day, agency spokeswoman Kristina Tirloni said in an email. We are working hard to ensure Texans get access as quickly as possible.

The state rent relief program opened Feb. 15 and was plagued with accessibility issues almost since its inception. Tenants reported issues entering their phone numbers and salary, and had trouble accessing the website on their mobile phones. People tried to call the hotline but were placed on long holds and, upon leaving a message, didnt hear back for days.

RELATED: The Texas rent relief program paid 250 people from a $1 billion fund. What went wrong?

House committee staff tried calling the rent relief hotline in February. Staff waited for at least 20 minutes and hung up without getting anyone on the line.

But at the state housing agencys March 11 board meeting, executive director Bobby Wilkinson said the call center was doing great.

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs eventually added more staffers to the phone lines. The agency now reports that the average time on hold is now less than 3 minutes.

The slow rollout of payments frustrated landlords and tenants alike.

We are going to start making payments this week, Wilkinson said during March 3 testimony cited by the House report.

But on the next Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs board meeting on March 11, the report says, Wilkinson said no payments had yet gone out.

The agency twice updated its software to streamline the application and review process, but the backlog remains.

RELATED: The Texas Supreme Court let eviction protections expire. Here's what that means.

The software failures have created a backlog that has forced TDHCA to contract for 3 to 4 times the number of analysts initially hired, the report reads. Whether such actions will reduce the backlog quickly is yet to be determined.

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs said the program is now approving more than $1 million in assistance each day. Bexar County tenants make up about 10 percent of people whove applied and received assistance through the program.

San Antonio runs its own emergency housing assistance program funded by a mix of federal, city and charitable dollars that has so far helped more than 32,000 families  or about 86,000 individuals, according to city data. Since the pandemic began, the city has spent almost $85 million on the program, which helps people whove lost income pay rent, mortgages, utilities and internet.
Moscow wants no war with Ukraine but cares for Russian-speaking residents: Kremlin

Xinhua) 15:13, April 11, 2021

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky inspects the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the frontline of defense in Donbass, eastern Ukraine, April 8, 2021. (Ukrainian Presidential Office/Handout via Xinhua)

Political advisers of the Russian, German, French and Ukrainian leaders are working towards holding a summit on eastern Ukraine.

MOSCOW, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Russia does not seek a war with Ukraine but is concerned for the Russian-speaking population in the country's eastern Donbass region, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday.

"No one is going to move towards a war, and no one at all accepts any possibility of such a war," Peskov told a Russian TV program.

"Russia has never been a party to this conflict (between Kiev and insurgents in Donbass). But Russia has always said that it will not remain indifferent to the fate of Russian speakers who live in the southeast of Ukraine," he added.

According to the spokesman, Kiev refuses to fulfill its responsibilities under the Minsk agreements on a Donbass settlement, with government forces intensifying "provocative actions" in the region.

Russia, Germany and France are "bewildered" by Kiev's recent claims that the Minsk agreements are useless, Peskov said, adding that there are no alternatives to the pacts for a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

Political advisers of the Russian, German, French and Ukrainian leaders are working towards holding a summit on eastern Ukraine, he said.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Hongyu)
Se-ah-dom Edmo and Eddy Morales

Edmo is a descendant of the Shoshone-Bannock, Nez Perce, and Yakama Tribes and is co-chair of Oregon Recovers. Morales is a Gresham city councilor. Both have family members struggling with alcohol addiction.

Its been said that a budget is a moral document. How  and from whom  we choose to generate revenue, and how  and for whom  we choose to spend it are moral decisions. These decisions can either entrench or erode systemic racism.

Oregons alcohol tax policy, which favors the profits of an overwhelmingly white-owned industry over the painful consequences borne disproportionately by communities of color, sustains and promotes systemic racism and must be changed.

Our sky-high untreated alcohol addiction rates  5th in the nation and near last-in-the-country access to treatment services  contribute to an overrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, tribal and other people of color in our prisons, foster homes and homeless encampments.

Oregon has the lowest beer tax and the second lowest wine tax in the country, when taking into account Oregons lack of a sales tax. Beer excise taxes are less than a penny per bottle and havent been raised since 1977. Wine taxes are 13 cents a bottle, which hasnt gone up since 1982.

Just like with tobacco, alcohol price increases are a proven public health tool to reduce harmful consumption. In Maryland, a three percentage point increase in the sales tax led to a 26% decline in underage drinking and 17% decline in binge drinking, according to a study by a Maryland-based foundation  leading predictors of lifetime addictive substance use.

Oregons leaders have a unique opportunity to both advance racial justice and address Oregons addiction crisis, simply by increasing the price of alcohol. This solution is popular with voters: a recent poll by DHM Research found that 52% of Oregonians surveyed approve of raising beer, wine, and cider taxes to pay for expanded mental health and substance use services.

Rep. Tawna Sanchez, D-Portland, who introduced a bill earlier this session to raise beer and wine taxes, has amended it to meet the alcohol industry halfway. She is proposing a task force to draft legislation for the 2022 session that does two things: raise alcohol prices as a public health strategy to drive down underage and binge drinking and utilize that revenue to fund the state Alcohol & Drug Policy Commission addiction recovery strategic plan  a comprehensive continuum of addiction services that finally match the scale and urgency of our addiction crisis.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission is moving forward with a proposal to require minimum pricing for hard liquor. While minimum pricing is important, absent a price increase applied to all alcohol sold, it will be marginally impactful in reducing costly excessive alcohol consumption.

Coming out of the pandemic is precisely the right time to discourage harmful drinking and fund services. The COVID crisis poured gasoline on the fire of our existing addiction epidemic: poor mental health, substance use, overdose deaths, and demand for treatment soared during the pandemic, disproportionately impacting communities of color.

There are almost 400,000 people struggling with addiction across Oregon, primarily alcohol addiction. Balancing concerns for these Oregonians health and lives with 1200 alcohol companies is a false equivalency that perpetuates systemic racism.

So, to all the legislators who put out equity statements and put up Black Lives Matter signs last summer: Were asking you to put those values into action. We cant afford to wait.

Sign up for our free weekly Oregon Opinion newsletter. Email:


Ministers believe Boris Johnson could have no choice but to grant permission for a second Scottish independence vote if Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond win two thirds of seats at the Holyrood election next month.

Mr Johnson has repeatedly said he will not give the green light to a re-run of the 2014 referendum, insisting that vote was a once in a generation event.

But some senior figures in Westminster believe the PM will have to change tack if the SNP and Alba Party win enough seats for a pro-independence supermajority of MSPs.

There is also a belief held by some in Whitehall that it would be better to hold a second vote sooner rather than later so that the benefits of the Union to the recovery from the Covid crisis can be stressed.

Boris Johnson has repeatedly said he will not give the green light to a re-run of the 2014 referendum, insisting that vote was a once in a generation event

But some senior figures in Westminster believe the PM will have to change tack if the SNP and Alba Party win enough seats for a pro-independence supermajority of MSPs

Sources told The Sunday Times that Mr Johnson is publicly and privately '100 per cent against' a referendum.

But some ministers believe Mr Johnson could be forced to grant permission for a second vote, depending on the outcome of the Holyrood election.

One senior minister told the newspaper: 'I don't see how we keep saying 'no' forever.

'The time to do it would be in the middle of economic chaos, not when it's all looking rosy.'

A senior Tory said: 'Boris said a lot about honouring democratic votes after the EU referendum. If Scots vote for a referendum, ultimately they'll have to have one.'

It came as a new survey conducted by Panelbase revealed that 46 per cent of voters believe there should be a referendum if pro-independence parties secure a supermajority while 38 per cent disagreed.

Some 36 per cent of respondents said they would back a unilateral declaration of independence in those circumstances.

A Savanta ComRes poll published last week suggested that the Alba Party could actually ruin Ms Sturgeon's hopes of winning an outright SNP majority.

It predicted the SNP could return 64 MSPs, one short of the 65 needed for a majority.

The poll suggested the Alba Party could return none - meaning no Holyrood return for Mr Salmond himself - but it is forecast to take three per cent of the list vote, which would be enough to derail Ms Sturgeon's hopes of governing alone.
Today is the 56th anniversary of the deadliest outbreak of tornadoes in Indiana history.

Known as the Palm Sunday Tornadoes, 10 tornadoes hit Indiana on Palm Sunday, 1965.

137 people were killed and more than 1,700 were injured as the storms ripped through northern and central Indiana.

Personally, I remember the day well, being a native of that region.

The one thing that stands out for me is that it was a warm, breezy day and the clouds were moving in different directions overhead.

These are signs of severe weather and they certainly were a sign of deadly weather 56 years ago today.
A young lady in her mid-twenties has been found dead in a Guest House in Somanya.



According to the Police on April 6, at about 1340 hours, David Teye Annor, 63, a pensioner came to the Somanya District Police Headquarters and reported that, he is the Director of a guest house located at Low Cost, a suburb of Somanya.



The Director said on Monday, April 5, at about 1500 hours, a man who gave his name to them as Charles Tetteh together with a lady came to lodge at the place.



He said on April 6, which was on Tuesday, at about 1200 hours, when it was time for them to check out, he, the director visited the room only to see the lady in a pool of blood.



Police Sergeant Francis Gomado, Public Relations Officer for Eastern Regional Police Command told the Ghana News Agency that, the police together with the complainant visited the scene of the said guest house.



He said the complainant led the Police to room one and saw the lady in a lateral recumbent position on the bed, in a pool of blood with the said Charles Tetteh nowhere to be found.



He said the handbag of the deceased was found on a chair and when it was searched an Identity card bearing the name, Believe Sakitey, 25.



Sgt. Gomado said there was a phone number at the back of a yellow fever vaccination card which was also found inside the deceased's handbag.



He said the Police called the number and one Bright Kekeli answered the call and told them the deceased was his younger sister.



He said he was invited to come to Somanya District Headquarters to assist in investigations.



He said, a team from the Koforidua Regional Crime Scene office of the Police, later went to the scene, where the body was removed and sent to Atua Government Hospital.



The Police Public Relations said the victim was pronounced dead on arrival after Dr. Richard Derry had examined the body.



The body has since been deposited at the Atua Government Hospital mortuary for preservation and autopsy.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The number of Coronavirus (CV) cases in the U.S. has decreased significantly, but instead the focus has been on the number of masks to wear and that were in the middle of a dark winter.

The current seven-day average of cases is down by 75% from the high, and is now at the same level as in mid-October:

Source: Authors graph of CDC data

We might wonder why cases are down, and whether this will continue: Cases fell last summer, yet the fall brought an increase that rightly concerned everyone.

But what if cases continue to drop, which is what Johns Hopkins medical professor Dr. Marty Makary suggested in the Wall Street Journal: Well Have Herd Immunity by April? He wrote, COVID will be mostly gone by April, allowing Americans to resume normal life. He also speculated that many Americans have natural immunity to the virus.

The thinking is that herd immunity may be achieved because many people have already battled the virus and more people are being vaccinated every day.

Also, this graph is the first to show cases and deaths on the same scale -- a CV diagnosis is not the death sentence it once was. Deaths have been relatively flat during the same time that cases escalated. Deaths increased slightly in the fall, but nowhere near the increase in number of cases.

Of course, there is a multiweek lag in the progression from case to hospitalization to death. But this graph puts to bed any concern about the uptick in CV cases leading to significantly more deaths. Clearly, more recent cases are less severe and reflect more testing as well as more communication of the virus, but not more severe results.

If this is the first time youve seen the data in this fashion, your reaction might be one of surprise. That would be appropriate, since the data needs appropriate context, not scare-analysis that shocks. One should conclude that deaths have increased, but that getting CV leads to death a much smaller fraction of the time than at the beginning of the pandemic.

Here is another way to put the results in context:

Source: Authors calculations based on CDC data

This table shows that dying with CV is over 50 times less likely than contracting CV.

However, alarm has been prevalent: Joe Biden said in January, Theres nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months. He said were at war with the coronavirus. In February, he pessimistically stated we should be back to normal a year from now. What?

Dr. Anthony Fauci claimed that double masking just makes common sense. And he claimed that people who get the vaccine should still wear a mask. Then why get the vaccine? He claims we need to get to less than 10,000 cases per day to get back to normal. That moves the goal posts! And variants of the virus are more communicable.

Instead of beating a dead horse that the virus is highly communicable and can lead to death, we should analyze why fewer people are dying relative to the number of cases. An obvious reason is that new cases are less severe than previous ones (the virus is spreading amongst younger people, there are more positive tests of less-serious cases, healthcare interventions seem to be working, etc.), and the specific reasons should be quantified. Better analysis can lead to smarter decisions as to prevention and cure.

So, at a time when it appears the peak in cases occurred in December, politicians continue to claim, the sky is falling. These politicians have lost credibility because of alarmist predictions that did not come true, such as early projections of millions dying. Despite that history, they expect the public to listen again. And then they chastise people for not listening, as if its the publics fault. Perhaps they need to look in the mirror.

Rich Yurkowitz is a healthcare actuary and author of the upcoming book, Medicare For All, Really?!

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 09:56:03|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

How did China achieve a complete eradication of extreme poverty? A Ugandan party official explains, saying CPC is the core asset to eliminating poverty in China. #CPC100Years #GLOBALink

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
Local

Pandemic parenting: families navigate raising children during COVID-19

Adam Robison | BUY AT PHOTOS.DJOURNAL.COM Jessi and Carlton Wall with son Jack.

TUPELO  Eight-month-old Pete Ekiss doesnt know a world without masks.

When he was born in July, only his parents, Sara and Chris Ekiss, were in the room. Their families first met him through the windows of the hospital. Instead of showing off their new son, the new parents settled for masked visits with his grandparents or meetings at the door.

It was very different than what you imagine your first childbirth to be, Sara Ekiss said.

Whether new to child-rearing or long-timers, parents throughout Northeast Mississippi faced drastic change during the pandemic. From juggling childcare to adjusting to fewer hours at work and lower income, four families recently shared with the Daily Journal how COVID-19 affected them and the choices they made.

Adam Robison | BUY AT PHOTOS.DJOURNAL.COM Chris and Sara Ekiss with son Pete.

First-time parent experiences

Sara and Chris Ekiss were five months into expecting their first child when the pandemic began. As full-time working parents  Sara Ekiss is the director of the Rental Assistance for Mississippians Program (RAMP) for United to End Homelessness (MUTEH), while Chris Ekiss is the Director of Worship Leader Development for the Orchard Church  both were sent to work from home.

Ekiss has history helping, housing the homeless TUPELO  As a youth, Sara Ekiss began helping the homeless through her parents Corinth-based nonprofit, Crosswind.

It meant they were both home when they felt the baby kick for the first time. Once Pete was born, they appreciated the extra time they could spend bonding with their son. However, it was kind of a win-win, lose-lose kind of situation, Chris Ekiss said.

We didnt get to share him with anybody, Chris Ekiss said.

Carlton and Jessica Wall, whose son, Jack, turns 1 on April 13, felt similarly. They said their sons first year will be marked by the world COVID-19 created.

We have a whole year in pictures of us wearing masks, Carlton Wall said. Therell be no confusing what year he was born, even 30 years from now and even if we have other kids.

The pandemic robbed the family of at least one moment: Jessica Wall isnt in the photos taken before Jacks christening at six months. A coworker exposed her to the virus days before, so she didnt know her status by the time they took photos. While Jack has seen his grandparents, he hasnt been able to see cousins or many other people.

Its been kind of a lost year, Jessica Wall said.

Adam Robison | BUY AT PHOTOS.DJOURNAL.COM Karsyn Cook, 14, and mother Kimberly Cook

Navigating anxieties

In the early days of the pandemic, the lack of information about COVID-19 made it easy to be fearful.

Kimberly Cook, a licensed professional counselor, was working two jobs: one for a mental health agency that counseled children inside the school, and then part time at a hospital inpatient program. She gave both up at the end of July to be at home with her eighth-grade son, Karsyn, and help him through distance learning. She began doing telehealth part time with a private practice, but the change in jobs also meant a change in income and health benefits.

Quote We have a whole year in pictures of us wearing masks. Therell be no confusing what year he was born, even 30 years from now and even if we have other kids. Carlton Wall Tupelo father

As a single mom, it was a tough decision, one that required some adjustment. The family had already experienced sickness, including a severe case of pneumonia that made Cook hesitant to risk her son becoming sick again.

Anxiety probably played a little part in why I did decide to keep him at home, Cook said. Not a lot of information was out about how COVID affects children, and how easy it is to catch it if youre in a school setting. And the schools didnt have enough time to say, well this is how were going to set up and structure the classroom in order for your children to not get sick or spread the germs.

Concerns about the virus also plagued Marisole Aguilar. Her husband, Saul Escobedo, works in construction, so COVID-19 affected his work.

Her babysitting job helped because it has allowed her routine during the pandemic to revolve around her family. Every day, she wakes her daughters, fourth-grader Stephanie Escobedo and second-grader Kimberly Escobedo, to get ready for school. Her youngest, 3-year-old son Saul Jr. Escobedo, goes to work with her, but is too young to understand what COVID-19 is. She prays for her daughters daily when sending them to school, but believes its important they go.

Sometimes Im scared because I think about the COVID and I see in the school its a lot of kids, but they need to go to school because its better than (being) in the home, Aguilar said.

Still, every day she sends her children to school fills her with concern. Shes scared of the virus, and knows sending her kids into public every day is a calculated risk.

I think if I get the COVID, maybe I die, because some people die so Im scared, Aguilar said.

While her family had avoided COVID-19, her family in Guatemala has been affected. Last year, her father had COVID-19, and she worried because she didnt know what she needed to do. She felt similarly helpless with how to help her mother, who Aguilar sends money to every month to support her but worries because there is no one to support her.

Adam Robison | BUY AT PHOTOS.DJOURNAL.COM Stephanie Escobedo, 9, mother Marisole Aguilar, Saul Jr. Escobedo, 3, Kimberly Escobedo, 7, and father Saul Escobedo.

Facing challenges

While not the most ideal situation, becoming parents during the pandemic has taught Sara and Chris Ekiss some important lessons.

The parenting aspect of it has taught us a lot about each other and learning how to be gracious and to take each others needs and schedule into consideration, Sara Ekiss said. Its not a traditional life by any means, especially if a daycare gets shut down or someone gets exposed at work, but you pick up where the other one (left off).

Expecting families navigate new concerns amid coronavirus TUPELO  With their first child, a boy, due April 17, Carlton Wall and Jessi Wall were already preparing for the final stretch of appointments and celebrations when COVID-19 started putting many of those plans into question.The Walls noticed the coronavirus impact on their upcoming delivery in the past three weeks. Jessi Wall uses the North Mississippi Medical Center Womens Hospital. Signs on the door emphasize patients only and require visitors to meet guidelines of having no symptoms of a respiratory infection or travel outside of Mississippi, Alabama or Tennessee in the last 14 days.

The pandemic intensified all the traditional stresses of having a newborn, Carlton Wall said. Since they had been in a hospital setting, physicians advised the Walls to isolate two weeks after Jacks birth.

It was extremely lonely those two weeks. It was hard, and I felt bad, like I was keeping him from his grandparents, Jessica Wall said.

Adding to that stress, Jessica All developed mastitis, a breast tissue infection that can occur the first few months of breastfeeding. It caused pain, and at one point spiked her body temperature to a feverish 104. Though a nurse tried to help talk them through it, they found the greatest help when they turned to Toni Hill, a breastfeeding specialist and La Leche League leader. She visited them regularly, checking in on how Jack was latching, showing Jessica Wall how to hold her son and walking them through what to do.

We were extremely grateful to have her, Wall said.

It was their own personal low point, and Carlton Wall often thinks it would have been easier to deal with without COVID-19.

During the beginning of the pandemic, Cook lived with her parents, who still worked outside the home. Staying in a home with several generations provoked a lot of anxiety, as they shared common areas and bathrooms. Exposure remained a worry even once she moved into her own home, since her fiance travels from state to state for his job.

You just have to trust other people that theyre doing what they can to stay safe and not bring the virus home to you, Cook said.

Adam Robison | BUY AT PHOTOS.DJOURNAL.COM Jessi and Carlton Wall with son Jack.

Almost normal

After a year, families have adjusted to the changes brought on by the pandemic. Sara Ekiss jokes about Pete being the COVID baby because he hasnt been around many people. It wasnt until a few weeks ago, after both parents got their first vaccinations, that they finally went to Buffalo Park.

I couldnt tell if he was more interested in all the people that were at the Buffalo Park or if he was more interested in the animals, Sara Ekiss said.

Jessica and Carlton Wall had a similar experience taking Jack to the Link Centre Holiday Market in December. After mostly doctor or family visits, it was the most people hes seen at one time. What really made an impression was Jack seeing another child.

He saw a two-year-old girl at the Christmas market who was walking, of course, and he was still crawling, Carlton Wall said. The next 48 hours, you could tell he was working on standing like with a dry focus he had not had before he saw that girl.

It causes them to wonder if he should be around more kids his age, or if he would be further along. Theyve taken baby steps, such as planning a first birthday party and taking Jack to his first church service on Easter.

While her son continued to perform well with distance learning, Cook noticed around December to January that he was struggling socially.

Most of the time, its just him and I, and so throughout this entire pandemic, hes just seeing his moms face the entire time, Cook said. He needed to be back with his peers and back with his friends in a classroom setting.

After speaking with his principal, Cook sent her son back to school in February. Hes back playing saxophone in the band. Outside of school, hes taking part in Tupelo Chess Club.

Despite her initial concerns in the fall, Cook feels the district has done a good job overall of being open about case numbers and being serious about mask protocols and is doing what she can to get back to the way life was, she said.

Aguilar already received her first dose of the vaccine and will get her second on April 18. When she looks at when COVID-19 first started to now, the difference is a lot of change, but now its like a normal, Aguilar said.

Not really, really like a normal normal, but almost normal, she said. I feel almost normal.
JAMES ISLAND  The regular crowd began to shuffle into the Veterans of Foreign Wars post off of Camp Road, and it was clear that there was some catching up to do.

The canteen band, "Suga' T and the O.T.s," was playing John Prine and Joan Baez songs. Jim Barger, the commander of the VFW post, was escorting members to the bar. Rich Slonim, the manager, was running takeout boxes of wings and fries to the nearly 30 elderly patrons inside.

It's a carefree environment. Some wear masks, others don't. But, for the past year, VFW and American Legion posts across the nation  and in the Lowcountry  have been severely hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic. And on April 7, at the post's weekly "Wing Wednesday" dinner and bar hour, a lively and mostly vaccinated crew was eager to catch back up.

Many VFW and American Legion posts  local organizations where veterans gather for beers, service projects and even rent their halls out for weddings  have already faced dwindling numbers for several years. And when the coronavirus began to spread, some members stopped swinging by.

"A lot of our folks weren't coming in," Slonim said. "And it's not ever going to fully go back to normal. When you live in fear for a year, and when you live through all that, it's hard for some to come back to the world."

Additionally, state orders to limit capacities in bars and restaurants also applied to veteran service organizations, which dipped into the revenue stream for VFW and American Legion organizations.

But, with vaccines starting to be distributed and restrictions easing up, some retired service members and their spouses feel better about returning to their watering holes.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has given out more than 2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

"We managed and we're surviving," said Gerry Miles, a 26-year veteran with the Army, Navy and Marines. "Now, they're starting to come back. Everyone's getting their vaccinations and trickling back in."

The coronavirus pandemic hit the veteran community hard. As of last month, the VA estimated the COVID-19 death toll in its facilities nationwide was approaching 11,000.

Even the VFW on James Island experienced a minor outbreak of COVID-19. No members died from it, Barger said, but they did need to close down entirely for nearly two weeks.

In a typical year, Barger said, the VFW Post on James Island's canteen will bring in about $200,000. Due to the pandemic, he lost about 70 percent of that revenue. Thankfully, the nonprofit organization was able to secure a Paycheck Protection Program loan to pay employees.

But Barger said the loss in revenue means there is less they can do to give back to veterans and charitable organizations.

"This canteen allows us to help our members in the community," Barger said. "There is this misconception that all we do is smoke and drink out here. And that's not the case."

Sign up for our SC Military Digest newsletter Get exclusive military reporting, updates from Palmetto State bases, headlines from around the globe and more delivered to your inbox each Tuesday. Email

Sign up!

At the nearby American Legion Post on Folly Road, commander Steve Driscoll said their hall was closed for about five months during the beginning of the pandemic.

Driscoll estimates the organization lost about $17,000 as a result of the closures. Sadly, he found out last week that the post didn't qualify for a PPP loan.

But during the summer, Driscoll slowly opened the hall back up. Guidelines for masks, handwashing and social distancing are suggested. The same goes for the VFW on James Island, although some patrons choose not to wear masks when they sit next to each other at the bar.

"I also think people have some cabin fever," Driscoll said. "I hate to say it like that, but there's a comfort level here."

Many VFW and American Legion posts throughout South Carolina have been still trying to support the community even when they've been facing economic trouble.

During the summer, VFW Post 10804 in North Myrtle Beach made sure veterans had enough food during the COVID-19 crisis.

Their grocery drives brought in a total of more than 1,200 pounds  over $1,100 worth  of nonperishable food and household goods that fed 36 military families.

The national VFW and American Legion organizations say the number of posts that dissolved completely last year was at or lower than prior years, The Associated Press reported. But the organizations say they do not track bars and halls because they are locally controlled.

Many posts don't run halls or bars. Still, both organizations launched emergency grant programs last fall, doling out thousands of dollars to hundreds of posts to help cover facility costs and other expenses.

The American Legion, as of last month, had awarded more than $366,000 in grants to help out their area posts.

But there is a larger issue many of these VFW and American Legion posts face outside of the pandemic. Many older veterans are passing away.

There are only an estimated 250,000 remaining World War II veterans still alive as of 2021, according to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. Similarly, the number of Korean War veterans is also dwindling with less than 2.5 million remaining across the country.

Barger and Driscoll said there will be some members who don't return, but he hopes younger veterans from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars may want to join after the pandemic and keep the fellowship alive.

"Most of us are Vietnam vets," Driscoll said. "That's the bulk of the members. We're just trying to get new blood into organizations like ours and it's important that we stress the fact that it's about service. You can't just come here and expect only to socialize. It's about giving back."
How often in life do you have to lose something to realise just how important it was to you?

For much of his adult life, Prince Charles has been convinced his father didnt understand him.

Worse, he was certain Prince Philip viewed him as a disappointment who needed toughening up for kingship  and might never be tough enough.

This week, as Charles formally assumes new family responsibilities, he will be reflecting on his past bitterness, and wondering, perhaps, if he was wrong, and that Philip was right.

The fact is, the private Charles has a short fuse, and a temper, not dissimilar to his fathers. What has been particularly noticeable, is that as his parents aged and Charless responsibilities within the family have grown, so he has increasingly understood how right his father was

For although the Prince of Wales may not yet be king, no one can be under any illusions that, as the Queen heads towards her 95th birthday this month, a strong hand and a firm conviction are crucial for the long-term welfare of the monarchy.

That role falls to Charles. And with the pain and sadness over Prince Harry and Meghans exit from the Royal Family still raw  as well as the ongoing scandal of Prince Andrews extra-curricular activities that continue to reverberate around the world  it is he who has had to take charge.

Once this would have been Prince Philips dominion, and his children never underestimated his old Naval-style discipline.

So could the Prince of Wales, with his aesthetic tastes and his outwardly gentle nature, be capable of imposing a similar code of royal control?

The fact is, the private Charles has a short fuse, and a temper, not dissimilar to his fathers.

What has been particularly noticeable, is that as his parents aged and Charless responsibilities within the family have grown, so he has increasingly understood how right his father was.

There was, according to insiders, one other topic between father and son: Philips instruction that with his life drawing to an end, it was Charles who must now serve the Queen as he had done instinctively for 73 years

All those discomforts suffered at Gordonstoun, the tough Scottish public school, and dressings down in front of his siblings have, in fact, prepared him rather well for the difficult years ahead  just as his father hoped.

Nothing illustrates better how the relationship between father and son evolved over the years than the urgency with which Charles hurried to see his ailing father when the Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to hospital in London in February.

This was the moment that confirmed the baton of head of the family had formally changed hands.

No other family member was permitted to see the Duke during his lengthy stay at the King Edward VII hospital where he was being treated for an infection.

But Philip wanted his eldest son at his bedside. For Charles who has not been bubbled with either of his parents at Windsor, it meant ignoring the strict social-distancing rules imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. And when he emerged after spending 30 minutes with his father, he looked grim-faced.

No Palace bulletin was issued on what father and son discussed but with the crisis over Harry dominating the headlines, it seems inconceivable that the two figures  who had found themselves on opposite sides in so many domestic disputes  did not devote some of their time to it.

Once Charles would have been asking Philip what he should do about Harry. Now, it was Philip who was asking his eldest son what he was going to do about him.

There was, according to insiders, one other topic between father and son: Philips instruction that with his life drawing to an end, it was Charles who must now serve the Queen as he had done instinctively for 73 years.

What this means is protecting her from family and other distractions so her sole focus can be the wellbeing of the crown. After years as shadow monarch, Charles gets that.

How the father-son relationship had changed. For decades the two had largely communicated by nothing more personal than hand-written letters and inter-office memos.

They rarely met beyond the constraints of the traditional gatherings at Balmoral, Sandringham and Windsor, where neither ever seemed to find the time or inclination to share intimacies.

Whenever they did meet, tension and the threat of paternal rebuke always hovered between them.

At times, Prince Philip complained of Charless separateness from the rest of the family, not realising, perhaps, that he himself was probably the cause.

Things reached rock bottom in 2001 with publication of a biography to mark the Duke of Edinburghs 80th birthday.

In it, an unflattering picture of Charles emerged, one in which his father viewed him as precious, extravagant and lacking in the dedication . . . to make a good king.

Although the damning remarks did not come directly from Philip, he had permitted members of his circle to speak to the author.

The Duke later wrote his son a letter of apology insisting they were not his views, and that if they were said they were uttered without his authorisation.

All the same, it did little to improve an atmosphere that had been soured ever since Charless collaboration with broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby seven years earlier.

Philip privately described Dimblebys biography as turgid, a mild description considering it portrayed him as a bully who had pressured Charles into marrying Lady Diana Spencer.

Friends of Charles likened the relationship with his father to that which existed between Queen Victorias husband, Prince Albert, and his eldest son, the then Prince of Wales, Bertie, later King Edward VII.

Like Philip, Albert was ambitious for all his children and would never let Bertie be treated in a way that was superior to his siblings.

Alberts doctrine was the monarchy above all without regard to public or political opinion, recalls a royal household figure. Bertie, like the current Prince of Wales, recognised that the monarchy had to earn the publics respect.

As with Prince Albert and Bertie, Prince Philip found the young Charless frequently withdrawn behaviour irritating. He often rebuked him for what family friends would call inconsequen- tial errors.

Such treatment exacerbated Charless tendency to retreat even further into his boyhood shell. Compared with his outgoing sister Princess Anne, the Prince was timid and passive. When his father upbraided him for some inadequacy, he easily drew tears to his sons eyes.

As a close royal family friend noted: Philip was trying to bring up a son who could take over as king in a tough world. Charles wasnt a cry-baby, but he was terribly sensitive. Philip didnt realise.

So the bonds of love were strained by impatience on one side and trepidation on the other.

But who would say now that Philips toughening up policy  especially sending the young prince to Gordonstoun, whose rough regime (Colditz in kilts, Charles called it)  hasnt worked?

It made Charles resolute enough to stand up to both his parents over Mrs Parker Bowles  not negotiable was his mantra.

Even his father, who deplored the idea that his son was bedding the wife of a brother officer in the Brigade of Guards, came round to accepting her as his wife.

The reason? Prince Philip firmly believed that whoever sat on the throne did so with much more assurance with a spouse by their side, just as he had been to the Queen.

Whatever else she had been, he reasoned, Camilla would be an excellent sounding board.

Now, there are certainly tough years ahead  too tough, it must be said, for the Queen to handle alone at her age.

She will lean now more than ever on her son and heir. For his part, the Prince of Wales, with Camilla at his side performing a mature role of sympathetic ear, will undoubtedly be crucial to his success.

In recent times, Charles has already begun  as de facto chief executive of The Firm  to change things, slimming down the monarchy as he so presciently felt it needed to be years ago, ensuring that peripheral royals performed peripheral roles, roles that were just enough to keep them involved, small enough for them to have minor impact.

A major part of that slimming down has  perhaps fortuitously, as Charles might see it  already taken care of itself with the shocking controversies swirling around the Duke of York removing him from royal duties for the foreseeable future, perhaps for ever.

One has to wonder just what influence he can now bring to bear on William and, especially, Harry, whose activities have a significant effect on his own eventual smooth accession to the throne.

Indeed, one part of the slimming-down process he never bargained for was the impulsive departure of Harry from royal service, and he is understandably concerned at the effect this will have on William.

Growing up in a single-parent household, the two princes never took too much notice of him. And for his part, he was so absorbed in Camilla, making sure that the public would accept her, that he rather took his eye off the ball, leaving the two boys very much to their own devices.

As adults they continued to develop their own highly independent styles, so independent that in going their own ways as married men and royal ambassadors, that wonderful brotherly togetherness the world saw as they grew up without a mother melted away.

The rift between William and Harry has troubled Charles enormously. Privately, friends had always hoped that the death of their grandfather would bring the two princes to their senses and make them recognise what their father had always taken for granted  that they are a stronger unit when they are together.

Charles hates familial conflict largely because of his own run-ins with Prince Philip.

But he will have to risk confrontation now with the boys, says a family friend, not especially with William and Catherine, but with Harry and Meghan who have been far, far too public about their problems.

No matter what, Charles is desperate to avoid the debilitating family tensions that he experienced with his own father.

Undoubtedly he will fight to keep the family together. This will not be easy. William has matured into a man of independence with a clear understanding of where he is going, as much influenced by the grounded philosophy of his in-laws the Middletons as by his royal heritage.

Even so, how to maintain a relationship with the absent Harry, Meghan, grandson Archie  and a still-to-be born fifth grandchild will be a far tougher test.

It is not just the physical gulf between the prince and his Los Angeles-based son, but the very different views Harry and his wife hold on the meaning of public service.

These, then, are the challenges that lie ahead for Charles  and he must now tackle them without the guidance of his father who, despite the flaws some saw in his character, was always a source of plain good sense.

As Prince Philip once opined rather sarcastically about his son: Hes a romantic and Im a pragmatist. That means we do see things differently. And because I dont see things as a romantic would, Im unfeeling.

Prince Philip unfeeling? A man of such passion and intensity is, surely, hardly that. He never ascribed that adjective to Charles, but one can safely assume that it came from his eldest son during one of their heated exchanges.

No one, in any circumstances, is likely to call Charles unfeeling. But as he assumes the role of head of the family, he might see, at last, the value of being a pragmatist.
Burma Death Toll in Myanmar Regimes Latest Massacre Rises as Details Emerge

Amid the killing in the town, residents of Bago staged an anti-regime protest on Saturday.

More than 80 civilians, including students, were massacred by the Myanmar military regime in a single day in Bago Friday.

The initial death toll from the dawn attacks on anti-regime strongholds in Bago was about 60, but the number of those slain has continued to grow as more details emerge.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoner (AAPP), which has been documenting the lists of fatalities and detention since the Feb.1 coup, now says that about 82 people were killed by the regimes troops during the Bago raids.

About 4 a.m. Friday, more than 250 military regime forces launched attacks on four residential wardsShinsawpu, Hmawkan, Nantawyar and Ponnasuof Bago, which is located 98 kilometers from Yangon.

While trying to remove roadblocks erected with sandbags by the anti-regime protesters, troops opened fire with automatic weapons and heavy explosives. The explosives are believed to have been rifle grenades, which were fired at anti-regime defense team members and night watchmen guarding protest assembly areas in the wards.

Photos show a tail of a rifle grenade and some unexploded-rifle grenades found by the residents.

As a result of the raids, dozens are still missing. Several people were injured and arrested, according to local residents.

As of Sunday, troops are still deployed in the wards and continue to fire live ammunition. Many of streets in the areas are still deserted. No one dares to go into the conflict areas. Many residents have already fled.

Most of the bodies of those killed in the dawn attacks have not been returned to their families. Return of the bodies has been complicated by the fact that some residents have left their homes because they fear arrest, according to local sources.

During the attack aimed at removing the roadblocks in Ponnasu ward, a 46-year-old night watch-man, Ko Myo Min, was shot dead by troops while he was fleeing the gunfire.

He left three children and his wife. The family had to hold his funeral urgently because security forces were searching for his dead body.

Before his death, Ko Myo Min asked his wife, Ma Kay Khine, not to send his children to school if the country remains under the control of the military regime.

I feel deeply hurt. We all dont want to live under dictatorship. Please help us, Ma Kay Khine told The Irrawaddy on Sunday.

She also said that regime forces transferred the dead body of a man who was arrested on Friday to his family on Sunday, citing information from the mans niece.

The man is believed to have been stabbed to death, based upon wounds found in his abdomen, Ma Kay Khine said, quoting the mans niece.

On Friday, a social worker, Ko Thiha, was among the more than 80 who were shot or tortured to death by regime troops during the raids. Ko Thiha fled but was shot in the thigh while scaling a wall, according to a friend who was present.

The witness told The Irrawaddy that he saw soldiers beating Ko Thiha when he fell from the wall after being shot. The witness said his chest was bruised and there was a dent in his head.

The Bago University Student Union said that three university studentsKo Arkar Min Khant, a second-year zoology student, Ko Bo Bo Naing, a first-year zoology student, and Ko Kaung Kyaw Tun, 19, a first-year mathematics studentwere killed during the raids.

Two university studentsMa Shwe Yi Aung and Ko Aung Kyaw Khantare still missing, the student union said.

According to rescue organizations and U Ye Htut, who is one of the anti-regime strike leaders in the town, it was difficult to go into the raided areas to retrieve the bodies of the dead or to provide medical treatment for those wounded. Troops opened fire on everyone who appeared in the street or showed their faces at the windows of houses.

This is not the action of cracking down on protests. I feel they are committing genocide on us because they opened fire on everything they saw, said U Ye Htut. He faces an arrest warrant issued by the military regime.

Concerning the brutal raids in Bago, the United Nations in Myanmar on Saturday issued a statement calling for the immediate end of violence and demanding that security forces allow medical teams to treat the wounded.

On Sunday, some family members were reportedly asked for money by the authorities for retrieving the bodies of those killed in the Friday raids, according to residents.

However, The Irrawaddy was unable to confirm those reports independently.

As of Saturday, about 700 civilians have been killed by the military regimes during their raids, arrests and random gunfire. That total includes anti-regime protesters, bystanders, pedestrians and residents.

Despite the intensified violence on the part of the military regime, tens of thousands of people continue to take to the streets to show their defiance of military dictatorship.

You may also like these stories:

Three Karen Villagers Killed in Myanmar Military Airstrike

Wounded Mandalay Volunteer Burned Alive by Myanmar Regime

Myanmars Striking Civil Servants Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
Its become common practice among big-budget adaptations of pre-existing characters to honor the original actors with fleeting, unnecessary cameos. Wonder Woman 1984 featured TVs Diana Prince, Lynda Carter, Ant-Man included a bit with Garrett Morris, who played the character in an early Saturday Night Live sketch, and even the recent Ghostbusters reboot featured a scene in which Bill Murray shows up and is seemingly murdered by a demon.

But weirdly, although Hollywood has churned out roughly 500 Batman movies in the past 30 years, Adam West, the late star of the classic 1960s Batman series, never made a token appearance in any of them. Why is that?

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

In the case of the 1989 Tim Burton movie, clearly, the production wanted to distance Batman from his campy, shark-repelling past. But Burton himself certainly isnt opposed to honoring legacy actors with cameos -- his Planet of the Apes remake included a scene with Charlton Heston, either out of respect or just to rub in his face that the classic role he originated now belonged to the Funky Bunch guy.

But the real problem was that Adam West didnt want a cameo; he wanted to play Batman. Right up until the 89 Batman, West was still trying to pitch Bat-projects -- and they were batshit insane. One of them involved a retired Bruce Wayne moving to New Mexico and battling a supervillain who kidnaps college kids and sucks out their brains aboard a Zombie Satellite, which West compared to a Nazi concentration camp. Yeah 
Photo credit: Hulton Deutsch - Getty Images

From Town & Country

In 2018, The Neues Palaisthe last palace built by Frederick the Great in Potsdam, Germanyhosted a small exhibition called Kaiserdammerung (The Twilight of the Emperor), to mark the centenary of Kaiser Wilhelm IIs abdication as Emperor and King of Prussia. While preparing for the exhibition, curators made a startling discovery in the dressing room of Wilhelms wife, Empress Augusta Victoria (pictured above with her great aunt, Queen Victoria).

In the former boudoir of Augusta Victoria there is a steel safe built in the wall in a small cabinet, says Dr. Samuel Wittwer, director of the Prussian castles. There are no keys and no one from the former or present palace staff ever saw it open. As we were preparing for the exhibition on the end of the monarchy, we were curious to see if our experts could open it.

The curators tried but failed to get past the steel door. They happened to spot a second, much smaller door above the steel door which looked very much the same. It was unreachable without a ladder, which would have been difficult to use in such a tight space anyway, says Wittwer. Because the second door was only wood, the lock was much more simply made. Opening this lock was rather easy.

Photo credit: SPSG, Daniel Lindner

In the secret cabinet behind it, curators came upon two oak boxes, a leather case, and a folder of documents. Approximately 1,000 letters written to the Empress were found. One of the boxeslast locked in 1886was slightly broken, says Wittwer. Experts found letters dating from 1883 to 1886, including from Augusta Victorias predecessor, Kaiserin Augusta.

The second box, which has yet to be opened, bears a label describing the contents as letters about her sons. Also unopened is a sheaf of letters from Augusta Victorias great-aunt and godmother, Queen Victoria of England, found in the leather case. Queen Victoria is included, says Wittwer with an air of mystery. As far as we can see as of yet, the senders were mainly relatives and leading staff.

Story continues

Photo credit: Hulton Archive - Getty Images

According to the addresses on the boxes, Wittwer believes that the letters were transported from the Berlin Schloss to the Neues Palais when Wilhelm II and Augusta Victoria moved there. To be sure that no one would read these private letters, the letters were packed in envelopes according to the people who wrote them and then sealed, says Wittwer. Some of the envelopes show the name of the writer of the letters inside, but the envelopes are still sealed. The two wooden boxes were cordedand the strings sealed as wellbut one box had been opened once. In this box, Wittwer says that very few of the seals of the envelopes had been broken and opened, which indicated the amount of letters in total. We do not yet have information on what the letters are about. The letters are addressed to Augusta Victoria while she was still Crown Princess.

The Palaces plan was to publish the letters online on April 11, 2021, in time for the centenary of Augusta Victorias death, says Jorg Kirschstein, a curator of the 2018 exhibition as well as manager of Neues Palace. Unfortunately, there is a question of the ownership of the letters which has not yet been resolved.

There is still a discussion of rights between the family of Hohenzollernthe former royal German dynastyand the palace, adds Wittwer. According to the 1926 law, separating the property of the Hohenzollern family from the property of the state, one rule was, that all itemswith some small exceptionsin the private apartments of the former Emperor and his wife became their property. They had the chance to remove them and bring them into exile with them in the Netherlands. After this, what was left in the palace became public property.

When curators found the letters, the question came up whether they belong to the family or to the state. But because of the complicated history of the eastern part of Germany all these property-questions are not as easy as they look, says Wittwer.

Photo credit: UniversalImagesGroup - Getty Images

Kirschstein notes that for now, we will have to be patient. But the letters are to be published, he says.

Wittwer is looking forward to learning about Empress Augusta Victoria. Like many other female members of the Hohenzollern family, Auguste Victoria stood in her husband's shadow, he says. Few books and exhibitions tried to show her as a historic person in her own right. The historical portrayal of her from the 19th and early 20th centuries still dominate royal history. Wittwer says that in comparison to other Hohenzollern family members, very little is known about the Empress as a young woman. But we hope that 2021s public release of the letters will change that.

You Might Also Like
BRUSSELS, April 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A new survey conducted by Mars Petcare of 2,000 parents across the UK and US shows family pets help children better manage feelings of stress and loneliness, which have been greatly exacerbated by virtual schooling as a result of the pandemic[1].

Around the world, 332 million children have lived under stay-at-home policies for at least nine months[2] and nearly 1.6 billion learners have been affected by disruption of in-person schooling[3]. There are early indicators that the pandemic has had a negative impact on children's social skills, productivity and well-being. Save the Children report that more than half of children who were separated from friends during the pandemic reported feeling less happy and more worried[4] and this shift to virtual schooling means students may have more distractions and less oversight, which can reduce their motivation[5].

For many families navigating the stress and challenges of home-schooling, pets have offered children crucial support. More than eight in 10 (83%) parents found that their family pet helped their child feel less lonely during lockdown, with more than three-quarters feeling that day-to-day interactions with their cat or dog reduced their child's stress and anxiety. Parents agreed their pet supported their child during the unprecedented break from in-person schooling by improving their mood, providing companionship and giving much-needed emotional support.

Pets may make the best study buddy

The survey also found that pets positively impacted a child's experience of virtual learning and academic performance across all ages  with nine in 10 parents seeing improvements in their child's emotional, social and core skill development including having more energy and improved concentration, providing a fun topic of conversation to engage with their classmates and teacher, and giving them a much-needed break away from the screen. More than half (56%) report having a pet helped improve their child's academic performance and 72% say their child is more motivated with a pet around[1].

"There are proven benefits to having pets in the classroom when it comes to improving children's confidence, focus and reducing their stress, but this survey shows that pets also played an important part in helping children emotionally as they come to terms with this unprecedented time away from their peers," said Mary Margaret Callahan, Chief Mission Officer of the leading therapy animal organisation Pet Partners. "We've been absolutely overwhelmed with the response from teachers, parents and students to our teams' virtual therapy animal visits during the pandemic. There is now an important role for animals in helping children adjust as they return to school."

More time together benefits wellbeing of children and pets

Equally, the survey revealed this increased bond between children and their pets has many benefits for the pet too. The results found 40% of children spent more than two hours of time with their pet each day during the pandemic (compared to just 21% before the pandemic) and the majority of parents (77%) believe their pet is also calmer now that they spend more time with their child.

"Talking or reading to a pet has been shown to help children to build confidence and connect with both peers and teachers. Exploring the important role human-animal interaction can play in a range of settings  from the classroom and office to the hospital or simply at home  is something we, at Mars Petcare, have been committed to for many years," said Kay O'Donnell, Vice President, Waltham Petcare Science Institute, the fundamental science centre for Mars Petcare. "It is wonderful to see these survey results reinforce how pets may help address the growing burden of loneliness and social isolation, which we know can be as detrimental to health as obesity, as well as indications pets have benefited from this additional time together."

"The pandemic was an abrupt change for my students and for education in general, and all educators were challenged to find new and creative ways to engage our classes," said Chris Koenig, Health and Physical Education Teacher in Oregon's Gresham-Barlow School District. "Adding Bella to my lesson plans for Pet Fridays has gone a long way in giving my students  and our dog  something positive to look forward to."

Majority of parents want pet interaction in traditional classrooms as a result

The survey also revealed that the majority (80%) of parents believe pet interaction should be used in schools as students begin to transition back to traditional classrooms and restrictions ease. Seventy-five percent of parents believed schools should invest more to bring controlled pet interaction into the traditional classroom setting.

Parents and teachers like Chris around the world have shared touching anecdotes relaying their personal experiences of having pets in the home classroom during the pandemic and how pets make it better.

You can follow the conversation about the research behind the many proven benefits of pets using #PetsMakeItBetter and by following Mars Petcare on social media.

Visit our website for expert advice about how to responsibly raise a happy and healthy cat or dog and how to help your pet through lockdown and beyond.

References

Market Research Survey  Impact of pets in the home classroom, n=2,000. Conducted by Edelman Data and Intelligence (DxI) February 2021 . https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/least-1-7-children-and-young-people-has-lived-under-stay-home-policies-most-last. Pokhrel S, Chhetri R. A Literature Review on Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Teaching and Learning. Higher Education for the Future. 2021;8(1):133-141. doi:10.1177/2347631120983481. https://www.savethechildren.net/blog/hidden-impacts-covid-19-children%E2%80%99s-mental-health#. https://www.edweek.org/technology/opinion-how-effective-is-online-learning-what-the-research-does-and-doesnt-tell-us/2020/03.

About the survey

This research was conducted by Edelman Data & Intelligence, a global, multidisciplinary research, analytics and data consultancy, between 19 February and 1 March 2021 with 2,000 respondents across the UK and USA. All respondents owned at least one cat or dog and had at least one child aged five to 17 years old in full time education and taking part in virtual schooling because of the pandemic.

About Mars Petcare

Part of Mars, Incorporated, a family-owned business with more than a century of history making diverse products and offering services for people and the pets people love, the 85,000 Associates in Mars Petcare are dedicated to one purpose: A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS. With 75 years of experience, our portfolio of almost 50 brands serves the health and nutrition needs of the world's pets  including brands PEDIGREE, WHISKAS, ROYAL CANIN, NUTRO, GREENIES, SHEBA, CESAR, IAMS and EUKANUBA as well as The WALTHAM Petcare Science Institute which has advanced research in the nutrition and health of pets for over 50 years. Mars Petcare is also a leading veterinary health provider through a network of over 2,000 pet hospitals including BANFIELD, BLUEPEARL, PET PARTNERS, VCA, Linnaeus and AniCura. We're also active in innovation and technology for pets, with WISDOM PANEL genetic health screening and DNA testing for dogs, the WHISTLE GPS dog tracker, and LEAP VENTURE STUDIO accelerator and COMPANION FUND programs that drive innovation and disruption in the pet care industry. As a family business and guided by our principles, we are privileged with the flexibility to fight for what we believe in  and we choose to fight for: A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1484960/Mars_Petcare_Logo.jpg

Media contact (U.S.):

Alyssa Paldo

[email protected]

+1 (312) 973-2892

Media contact (UK):

Will Jobes

[email protected]

+44 (0)7449 819797

SOURCE Mars Petcare

Related Links

https://www.mars.com


Georgia will return to Kyiv its Ambassador Teimuraz Sharashenidze, who was recalled in May 2020 due to the appointment of ex-President Mikhail Saakashvili as chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Reform Council, Georgian Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani said today in an interview with Rustavi 2 TV channel.

"Now there is no time and the situation is not the same. The situation in Ukraine is heating up. We cannot afford the absence of the ambassador. Therefore, in the near future, a decision will be made on his return. We will try to ensure that our relations develop dynamically," Zalkaliani said, TASS reports.
New Delhi: Amid an alarming rise in daily COVID-19 cases, India registered 1,52,879 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. The caseload in India climbed to 1,33,58,805, while the active cases breached the 11-lakh mark for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.

Due to grim circumstances and daily increasing COVID-19 cases, many states and UTs have imposed COVID-19 night curfew and strict restrictions in order to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Maharashtra

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray hinted at a complete lockdown in the state during an all-party meeting held on Saturday (April 10). The proposal for complete lockdown for 15 days was also floated. The CM is likely to take a final call on this after a scheduled meeting with COVID-19 task force on Sunday. Last week, the government had announced stricter restrictions and a complete weekend lockdown.

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradeshs Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Noida, Agra, Meerut and Ghaziabad have imposed night curfew in view of the rising COVID-19 cases. UP logged 12,787 new cases, pushing the state's infection tally to 6,76,739, as per data available on Saturday. On Saturday, the UP government announced restrictions on gatherings of five or more people in religious places ahead of Navratri and Ramzan.

Madhya Pradesh

The Madhya Pradesh government on Saturday (April 10) extended the lockdown across 11 districts comprising Indore city, Rau, Mhow, Shajapur city and some districts like Ujjain, Barwani, Rajgarh and Vidisha till 6am on April 19. Lockdown will be imposed from April 12 till the morning of April 22 in Balaghat, Narsinghpur and Seoni districts as well as Jabalpur city, PTI reported.

On April 7, the MP government had announced lockdown for eight-day in Chhindwara from April 8 to 16, in Betul Khargone, Ratlam and Katni from the night of April 9 until 6 am on April 17 and a three-day lockdown in Shajapur from April 7 to 10.

Live TV
KLAMATH COUNTY, Ore.  Starting April 19, people 16 and older will be eligible to get vaccinated in Oregon. In Klamath county, only the two-shot Pfizer vaccine will be used for 16 year old's, because the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine has not had testing to prove that the vaccine is safe for the younger population.

Klamath County Public Health officer Valeree Lane said that although some parent are skeptical about getting their children vaccinated, most parents in Klamath county are for vaccinating their kids. This is because most parents want to get back to normal as soon as possible with summer just around the corner.

But if you do have more questions on the vaccine and how it can affect your body, click here.

With vaccine distribution across the state, people now have a choice between the two-shot vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) or the one shot vaccine (Johnson & Johnson). But most people are not sure how exactly the two shot vaccines work, why you need a second dose and why the vaccine is effective two weeks after the second shot.

Lane said that the first shot is like a primer for your immune system. This allows the body to be aware of what it is going to fight off, which is the Covid-19 virus. Them, within 28 days, your body will have a better grasp and understanding on Covid-19. This means that the second dose is ensuring that the body can fight off the virus.

"It's kind of mind blowing how very sensitive our systems are, but things don't happen overnight. So giving it that period of time of two weeks to be fully resident in your system for your immune system to know, okay. here's the war plan," said Lane.

For more information on how each vaccine works and what components are in them, click here.

To make an appointment to get vaccinated, or to see if you are eligible in Klamath county, click here.
The move to ban some domestic flights in France comes following a state-backed bailout of its flag carrier. Photo: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

French officials moved late on Saturday to ban domestic flights on routes that are connected by train and can be travelled in less than two-and-a-half hours.

The vote comes as governments around the world look at ways to lower carbon emissions and achieve net-zero targets.

It forms part of a broader climate bill from France which looks to cut carbon emissions from 1990's levels by 40% by 2030.

The policy attracted criticism from the hard-hit aviation industry, which has said now is not the time to ban a portion of its business. These claims were dismissed by industry minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher.

The move comes in parallel to proposals made by the UK government in March which instead look to tax long-haul flights taken from the UK in a push to rebalance carbon emissions.

A consultation is being launched, among other changes, on a potential shake up of air passenger duty (APD).

In contrast to France, at the time the Treasury has said it could improve connections across the union and regions by cutting the tax on domestic flights.

READ MORE: UK government to dilute rules on overseas takeovers

This, the government said, would reinforce the polluter pays principle, by ensuring that those who travel furthest internationally, and consequently have the greatest impact on the environment, incur the most duty.

The Treasury also effectively ruled out a frequent flier levy, a measure which some had called for to reduce carbon emissions.

The vote on France's short-haul ban came following a 4bn ($4.8bn, 3.5bn) state-backed recapitalisation of Air France (AIRF.VI). This more than doubled its stake in the airline and acted to re-ground finances after a challenging year.

Watch: Should I book a holiday in 2021?
She grew up on the Upper West Side and graduated from City-as-School, an alternative public high school at which students design their own curriculums based on experiential learning, mostly through internships. (Jean-Michel Basquiat was an alumnus, as is Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys.) Ms. Raphan interned with Albert Watson, the fashion photographer.

Her mother described Ms. Raphan as an irregular verb.

She saw things through a different lens, she said. Benita could take something ordinary and find beauty in it. She was the real deal. No artifice about her. The heart was right out there.

Ms. Raphan earned an undergraduate degree in media arts from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan  where she also taught for the last 15 years  and an M.F.A. from the Royal College of Art in London. She spent 10 years in Paris, working as a graphic designer for fashion companies like Marithe & Francois Girbaud, before returning to New York in the mid-1990s.

In addition to her mother, she is survived by her sister, Melissa Raphan.

While the rest of us were stealing from our instructors and other design luminaries, said Gail Anderson, a creative director and former classmate of Ms. Raphans, Benita was on her own journey, working with delicate typography and haunting images, creating collages and photo-illustrations that were uniquely Benita.

Ms. Raphan was, in her own estimation, more of a collage artist than a filmmaker. Her films are really collages of ideas, said Kane Platt, a film editor who worked on many of her projects. Working with her you had a lot of freedom, and if you had ideas that were weird and wacky, she was like, Go, go, go!
Connecticut, which has reached 8 million COVID-19 tests since the start of the pandemic, has spent more than $284 million in federal aid on testing and clinical monitoring of the virus, according to the latest report from the state Office of Policy and Management.

Gov. Ned Lamont continues to tout the states high rate of testing compared to other states, but the robust, large-scale testing system that exists now is costly to maintain over the long-term.

So, with more and more people get vaccinated and develop immunity to the virus, what is the future of testing in Connecticut?

For the foreseeable future were going to need quite a bit of testing, Josh Geballe, the states chief operating officer, said last week. We still have entire age groups that arent even eligible to be vaccinated yet.

At this point, officials arent sure how the states testing infrastructure will evolve in the coming weeks and months, Geballe said, but were going to err on the side of caution as we have done throughout the crisis.

Currently, about 250,000 tests are being administered on a weekly basis, according to state data.

Throughout the pandemic, testing has been crucial to keeping COVID-19 in check, and more recently to keep track of new, more contagious variants of the virus.

As Connecticut gets closer to herd immunity, when about 80% of its residents have either been vaccinated or exposed to COVID and have antibodies, the states testing strategy will likely change, said Dr. Charles Lee, Scientific director and professor at The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, which is responsible for about 22% to 23% of all the testing in the state.

Jackson Labs is one of the top recipients of the federal stimulus money the state has spent on testing, receiving at least $860,000, data from the comptrollers office shows. Though that estimate is conservative, and the number is likely much higher, as the comptrollers data does not include all the different types of federal aid the state has received.

The lab is also doing genetic sequencing on positive cases of COVID-19 to determine whether those cases involve any of the variants of the virus.

Were not being reimbursed for that, Lee said. This is something we feel like we need to do. We have the technology to do it and were sharing that information with state.

JAX, the Yale School of Public Health, and the state public health lab are the entities in the state tracking the variant.

As for the states testing strategy going forward, Lee said he expects children younger than 16 years of age, who are currently not able to be vaccinated, to be a main focus.

Right now, Connecticut is testing people on an individual basis. While that makes sense at this point in the pandemic, Lee said, that likely wont be the case in the future, particularly in schools.

School districts across the country are experimenting with the idea of pooled testing, a practice that involves testing a group of samples at once, as opposed to testing students individually - a process that is more cost effective and efficient.

Lets say you have a classroom of 25 students. You would combine four or five swabs into one tube and another four or five into another tube, so youre testing five people all at once thus decreasing the cost per person, Lee said.

If the virus is detected in one of the tubes, then you have to figure out which of the five students has COVID-19 by doing individual testing.

The most recent federal stimulus package allotted $107 million for Connecticut to increase coronavirus testing in public K-12 schools. The Department of Public Health is working with the State Department of Education to determine the best way to spend the money.

No final decisions have been made yet, said Maura Fitzgerald, a DPH spokeswoman.

At the start of the pandemic, when testing supplies were limited, the Centers for Disease Control recommended only those who were exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 get tested.

That population will likely continue to be a focus for testing in the future, Lee said, as people who are symptomatic will want to determine whether they have COVID-19, as opposed to the flu or the common cold, for example, which can cause similar symptoms as COVID.

One thing is for sure, the day that Jackson Laboratories stops COVID testing will be a very happy day for me, Lee said.
Best Western Hotels & Resorts has appointed Erwann Mahe as Managing Director  Asia. His extensive industry knowledge and experience make Mahe the ideal candidate to drive Best Western Hotels & Resorts future growth in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.

Im pleased to welcome Erwann Mahe to our leadership team in APAC, said Best Western Hotels & Resorts President and Chief Executive Officer David Kong. Our industry has suffered greatly in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and as an organisation we are committed to supporting our hoteliers in their recovery. I believe that Erwanns deep regional expertise and strategic thinking will deliver tremendous value to our hoteliers in Asia as we navigate the years ahead.

Mahe joins the Best Western Hotels & Resorts team with over 23 years of industry knowledge  his prior roles range from managing large-scale Accor hotels to holding executive-level positions, including Chief Operations Officer at Red Planet Hotels and Executive Vice President of Hotel Investment at The Erawan Group. In his new role, Mahe will be responsible for all aspects of operating Best Western Hotels & Resorts in the region and will focus his efforts on supporting hoteliers through the upcoming recovery and expanding the brands portfolio of hotels throughout APAC. Mahe replaces Olivier Berrivin who previously served in the role. Berrivin remains with the BWH Hotel Group parent company in his new position as Managing Director of WorldHotels APAC.

Erwanns comprehensive experience will be incredibly valuable to continuing our growth and brand awareness in the APAC region, added Ron Pohl, Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer. Best Western will benefit enormously from Erwanns deep industry relationships and proven leadership within the region.

Mahe joins Best Western Hotels & Resorts at an exciting time for the company as it celebrates 20 years of operation in Asia this year. In just 20 years, the brand has grown to one of the largest hotel chains in Asia with a diverse portfolio of world-class hotels and resorts. Best Western Hotels & Resorts is often recognised for its excellence in the region, having been named the Best Midscale Hotel Chain in the Travel Weekly Asia Readers Choice Awards for six consecutive years.

Under Mahes leadership, Best Western Hotels & Resorts will continue its focus on driving superior revenue to its hoteliers, expanding its portfolio of offerings in premier destinations, and providing exceptional travel experiences to its guests. - TradeArabia News Service
Hailey Bieber showed off her glowing makeup-free skin in a new video with her more than 34.1million Instagram followers on Saturday afternoon.

As the 24-year-old model applied a moisturizer to her clear complexion to achieve a 'perfect dewy finish,' she demonstrated how she rubs the cream in circular motions across her cheeks, forehead and rest of face.

After a few more gentle upward strokes on her neck, she joked about looking like a 'glazed donut' in her caption as she soaked up the sunshine in her backyard.

Beauty: Hailey Bieber showed off her glowing makeup-free skin in a new video with her more than 34.1 million Instagram followers on Saturday afternoon

In the footage, the wife of Justin Bieber could be seen wearing a low-cut black tank top, light-wash jeans, gold hoop earrings and layers of chains around her neck.

Her post received more than 435,251 likes and tons of sweet comments from pals like Jen Atkin and Olivia Culpo, praising her radiant skin within seven hours.

'Please do this to me????' her stylist Maeve Reilly gushed.

Glowing: As the 24-year-old model applied a moisturizer to her clear complexion to achieve a 'perfect dewy finish,' she demonstrated how she rubs the cream in circular motions across her cheeks, forehead and rest of face

Stunning: After a few more gentle upward strokes on her neck, she joked about looking like a 'glazed donut' in her caption as she soaked up the sunshine in her backyard

In the footage, the wife of Justin Bieber could be seen wearing a low-cut black tank top, light-wash jeans, good hoop earrings and layers of chains around her neck

Last month, she also shared her pricey skincare routine on YouTube, which includes a $150 face mask and a $400 vibrating facial tool.

'I wouldn't typically do this long of a routine in the daytime, I would usually just wake up, wash my face, and maybe [use] a little bit of serum and SPF, but since I'm preparing for a work day, it's a little bit more than usual,' Hailey said of her regimen.

Hailey kicks off her pre-shoot skincare routine with a face mask - the Biologique Recherche Masque Visolastine+, a tricky-to-find French product that retails for $150.70 at Skinney Medspa. But while the mask is not the easiest to track down, and comes with a very high price tag, the model says that it's more than worth the effort.

Glowing: Last month, she also shared pricey skincare routine on YouTube, which includes products like a $150 face mask to a $400 vibrating facial tool

'I wouldn't typically do this long of a routine in the daytime, I would usually just wake up, wash my face, and maybe [use] a little bit of serum and SPF, but since I'm preparing for a work day, it's a little bit more than usual,' Hailey said of her regimen

'One of my favorite things to do when I'm getting ready for work is I will do a mask,' she shared. 'I wouldn't do a mask every single day obviously, but when I want a little bit of an extra glow, I go for a nice calming, hydrating mask.

According to the Skinney Medspa website, the mask 'boosts skin hydration' which in turn results in a 'soft and comfortable' complexion that lasts all day long - perfect for spending hours on end in front of a camera.

Hailey doesn't stop at just one mask, in fact she reveals that she likes to 'kill two birds with one stone' by layering on some under-eye masks on top of her face mask to de-puff her eye area - which she also achieves by using a vibrating gold face tool.

Hailey kicks off her pre-shoot skincare routine with a face mask - the Biologique Recherche Masque Visolastine+, a tricky-to-find French product that retails for $150.70 at Skinney Medspa. But while the mask is not the easiest to track down, and comes with a very high price tag, the model says that it's more than worth the effort

'My husband loves to do masks, just like I do so that's a win for me,' she recently told fans

'And while I have it [all] on, while it's sitting there, under my eyes when they're feeling a little bit more puffy, I will take a little tool like this,' she explained, grabbing the Zena Foster Sonic Gold Beauty Bar ($59.99) and rubbing it slowly under her eyes.

While sitting with her face and under-eye masks on, allowing them to boost her skin, Hailey revealed that she is not the only skincare aficionado in her household - explaining that her husband often joins in the routine.

'My husband loves to do masks, just like I do so that's a win for me,' she told fans.

Happy in love: Later, she shared a selfie with her 'sushi date' with husband Justin as they sat closely together
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 20:33:59|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Special columns for digital publications were launched Sunday on 19 websites to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The campaign, organized by the National Press and Publication Administration, features 100 selected digital publication projects of various types, eulogizing the new era.

The 19 websites, including major news websites, leading digital reading platforms, and new media websites, will present the selected digital publications to the public free of charge for 100 days. Enditem
Iran announced on Sunday a blackout occurred at its uranium enrichment facility in Natanz.

Why it matters: The incident occurred as U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived for his first visit in Jerusalem amid nuclear talks in Vienna and growing tensions between Israel and Iran.

Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.

Driving the news: The spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Behrouz Kamalvandi said the accident occurred in the electricity distribution system of the Natanz enrichment facility.

He said the cause of the incident is under investigation but stressed there were no casualties and no pollution was caused by the accident.

Israeli media said that it was not an accident and that the power outage could have been caused by a cyber attack.

The head of Iran's atomic energy organization Ali Akbar Salehi said the incident in the facility in Natanz "was an act of terrorism." He did not say who was responsible but stressed Iran reserves the right to respond.

Intelligences sources quoted by several Israeli media outlets pointed to Israeli intelligence agency Mossad as being behind the cyber attack.

Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.
Formula 1 is looking for renewal. New regulations from 2022 should help, but there are also new ideas for next season. One of those ideas is holding a sprint race, to make a race weekend more exciting. Many drivers and teams have already expressed their opinion about the idea, and it looks as if we could see three weekends using the concept.

If it was up to Charles Leclerc, the most important thing is to try the idea. "I think a compromise is needed. If you look at the idea of the sprint race, it is to attract more fans to Formula 1," Leclerc explained in an interview with Motorsport.com.

Decision for the fans

Leclerc understands that the fans are very important to the existence of F1 and that is why the Ferrari driver sees the idea of a sprint race as a compromise. After all, for the teams, it's extra costs that are being incurred.

"When I look at the drivers, I see that a majority are in favour of the idea of testing it. We do have to approach it carefully, but must remember that without the fans we are nothing."

After the three test races, it will be up to the FIA to decide if this format will return more often in future seasons and Leclerc expects that if this idea doesn't work, the FOM will have to look through to come up with other ideas to attract new fans. "It's not wrong to sometimes make a step in the direction of the fans," Leclerc concluded.
A man who was released from mandatory hotel quarantine to care for his dying father after an appeal to the High Court has called for a more "common sense" approach to the system.

Derek Jennings, 47, is fully vaccinated but was forced to enter the facility at Dublin's Crowne Plaza hotel on Friday after returning from Israel.

Mr Jennings, from Clondalkin, had been working in Israel since February, but rushed home when his father, who suffers from cancer, collapsed and was admitted to intensive care during the week.

Mr Jennings said he supports the idea of quarantining foreign arrivals but described the system in Ireland as a "shambles".

He said: "I agree with the quarantine, I really do. I'm not against it.

"Logistically, from the moment we arrived in Dublin Airport it was a bit of a shambles."

He added: "I just think there needs to be a little bit more logical, open mindedness about the situation here.

"We're not criminals. People have openly put themselves in this situation.

"A more common sense approach (is needed).

"In my case, I appealed on humanitarian, compassionate grounds. I was refused twice.

"If my situation is not humanitarian or compassionate, I don't know what is."

Mr Jennings said he was very happy to be released, but remains very concerned about his father.

He told the PA news agency: "It's a big relief, I hope everything turns out well.

"The father is still very sick in hospital. We'll see what happens."

He added that he had spoken to two others at the hotel who are also appealing against their detainment.

"One has put in five or six appeals and each one of them has just been rejected and rejected," he said.

Mr Jennings said his experience in the facility had not been pleasant.

"It's not great, I have to be honest. The food is not great. The attitude of some of the staff at the hotel leaves a lot to be desired," he said.

He left the Crowne Plaza shortly after 3pm on Sunday, when he was collected by his wife Lisa and daughter Hannah.

Earlier, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said even fully vaccinated people must undergo quarantine as public health officials are concerned that they may still be able to pass on the virus.

He told Newstalk's On The Record: "We don't have an international certification process, we have to wait on health advice on that.

"There's still some concern with the health authorities that even post-vaccination, people may be transmissible, so they are cautious around that.

"But I would expect that will be a change that we will see in the coming weeks and months."

He added: "That process is not in place internationally yet and that does need to be there."

Mr Ryan added that mandatory hotel quarantine was not "foolproof" but part of a number of measures taken in the battle against Covid.

He said: "It isn't as if there's one specific measure.

"Hotel quarantine is a useful way of adding additional protection, but it's not foolproof.

"We still have an open border with Northern Ireland.

"We're not going to be able to close that border.

"So it's not as if this on its own is going to be the key measure to protect us.

"We still have domestic transmission.

"We still have about 400 or 500 cases a day.

"There's been about 10 cases, I think, from those four 400 or 500 people who have come in to date who have been positive.

"But actually we still have significant clusters within our own state, so this is a multi-layered approach."
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 17:33:56|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

ADDIS ABABA, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia registered 1,739 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 227,255 as of Saturday evening, the country's Ministry of Health said.

The ministry said 35 new deaths from the coronavirus were reported across the country during the same period, bringing the national death toll to 3,146.

The East African country reported 1,093 more recoveries, taking the national count of COVID-19 recoveries to 169,038.

Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous nation, has so far reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the East Africa region and the fourth most COVID-19 affected country in Africa in terms of positive cases.

According to the ministry, Ethiopia currently has some 55,069 active COVID-19 cases, of which 933 are said to be under severe health conditions.

The latest figures from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that Ethiopia's COVID-19 cases accounted for about five percent of the African continent's total confirmed cases.

Ethiopia is giving COVID-19 vaccine jabs after the country received its first 2.2 million COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX recently.

The East African country had last week received a batch of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines that was donated by the Chinese government. Enditem
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.
Millions of Australians are shivering through the coldest day of the year as an icy front bringing an 'Antarctic blast' sweeps across the country's southeast.

The cold front moved in over Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia on Saturday, bringing freezing conditions, low-level snow, heavy swells and the first frost of the year.

Melbourne on Sunday woke to its coldest morning since October 20 last year according to the Bureau of Meteorology, with the mercury dipping to 8.3C.

The Victorian capital is only expected to reach a high of 15C on Sunday, while Hobart will peak at 13C, making it the coldest day of 2021 for both cities, although the wind chill is making it feel even more wintry.

'It is the coldest day of the year so far. Temperatures are four to eight degrees below average for this time,' Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Jackson Browne told Daily Mail Australia.

This image from the Bureau of Meteorology shows the cold front sweeping across parts of southeast Australia, dropping temperatures below 10C

An image posted to social media on Sunday from Cradle Mountain, Tasmania with the caption 'We woke to the most beautiful winter wonderland this morning'

The temperature has dropped significantly in recent days after Melbourne recorded a high of 29C on Thursday.

Tasmania is bearing the brunt of what the BOM described as an 'Antarctic blast', with a low of 6C in Hobart on Sunday morning feeling more like zero and snow falling to around 700m in the state.

Images posted to social media on Sunday from Tasmania's Cradle Mountain showed trees and cars blanketed in snow.

Residents in South Australia's coastal communities have been warned of an 'extraordinary increase in wave heights' reaching 10 metres, making surf conditions hazardous.

'We would expect swells of this magnitude only once a year, normally in winter,' BOM said.

Tasmania is not being spared either by the wild waves, with swells not seen since July 2011 smashing the state's west coast.

Tasmania's Cradle Mountain (pictured) was turned into a Winter wonderland over the weekend as a cold front swept across Australia's southeast

The Bureau of Meteorology warned of low-level snow, enormous coastal swells and the first frost of the year as the cold front moves across southeast Australia

'If you were on the west coast (Saturday) night you would've seen some pretty amazing waves. The wave buoy at Cape Sorell reported 9.2 metres with a maximum wave height of 16.6 metres and a peak wave period of 22.2 seconds,' BOM said.

Mr Browne added: 'There is quite a huge surge of southwesterly winds behind the frontal change'.

Across Victoria, snow down to 900 metres is tipped, with places including Mt Buller and Mt Baw Baw likely to see the white stuff.

Canberra will hit a low of 0C on Monday morning with patches of morning frost and just 1C on Tuesday morning.

'Cool temperatures were observed across ACT (Sunday) morning. It will be cooler and patches of morning frost are expected on Monday and Tuesday,' BOM said.

Mr Browne said the cool weather will continue into the week and start to clear out on Tuesday, before returning later in the week.

'It will be a cold, wet, windy week with just a brief reprieve on Wednesday,' he said.

But in other parts of Australia, communities are bracing for a tropical cyclone.

Residents in Western Australia's Mid West have been urged to evacuate before the arrival of Tropical Cyclone Seroja, which is set to bring gale-force winds, heavy rain and storm tides as it reaches land.

A snowy Cradle Mountain in Tasmania on Sunday morning as an 'Antarctic blast' hit the state

Melbourne on Sunday experienced its coldest morning since October 20 last year, with a shower or two forecast for the rest of Sunday and on Monday (file image)

Seroja is forecast to make landfall on Sunday afternoon as a Category 2 cyclone, packing destructive winds with gusts of up to 150km/h as it hits the coast.

The area between Geraldton and Denham is most at risk from the cyclone's destructive wind gusts and flooding, the Bureau of Meteorology said in a warning on Saturday night.

'Seroja will be moving fast, so weather conditions will deteriorate rapidly as it approaches,' BOM said.

Some residents in Denham have already been ordered to evacuate as the cyclone is expected to bring a storm surge, which is a high tide that will potentially inundate homes in the town.

People who live in the yellow warning zone area between Carnarvon and Kalbarri have been told to go to their nearest evacuation centre or to stay with family or friends.

They have been told to pack medicines, clothes, important documents and pet supplies, and place items up high to avoid water damage.

Communities in Western Australia's midwest have been urged to evacuate before the arrival of Tropical Cyclone Seroja

Tropical Cyclone Seroja is forecast to make landfall on Sunday afternoon as a Category 2 cyclone

The yellow warning zone does not include the townships of Carnarvon and Kalbarri but is between them.

Those who stay put are advised to organise an emergency kit including first aid supplies, torch, portable radio, spare batteries, food and water.

Evacuation centres have been established in Denham, Port Denison and Carnarvon and a free bus service will run on Sunday from Geraldton to Port Denison.

Unusually high tides could cause serious flooding in the Denham and Shark Bay region and near Kalbarri, and minor flooding on the coast between Coral Bay and Lancelin, BOM says.

'We hope we can get through the next few days without loss of life,' Emergency Services Minister Reece Whitby said on Saturday afternoon.

Unlike the state's northwest, buildings in the Mid West are not built for cyclones, including structures in Geraldton which has not seen cyclonic conditions for decades, he said.

A number of roads will be closed in the area on Sunday because of the cyclone, which should weaken as it moves inland on Monday.
The family 'responsible for the opioid crisis' in the United States tried to erase the 1975 suicide of Purdue Pharma heir Bobby Sackler, 24, who was addicted to heroin, a new book has claimed.

The story of Bobby, the son of pharmaceutical giant Mortimer Sackler, was not covered in newspapers at the time but has been documented in a new book Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe, who found and interviewed witnesses to his suicide.

In the book, scheduled for release on Tuesday, Radden Keefe claims that Bobby's drug addictions were 'an inconvenient truth and a huge embarrassment' to the family, according to the New York Post - which reviewed an advance copy.

In a twist of fate, the OxyContin pills the Sackler family would invent and market 20 years after his death are a semi-synthetic derivative of heroin, the drug Bobby was addicted to.

Bobby left his apartment on East 64th Street in New York City on the morning of July 5, 1975 to visit the home of his mother, Muriel Sackler, on East 86th Street, who was divorced from his powerful father. Muriel died in 2009, according to her obituary.

He fought with the elevator operator when he arrived in the lobby before storming into his mother's two-bedroom on the ninth floor, Radden Keefe revealed.

Bobby was overheard arguing with her while demanding money in the moments before he broke a window and fell to his death.

Mortimer Sackler, left, is pictured with his third wife, Dame Theresa Sackler, in 2004 about 30 years after the death of his son. His son Bobby had a different mother, Muriel Sackler, from whom Mortimer was divorced

The startling allegations against the Sackler family have been detailed in a new book by Patrick Radden Keefe

The Sackler family, largely responsible for the opioid pandemic, manufactures OxyContin, which is a semi-synthetic derivative of heroin, to which Mortimer Sackler's son was addicted, Radden Keefe's book says

The young heir had a history of hospitalizations in psychiatric facilities and used heroin and PCP every day, Radden Keefe revealed.

Ceferino Perez, a longtime doorman in the building where Muriel lived, told Radden Keefe that Bobby 'was a little cuckoo.'

'He was the kind of guy that nobody was going to hire,' Perez said.

He said that he heard the sound of breaking glass as Bobby jumped from the building.

'Then a much louder, closer sound as something heavy landed on the sidewalk. The impact was so intense that it sounded like a car crash,' Radden Keefe writes in the book, according to the New York Post.

'But when Perez looked over, he saw that there was a body on the sidewalk. It was Bobby Sackler. He had fallen nine stories. His head had cracked open on the pavement.'

Muriel called down to the front desk and told them that Bobby had broken the window with a chair and asked them if her son was dead.

Perez then had to inform the distraught mother that her son had in fact died.

The family made a small funeral announcement in The New York Times that July 9 that only said Bobby had died 'suddenly in the 24th year of life.'

Bobby had allegedly been unemployed while living in a luxury building owned by his father.

'He was crazy. Totally out of control,' a family friend told Radden Keefe. The family friend described how Bobby was seen wandering nude in Central Park once.

Bobby's death has been covered some in media since - though not in as thorough detail as the new book.

Raymond and his wife, Beverly Sackler, of the Sackler family are pictured in an undated photo. Raymond is a brother of Mortimer; he died in 2017. She died in 2019 at 95

Mortimer and Theresa Sackler, his third wife, right, are pictured with their daughter Marissa in 2003

The Purdue Pharma headquarters are seen in downtown Stamford, Connecticut in 2019

In 2019, a protest at the Guggenheim against the Sackler family included small flyers with fake prescriptions made out by a 'Robert Sackler, MD' to a Solomon R. Guggenheim for 80 milligram pills of OxyContin, the New Yorker reported.

Mortimer Sackler bought the company in 1952, and his brothers Raymond and Arthur also 'held an interest in the firm' before turning it into the drug empire it became, the New York Post reported.

Arthur Sackler had previously worked for a drug-marketing company that helped launch drugs including Librium and Valium before the family ultimately made billions on OxyContin.

The Sacklers began facing criticism for the opioid epidemic in 2019 when a lawsuit was filed against eight family members in the Southern District of New York.

It was revealed in court papers that Purdue Pharma had misled the public about the dangers of Oxycontin, which is highly addictive, after the company started marketing it in 1996.

The Justice Department announced a settlement with the Sackler family in October with details on criminal charges faced by the company Purdue Pharma. Purdue filed for bankruptcy last year.

Despite the years of litigation and settlements, Forbes reported late last year that the Sackler family still was worth more than $10 billion.

'The abuse and diversion of prescription opioids has contributed to a national tragedy of addiction and deaths, in addition to those caused by illicit street opioids,' said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen.

'With criminal guilty pleas, a federal settlement of more than $8 billion, and the dissolution of a company and repurposing its assets entirely for the public's benefit, the resolution in today's announcement re-affirms that the Department of Justice will not relent in its multi-pronged efforts to combat the opioids crisis.'

New York Attorney General Letitia James released a statement after the Justice Department announced the deal with the Sacklers.

'While our country continues to recover from the pain and destruction left by the Sacklers' greed, this family has attempted to evade responsibility and lowball the millions of victims of the opioid crisis,' she wrote.

'Today's deal doesn't account for the hundreds of thousands of deaths or millions of addictions caused by Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family.'

She continued: 'Instead, it allows billionaires to keep their billions without any accounting for how much they really made.'

'We are committed to holding the Sacklers and others responsible for the role they played in fueling the opioid crisis,' she said.

CTV News reported last month that, according to new court documents, Purdue Pharma has 'filed a restructuring plan to dissolve itself and establish a new company dedicated to programs designed to combat the opioid crisis.'

The Sacklers have agreed to pay out an additional $4.2billion in the next nine years under the proposed plan to end a number of civil claims against them.
French curators had worked for a decade to prepare a major exhibition marking the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci. When it opened, though, the most talked-about painting they had planned to show  Salvator Mundi, the most expensive work ever sold at auction  was nowhere to be seen.

Plucked from shabby obscurity at a New Orleans estate sale, the painting had been sold in 2017 as a rediscovered lost Leonardo and fetched more than $450 million from an anonymous bidder who kept it hidden from view. The chance to see it at the Louvre museums anniversary show two years later had created a sensation in the international art world, and its absence whipped up a storm of new questions.

Had the Louvre concluded that the painting was not actually the work of Leonardo, as a vocal handful of scholars had insisted? Had the buyer  reported to be Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, though he had never acknowledged it  declined to include it in the show for fear of public scrutiny? The tantalizing notion that the brash Saudi prince might have gambled a fortune on a fraud had already inspired a cottage industry of books, documentaries, art world gossip columns, and even a proposed Broadway musical.

None of that was true.

In fact, the crown prince had secretly shipped the Salvator Mundi to the Louvre more than a year earlier, in 2018, according to several French officials and a confidential French report on its authenticity that was obtained by The New York Times. The report also states that the painting belongs to the Saudi Culture Ministry  something the Saudis have never acknowledged.
Andres Arauz, left, and Guillermo Lasso will face off in Sunday's presidential election in Ecuador. (Facebook)

Voters go to the polls Sunday to elect new presidents in two neighboring South American nations  Ecuador and Peru  that have been battered by the pandemic, economic contractions and political turmoil.

In both Andean countries, polls have shown widespread dissatisfaction with leadership failures to stem rising unemployment and poverty, much of it fallout from the COVID-19 crisis  which has hit Latin America especially hard, causing social and economic devastation across the region.

Ecuador and Peru have also both seen recent surges in coronavirus cases, slow vaccine rollouts and scandals involving politically connected individuals receiving inoculations before their turn.

Ecuadoreans will cast ballots in a contentious runoff vote featuring two ideological divergent candidates  Andres Arauz, 36, a left-wing economist, and Guillermo Lasso, 65, a conservative businessman. They were the top two finishers in hotly disputed initial balloting in February.

Incumbent Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno is not seeking reelection.

Peruvians will select from a fragmented field of more than a dozen presidential aspirants who span the ideological spectrum, from far left to hard right. No candidate in Peru is expected to win a majority, probably forcing a June runoff between the two highest vote-getters.

Perus current president, Francisco Sagasti, is not on the ballot. He took office in November as a caretaker leader after a political crisis saw the country go through three presidents in a week.

In Ecuador, recent polls have shown a narrowing lead for Arauz, a protege of former President Rafael Correa, a leftist sentenced to prison for corruption who fled to Belgium. Correa, who remains a divisive figure here, has denied the allegations and called them politically motivated.

The race in Ecuador has become a kind of referendum on whether free-market principles or leftist-style social spending is the best remedy for the countrys economic woes. Arauzs side has portrayed Lasso as a tool of big business, while Lasso backers call Arauz the embodiment of a failed socialist vision.

Story continues

Arauz finished first in the initial round of voting with promises to bolster payouts and other support for the hard-hit poor and working classes. In recent weeks, Lasso has sought to temper his conservative banker image with vows to help the poor and increase environmental protections, while stressing the need for foreign investment and pro-market reforms.

More than a quarter of Ecuadorean voters remained undecided or plan to submit blank or spoiled ballots (damaged or marking multiple candidates), polls show. That indicates a broad discontent about the direction of the nation of 17 million.

Slumping prices for oil, Ecuador's chief export, have contributed to the country's economic woes. Many voters are edgy about the future.

I dont feel that either of the candidates represents me  both make me nervous, said Alexandra Munoz, 43, an economist in Quito, the capital. The middle class has been ravaged.

Allegations of fraud marred Februarys initial round of balloting. Such charges are also expected to follow Sundays election, whatever the result, observers say.

It has been a campaign with attacks from both sides, said Santiago Basabe, a political analyst in Quito. Most of them unjustified.

Yaku Perez, an Indigenous activist who narrowly missed a spot in the presidential runoff and alleged widespread fraud, has called on his supporters to file spoiled ballots.

Arauzs backers have accused Lassos camp of smearing him as a radical socialist who would turn Ecuador into a Venezuelan-style economic basket case and abandon the U.S. dollar as the nations currency. Arauz has denied the charges and portrayed himself as a moderate, but some voters are skeptical.

My fear is that we will become another Venezuela if Arauz is elected, said Francisco Vazquez, 41, a publicist in Quito who plans to vote for Lasso. We need a secure situation to advance, to work.

Many supporters of Arauz call Lasso a surrogate for banks and international capital who has little feel for the difficult lives facing most Ecuadoreans. His election, they say, would only exacerbate the country's deep inequalities.

Arauz will fight against monopolies and work for productivity, not only for big business, but also for small and medium sectors of the economy, said Mauricio Galindo, 45, a historian and Arauz supporter. That is the productive base of our country.

Ecuadors new president is to take office in May for a four-year term.

Times staff writer McDonnell reported from Mexico City and special correspondent Jaramillo Viteri from Quito. Special correspondent Adriana Leon in Lima contributed to this report.





This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Affordable foreign holidays moved a step closer last night after Government sources said parents would not have to pay for Covid tests for children under 11 as part of the traffic light system being introduced on May 17.

Under the plans, Britons will be allowed to fly to green countries with low Covid rates and strong vaccine rollouts  as long as they take tests before flying out and returning home.

Senior figures in the travel industry had warned that families would be reluctant to book if they were forced to find an extra 600 to pay for the tests on top of the cost of the holiday.

Government sources said parents would not have to pay for Covid tests for children under 11 as part of the traffic light system being introduced on May 17

But last night, Government sources said that only children aged 11 and older would have to take the tests.

They added that Transport Secretary Grant Shapps would ensure the profiteering makers of the most reliable PCR tests cut their prices, and that the system was likely to allow families to take cheaper, quicker lateral flow tests with them when they travelled abroad to easily obtain results before they flew home.

On Friday, Mr Shapps gave holidaymakers the green light to book foreign trips.

He said: This is the first time Im able to come on and say Im not advising against booking foreign holidays.

He added that people would realistically be able to start booking in two or three weeks.

Ministers will reveal in early May which countries will be labelled under the new system as green, amber or red, each with different levels of restrictions.

People arriving from green countries will need to take a PCR test within 72 hours before departing for the UK and a second within two days of arrival. They will not need to quarantine.

Airline bosses including easyJets Johan Lundgren have warned the current testing requirements could make travel prohibitively expensive, with Covid tests costing more than the flight itself in some cases

Anyone arriving from an amber country will also need to take a pre-departure test, with further PCR tests on day two and day eight, and be required to quarantine at home for ten days  although there will be an option to buy an extra PCR test on day five under the test to release scheme to allow travellers to end their self-isolation early.

People arriving from the highest-risk red-list countries will be forced to quarantine in a specific hotel at a cost of 1,750. Travel to and from the countries will remain banned for most people, with only British and Irish residents allowed to enter the UK from red-list nations.

Mr Shapps said: I think there is light at the end of the tunnel and well be able to restart international travel [] in a safe and secure way, knowing about the vaccinations, everything we know about the disease this year, and of course that abundance of caution  having the tests in place.

At present people are banned from travelling outside the UK for non-essential reasons. Last week, The Mail on Sunday revealed that officials were working on finding a way of providing cheaper tests for holidaymakers

At present people are banned from travelling outside the UK for non-essential reasons.

Last week, The Mail on Sunday revealed that officials were working on finding a way of providing cheaper tests for holidaymakers.

Airline bosses including easyJets Johan Lundgren have warned the current testing requirements could make travel prohibitively expensive, with Covid tests costing more than the flight itself in some cases.

Boris Johnson has confirmed he wants to lower the bill families would need to pay for testing, saying: I do think we want to make things as easy as we possibly can.

The Prime Minister added: The boss of easyJet is right to focus on this issue. Were going to see what we can do to make things as flexible and as affordable as possible.
Those whove kept up with Little People, Big World over the years know the saga of Roloff Farms. Amy and Matt Roloff owned the farm together when they married, but everything changed after their divorce. Now, Matts considering who will own the farm once he retires. And he reportedly would rather one of his sons own it over the other.

Who owns Roloff Farms now? Matt Roloff from Little People, Big World is at the helm

Matt and Amy Roloff from Little People, Big World | Thos Robinson/Getty Images for Discovery

Roloff Farms is a staple on Little People, Big World. After Amy and Matt Roloff divorced, Amy went through the difficult decision of what she wanted to do with her half of the property. In the end, she decided to sell it back to Matt and buy a new home 15 minutes away.

In April 2019, Amy sold her half of the property to Matt for $667,000. The house she bought was only $588,500, giving her a profit.

It looks like Amy sold even more property back to Matt after she initially sold her half of the farm. Reports from the Oregon court showed Amy sold additional acres back to Matt. In total, she sold Matt $975,000 acres of land. Matt reportedly took out a loan of $825,000 to buy back the property.

Now, Amy appears to be completely out of the picture when it comes to Roloff Farms, though were sure she has opinions regarding what happens to it in the future if Matt decides to sell it post-retirement.

Matt Roloff would allegedly rather Jeremy Roloff take over the farm than Zach Roloff

RELATED: Little People, Big World: Zach and Jeremy Roloff Reportedly Arent Buying Roloff Farms

During the last season of Little People, Big World, Zach Roloff surprised Amy and Matt Roloff when he claimed he was interested in taking over Roloff Farms in the future.

One thing Tori and me talked about, weve talked about maybe we can move in here, Zach explained. Maybe we can be the ones that take over the farm, buy the place.

Amy seemed quite surprised that Zach would want to take over the farm. As far as she and Matt were concerned, they suspected Jeremy would be the one to take over. And an alleged insider recently told The Sun Matt would rather Jeremy take over than Zach.

Jeremy is OK with this but also desperately wants to be a part of the business, the insider explained. There are discussions he could end up co-owning the farm with Zach moving forward. Secretly, Matt would rather Jeremy be involved because he gets the business a little more.

Did Caryn quit Roloff Farms?

'Little People, Big World' Star Matt Roloff Talks Wedding to Caryn Chandler in Exclusive Previewhttps://t.co/wUCfYOL5ez pic.twitter.com/oAKn4eZQ7U  PopCulture.com (@PopCulture) October 19, 2020

While Matt Roloff is still the owner of Roloff Farms, fans might be wondering about his girlfriend, Caryn Chandler. Caryn was a manager on Roloff Farms during pumpkin season for years, and its how she met the Roloff family. However, after she and Matt began dating, it seems she stopped working on the farm.

Today was the first day of pumpkin season! Caryn posted to Instagram back in 2018. Even though Im not working at the farm this year Im still greatly invested. Love the place and hope youll make it out with your families to enjoy the fun.

Were interested to see if Caryn plans on having any involvement with Roloff Farms in the future, or if she and Matt will tie the knot. Well have to wait for the new season of Little People, Big World to find out.

TLC did not return a request for comment about Matt Roloffs current and future involvement with Roloff Farms by the time of publication.

Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook!
Moderate mag. 4.6 earthquake - Ansavo, 49 km west of Miragoane, Departement de Nippes, Haiti, on Tuesday, 6 Apr 2021 1:22 am (GMT -4) -

Moderate magnitude 4.6 earthquake at 10 km depth

6 Apr 05:41 UTC: First to report: EMSC after 19 minutes.

6 Apr 05:44: Magnitude recalculated from 4.7 to 4.6. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 8.0 to 2.0 km (from 5 to 1.2 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 5.4 km (3.3 mi) towards WSW.

6 Apr 06:35: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 2.0 to 10.0 km (from 1.2 to 6.2 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 4.4 km (2.8 mi) towards S.

Update Tue, 6 Apr 2021, 05:48

4.6 quake 6 Apr 1:22 am (GMT -4)



Our monitoring service identified a second report from the United States Geological Survey which listed the quake at magnitude 4.6 as well.

Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake was probably felt by many people in the area of the epicenter. It should not have caused significant damage, other than objects falling from shelves, broken windows, etc.

In Saint-Louis du Sud (pop. 1,500) located 21 km from the epicenter, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.

Weak shaking might have been felt in Aquin (pop. 5,200) located 25 km from the epicenter, Miragoane (pop. 89,200) 49 km away, Tigwav (pop. 117,500) 72 km away, and Les Anglais (pop. 8,200) 72 km away.

Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Grangwav (pop. 49,300) located 82 km from the epicenter, Anse a Galets (pop. 7,200) 84 km away, and Leogane (pop. 134,200) 97 km away.

VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you're in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported a magnitude 4.6 quake in Haiti near Miragoane, Arrondissement de Miragoane, Departement de Nippes, only 26 minutes ago. The earthquake hit early morning on Tuesday 6 April 2021 at 1:22 am local time at a very shallow depth of 2 km. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.Our monitoring service identified a second report from the United States Geological Survey which listed the quake at magnitude 4.6 as well.Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake was probably felt by many people in the area of the epicenter. It should not have caused significant damage, other than objects falling from shelves, broken windows, etc.In Saint-Louis du Sud (pop. 1,500) located 21 km from the epicenter, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.Weak shaking might have been felt in Aquin (pop. 5,200) located 25 km from the epicenter, Miragoane (pop. 89,200) 49 km away, Tigwav (pop. 117,500) 72 km away, and Les Anglais (pop. 8,200) 72 km away.Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Grangwav (pop. 49,300) located 82 km from the epicenter, Anse a Galets (pop. 7,200) 84 km away, and Leogane (pop. 134,200) 97 km away.VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you're in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app . This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.

Download the Volcanoes & Earthquakes app to get one of the fastest seismic alerts online:

Android | IOS to get one of the fastest seismic alerts online:

Earthquake data:

[ show map ] Show interactive Map [ smaller ] [ bigger ]

please share your experience and submit a short "I felt it" report! Other users would love to hear about it!

Also if you did NOT feel the quake although you were in the area, please report it ! Your contribution is valuable also to earthquake science and earthquake hazard analysis and mitigation efforts. You can use your device location or the map to indicate where you were during the earthquake. Thank you! If you felt this quake (or if you were near the epicenter),Other users would love to hear about it!Alsoalthough you were in the area, please! Your contribution is valuable also to earthquake science and earthquake hazard analysis and mitigation efforts. You can use your device location or the map to indicate where you were during the earthquake. Thank you!

Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies

Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.

Magnitude Depth Location Source 4.6 10 km HAITI REGION EMSC 4.6 10 km 12 Km SE of Baraderes, Haiti USGS 4.5 10 km Haiti Region GFZ

User reports for this quake (10) User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale Contribute:

Leave a comment if you find a particular report interesting or want to add to it.

Flag as inappropriate.

Mark as helpful or interesting.

Send your own user report! Les Cayes (8.7 km WSW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / 5-10 s : It was 1:22 a.m. when suddenly I felt that the house was shaking as well as the bed, I also heard the noises of objects in the dining room. | One user found this interesting. Les Cayes, Haiti (32.1 km SW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / complex motion difficult to describe / 2-5 s : Felt a light shaking for a few seconds. Definitely enough to be startled | One user found this interesting. 32.1 km SW of epicenter [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s Les Cayes (27 km SW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s 12.9 km NW of epicenter [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / single vertical bump / 2-5 s Les Cayes-departement sud (Haiti) / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / 1-2 s Les Cayes / Light shaking (MMI IV) Cayes / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating Les Cayes Haiti / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s Baraderes / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 5-10 s

Earlier earthquakes in the same area



This can take up to 20-30 seconds.

Please wait while we search through millions of records.This can take up to 20-30 seconds.

Click here to search our database for earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900!
SABA:--- Works to construct a new monitoring station of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) on the northern coast of Saba are progressing steadily. A team of Dutch military personnel, stationed in St. Maarten, has been carrying the materials along the North Coast Trail to the location on Grey Hill where a KNMI team is constructing the new monitoring station.

Military personnel on Thursday, April 8, ahead of time, completed the heavy task of carrying some 2000 kilograms of material on foot along the North Coast Trail, covering a difference in altitude of some 300 meters. On multiple trips per day, the men carried a number of very heavy items up the rough, mountainous trek to Grey Hill, such as a generator, a large satellite dish, the solar panels, and the casing for the electronics. They also carried multiple bags with concrete and a load of water, necessary to mix concrete for the construction of the monitoring station and its foundations.

The KNMI team of four has constructed the foundation and the walls of the enclosure that will hold the seismic equipment. The team on Thursday started the construction of the frame for the solar panels. The foundation for the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) was constructed, and the cables were laid in the cable ducts. The mast for the satellite dish has been installed. The construction of the monitoring station needs to be robust as it has to be able to withstand strong winds.

The monitoring station consists of a GNSS and a seismometer. With the GNSS, deformations of the Mt. Scenery volcano can be precisely measured. The seismometer registers local and regional earthquakes, and this data will also be used for tsunami warnings. The measuring station on Sabas North Coast is extra special because it operates completely independently: the solar panels generate electricity while the satellite dish transmits the data.

On Thursday, April 8, Island Governor Jonathan Johnson visited the location, whereby he presented a Saba pin to Sergeant-Major Marine Frank. The military personnel arrived on Saba on April 5 and will return to St. Maarten shortly. A number of military personnel have already left Saba. The KNMI team will remain on the island a bit longer to complete the construction of the monitoring station and to inspect, and if necessary, repair the other monitoring stations, located in various parts of the island.
The corporate watchdog is poised to recommend that boards adequately respond to short-selling attacks amid a global push to develop consistent rules around the practise and weed out ambush tactics used against some listed companies.

In an information paper set to be released imminently, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission is expected to tell listed company directors they should respond to short selling attacks in detail, and not merely dismiss them as false or attempts at market manipulation.

The corporate regulator is poised to issue advice to boards on how to respond to short selling attacks. Credit:Sydney Morning Herald

Short-selling, which has existed since the dawn of financial markets, is the practise of borrowing securities from long term holders, and selling them on the market with the aim of buying them back at a lower price for a profit. In recent years, a more aggressive form of the practise has emerged, with activist researchers and short selling firms releasing public reports criticising companies and often accusing them of engaging in fraudulent behaviour.

The rise of activist short selling has created a schism between the investment community and the corporate director fraternity. While large sections of the equities investment landscape engage in short-selling and support the practice, corporate directors have argued they are given inadequate notice in so-called short and distort attacks, which they claim often involve incorrect information that results in steep share price falls.
Sylvester Stallone recently paid the $200,000 initiation fee to join former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, it has been reported.

The 74-year-old Rocky actor was spotted at the oceanside resort last month, a witness told Page Six.

Sly just became a member of Mar-a-Lago, the witness said.

Stallone was seen posing for photographs in a boxing stance with other guests.

Earlier this year, it was reported that the three-time Oscar nominee paid more than $35million for a 13,241-square-foot Bermuda-style property on the north end of Palm Beach.

Records of the December 16 sale were recorded by the Palm Beach County Clerks Office, according to the Palm Beach Daily News.

Sylvester Stallone, the 74-year-old Rocky star, has joined former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, it has been reported. Stallone is seen right next to then-President Trump at the White House on May 24, 2018

Stallone reportedly paid the $200,000 membership initiation fee to join Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach (seen above)

Stallone reportedly financed the sale with a $15million, 30-year mortgage.

The one-and-a-half acre property - built in 2014 - features seven bedrooms with 10 full and two half bathrooms total in the two-story main residence and two guesthouses.

The main house features six bedrooms and nine bathrooms including a master suite, 3 spacious en-suite bedrooms, and two maids bedrooms.

The opulent master suite includes a sauna, steam room, and office with a terrace.

The action star's neighbors include Grammy winners Jon Bon Jovi and Rod Stewart as well as shock jock Howard Stern. He will also live near other Trump family members who have relocated to the Sunshine State.

Stallone recently purchased a $35million mansion on the north end of Palm Beach

The three-time Oscar nominee paid more than $35million for a 13,241-square-foot Bermuda-style property on the north end of Palm Beach (above)

In 2016, Stallone was quoted as saying that Trump was a 'bigger than life' figure though he stopped short of saying he voted for him. Stallone and Trump are seen above in February 1997

Stallone and the Trump family live close to one another after the former president moved his base of operations from his old hometown of New York City to South Florida

Last month, Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle snapped up a new home just a short drive away from Mar-a-Lago.

The political power couple, who sold their home in the Hamptons for $8.14million, forked out $9.7million for an 11,000-square-foot mansion in the exclusive gated community of Admirals Cove.

The six-bedroom, 11-bath mansion is located in Jupiter - just 20 miles from Mar-a-Lago - meaning Trump Jr will be close to dad, Donald, and step-mom, Melania, who relocated to the resort after leaving the White House in January.

On top of the home price, Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle must pay a $195,000 membership fee for access to Admirals Cove's marina, golf course and tennis courts.

Admirals Cove boasts many rich and famous residents.

Baseball Hall of Fame member Mike Schmidt and Washington Nationals star pitcher Max Scherzer are among the 888 people who have homes there. Singer Celine Dion previously owned property in the estate.

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are making Miami - which is 70 miles to the south - their base.

The former senior presidential advisers have signed a one-year lease on a condominium in one of Miami's most coveted oceanfront buildings, Arte Surfside, according to recent reports.

Donald Trump Jr. and former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, who have been dating for about three years, recently purchased a property in nearby Jupiter, Florida

The political power couple forked out $9.7 million for an 11,000-square-foot mansion in the exclusive gated community of Admirals Cove

The couple have signed a year-long lease on a penthouse ocean apartment while they wait for their home to be built on Indian Creek, an exclusive island community.

Ivanka's brother, Eric, appears to be the last of the Trump children who have remained in the family's former home, New York City - at least for the time being.

Eric and Lara have been based in New York City for years, and are still understood to live there with their children.

Last week, the couple were seen at Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan just days after it was announced that Lara would be a contributor to the Fox News Channel.

In January, DailyMail.com reported that Tiffany Trump is looking for a property in Miami's South Beach as she makes plans to join her family in Florida.

The 27-year-old and her billionaire heir boyfriend Michael Boulos had been staying at the swanky Setai Hotel in the glamorous neighborhood, but she is on the hunt for a place to call her own.

'She has been in Miami looking at properties,' a source close to Tiffany told DailyMail.com. 'She was staying at the Setai Hotel while she was viewing different options.'

Surprise! Marla Maples, 57, revealed last month that she has moved to Florida while proudly showing off her new license on Instagram

Reason: It seems likely that Marla moved to Florida to be closer to her daughter Tiffany and her future son-in-law Michael Boulos, who've been living in Miami since their engagement

Tiffany, President Donald Trump's only child with his second wife Marla Maples, graduated from Georgetown Law School in May, but she has yet to take the bar exam, which she needs to pass to officially become a lawyer.

Maples, the 57-year-old actress, revealed last month that she, too, has relocated to Florida. She posted an image on her social media showing her flashing her newly obtained Florida driver license.

'Transitioning to a new life adventure with so much joy and gratitude,' Marla captioned a photo of herself wearing a cowboy hat while proudly holding up her license.

Before joining Mar-a-Lago, Stallone was a guest at the club. In 2016, he attended its New Years Eve bash.

As president, Trump offered Stallone the chairmanship of the National Endowment of the Arts, though the actor turned him down. Stallone said he was incredibly flattered to have been offered the post.

Stallone backed John McCain's presidential run in 2008 but he is not a registered Republican.

Eric and Lara Trump (pictured above in June 2019) remain the lone family members to currently be based in the former president's hometown of New York City

The couple was seen last week arriving at Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan (seen above last month)

In 2016, Stallone described Trump as 'bigger than life', though he stopped short of endorsing his presidency.

'I love Donald Trump,' he told Variety Magazine. 'He's a great Dickensian character. You know what I mean? There are certain people like Arnold [Schwarzennegger], Babe Ruth, that are bigger than life. But I don't know how that translates to running the world.'

Last week, Stallone revealed that he will not reprise his iconic Rocky Balboa character for the upcoming sequel Creed III.

The 74-year-old famously created the character for himself in the 1976 film Rocky which he not only starred in but also wrote.

And although he reprised the role for the first two Creed films his representative has told The Hollywood Reporter he is not involved in part three.

There were six films in the original Rocky franchise released over a 40-year period and culminating in the surprise 2006 hit Rocky Balboa.

In 2015 Ryan Coogler resuscitated the franchise again by directing Creed which is about Rocky training Michael B. Jordan's character Adonis 'Donnie' Creed.

Donnie is the son of the late Apollo Creed who was Rocky's rival in the original film series and was played by Carl Weathers.

Creed III is due out on the day before Thanksgiving 2022.

The Trump family has decamped en masse to Florida. Ivanka Trump, the former president's eldest daughter from his first marriage to Ivana Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, have also relocated to the Sunshine State

Ivanka and Jared signed a one-year lease on a condominium in one of Miami's most coveted oceanfront buildings, Arte Surfside (pictured), the Wall Street Journal reported in January

The couple were expected to use the condo as a temporary home while they build a more permanent one on a two-acre plot they purchased on Indian Creek Island (pictured) - also known as the 'Billionaire Bunker' - for $31.8million late last year

Sly, who himself directed Rocky IV, is now gearing up to release his own recut version of that film and revealed this week that his work is done.

'Last day of completing ROCKY 4 !!! Get Ready to RUMBLE!!!' he gushed last Tuesday in the caption of an Instagram video showing him in the editing room.

'You can go back and see a movie that youve done 50 years ago and you: "God, Id love to reedit that,"' he said in the video.

'And every director feels that same way, so its not about making a movie, its about remaking,' said the smoldering Hollywood heartthrob.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to be the most dominant Republican in American politics. He held court for party bigwigs at a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago this weekend.

On Saturday, the former president told GOP donors that the COVID-19 vaccine should be named after him as he admonished them to call it the Trumpcine.

He also called the November election in which Joe Biden won 'bulls**t,' according to the Washington Post, which cited an attendee, who also said he spoke for about an hour at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort for a party fundraiser.

A picture posted on social media shows former President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive for dinner on Saturday at the Trump Mar-a-Lago Resort, where Republican National Committee donors gathered

Trump at the event boasted that he would help the GOP reclaim the House of Representatives

Trump is said to have called for the COVID-19 vaccine to be called 'Trumpcine,' according to a Twitter posting from a CNN reporter

He said he wished former Vice President Mike Pence had possessed the 'courage' to send the certification of the Electoral College votes back to state legislatures.

'I like him so much. I was disappointed,' Trump said, according to the Post.

Most Democrats even think he won the election, Trump said, according to the Post, but they won't say it out loud.

He repeated a line from 2015 calling immigrants crossing the border illegally violent criminals, this time saying 'they're coming in from the Middle East.'

'They're not sending their best people. You have murderers, you have rapists, you have drug dealers,' Trump said, according to the Post.

The former president also hit out at Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former Republican Senate Majority Leader who's since fallen out with Trump after pinning blame on him for the January Capitol riots.

McConnell is a 'dumb son of a bit*h,' Trump said in his Saturday remarks, according to a CNN reporter who was told by a person in the room.
Popular gossip page Celeb Spellcheck will permanently delete its account on Monday.

Announcing the shock news via Instagram Stories on Sunday, the anonymous user behind the account explained that the page had become 'too big and powerful' to enjoy.

'After weighing up many options, the time has come for me to say goodbye to Celeb Spellcheck,' the user wrote.

End of an era: Popular gossip page Celeb Spellcheck will permanently delete its account on Monday (stock photo)

'This account has become too big, too powerful and too time consuming for me to enjoy running it anymore.'

The page, which shares user-submitted gossip and mocks D-list celebrities for their typographical errors, went on say the farewell was by choice.

'There is no scandalous reason behind this decision - I'm not being threatened, sued or controlled in any way,' they wrote.

Bye: 'There is no scandalous reason behind this decision - I'm not being threatened, sued or controlled in any way,' they wrote, telling their 162,000 followers

They continued: 'I will be permanently deleting the account tomorrow.'

Celeb Spellcheck went on to thank its 165,000 followers, writing: 'Thank you so much to everyone who has followed and supported the page.'

In March, the page said it was taking a break after it completely wiped its achieve, which saw a number of local celebrities rejoice.

Celeb Spellcheck explained Celeb Spellcheck began a few years ago as an account making fun of Instagram models' poor spelling, but has since become a platform for holding influencers to account for their lies and irresponsible behaviour. The profile is also a hub for user-submitted gossip about influencers. Celeb Spellcheck has attracted criticism in recent months, with the likes of Tayla Damir accusing the page of 'bullying'. Advertisement

The profile's admin later said they were just 'taking a break' and denied rumours they'd been forced to shut down over legal threats or were at risk of having their identity exposed.

After ensuring fans they were 'completely fine', the account's owner explained their sudden decision to wipe the profile.

The person behind the account admitted they were considering whether or not to reveal their identity and if they should monetise the page or not.

Gone! Celeb Spellcheck, which shares user-submitted gossip and mocks D-list celebrities for their typographical errors, completely wiped its archive last month

Respite: The likes of Ruby Tuesday Matthews (pictured), Keira Maguire said they were pleased Celeb Spellcheck had ceased operations last month

They also said they were pondering whether to 'dabble in gossip' moving forward.

Celeb Spellcheck began a few years ago as an account making fun of poor spelling on sponsored Instagram posts, but has since become a platform for holding influencers to account for their lies and irresponsible behaviour.

The profile is also a hub for user-submitted gossip, and recently shared a video of former Bachelor star Laurina Fleure snorting powder at a party.

Due to the nature of its content, Celeb Spellcheck has been publicly criticised by a number of influencers.

Love Island star Tayla Damir and Skye Wheatley were among the celebrities who were highly-critical of the account.

Her opinion: Ruby argued that gossip accounts mobilise trolls to attack influencers on their own accounts 'in a really negative, horrible way'

Who is Celeb Spellcheck? The Celeb Spellcheck admin has never revealed her name, but has offered bits of biographical information in her Q&As, including that she is a woman in her late twenties (she turned 28 in December)

works in public relations

hails from the Mornington Peninsula but now lives in Melbourne's south-east

is in a long-term relationship

her boyfriend and 'three or four friends' know she's Celeb Spellcheck

isn't friends with influencers and gets her gossip from followers Advertisement
Dhaka, April 11 : The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) on Sunday said it is planning to suspend all international flights as the government is going to impose a strict lockdown from April 14 to contain the spread of Covid-19.

On Saturday, the country registered 77 more deaths in 24 hours, shattering its all previous records.

The number of new coronavirus cases dropped slightly to 5,343, said a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) of Bangladesh.

Air-Vice Marshal M. Mofidur Rahman, chairman of CAAB told IANS, a decision is yet to be taken on the issue. He mentioned, "The operation of flights will depend on the instructions of the government and if the strict lockdown starts from Wednesday then CAAB will take decision on international flights as per the government's lockdown order." Earlier on April 1, the CAAB issued an office order which said 4 days hotel quarantine is mandatory for all passengers from India, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Oman, UAE upon arrival in Bangladesh at their own expenses. Besides, passengers from Doha shall not be allowed to enter Bangladesh till 18 April during the embargo period.

No restriction will be imposed on the movement of chartered flights, cargo flights and special flights carrying high commissioners of different countries and foreign nationals, the chairman said.

The flight operations on domestic routes of Bangladesh remained suspended since the enforcement of the seven-day lockdown in the country from April 5.
United Nations:

North Korea's UN envoy accused the United States of working to block economic development and denounced sanctions imposed on poor countries as a bid to "destroy modern civilization".

Ambassador Ja Song Nam said North Korea will withstand the blow of sanctions and continue "along the road of building the socialist power by dint of the spirit of self-reliance and self-development."

Ja spoke at a debate at the General Assembly that focused on the UN's global development goals that aim to eradicate extreme poverty by 2050, advance health and promote education.

"The US is clinging to unprecedented nuclear threats and blackmail, economic sanctions and blockade to deny our rights to existence and development but they only result in our sharper vigilance and greater courage", said Ja.

The United States led the drive at the Security Council to impose two recent sets of sanctions on North Korea to punish Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile tests.

Read more: Rex Tillerson: US is in direct contact with North Korea

In August, the council cut off North Korea's exports of coal and other minerals and last month expanded the export ban to textile, North Korean guest workers and also capped oil exports.

Washington has also slapped unilateral sanctions on firms that do business with North Korea.

To achieve the UN's development goals, "we should immediately obliterate the high-handed measures of the US including the sanctions imposed on the developing countries", Ja said.

The US measures "are trying to destroy modern civilization and to plunge this world into the medieval darkness", he said.

According to UN figures, about 70 percent of North Korea's population lack basic services and are suffering from food shortages, partly caused by droughts, floods, and landslides that have devastated agriculture.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
More than 60% of students in the Roaring Fork School District are Hispanic, but when Jasmin Ramirez was elected in 2019, she and fellow board member Natalie Torres became the first Latinas to serve on the school board.
Environmental activists will feel stuck between a rock and hard place on Sunday when forced to choose a new president.

Leftist Andres Arauz faces the right-wing Guillermo Lasso in a run-off election with both vowing to continue oil and mineral extraction, which has already devastated a sixth of Ecuador's Amazon jungle.

"Ecuador remains immersed in an extractivist policy. That is to say that both candidates believe Ecuador's future is in oil and that has nothing to do with reality," Carlos Larrea, the director of the socio-environmental unit at the Simon Bolivar University, told AFP.

"Extractivist" policy refers to plans for extracting natural resources for export.

It's left the Environment Front -- a collective of 60 ecological and human rights organizations -- feeling glum about the future government of one of the most biodiverse countries in the world.

Having evaluated their election manifestos ahead of the February 7 first round, the Environment Front gave Arauz a "worrying" score of 63.6 out of 100, while Lasso was deemed "toxic" to the natural habitat with just 36.5.

"We're starting off with candidates that are not green, which is why we're demanding compromises from them," Natalia Greene, the vice-president of the CEDENMA group of organizations defending nature, told AFP.

It could have been different, though, had Lasso not defeated socialist indigenous campaigner Yaku Perez to make it into the runoff round of voting.

Perez, a long-time campaigner against mining and for the defense of water, scored 93.4 in the Environment Front evaluation.

He's a member of Pachakutik, the political arm of Ecuador's largest indigenous movement battling the mass exploitation of natural resources in their lands.

Ecuador officially recognizes the rights of "Pacha Mama" -- an indigenous deity that means "Mother Earth" in the Quechua language -- such as her existence and the maintenance and regeneration of her cycles of life.

- 'Immediate ban' -

The Front's position is not to boycott the election but rather to "contribute to an informed vote by illuminating (the candidates') environmental commitments."

Andres Arauz, who plans to switch to clean energy instead of fossil fuels for generating electricity and for the public transport system, speaks during a campaign rally with rappers in Quito on April 1, 2021 /  AFP

Both Arauz and Lasso have made some such commitments but it's been slim pickings in Ecuador's dollarized economy that depends on oil exports and industrial level mineral extraction, which began in 2019.

Should he be elected, Lasso, a 65-year-old former banker, has pledged to reduce the use of fossil fuels, "stop" deforestation and launch projects to generate electricity using renewable sources.

Arauz, a 36-year-old economist bidding to be Ecuador's youngest president since the restoration of democracy in 1979, is also planning to switch to clean energy instead of fossil fuels for generating electricity and for the public transport system.

He wants to slow down the expansion of oil exploration in the Amazon jungle, from where Ecuador extracts 500,000 barrels a day, three-quarters of which is exported.

But whatever the two candidates have said, environmentalists demand "commitments to nature" that are real and achievable, said Greene.

The Front has proposed a 10-point plan to the two candidates including measures to mitigate the noxious effects of the extraction of natural resources, regenerating affected ecosystems and ensuring the rights of nature.

"Given the extraction of non-renewable resources is inconsistent with sustainable conservation and management of natural areas, but especially fragile ecosystems, these activities must be immediately banned in these ecosystems," said the Front's plan.

Larrea believes Ecuador "needs a huge turnaround that cannot be improvised in its long-term development strategy, strengthening what stands out the most worldwide, which is its biodiversity, it's cultural heritage and its tourism potential."

The biodiversity situation "is very serious given we've lost more or less a sixth of the Amazon jungle due to oil extraction."

- Mineral extraction growing -

Larrea believes the country "needs to diversify its economy," which is in crisis due to the low price of crude and the effects of the pandemic.

Should he be elected, former banker Guillermo Lasso (C) has pledged to reduce the use of fossil fuels, "stop" deforestation and launch projects to generate electricity using renewable sources /  AFP

"The potential of mining in no way has the capacity to replace oil, apart from the huge environmental impact," he added.

The current government hopes that mineral extraction will continue to grow and reach four percent of GDP in 2021, having been worth just 1.6 percent in 2019.

Ecuador's Amazon jungle is rich in oil and minerals and covers around half of the country.
Russias COVID-19 case tally rose by 8,702 over the past day, reaching 4,641,390, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Sunday, TASS reports.

The growth rate stood at 0.19% in relative terms.

The lowest growth rates were registered in the Tuva Republic, the Altai Republic (0.01%), the Magadan Region and the Jewish Autonomous Region (0.02%).

Some 694 COVID-19 cases were recorded in St. Petersburg, 574 in the Moscow Region, 239 in the Rostov Region, 236 in the Nizhny Novgorod Region and 198 in the Samara Region.
Police are desperately searching for a 13-year-old girl who went missing from her family home more than a week ago.

Dakota Leo was last seen in Andrews Farm, a northern Adelaide suburb, at about 2pm on April 4.

Police have described her as having brown hair, blue eyes and is about 144cm tall, with a petite build and pale skin.

Police described Dakota Leo as having has brown hair, blue eyes a petite build and is about 144cm tall

She was last seen wearing a grey t-shirt and black pants.

Police are urging anyone who has seen Dakota or has any information to contact police immediately on 131 444.
Berlin: The Australian photographer and actress June Newton  also known under her pseudonym Alice Springs  has died at 97, the Helmut Newton Foundation said in Berlin.

Newton, who was also the wife of the late photographer Helmut Newton, died on Friday (Europe time) in her home in Monte Carlo. The cause of death was not given.

June Newton, photographer, actress and widow of late fashion photographer Helmut Newton, has died at age 97. Credit:Getty Images

We mourn the loss of an outstanding person and internationally recognised photographer, the foundation wrote on its website on Sunday (AEST).

Newton, who was born as June Browne in Melbourne, Australia in 1923, trained as an actor and often performed under her stage name June Brunell, the foundation said.
When teaching Buddhism and violence, I usually start by asking students to rank religious groups in the order of how many followers each has in the Army.

Typically, Christians are at the top of students lists and Buddhists at the bottom.

This reflects an unconscious bias many students have regarding Buddhism  they assume that all Buddhists are peaceful and that a Buddhist isnt likely to embrace a career that may well involve violence.

So theyre always surprised to find out that there are more Buddhists in the Army than Muslims and Sikhs put together  despite the relatively small number of Buddhists in Britain.

But why do so many people in the West associate Buddhism with peace?

Read More:

According to historian Professor Jonathan Walters, the roots lie with colonialism and Christian missionaries. In encountering different beliefs among colonised peoples, missionaries adopted a strategy of framing other religions in such a way that Christianity could be presented as superior and attractive.

In their eyes, Islam was too aggressive and focused on strict adherence to rules. Buddhism was too other-worldly, pacifist and passive to the point of stagnation. Christianity was placed in the Goldilocks spot between the two.

The framing still has serious traction and leads to a certain cognitive dissonance when, for example, Buddhists make the headlines for the wrong reasons.

Avoiding onslaught on living beings and instead cultivating loving-kindness towards them is at the heart of Buddhist ethics; its the first of five moral precepts and the one that you have to take if you opt to take any of them at all. The Buddha discouraged violence and counselled kings to find alternative ways of resolving problems. Selling weapons is considered an inappropriate livelihood for a Buddhist.

But Buddhists have been involved in violent conflicts pretty much since the religion emerged. Justifications for such actions have typically been based on defending the Dharma (the Buddhist teachings), occasionally demonising or dehumanising the enemy to make it less karmically wrong to kill them.

A particularly uncomfortable example of this is found in the fifth century Sri Lankan quasi-mythological Mahavamsa chronicle in which monks reassure a king that out of the millions of people hed just slaughtered, only two were Buddhists and the others were more like animals than humans.

Buddhist monks actually bore arms and fought in the Korean defence against Japanese invasions of the late 16th century

When it comes to Buddhist violence, as with any perceived religious conflicts, religion is only one factor in a complex situation. Often ethnic identity is the real issue  it just happens that one of the ethnic groups in question has historical Buddhist affiliations, the other does not.

At one point the Sri Lankan conflict of 1983-2009 had three different civil wars playing out at once, as much as anything along ethnic and political lines: Sinhalese vs Tamils, Sinhalese extremists vs the Sinhalese government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam vs other Tamil militant groups.

While it was not as simple as Buddhists, Muslims and Tamil Hindus all fighting each other, Jathika Chintanaya, or Nationalist Thought, arose, promoted as an exclusively Buddhist vision for Sri Lanka which is influential today in organisations such as the Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Power Force).

Tensions between Buddhist and Muslim ethnic groups in Rakhine State in Myanmar spilled over into riots in 2012 and eventually led to the displacement of more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to neighbouring Bangladesh. While it explicitly describes itself as non-violent and not responsible for these events, the Buddhist nationalist 969 Movement has nevertheless stoked anti-Muslim sentiments in Myanmar and framed Muslims as a threat to national identity. Its important to note, meanwhile, that these nationalist movements do not speak for all Buddhists  lay or monastic  in either Sri Lanka or Myanmar.

Buddhist pacifism is a stereotype (Getty)

Buddhist monks actually bore arms and fought in the Korean defence against Japanese invasions of the late 16th century. While military service is not prohibited in Buddhist texts, a soldiers life is considered problematic because of the likelihood of dying in battle psyched up for killing and fixated on violence. Ideally, a Buddhist wants to die with a calm mind which is more likely to be attracted to a positive rebirth. A violent mind could lead one to Buddhisms realms of hell.

Its not only war and external threats that provide examples of Buddhist violence. Corporal punishment was a feature of the pre-modern Tibetan legal system. In 1997, three Tibetan monks were murdered in Dharamsala  the police linked the suspects in the case to a controversy within Tibetan Buddhism. Thailand retains the death penalty, last using it in 2018.

I always fear that students will fixate on the more sensationalist and violent material covered: that one extreme view will replace another. However, the pacifist stereotype of Buddhism is not without foundation.

Read More:

Witness the Dalai Lamas continued opposition to violence when it comes to the issue of Tibetan independence, the peace activism of Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh, or the efforts of Navayana (Ambedkarite) Buddhists in relation to social justice in India, lifting millions of Dalits out of the structural violence of the caste system.

But then Buddhism is at least as internally diverse as Christianity or Islam and, as such, we should be wary of making generalisations. After all, few Christians would like the perception of their religion to be based solely upon images of the the Quakers or of the [American hate group] Westboro Baptist Church.

Nick Swann is a lecturer in Buddhist studies at the University of South Wales. This article first appeared on The Conversation.
Government forces killed five suspected rebels, including a teenager, in gun fights in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said on Sunday.

The back-to-back clashes began late on Saturday after troops cordoned off two villages in southern Kashmirs Shopian and Bijbehara areas on intelligence that anti-India militants were hiding there, police said.

Three militants were killed and two soldiers wounded in Shopian, Inspector General Vijay Kumar told reporters, and said troops recovered a rifle and a pistol from the site.

One of the dead militants was a teenage boy who, according to officials, had joined rebel ranks few days earlier.

Mr Kumar said several attempts were made to seek the trapped militants surrender but they refused.

Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard in Shopian, south of Srinagar in Indian-controlled Kashmir (Dar Yasin/AP)

Indian forces killed two more militants in the second clash in Bijbehara, he said.

At least 15 militants, a policeman and an army soldier have been killed so far this month.

In a surprising decision last month, India and Pakistan agreed to reaffirm their 2003 ceasefire accord along the de facto frontier dividing Kashmir between the two sides.

However, a crackdown by Indian forces and attacks by rebels have continued inside the Indian-held portion.

Both countries claim the divided territory in its entirety.

Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
Emergency response vehicles are parked at Kahala Resort & Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii on April 10, 2021 in this still image obtained from social media video.

Corey Funai via REUTERS
Metro Video Services

Two drivers were charged Sunday with driving while under the influence after colliding with Houston police officers in separate crashes.

The first wreck happened around midnight near W. Airport Boulevard and Fondren Road in the Brays Oaks neighborhood, where authorities said a woman in a pickup truck turned left on a red light in front of a police officer. The officer then slammed into the woman.
The tragic death of 11-year old Ishmael Mensah has revived discussions on security challenges in Ghana.



Some communities in the country have been described as the hub of criminal activities; one of such communities is Kasoa in the Central Region where the murder of the young boy occurred.



The suspects, Felix Nyarko, 16, and Nicholas Kini, 17, allegedly murdered Ishmael Mensah Abdallah for money rituals.



The suspects have been remanded into Police custody.



Ishmael Mensah's mortal remains have been buried. May his soul rest in perfect peace!



Reacting to the incident on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', Bernard Allotey Jacobs gave the history of Kasoa and how criminals found their way into the community.



"Kasoa now is a violent place," he stated categorically while giving the etymology of Kasoa.



Listen to him below:





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
HARTFORD  Police are investigating a second shooting Saturday afternoon, hours after a 3-year-old was shot and killed in the north end.

Police responded to Magnolia Street near Mather Street, television station WTNH reported.

Two people were taken to the hospital, the outlet reported.

Police are investigating the incident as a homicide, police spokesman Aaron Boisvert confirmed Saturday. He said officers located rifle shell casings at the scene.

NBC News reported multiple weapons were involved in the shooting and the victim was a male.

Several reporters in the area reported hearing gunshots.

Earlier that afternoon police said a 3-year-old was killed during a drive-by shooting on Nelson Street. It is unknown if the two incidents are related.

This is a breaking news story. It will be updated as more information becomes available.
The much-awaited Friends: Reunion special is finally materialising with the main star cast which includes Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer. This special feature is already in the works and it looks like the filming for the same has begun. Several photos from the set have been making rounds on the internet.

In terms of the set up of the show, all actorsJennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer will be reprising their original roles and more importantly, it will be unscripted, unlike more episodes that were previously shot for the series. This much-awaited feature was first going to be shot in March 2020 with a live audience. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, as most countries introduced severe lockdowns, even the production of this reunion episode was impacted and halted for the time being.

This reunion episode has been in the making for a fairly long time. The Hollywood Reporter first claimed back in November 2019 that Warner Bros Television was developing a reunion special to help launch HBO Max, WarnerMedias streaming service.

We finally got picture of the #FriendsReunion set from yesterday

- I can't be more ready! pic.twitter.com/FDIGaz5vjj  MLP Updates (@MatthewPerryNew) April 8, 2021

In February 2020, the special was officially announced along with the release of all 236 episodes on the OTT platform together. Even though the special was halted amid the coronavirus pandemic, original episodes are streaming now.

| More Pictures of the #FriendsReunion set !!

- it's actually happening pic.twitter.com/O86docBSR1  MLP Updates (@MatthewPerryNew) April 9, 2021

Schwimmer, who played the role of palaeontologist Ross Geller on Friends, has already said on the Graham Norton Show, Ill be myself. Ill be David. Were not in character...were all ourselves, the real people.

Friends, one of the most iconic sitcoms that defined pop culture, ran for over 10 years from 1994 to 2004.
Every award is meaningful but this one especially (being) recognized by British people, known as very snobbish people and they approve (of) me as a good actor, so I am very, very happy, the Korean actress quipped over a video stream.
The idea of forgiving debts of poor countries in exchange for green investment gained grounds this week as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank held their spring meeting and deliberated upon its possibility. In the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, low-income countries face the dual challenge of warding off their debts as well as confronting environmental problems. That makes them highly vulnerable said IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva.

Both the global financiers have come with the idea of green debt swaps which would not only allow the poor countries to recover from debts but also tackle rising risks posed by climate change and environmental disaster. For the same, a technical working group, that also includes representatives from the United Nations (UN) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD ) was launched earlier this week to examine creative options to help countries tackle these simultaneous challenges, as per a World Bank spokeswoman.

Could be proposed at COP26 summit

While no concrete measures for the same have been announced as yet, experts are speculating that it could be announced during the upcoming COP26 summit. One prime challenge that WHO and IMF would face is to establish real true partnerships between the lender and borrower. Additionally, they would also have to acknowledge the plight of several middle-income island countries that do not hold colossal loans but are facing critical environmental challenges. Their heavily tourism-dependent economies have seen revenues dry up as the coronavirus pandemic severely curtails world travel. At the same time, their low-lying territories are often the victims of extreme weather events, including devastating cyclones or hurricanes.

According to a report by the Institute of International Finance, global debt rose to a record $281 trillion by the end of 2020, or more than 355% of global GDP. With the coronavirus pandemic battering the world, the capacity of debts to trigger growth is diminishing. In such a situation, a debt exchange for climate action is being deemed as a good option.

Image Credits: ANI/AP
May the best queen hold the crown View(s):

My dear Caroline and Pushpika,

I thought of writing to both of you because of the singular status you have brough to our little island, popularising its name even in faraway lands. In just a few seconds of interacting with each other, you have achieved a feat that would have otherwise cost millions of inflated rupees to our Tourist Board.

You must also be recognised for having brought a huge sense of relief to the citizens of Paradise. Here we were, worrying about bond scams, sugar scams, Easter attacks, the depletion of our forest cover, how safe coconut oil was, not to mention the coronavirus  until the two of you decided to take over.

For two years, we were debating why no action was taken against those responsible for the Easter attacks. For several weeks all we could talk about was a vote on human rights abuses in Geneva. You have changed all that. Now, what everyone is talking about is who our Mrs Sri Lanka should be!

Footage of what you did, Caroline, was on television screens and social media around the world within a matter of hours. You certainly put Sri Lanka on the map. This was probably the greatest exposure a lady of this land got since giving the world its first female Prime Minister 60 years ago.

I know many people are blaming you for this, Caroline, saying the way you behaved that day, trying to take the laws that governed the competition into your own hands was wrong but I wont blame you. Instead, I think all that blame should go to someone else. He is none other than Cheerio Sirisena!

Cheerio Sirisena is being blamed for many issues, including the Easter attacks, and he is saying he is innocent because he was not told of anything beforehand. However, he is definitely to be blamed for what you did at the Mrs Sri Lanka contest last week because it was he who set the example for that.

I am sure, Caroline, you must have been motivated by Cheerio Sirisenas actions a few years ago when he suddenly and forcibly stripped the Green Man of his Prime Ministerial crown and then went on to place it on Mahinda maama. Isnt that what inspired you?

Of course, the judges of the highest court came down hard on Cheerio Sirisena saying what he did was unconstitutional. He had to return the crown to the Green Man. Similarly, Caroline, the organisers of the Mrs World contest have objected to what you did and they returned the crown to Pushpika.

The only difference is that after Pushpika complained that she was assaulted, Caroline, you were arrested and detained before being released on bail. On the contrary, Cheerio Sirisena still roams free without any consequences for his actions, making statements claiming his ignorance and innocence.

Pushpika, we saw and heard what happened that day. Most people, whatever their views on who was right and who was wrong and whether you were a legitimate contestant or not, feel that no one should have been humiliated in that way in front of a worldwide audience, no matter what their faults were.

Then we heard that you got yourself admitted to hospital with head injuries. Yet, the very next day, we saw you before the cameras again giving your side of the story, with all the poise of a beauty queen. That was a very remarkable recovery for someone with a head injury!

That is when we heard, Pushpika, that you had dabbled in politics, campaigning for the pohottuwa in Polonnaruwa. There is nothing wrong with that. However, you should know that voters in Paradise are now once bitten, twice shy  it will be a long time before they trust someone from Polonnaruwa.

Certainly, you seem to have learnt the first lessons of engaging in politics in Paradise very well  and that is to get yourself admitted to a hospital as soon as something controversial happens. That is exactly what you did after suffering your head injury, when Caroline removed your crown.

Pushpika, you experienced great distress that day. Judging by how matters are being decided in Paradise these days, there was a much easier way to deal with this. You should have ensured that Mahinda Yapa was the judge of the contest because he always decides in favour of the pohottuwa!

Caroline and Pushpika, we are grateful to you for helping us get our priorities right. Instead of Covid-19, coconut oil or conservation, we now know what the most important issue is: who is the real Mrs Sri Lanka? Even Gota maama is happy because no one remembers whether Sir has failed or not!

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: Your fighting spirit has rubbed off on our parliamentarians too, Caroline and Pushpika. A day after your incident we saw the almost 80-year-old Chamal saying to Sarath, come for a fight. The last chap to say that to Sarath was Prabhakaran and we all know how that ended, dont we?
The delegation of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States (Turkic Council) started the visit to the Azerbaijani city of Aghdam, liberated from Armenian occupation during the Second Karabakh war, Trends Karabakh bureau reports on April 11.

The delegation includes the ministers and high-ranking officials responsible for information and media of the Turkic Council.

On April 10 meeting of ministers and high-ranking officials responsible for information and media of the Turkic Council's member countries, was held in Baku.
A man was arrested early Saturday morning, accused of trying to steal a car offered for sale online.

A 19-year-old man, whose name was not released, agreed to meet a potential buyer for his vehicle at 1 a.m. at a convenience store in the 8600 block of U.S. 90. He had posted his car for sale on OfferUp, an online marketplace, officials said.

When they met, the would-be buyer handed him an envelope that was supposed to be full of money for the sale, but when the seller checked, there wasnt any. He then confronted the buyer, who pointed a shotgun at him and then drove off with the car, San Antonio Police reported.

The man called police who searched the area. Officers found the vehicle and arrested Luis Mark Valdez, 27, at 5:37 a.m. He was charged with aggravated robbery.

As of Saturday evening, a bond had not yet been determined for Valdez.

liz.hardaway@hearst.com | Twitter: @liz_hardaway
The Boris Johnson government is resisting growing calls to hold a special crisis summit with the Republic of Ireland as violence and tension in Northern Ireland scale to new heights. Speaking to the Observer, a source close to the British administration said that London has failed to show any enthusiasm towards the Irish proposal of a high-level intergovernmental conference. The proposal, which was eventually turned down by Downing Street, was made late last week under the provisions of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

'Centre is going to hold'

The senior source further reckoned that Dublin strongly believes that a strong political leadership-which has to come from the two governments- is required to stabilize the situation in Northern Ireland. Therefore, it was critical for the British and Irish governments to hold talks urgently. The source further said that the Republic of Ireland strongly believes that such a meeting would provide a very visible way to reassure people that the centre is going to hold.

The Guardian, on April 11, reported that Dublin has clarified that it wanted the bi-governmental to be held in Northern Ireland between the British secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis, and the Irish foreign minister, Simon Coveney, to address a series of issues that have reignited tensions, including trade and border problems caused by the Brexit deal struck by UK PM Boris Johnson.

Conflict and unrest in Northern Ireland first emerged in Derry on March 30 after loyalist communities voiced their angst on post-Brexit trade agreements, which they said created a divide between the region and the rest of the UK. Turbulence also surged following the Police Service of Northern Irelands (PSNI) decision not to punish two dozen Sinn Fein politicians who  despite tight restrictions as a result of Covid-19  attended the funeral of the former head of IRA intelligence, Bobby Storey. The turbulence soon spread to other parts including Belfast and Newtownabbey, where rioters took violent measures.

(Image Credits: The Associated Press)
Santiago, April 11 : Chilean Health Minister Enrique Paris called for national unity after 9,171 new Covid-19 cases were registered in the last 24 hours, a record number and the first time the country exceeded 9,000 daily cases.

"We are living through a critical moment of the pandemic. The key word is prevention; I call for national unity," the official said during a brief press conference on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

With this record, the total number of Covid-19 cases climbed to 1,060,421, while 129 more deaths were reported in the last day, bringing the total to 24,108.

Chile is experiencing a new wave of infections, after the end of the summer season in the Southern Hemisphere and the relaxation of restrictive measures from January to March.

Currently, over 80 per cent of Chile's population is under quarantine and the country has closed its borders and restricted trade in goods and services.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Car Sought in Lyon County Property Damage

By West Kentucky Star Staff

LYON COUNTY - Police are looking for a car involved in a property damage incident in Lyon County.Lyon County deputies said that a property owner had been out of town, and returned home to find damage to their fence.The investigation showed that a silver Nissan passenger vehicle lost control and collided with the fence, and then fled the scene.It is believed that the incident took place between April 2nd and 3rd.The Sheriff's Department said the vehicle should have received damage to the front passenger side headlamp, bumper and wheel well.Anyone with information is asked to contact the Lyon County Sheriff's Department at 270-388-2311.
Pete Buttigieg told Christians Sunday that getting vaccinated against coronavirus is 'part of God's plan' as a new poll shows 30% of white evangelicals will definitely refuse to get inoculated.

'You have been outspoken on issues of your personal faith. Otherwise, I normally wouldn't bring this up,' CNN's Jake Tapper posed to Buttigieg. 'Why do you think it is that so many of your fellow white evangelical Christians are reluctant to be vaccinated? And what's your message to them?'

'You know, sometimes, I have heard people, people I care about, saying, if I'm faithful, God's going to take care of me,' the Transportation secretary said in his interview with 'State of the Union' Sunday morning.

'And I guess what I would hope they might consider is that maybe a vaccine is part of God's plan for how you're going to take care of yourself,' he continued. 'In the end, I have to admit that it's unlikely that an official like me is going to be persuasive to somebody who maybe doesn't feel like Washington has been speaking to them for a long time.'

Buttigieg, who is open about his faith whose father taught at the Catholic university Notre Dame, said faith leaders should be encouraging their congregation to get vaccinated.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Sunday that evangelicals who say they definitely won't get vaccinated against coronavirus should 'consider is that maybe a vaccine is part of God's plan for how you're going to take care of yourself'

His comments to CNN came as host Jake Tapper spoke about how 30% of white evangelical christians won't get inoculated against COVID-19

'Pastors  I mean, the very word pastor, the idea of pastoral care is about supporting those who look to you for guidance,' he explained. 'And, usually, we think of that in a spiritual sense, but, sometimes, that could also just be true for health.'

'And so I hope anybody who is looking after a community of people, including a faith community, will consider ways to help guide them towards steps that can protect them and protect those around them,' Buttigieg said.

Behind Republican, white evangelicals are the second most likely group not to get vaccinated against coronavirus.

As Biden's head of the Transportation Department, Buttigieg also assured in his CNN interview Sunday morning that the administration is not pursuing a federal-level vaccine passport proposal.

This idea is something Republicans and christians have railed against, as well.

Buttigieg, who ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, was joining a few Sunday morning programs to promote Biden's $2.3 trillion infrastructure bill.

South Dakota 's Republican Senator John Thune claimed in opposition to Buttigieg's claims that only 6% of Biden's package actually is focused on infrastructure.

The comments come as Buttigieg wouldn't rule out in his CNN interview adding in a way to get so-called 'dreamers' citizenship in the massive infrastructure bill.

'If they are interested in roads, bridges, highways and perhaps broadband, then there is a deal to be had there,' Thune, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, told 'Fox News Sunday' host Chris Wallace.

'Infrastructure in the past has always been bipartisan, when it's confined to infrastructure,' he continued.

Thune said that Biden's proposal 'is a massive expansion of the government.

'Only about 6% of the president's proposal actually goes to what the American people  I think everyday Americans  would describe as infrastructure.'

South Dakota Senator John Thune said only 6% of Joe Biden's package is focused on hard infrastructure despite the president touting it as an infrastructure bill

Republicans lament Biden's administration is attempting to redefine infrastructure to include pet projects, including more green initiatives and social welfare measures.

Biden's team  and other Democrats  argue that the definition of 'infrastructure' needs to be expanded to encompass, among other things, rural broadband, elderly care, and universal child care.

'We can agree to disagree on what to call it  I'm still going to ask you to vote for it,' Buttigieg told CNN's 'State of the Union' on Sunday morning.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus wants to provide a path to citizenships for those in the U.S. with temporary protected status (TPS) and Obama-era 'dreamers', whose fate was up in the air when former President Doanld Trump said he would not honor their special status.

Republicans lament Democrats are trying to squeeze in their pet projects in Biden's $2.3 trillion infrastructure package  rather than including 'hard' infrastructure measures to improve roads, bridges and buildings

The caucus also wants the infrastructure package to include citizenship paths for essential workers who are not U.S. citizens.

Although Buttigieg did not rule out the idea, he said a path to citizenship is not currently 'in the plan that the president's put forward.

'I will say that we're hearing a lot of ideas from across the aisle and from within our caucus on what to do about the pay-fors, different shapes that the infrastructure package and the transportation infrastructure can take,' Buttigieg told Jake Tapper.

'I think you'll find the president is ready to listen to these ideas that are going to come up, for example, in tomorrow's meeting,' he added.

Assuredly adding in any immigration provisions to the package would only further complicate getting any Republican support for the bill.

Biden will meet on Monday with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to discuss his infrastructure plan.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm also tried to join in on redefining infrastructure on Sunday.

'What is infrastructure? Historically, it's been what makes the economy move,' Granholm told ABC's 'This Week' host George Stephanopoulos on Sunday.

Biden's Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm tried to redefine infrastructure, claiming ti 'evolves to meet the American peoples' aspirations'

'Infrastructure evolves to meet the American peoples' aspirations  and it's not static,' she insisted. 'We don't want to use past definitions of infrastructure when we are moving into the future.'

She added: 'The president wants to negotiate with Republicans and he wants to see a common vision for the future.'

Both Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Chris Coons of Delaware, a close friend and longtime colleague of Biden, have expressed their opposition to an infrastructure bill of such magnitude.

Coons even suggested there should be a bill focused solely on 'hard' infrastructure bill with a price tag in the hundreds of billions  not few trillions.
Cowtown impact of a global trend . . .



FT: Computer chip shortage, corporate America caught between US and China

Read more . . .

by: AP Wire Posted: / Updated: DETROIT - The global shortage of semiconductors has forced General Motors and Ford to further cut production at their North American factories, including in the Kansas City area, as chip supplies seem to be growing tighter. The shutdowns likely will crimp dealer inventory of vehicles made at the plants.
Grant will help Shaker Museum project

CHATHAM  Shaker Museum was awarded a two-year, $230,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation for the installation of the Shaker Belief, Shaker Life, Shaker Community collection, to be presented at the launch of the museums upcoming facility in downtown Chatham.

Curated by Maggie Taft, the display will offer a kaleidoscopic view of American Shakerism from the religions founding in the late 18th century to its flourishing in the 19th century and decline in the 20th. Using selections from Shaker Museums collection, the exhibition will explore how Shakerisms radical foundational values of equality, inclusion, and accessibility were pursued and experienced by members of Shaker communities, according to the museum.

The museum is renovating the 19th century industrial building in Chatham and building an addition designed by Selldorf Architects.

County selling former office building

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Saratoga County is holding an online auction for surplus property at 31 Woodlawn Ave. -- once an old clothing factory -- by Auctions International, to continue until 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 28.

The two-story, 10,300-square foot property was used by the county as an office building. It has two parking lots.

Completed in 1927, it was originally used as a clothing factory until 1936 when the county rented it from the city of Saratog Springs. The county bought it in 1940 and it has since undergone several renovations.

Auctions International's website includes more information and a virtual 360 tour. Also see 31Woodlawn.com.

Hotel Broadalbin is site of Hot History program

BROADALBIN -- The Fulton County Historical Society and the Historic Hotel Broadalbin, will present Hot History on at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 20.

Join local historians David Brooks and Samantha Hall-Saladino as they talk about some of the county's most interesting, scandalous, and weird history - while they eat progressively hotter chicken wings with each story. Attendees can enjoy a delicious limited food menu and full drinks menu from the hotel restaurant during the program. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 518-883-5414.

The Hotel Broadalbin is at 59 W. Main St., Broadalbin. For more information, visit fultoncountyhistoricalsociety.org

and historicbroadalbinhotel.com.

History Center announces speaker series episodes

BALLSTON SPA  The Saratoga County History Center's April, May, and June episodes of its virtual speaker series Experts Next Door are:

7 p.m. Thursday, April 22: Curing in the Mountains with Amy Catania, Executive Director of Historic Saranac Lake. Ms. Catania will discuss Saranac Lakes fascinating role in the research and treatment of tuberculosis, and how it relates to todays fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Along the way, she will share tales of Saranac Lakes history, including first-hand accounts from people associated with the research and treatment center.

7 p.m. Thursday, May 20: The Social Life of Hats with Dr. Tillman Nechtman, Professor of History at Skidmore College. Grab your fedoras, Panamas, bowlers, pork pies, and boaters, because Mays episode of END is all about hats! In particular, the role hats have played in Saratogas storied social scene. Inspired by a spring 2021 course at Skidmore that utilizes Brookside Museums chapeaux collection, Dr. Nechtmans presentation will include stories, students, and some silliness. Participants are encouraged to wear their favorite topper and share their own social shenanigans.

7 p.m. Thursday, June 17: New York, Joseph Smith, and the Fight for Religious Freedom with Dr. Spencer McBride, Associate Managing Historian of the Joseph Smith Papers Project. Dr. McBride, a prominent historian and published author, will be discussing his newest book and exploring the remarkable, though short-lived, political career of Joseph Smith, the New Yorker who founded Mormonism, waged a literal war for religious freedom, and launched a quixotic run for the White House.

Episodes are free for SCHC members, and $5 for non-members. Register in advance at www.brooksidemuseum.org. Registrants will receive a Zoom link and other relevant information. For questions, contact Isobel Connell at isobel@brooksidemuseum.org.

'Legends of Our People' offered on Wednesdays

ALBANY - A new course taught by Rabbi David Katz at Bnai Sholom Reform Congregation will look at Midrashim, legends created by the Jewish people.

The Legends of Our People  Past and Present will be offered three Wednesdays beginning April 21, 7 to 8:15 p.m. via Zoom.

Before Eve there was Lillith. Lillith was too uppity for Adam and way too assertive for his taste. She dissatisfied Adam and that is why God created Eve  to be a helpmate. Why do we not hear of Lillith? She does not appear in the Bible; she appears in legends created by men. This story will begin the study of Midrashim: the legends of the Jews. Over three Wednesdays, the course will look at the ancient writings, the legends that continue to be written today and the legends that we ourselves create.

The Legends of Our People  Past and Present is open to the public. Registration is required. Cost: $15; for Bnai Sholom members, it is $10. Registrants will receive a confirmation email with links to access the course.

For more information or to register, contact the Bnai Sholom office: 518-482-5283 or office@bnaisholom.albany.ny.us.
Bengaluru, April 11 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday advised Karnataka to focus on micro containment zones to check the virus spread in the state, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa said.

"Spoke to the Prime Minister and apprised him of the measures taken to mitigate the second wave of pandemic in the state. He appreciated our government's efforts and suggested us to focus on micro containment zones to contain the spread of infection," Yediyurappa said in a tweet in Kannada.

Modi's phone call followed his meeting with Chief Ministers on April 8 on the pandemic's second wave sweeping across the country.

"The Prime Minister stressed upon enhancing testing and advised the state to focus on micro-containment zones, ensure ambulances, oxygen supply and ventilators," Yediyurappa said.

According to the state health bulletin, 6,955 new cases were reported on Saturday against 7,955 on Friday. Bengaluru registered 4,384 fresh cases and 19 of the 36 deaths in the state on Saturday.

As suggested, 'Vaccine Utsav' has been launched across the state to inoculate as many of the eligible citizens and protect them from the infection.

"Vaccine is the biggest weapon available to us in this battle against Covid-19. I urge all eligible citizens to get vaccinated and encourage others to get vaccinated. Let us continue to stay protected by wearing a face mask and follow social distancing," said Yediyurappa in another tweet.

On Saturday, 58,945 people in the 45-59 years age group and 43,179 people above 60 years were vaccinated across the state.

"Cumulatively, 56,26,481 people have received the jab since the vaccination drive was launched across the state," the bulletin said.
Her first pony was a humble wooden rocking horse, which was never going to win any races or propel her into the record books. Her second was rather more promising, a cute steed called Bubbles, upon which a smiling seven-year-old Rachael Blackmore proudly sat in her baby pink quilted riding jacket.

Photographs like these can be found in the albums of countless parents of horse-mad youngsters across the UK. But few will be able to complete the collection with the sort of photograph Rachael posed for this weekend.

The 31-year-old dairy farmers daughter from Tipperary made sporting history on Saturday when she became the first woman to win the Grand National.

Wearing green and gold jockeys silks, she smashed racings glass ceiling by riding the 11-1, eight-year-old bay gelding Minella Times to a stunning victory.

Rachael Blackmore made sporting history on Saturday when she became the first woman to win the Grand National

In scenes reminiscent of the 1944 film National Velvet, starring Elizabeth Taylor as the young girl who wins the Grand National against all odds, Rachael Blackmore (pictured) turned fiction into reality with a masterclass of grit and determination

Her first pony was a humble wooden rocking horse, which was never going to win any races or propel her into the record books

Growing up, Rachael admits she dreamed of becoming a vet, and remarkably only became a professional jockey in 2015 after what she described as an average amateur career.

But in scenes reminiscent of the 1944 film National Velvet, starring Elizabeth Taylor as the young girl who wins the Grand National against all odds, Rachael Blackmore turned fiction into reality with a masterclass of grit and determination.

Punching the air in triumph after crossing the line, the modest and reluctant star admitted in post-race interviews that winning the worlds most famous steeplechase was beyond belief and hadnt quite sunk in yet.

This is massive, said racings new superstar. You need some luck to get around with no one else interfering ... you need so much to go right and things went right today.

As for being the first female jockey to win in the races 182-year history  44 years after Charlotte Brew became the first woman to ride in the Grand National  well, Rachael seemed to be one person not making a big deal out of it.

I dont feel male or female right now. I dont even feel human, the euphoric jockey told ITV of her win on the horse owned by J.P. McManus and trained by Henry De Bromhead. This is just unbelievable.

Her second pony was rather more promising, a cute steed called Bubbles, upon which a smiling seven-year-old Rachael Blackmore proudly sat in her baby pink quilted riding jacket

Nor was she keen to be drawn into the inevitable comparisons with Velvet Brown (the Hollywood film was based on the 1935 novel by Enid Bagnold), who also grew up on a dairy farm.

National Velvet was definitely something that would have been on the television when we were growing up. Ive got no punchy line to go with it, said Rachael, insisting that she was inspired by watching the Grand National on TV when she was eight, rather than the film.

Others, however, couldnt resist celebrating the parallels, including Enid Bagnolds great granddaughter Emily Sheffield, who tweeted: Today Rachael Blackmore finally made that fiction become reality.

Certainly, Rachaels own story would provide an equally inspiring template for any young girl who dreams of racing horses  with the added benefit of being rooted in reality.

Punching the air in triumph after crossing the line, the modest and reluctant star admitted in post-race interviews that winning the worlds most famous steeplechase was beyond belief and hadnt quite sunk in yet

One of three children, she did not grow up in a racing family, like many other jockeys, but on her father Charless dairy farm in Killenaule in County Tipperary.

Her mother Eimir is a teacher; her younger sister would grow up to become a lawyer and her older brother a graphic designer. Rachael, however, always seemed destined to push boundaries.

She continuously climbed out of her cot even well before her first birthday. We knew she was going to have an adventurous disposition, to say the least, her mother once recalled. And we knew she was competitive  Charles taught her how to ride and negotiate obstacles, and at a very young age she wanted to jump everything Jonathan [her brother] jumped.

With her first pony, Bubbles, igniting a passion for racing and speed, it wasnt long before Rachael was making a name for herself at Tipperary Pony Club.

Competitive, fearless and talented, she was described as the best boy on the team, her mother Eimir remembers.

Though horse-mad, Rachael actually wanted to be a vet when she was growing up: I wanted to ride horses but I didnt see being a jockey as a career, I always wanted to ride in races and compete but it was always as an amateur.

Aged 13, she was thrilled to win a Cork pony race in 2004, beating a young rider called Paul Townend, who six years later would win the title of Irelands champion jump jockey while she continued riding in the amateur ranks.

She never dreamed that, 17 years later, in March this year, shed beat her old adversary again, by pipping him to be named top jockey at the Cheltenham Festival with six winners, again making history as the first female rider to do so.

When Rachael first went to Cheltenham, aged 16, it was not to race, but for a chance to wear nice clothes and enjoy the festival as a racing fan.

I definitely wouldnt have been there longing to ride in Cheltenham at that stage, she has said. I didnt think at that point I could be dreaming of riding winners there, so things have gone beyond what I was able to dream about.

As for being the first female jockey to win in the races 182-year history  44 years after Charlotte Brew became the first woman to ride in the Grand National  well, Rachael seemed to be one person not making a big deal out of it

Her parents felt the same. I encouraged her to go to college because I didnt think for a minute shed be able to make it her full-time career, said her mother. Shows what I know.

Whilst studying equine science at Limerick University, Rachael continued competing as an amateur and remained so passionate about racing she missed her graduation ceremony, leaving her parents mantelpiece bereft of photographs.

But theyve had lots to celebrate since then; photographs and trophies aplenty since Rachael won her first track winner on Stowaway Pearl in February 2011. She only decided to turn professional in 2015 in the hope of securing better rides.

The best horses win the race. If you are fortunate enough as a jockey to get on these horses, that is half the battle, she told the Irish Times.

A couple of people were saying: I dont know if youre doing the right thing because it is strange for someone who was extremely average as an amateur to turn professional. Its not the usual course to take. I suppose when a couple of people were negative it did make me want to prove them wrong.

Rachael Blackmore made history after becoming the first female jockey to win the Grand National

It wasnt a woman thing. I just needed the practice. Thats just what I got when I turned professional. Straight away I got more rides. That allowed me to improve.

When I turned professional I was not full of confidence. I had nothing to lose but I was tip-toeing in.

Weighing just nine stone, Rachael has never had to worry about her weight, unlike some male jockeys, including her boyfriend Brian Hayes and their housemate, fellow jockey Patrick Mullins.

But she works hard building up her physical strength and on a typical day rides out in the morning, races in the afternoon and also goes to the gym for conditioning and strength.

Nor does she fear falling, shrugging off the injuries she has sustained during her career as just a broken nose, collarbone and wrist  not much.

I dont think about injury. If you start thinking about what could go wrong, it is not the job for you, she said.

Modest, tough, steely, hard-working and popular with her fellow jockeys, Rachael resists the idea that she is in any way a star. What is a star? she asked on the first day of the 2020 Cheltenham Festival. To me, Beyonce is a star.

Despite her historic achievement on Saturday, Rachael doesnt like to think of herself as a pioneer, and would rather just be seen as a jockey, regardless of gender.

I probably find it a little tiresome within the small racing bubble because I dont think it should be a thing any more, she has said.

I fully get why its a thing outside the bubble because it is a male-dominated sport. But at the end of the day its the horses doing the running  we are just on their backs doing the steering. It would be a lot different if some female sprinter was beating Usain Bolt.

Her mother Eimir agrees, recently saying: Shes just a jockey. Its just her job. However, she added: Weve had some gorgeous letters from little girls saying, I want to be just like you, and this kind of thing. And its wonderful.

After Saturdays Grand National, Rachael Blackmore may prove to be more of an inspiration to those young girls than the fictional Velvet Brown will ever be.
The FBI Denver Division plans to host multiple programs in Colorado and Wyoming this summer, targeting high school students interested in the FBI.

Beginning in June, the FBI will conduct its annual Teen Academies, one-day events where attendees learn about FBI career options, online safety, case presentations and participate in evidence response and SWAT demonstrations.

Around 30 to 40 students will be selected to participate in each Teen Academy, one in Loveland on June 18 and one in Rock Springs, Wyo., on July 10.

Applications are due April 30 and are available online at fbi.gov.

This year, the FBI will also be holding several Cyber Security Teen Bootcamps throughout Colorado and Wyoming  a new program established in 2021.

During each bootcamp, attendees will hear presentations on cybersecurity and have hands-on training with a MacBook Pro, virtual Windows 10 PC, iPhone 11 and Google Pixel phone. Each session will be limited to 10 students.

Bootcamp dates and locations will be determined at a later date. Each bootcamp will be facilitated by FBI Denver Chief Security Officer Michael Mercer, who has over 13 years of experience in cybersecurity and privacy.

Bootcamp applicants should email Community Outreach Specialist Leah Hapner at dn_outreach@fbi.gov by May 28 with their name, birthday, school name, grade, city of residence and contact information.

If you represent a youth organization interested in a bootcamp presentation, visit forms.fbi.gov to complete a request form.
Root cause of all problems View(s):

There is an old saying  All garbage goes to Beira Lake. It is self-explanatory; Beira Lake in Colombo was the recipient of all sorts of garbage in the city  at least those days. In the same way, the countrys open economy has been the recipient of all the blame. Accordingly, all sorts of economic and social problems that we face today are due to the open economy of the country!

People are greedy for money because of the open economy; corruption and bribery is rampant because of the open economy; crime and robbery is widespread because of the open economy; law and order is jeopardised because of the open economy; humanity has vanished because of the open economy!

The most recent articulation I heard was that even the COVID-19 pandemic hit us because of the open economy. I am sure we can build up a logical argument to reason out that too. When the Coronavirus didnt originate from Sri Lanka, surely it has come from somewhere else through somebody or something that originated from abroad because we are open to other countries!

Surprising question

A few weeks ago, I accepted an invitation to deliver a speech at a webinar organised jointly by the Association of Sri Lankan Academics in Japan and the Association of Sri Lankan Students in Japan. Interestingly, the title of the speech that was suggested by the organisers was Should Sri Lanka still be an open economy?

What a question to ask after spending more than 40 years with such an open economy!

A renowned economist from Australia, who is a friend of mine too, sent me his shocking remarks in an email after hearing the title of the speech: I was surprised that someone had to raise this question whether Sri Lanka should remain an open economy in this era of economic globalisation! In fact, a more sensible title would have been Why Sri Lanka should remain an open economy?

I wrote back to him: It has been a live question and, it is more live today than ever before.

I had reasons to say that too. In an email communication with me, another friend of mine had written the following: Sri Lankas woes about its devastating economic crisis that has been ravaging the everyday lives of the people are a consequence of liberalising trade and capital flows over four decades ago. Its dependence on imports, and looming external debt payments, both without adequate foreign earnings, has pushed the economy over the cliff into a depression.

In fact, its a correct statement about Sri Lankas current economic woes; I dont dispute that. But the question is whether it is a result of the open economy resulting in liberalisation of trade and capital flows; in fact, performance of both trade and capital flows particularly during the past 20 years remained lagging far short of expectations.

Realities and Rhetoric

Therefore, I suggested to add another clause to the proposed title of the speech: Realities and Rhetoric. I knew there was a difference between realities and rhetoric of the open economy of Sri Lanka so that finally, I delivered the speech specifying on realities and rhetoric of the open economy of Sri Lanka.

It is the same question that I want to raise today: Is Sri Lanka an open economy? In order to answer the question, we must first know: What is an open economy?

An open economy means an economic system where people are free to make their economic choices in the markets governed by the rule of law. Therefore, it is a market economy which has a foundation  the rule of law. It is not a system without rules and regulations; that is anarchy! We dont call the open economy an anarchic system, but rather the opposite.

Then we have a question. If it is a system with rules and regulations, how does an open economy differ from a regulated economy? It is the quality of rules and regulations which allow you to exercise your free choices without letting anyone else to infringe your right. Thats exactly why the rule of law is fundamental to the open economy. According to this principle, rules and regulations should be enforced and impartial so that actually they facilitate your free choices without leaving room for someone else to infringe your rights.

Traffic lights

Let me get the famous traffic light example in which red, green and amber lights indicate the rules that the drivers should follow. Everyone is free to drive through, but driving must be according to the traffic light rule.

At a busy junction without traffic lights, you can clearly see an anarchy in which everyone is infringing others right. Even if there are traffic lights, someone could use powers to cut across disregarding traffic lights, and hence, infringing others rights; in this case, even though there is a law, there is no rule of law.

Sri Lanka provides an ideal case of a poor record in two areas important for the open economy; legal system and international trade. The evidence can be found in the latest annual report on Economic Freedom of the World 2020, published by the Fraser Institute, using 2018 data. The maintenance of the rule of law is represented by the indicators of judicial independence, impartial courts, military interference in rule of law and politics, integrity of the legal system and the reliability of the police. It is amazing that in all these indicators, Sri Lanka has continued to score poorly.

It is true that, Sri Lanka opened up its economy in 1977, but it does not mean that Sri Lanka had an open economy. This is because establishing an open economy requires reforms in the foundation, while the rule of law was one of the important areas of this very foundation of an open economy.

Open without trade?

Without any difficulty, it is easy to understand the relevance of international trade to the open economy. There is no open economy without opening for international trade. Therefore, open for trade cannot be hidden underneath like the rule of law as a foundational stone. In fact, it may be hilarious to talk about an open economy without opening for trade.

Sri Lankas position in international trade is an exceptional case because of not only its poor positioning, but also its historical deterioration over the past many years. International trade positioning is poor due to poor scores of tariffs, regulatory trade barriers, and the controls of the movements of capital and people.

Sri Lankas positioning with respect to international trade appears to have got eroded against many of its peers, including China, India, Thailand and Bangladesh; further the countries such as Myanmar and Vietnam appear to have improved their positioning against Sri Lanka with respect to being open to international trade.

Ignoring all lights

Direction is more important than positioning; Even if the positioning with respect to either rule of law or international trade or any other area is poor, consistent improvements in such areas shows the direction which is important to protect the rights for economic choices from infringement. A clear direction of the improvements of the quality of rules and regulations improves their consistency and predictability. From an investment point of view, the clear direction of improving rules and regulations could be regarded as more important than ad hoc ups-and-downs in a current positioning.

It difficult to designate Sri Lanka as an open economy. It started reforms by liberalising trade and investment, but it was a fragmented and incomplete agenda. It is a system with traffic lights, but sometimes you are directed to drive on red lights or asked to stop at green lights; and suddenly you could notice somebody else driving on the wrong side ignoring all lights and surpassing all others. When the quality of rules and regulations are poor, there is room for trespassing the boundary lines and infringing into others rights. In this context its not surprising that an economy as such performs poorly. (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).
(Alliance News) - Hammerson PLC has agreed to sell its retail parks in the UK to Toronto-based property and private equity firm Brookfield for GBP350 million, in order to pay down debt, the Sunday Times reported without citing sources.

The seven retail parks in England, Scotland and Wales are in Falkirk, Didcot, Middlesbrough, St Helens, Telford, Merthyr Tydfil and Rugby, the newspaper said.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hammerson-sells-retail-parks-to-canadian-giant-brookfield-for-350m-vh56ccn68

Last month, London-based Hammerson revealed its pretax loss more than doubled to GBP1.73 billion in 2020 from GBP779.3 million in 2019. Net debt totalled GBP2.23 billion on December 31.

By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Oshin writer no more View(s):

Renowned Japanese scriptwriter Sugako Hashida, best known for the internationally popular TV drama series Oshin, has died of lymphoma. She was 95.

Hashida had been treated for the illness since earlier this year. She died on Sunday, 4th April at her home in Atami, west of Tokyo, according to Pinko Izumi, an actress who appeared in many of the dramas Hashida wrote, including Oshin.

Born in Korea in 1925 during the Japanese colonisation of the Korean Peninsula, Hashida moved to Japan in the late 1930s and lived those early years in Osaka.

She joined the Shochiku film studio in 1949 before becoming a freelance scriptwriter for television dramas, including the hugely popular morning drama series Oshin broadcast in 1983-1984 on NHK public television.

The fictionalised drama is based on the biography of a Japanese woman who co-founded a famous supermarket chain and her multiple hardships from her childhood until her final days in the 1980s.

Oshin was broadcast in more than 60 countries and gained high acclaim.

Her other popular dramas included Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari, or Making it Through, a family drama series that started in 1990 and aired more than 500 episodes.

Actress Izumi, who was in both Oshin and Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari, said she was at Hashidas bedside when she died.

I said to her Mama, then she briefly opened her eyes, then it was as if she went back to sleep, Izumi said in an interview with Japanese media.

Hashida wrote a book asking for the right to die in dignity. According to her request, there will be no funeral.

Hashida received the Japan Order of Culture last year.
Two big South Korean electric vehicle battery makers have settled a long-running trade dispute that will allow one of them to move ahead with plans to manufacture batteries in Georgia a person briefed on the matter said. President Joe Biden called it a win for American workers and the American auto industry.

LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation reached the settlement, ending the need for Biden to intervene in the dispute, the person said Saturday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the companies had not announced the settlement. No details were available.

The U.S. International Trade Commission decided in February that SK stole 22 trade secrets from LG Energy, and that SK should be barred from importing, making or selling batteries in the United States for 10 years.

The decision could have left Ford and Volkswagen scrambling for batteries as they both roll out additional electric vehicle models. SK has contracts to make batteries for an electric Ford F-150 pickup truck and an electric Volkswagen SUV.

The commission said SK could supply batteries to Ford Motor Co. for four years and to Volkswagen AG for two years.

The decision jeopardized a $2.6 billion battery factory that SK is building in Commerce, Georgia.

Politicians were calling on Biden to overrule the commissions decision. Biden had until Sunday night to make a decision.

Biden said in a statement Sunday that building electric vehicles and the batteries needed for them is an important part of his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan.

We need a strong, diversified and resilient U.S.-based electric vehicle battery supply chain, so we can supply the growing global demand for these vehicles and components  creating good-paying jobs here at home, and laying the groundwork for the jobs of tomorrow. Todays settlement is a positive step in that direction, Biden said.

___

Krisher reported from Detroit.
Describing Bachmann as one of the first prototypes of a fringe character made into a star in the Fox laboratory, Boehner said she was telling him that he wasnt the one with power; that was through her relationship with right-wing media.

She was right, of course, he wrote.

Fox was conceived by founder Roger Ailes in 1996 as a political tool, rather than a journalistic entity. It has operated that way since, but it was more a forum for conservative ideas and promoter of GOP agendas than the place where political leadership of the right was determined. It is now the backroom where right-wing careers are made and unmade, and leadership of the party is determined. No media outlet with the word news in its title should play such a political role.

The irony in the case of Gaetz is that after being elevated by Fox the past four years, it looks like he might now be on the outs. Gaetz appeared on Fox News 18 times in March. He has averaged 87 minutes of airtime a month during the last year, according to The Washington Posts count.
A scene from "Way Back Home" / Courtesy of Monsoon Pictures





By Kwak Yeon-soo







The movie "Way Back Home" focuses on a rape survivor's internal journey to put her life back together after the traumatic assault.







In the film, actress Han Woo-yeon plays Jung-won, a rape survivor who is married to a loving husband, Sang-woo (Jeon Suk-ho), and is living a normal day-to-day life. One day, she receives a call from the police who says that the perpetrator who raped her 10 years ago has been arrested







However, Jung-won feels hesitant to tell her husband about the case, fearing his reaction. The couple's relationship becomes awkward and distant at first, but as Jung-won's traumatic past is revealed, Sang-woo comforts her, helping her to overcome the trauma.







Director Park Sun-joo said she wanted to focus on the protagonist's path to healing from trauma. "I decided to make a film about rape survivor after watching news that a perpetrator was caught 10 years after committing the crime with the help of DNA testing," she said during a recent press conference for the film.







The aftermath of rape can be emotional and disorienting, but the director doesn't deliver the story provocatively. She avoids showcasing acts of violence or revenge, and instead focuses on the protagonist's internal journey.







A poster for "Way Back Home" / Courtesy of Monsoon Pictures





With immersive storytelling, "Way Back Home" invites its audience to assume the perspective of Jung-won and feel anything but detached from her deeply emotive story. This allows the audience to have enough empathy to think of what she might be experiencing.







Without much action or many characters, the film attracts the audience's full attention. Instead of bursting with anger, the protagonist keeps her complex emotions such as pain, humiliation and resentment bottled inside.







Silence emphasizes Jung-won's intense emotions. Rather than dialogue, the protagonist's feelings and will to overcome the trauma are often conveyed through her actions. For instance, there is a scene in which Jung-won, a swimming instructor, sinks and floats in a pool. It displays a sinking feeling as if someone was pulling her heart down.







Han's heart-wrenching performance delivers an unsettling portrait of trauma that hunts her even a decade later. Jung-won feels hesitant to talk about her rape as a teen and how it made her feel despite the fact that there is not a single member in her family who erroneously discredits her.







Thanks to the wide support, she slowly learns to open up about her trauma to the family who supports her without judgment. The touching marital relationship between Han and Jeon is showcased with careful nuance. Thanks to Sang-woo, Jung-won is able to let go of the psychological defense mechanism and cope with her distress.







"Way Back Home" is currently playing in theaters.






Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas may have been overly optimistic on Sunday when he said on Fox News that his state could be very close to herd immunity  the point where so much of the population is immune to Covid-19, either from being vaccinated or previously infected, that the virus can no longer spread.

When you look at the senior population, for example, more than 70 percent of our seniors have received a vaccine shot, more than 50 percent of those who are 50 to 65 have received a vaccine shot, Mr. Abbott, a Republican, told Chris Wallace. Mr. Wallace had asked why statewide infection, hospitalization and death rates were more under control than in other states, in spite of Texas reopening many activities and eliminating mask mandates.

The governor added, I dont know what herd immunity is, but when you add that to the people who have immunity, it looks like it could be very close to herd immunity.

Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist and director of the University of Minnesotas Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, said, There is no way on Gods green earth that Texas is anywhere even close to herd immunity.
Gambling and investing are worlds apart. One could lose you all your money. The other is a slow and steady route to long-term wealth.

Yet telling the difference between the two is easier said than done. After all, both can involve holding shares in companies or trading other financial instruments.

A new type of investment platform also blurs the line between investing and gambling, peddling high-risk financial instruments alongside safer investments.

Are you gambling? According to the City regulator, a growing number of stock market enthusiasts misguidedly think they are investing when, in truth, they are putting their savings in serious danger by taking on far more risk than they realise

For example, platforms eToro and Trading 212 allow people to purchase lower-risk tracker funds that invest in hundreds of companies around the world.

But alongside these, investors can also buy high-risk crypto-currencies, bet on currency fluctuations, or even purchase Contract for Difference (CFD) instruments that magnify their losses. More than two thirds of ordinary investors lose money when trading CFDs with Trading 212 and eToro.

According to the City regulator, a growing number of stock market enthusiasts misguidedly think they are investing when, in truth, they are putting their savings in serious danger by taking on far more risk than they realise.

Sheldon Mills, executive director of consumer and competition at the Financial Conduct Authority, says: 'We are worried that some investors are being tempted  often through online adverts or high-pressure sales tactics  into buying higher-risk products that are very unlikely to be suitable for them.'

The FCA does not mention any companies by name. So how can you tell if you're gambling or investing? The answer is often surprisingly counterintuitive. But here are a few of the tell-tale signs.

Do your investments keep you awake?

Investing shouldn't give you an adrenaline rush  or cause you serious worry. If it does, you're probably gambling or trading, not investing.

For an increasing number of people, getting into investing for the first time, emotion and thrill are key to the experience, according to research by the regulator.

But if your investments are keeping you awake at night with worry, you are probably taking on levels of risk more akin to gambling than investing. And by the same token, if you are experiencing extreme highs and lows, you are probably gambling.

New breed of investment platforms: eToro and Trading 212 allow people to purchase lower-risk tracker funds, but alongside these, investors can also buy high-risk crypto-currencies

Bimpe Nkontchou is founder of digital wealth management platform Wealth8.

She says: 'While some investors enjoy the thrill of short-term stock trading, riding the wave with the hope of a lucky win, it's a recipe for disaster, especially if you stake large amounts that you cannot afford to lose.

'Investing means taking a slow and steady approach, picking a well-diversified portfolio of investments to hold over the long term. Investing regular amounts every month and reinvesting any dividend income is a better and safer method of building wealth  instead of the 'get-rich-quick' approach of gambling.'

Are you listening to your gut?

There are some areas of life when following your instinct can help you make the right decision. Investing is not one of them. If you are relying on your gut when trading, you may be taking on too much risk  or even gambling.

Anna-Sophie Hartvigsen is co-founder of financial start-up Female Invest.

She warns investors to be wary of gut feelings. 'Investing is based on rational decisions for the long run,' she says, 'whereas gambling is typically a short-lived activity based on gut feeling and luck.

'Looking at historic investment returns, the global stock market increases around ten per cent a year on average, whereas gambling has a negative expected return.'

She adds: 'You get the best chance of a high return if you invest based on rational decisions rather than irrational feelings.'

Even professional investors don't have reliable gut instincts about when to buy and sell

Even the best professional investors do not have reliable gut instincts about when to buy and sell. In fact, what feels like a gut instinct can be one of several behavioural biases, which delude us into thinking we know what the future holds.

For example, if the share price of a company has been rising for some time, we are more likely to believe it will continue to do so.

Investors also unconsciously follow herd mentalities. Our instinct tells us to sell because everyone else is  even though this could mean selling when prices are low. And our gut can tell us a company is a good buy because there is a buzz around it  even if that buzz has pushed the share price up to unsustainable highs.

However, don't ignore your gut instinct completely. Do take heed if it warns you that an investment sounds too good to be true or that something seems suspicious. It could just stop you from falling for a scam.

Is your portfolio taking up a lot of your time?

As a rule of thumb, the more time and effort you put into something, the better at it you are likely to become. However, this rule does not apply to investing.

If you are spending time every day or even every week tweaking your portfolio  buying and selling  you are more likely to be gambling or trading than investing. The result will be lower returns.

Dan Lane, senior analyst at investment platform Freetrade, explains that inaction is often key to investment success. He says: 'Train yourself to recognise that investment success isn't about who can buy and sell the most assets. In fact, it could be the opposite.

'If you're putting effort into finding out which companies are run well and consistently making money, why would you then want to sell them?

'You're ignoring the potential long-term benefits, not to mention you have to go out and find something better to put your money into.

'This unveils the real truth about investing. You don't necessarily make money selling a quality asset  you make money owning it. The longer you give dividends from good quality assets time to snowball, the more chance you have of racking up long-term gains.'

Are you excited about a handful of companies?

Finding companies that are going to change the world can be an intoxicating experience.

But if you are aligning your financial future with just a small number of shares, you are likely to be taking on a lot of risk.

If those companies are new and unproven, your investments may be no safer than gambling.

'If Tesla is one of the only companies you've invested in, then you could be taking more of a risk than you realise', says Rachel Rickard Straus

The Financial Conduct Authority warns that high-risk investors are likely to enjoy the status that comes with a sense of ownership over companies they invest in. But it's a risky strategy.

It may sound more glamorous to tell people you are an investor in electric car manufacturer Tesla than in a diversified portfolio of investment funds and shares.

But if Tesla is one of the only companies you've invested in, then you could be taking more of a risk than you realise.

Heather Owen, a financial planner at Quilter Private Client Advisers, adds: 'The first rule of investing is to diversify your portfolio to reduce the risk.

'Buying one single stock is very high risk as you put all your eggs in one basket.

'Back lots of horses and then if one falls, you know you have a back-up. Diversification extends beyond just shares.

'Having a diverse portfolio of assets  including bonds, property and alternatives  is also a good way to go.'
Saxon, a Passive Drug Detection Dog, has been retired from duty in the Irish Prison Service (IPS) after more than a decade of service at jails in Portlaoise and other parts of Ireland.

"The Irish Prison Service would like acknowledge the service of Saxon, a Passive Drug Detection Dog, after serving an incredible 11 years of loyal service and wishes him all the best in his retirement," said a recent statement.

The IPS said Saxon completed training with his handler Sean Dunne in December 2009 in the Northern Ireland Prison College. A young eager dog and possessed plenty of search drive, that on the day of passing out, Saxon was deployed Off The Lead for a demonstration in P.D.D search procedures on the day.

Following certification, Sean and Saxon were deployed to Wheatfield Kennels where they carried out visitor screening duties in the Dublin Prisons. In June 2010, they transferred to the Midlands & Portlaoise Prisons and from, January 2016, they provided service to Limerick Prison before returning to the Midlands & Portlaoise Prisons in September 2018.

The IPS said Saxon was very popular among staff he worked with especially in the Security Screening Unit (SSU) areas.

"He would wait patiently but eagerly at the turn styles for people to be called through so he could start his daily duties, most of the time hoping for an odd snack to be passed to him when Sean wasnt looking and he would give his paw in acknowledgement of same.

"He was eager, boisterous but gentle when working. Sean and the Operational Support Group are very proud of the incredible 11 successful and effective years Saxon has given to the Irish Prison Service," said the statement.

The Governor of the Operational Support Group, Lorraine McCarthy praised the animal for its work.

Saxon is a very diligent dog who served the Irish Prison Service with distinction over the years. He was always friendly in his interactions with staff and the public, which made him a well respected and popular figure among his colleagues. He will certainly be missed by all, she said.

Saxon will spend his retirement in the home of his handler Sean.
Warren County voters will have decisions to make on primary day June 8, but in only a handful of local races.

Most local races are uncontested in the primary, when Republican and Democrat candidates are selected to be on the ballot in the Nov. 2 election.

Warren County Clerk Holly Mackeys office released the primary candidates list last week, following the April 5 deadline to file nomination petitions.

At the state level, incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy faces no Democratic primary challengers in his bid for a second four-year term, according to the official candidates list released April 15 from the New Jersey Division of Elections. Democratic hopefuls Roger Bacon, of Phillipsburg, and Lisa McCormick, of Lambertville, filed petitions to challenge Murphy, but the states secretary of state agreed with two administrative law judge rulings that neither met the 1,000 signature threshold, nj.com reports. Former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, of Hillsborough, is the frontrunner in the race for the Republican nomination, which also has drawn former Franklin Township, Somerset County, Mayor Brian Levine; pastor Phillip Rizzo, of New Vernon; and businessman Hirsh Singh, of Linwood.

In the state legislative districts covering Warren County communities, incumbent 24th state Sen. Steven Oroho, of Franklin, Sussex County, faces a Republican primary challenge from Daniel Cruz, of Andover. State Sen. Michael Doherty does not face a primary challenge in the 23rd Legislative District, and neither districts Assembly members have primary challengers.

Locally, the primary election is likely to settle most 2021 municipal and county government races across Warren County, since Phillipsburg has the only race with Democrats filing to challenge Republicans.

The Phillipsburg Town Council primary race, however, is uncontested, with three candidates in each party for three open seats. On the Republican side are incumbent council President Frank McVey and Vice President Bobby Fulper, along with Mark Lutz, a former councilman who in 2019 switched parties from Democrat.

On the Democratic ballot in Phillipsburg are Keith Kennedy, Derick Lewis and Lee Clark. Clark, while running for council in 2019, was appointed by council that September to serve through that December following the resignation of fellow Democrat Josh Davis.

At the county level, incumbent Commissioner Director James Kern III faces no challengers in either party.

In Warren Countys contested primary races:

Seeking one three-year term on the Hardwick Township Committee are Republicans Chris Jacksic and Jodi Butler, with no petitions filed on the Democratic side.

Seeking one, unexpired one-year term on the Hardwick committee are Republicans Nicole L. Meuse and incumbent Kevin M. Duffy, with no petitions filed on the Democratic side.

Seeking one three-year term on the Harmony Township Committee are Republicans Brian Tipton and Steven Parano, with no petitions filed on the Democratic side.

Following are all of the primary candidates, according to the list provided by the clerks office. You can click here to view it since it may not display on all platforms. Visit nj.gov for more information on voting in New Jersey.

Editors note: This article was updated April 15, 2021, with a new candidates list from Warren County, removing candidates Edwin L. Fisher for Hardwick Township Committee and Chanda Collom for White Township Committee, as well as new candidates list from the New Jersey Division of Elections showing no Democratic primary challengers for Gov. Phil Murphy.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
Diana Garcia spends most of her day alone in the gift shop she manages, one of the few stores with lights on in her corner of the tunnel underneath Louisiana Street. The three neighboring restaurants that once brought hundreds of people past Glamours Gifts  and many of them inside  remain dark, more than a year after the coronavirus pandemic emptied downtown office towers of workers.

No one is ever here, Garcia said.

Few areas of the local economy were hit as hard by the pandemic as downtown and few face as much uncertainty as the service sector  shops, restaurants, dry cleaners, hair salons  that depends on people coming to work in the citys center. Even as the pandemics end appears in sight and companies begin to bring workers back to the office, it remains unclear how fast employees might return downtown and whether they will come back in the same numbers.

Already, some companies are planning to continue the remote working arrangements forced by coronavirus and embraced by both employers and employees. The financial services company JP Morgan Chase, which has some 2,300 employees in two buildings downtown, recently said it will keep some positions remote and reduce the number of people in its U.S. offices, reconfiguring them to reduce the space it uses by up to 40 percent.

The chemical company LyondellBasell, which has about 2,300 employees in its downtown office, said it will consider flexible, remote alternatives to in-person work. The pipeline company Kinder Morgan, which has about 20 percent of its 2,100 working in its headquarters on Louisiana Street, said it has not determined when and how it will bring back other workers.

A recent survey by Central Houston, an organization that focuses on the redevelopment and revitalization of downtown, found that 75 percent of downtown employers expect at least 10 percent of their workforce will transition to a mix of in-person and remote work.

Only about 18 percent of employees are working from the office downtown, according to Central Houstons survey. About half the companies said they expect to bring 50 percent of their workers back to the office by June and 70 percent said they expect to have half their workforce in the office by September.

On HoustonChronicle.com: It wont be easy for women to reenter the workforce

Manish Patel, owner of Deli Deluxe, underneath office buildings on McKinney, wonders if that will be enough. His sales in January plummeted to $300 a day, and have since rebounded slightly to about $400 a day. Thats not enough in sales to break even.

When business was at its slowest, he had been able to get by with help on rent from his landlord and a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan. He said he had to go from six employees to three, some of whom have been with him since he opened in the tunnels nine years ago.

Maybe I can last one more year, Patel said, but Im broke already.

Life underground

Downtown Houston is connected by about 7 miles of tunnels, developed over the years to allow people to move through the central business district in air-conditioned comfort during Houstons sweltering summers. Even as downtown streets appear deserted, the tunnels teem with thousands of people grabbing lunch, getting a haircut or making a quick stop in a convenience store.

The pandemic ended that, forcing the shutdown of businesses, restrictions on indoor dining and the exodus of downtown employees to home offices and kitchen tables. When the restrictions were lifted in May, Glamours Gifts reopened, but the nearby restaurants Wendys, Ninfas Express and Alontis Cafe didnt. Alontis closed for good.

Garcia, the manager, had to run the Glamours on her own after the store was forced to cut the three other employees. Before the pandemic, Garcia estimates she served at least 200 customers a day. Lately, shes been serving a couple dozen.

Now, Garcia said, they say everybody is coming back in June.

Certainly, thats the hope of downtown service businesses. Activity is already picking up but as vaccinations increase, downtown businesses say, but it remains far below pre-pandemic levels.

Downtown parking transactions, for example, rose sharply in March to nearly 25,000 per week, according to data from the Greater Houston Partnership, but are still down 30 percent from the roughly 35,000 transactions per week in February 2020.

In the Allen Center food court, Jimmy Johns, the sandwich shop chain, said sales are still down by about 65 percent from pre-pandemic levels. Leaf & Grain, a fast-casual, vegetarian restaurant, had a line at its counter, but one of its owners said sales are still down by about 50 percent.

Increasing consumer traffic is a chance to exhale, said Deets Hoffman, president of the Leaf & Green chain, but not really a celebration moment.

Right direction

Even above ground eateries continue to struggle with a limited workforce commuting downtown. Four of the nine restaurants with leases in Finn Hall on Main Street have yet to reopen.

Johnny Reyes, food and beverage manager for Midway, which oversees the restaurant tenants at Finn Hall, has been counting heads in the tunnels to provide information that could help the still-closed restaurants to reopen. In the last week of February, at the noontime height of the lunch rush, he counted 87 diners in Pennzoil Place a 711 Louisiana and 40 in Understorys food court at 800 Capitol.

Volume nearly doubled in March at Understory, according to his count, while Pennzoils stayed flat.

Were going in the right direction, Reyes said. For me, thats most important.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Vaccines bring long awaited dose of retail relief

Its hard to say when the downtown workforce will return to pre-pandemic levels, said Bob Eury, president of Central Houston. The Houston utility CenterPoint Energy said it plans to bring all its employees who have been working remotely back to the offices at 1111 Louisiana St. in June.

Also in June, the University of Houston-Downtown, which has nearly 1,400 employees, said it will bring full-time staff on campus at least three days a week. By July, the staff should be working regular Monday-Friday schedules, the university said.

But some companies are still figuring out when theyll bring employees back and how many might continue to work remotely. Porter Hedges, a law firm on Main Street, still has most of its 220 employees working at home, but has not set a timetable for their return to the office.

Employees at EOG Resources are working in the office roughly half the week, the other half at home as part of the companys phased reopening strategy. A spokesperson could not say how long the policy would remain in place.

Personal interaction

Developers and property managers, however, are confident that offices will eventually fill with workers again. Travis Overall, executive vice president for Brookfield Properties, which owns 10 buildings downtown, said he doesnt believe the pandemic will lead to a major restructuring of the downtown workforce over the long term.

COVID-19 may have changed perceptions and expectations about remote work, offering employees the flexibility of working from home, and employers the flexibility to save on office leases. But those pandemic-driven changes, Overall said, wont stop companies from bringing back their workers, and it wont stop employees from wanting to come back.

How can you really recruit and retain talent, Overall said, or train people, or really collaborate for that next great idea that's going to drive your company's growth, if you don't have the personal interaction?

amanda.drane@chron.com

becca.carballo@chron.com
The Rev. Dave Hogsett is a retired United Methodist pastor. He can be e-mailed at davidh15503@embarqmail.com.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed to have the next four days, starting today, be celebrated as 'Tika Utsav'. The aim is to inoculate the maximum number of eligible people against the novel coronavirus.

   ,                        https://t.co/8zXZ0bqYgl  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 11, 2021

The mass vaccination programme, which will be conducted from April 11-14, starts amid an unprecedented surge of coronavirus cases in India since the start of the year. India recorded more than 1.5 lakh fresh Covid-19 infections on Saturday, becoming the second country after the US to register the grim milestone.



In Uttar Pradesh, the 'Tika Utsav ' has kickstarted with 6,000 vaccination centers in the state. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar aims to vaccinate nearly four lakh people during the festival.



On the internet, people had a mixed reaction to the 'festival'. While some cracked jokes and shared memes, others said it was a helpful initiative. Here are some reactions:

Honble PM @narendramodi Ji appealed for celebrating the period 11th-14th April as #TikaUtsav by vaccinating the maximum number of eligible people. My SandArt at Puri beach in Odisha. Plz follow the #Covid guidelines.#Unite2FightCorona pic.twitter.com/jfqHgFRvhr  Sudarsan Pattnaik (@sudarsansand) April 10, 2021

India is the only country which celebrates disaster!



Last year Modi had announced Thali Banging festivals, this year he came up with another gimmick #TikaUtsav .  Md Asif Khan (@imMAK02) April 11, 2021

In the absence of enough vaccine doses, #TikaUtsav will be celebrated with Paneer Tika or Chicken Tika, as per your preference.  Gaurav Pandhi (@GauravPandhi) April 9, 2021

2020 :

Shortage of PPE kits for health workers, Modi started Taali/Thali Utsav



2021 :

Shortage of vaccines for people, Modi started #TikaUtsav



Modi's solution to every problem is to start calling the problem as Utsav  Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) April 11, 2021

Taking forward PM Sri @narendramodi Ji's #TikaUtsav call from April 11-14, we've planned vaccination drives in Apartment complexes with help from RWAs & hospitals in B'luru South



For localities without facilities for jabs, we'll ensure max vaccination at nearest Convention Hall https://t.co/C39L8vO7jZ  Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) April 8, 2021

I fear sometime in the future Barbeque Nation will also announce a #TikaUtsav  Atul Khatri (@one_by_two) April 8, 2021

I urge you all not to google what Tika means in Kannada.

Please, just dont. #TikaUtsav  Cow Momma (@Cow__Momma) April 8, 2021

Tika in Kannada means butt.



I'll leave the rest upto your imagination#TikaUtsav

 https://t.co/BE6tdB8pc6  Steffi (@Stef_Oli) April 8, 2021

The festival has begun during a time when there is a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines in the country. States such as Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand have said they won't be able to continue the inoculation drive due to shortages of doses.

The opposition has slammed the ruling party for this fiasco, and Sonia Gandhi said, "It has exported vaccines and allowed a shortage to be created in India."
(@FahadShabbir)

TEHRAN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th April, 2021) Sunday's accident at the Natanz uranium enrichment plant was an attack and an act of "nuclear terrorism," Iran's vice president and atomic energy chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, told Iranian television.

On Sunday morning, Iran reported that the Natanz uranium enrichment plant suffered an accident involving its electricity distribution network.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said that the incident had been contained without leading to injuries or pollution. A probe was launched.

"While condemning this dastardly act, Iran stresses that the international community and the International Atomic Energy Agency must counter this nuclear terrorism," Salehi said.

According to the nuclear chief, the Sunday attack represents "the failure of opponents of negotiations on lifting sanctions against Iran."

Iran, he noted, reserves the right to take appropriate measures in connection with this incident.
Mark Winema / Getty Images / Mark Wineman / Getty Images

A man jailed last year after beating his live-in father with a microphone stand  a fight that authorities said started over an insult  has been charged with murder following the elder's death, according to court records.

Anh Van Le has remained behind bars at the Harris County Jail since October, when authorities said he attacked his 84-year-old father, An Le, over a perceived insult at their Katy home in the 6700 block of Albion Cresent Drive. The elder Le suffered a fractured skull and was airlifted to a hospital, where he remained until he died about a week later.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-12 04:05:04|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

DUBLIN, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Both the daily COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations in Ireland have dropped to multiple-month-low levels, said a senior public health official here on Sunday.

Ronan Glynn, acting chief medical officer of the Irish Department of Health, said that as of midnight Saturday Ireland reported 303 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, the lowest number of daily cases reported since mid-December.

"This morning we had the lowest number of people newly hospitalized with COVID-19 since the end of November," he said, adding that as of 8 a.m. (Irish time) on Sunday, seven additional COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in the country over the past 24 hours.

"People's efforts continue to make a real difference," he said in a statement published on the website of his department.

Ireland has been under a nationwide lockdown since midnight of Dec. 24 and is going to ease some of its restrictive measures starting from Monday.

The measures to be eased include allowing all the primary and secondary school students to return to school, permitting people to travel freely within a county or within 20 kilometers from their home, allowing outdoor gatherings for no more than two households, and reopening of all residential construction projects.

Under the current restrictive measures which are rated as Ireland's highest-level measures against the pandemic, people are prohibited from traveling more than 5 km away from home unless they have essential reasons for their travel, such as seeing a doctor and going to the supermarket.

All non-essential retail outlets such as restaurants and bars as well as barbershops and laundries must remain closed. So is the case with most indoor public facilities such as libraries and museums.

"Please do not take our children returning to school tomorrow as a signal to return to the workplace," said Glynn, urging people to continue to work remotely if possible and abide by the public health advice.

"If we can maintain this progress, vaccines and the basic public health measures with which we are all so familiar with are our way out of this pandemic," he said.

Ireland reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19 on Feb. 29, 2020. To date, a total of 240,945 people have been infected with COVID-19 in the country and 4,785 of them have died from the virus, according to the figures released by the Irish Department of Health on Sunday.

The department also said that as of April 9 a total of 1,045,919 people have been partially or fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in Ireland, accounting for over 20 percent of the country's population.

Three vaccines made by Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca are now being used in Ireland with Johnson and Johnson's single-shot vaccine expected to be included in the country's vaccination program soon.

Due to the limited and often delayed supply of vaccines, Ireland's vaccination plan has been repeatedly disrupted, leading to growing calls among locals to consider using other vaccines available.

Currently, 273 candidate vaccines are still being developed -- 87 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain, and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Friday. Enditem
Teen Missions International founder Robert Bland dies at 92

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

Robert Bland, who was affectionately known as Bob and led Teen Missions International for 50 years after he founded it in 1970, died peacefully at the age of 92 on Good Friday. The funeral service will be held Saturday at a church in Ohio.

Bob was a great man of God. He was my Youth Pastor at Mt Tabor 75 years ago and I just reconnected with him within the past year, wrote one Mike Davidson on the Facebook page of Mount Tabor Community Christian Church in Chillicothe, Ohio, where the funeral service will be held Saturday morning.

Bland led the youth ministry for 50 years with great vision and clarity along with his loving wife, Bernice Mae Bland, who preceded him in death, reads his obituary on the website of the Boyer Funeral Home.

Before founding Teen Missions International, Bland served as a Youth For Christ director for many years in Chillicothe, and as a recruitment director for the Christian Service Corps. The years he spent there gave him the idea of Teen Missions, the ministry says on its website.

There were many young people who wanted to serve the Lord in missions, but lacked training, experience and the required skills, it shares.

A young girl once said that everyone had explained to her, Come back when you have finished college and then you can get involved in the Lords work. She stated, I want to do something for the Lord now, not five years from now, the site adds.

Bland also learned that in many mission conferences, there were no teenagers present at all, so they evidently felt that missions were for older people.

Bland felt there was an obvious need to get teenagers involved since they are the next generation of missionaries and leaders.

The ministry says it exists to launch youth into lifetime missions involvement by training, discipling and mobilizing them to impact eternity around the world NOW.

It also says that a large number of our alumni are in full-time Christian ministry serving the Lord worldwide as pastors, teachers, support technicians, and missionaries.

As Blands ministry vision grew, he developed a heart to reach widows and orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa, and he created another branch of ministry: Aids Orphans and Street Children, according to his obituary.

This ministry built medical rescue units in the African bush, brought tens of thousands of shoes to orphans, and also built matron units for vulnerable young women, so they could have a safe place to stay while traveling. Another vision of Bobs was the Motorcycle Sunday Schools, fashioned after the famous circuit riders, the obituary adds.
Texas Governor Dismisses Bidens Gun Control Measures as Show

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday pushed back on President Joe Bidens newly announced executive actions on gun control, saying those proposals are no more than a show that doesnt actually address crimes involving guns.

In an interview on Fox News Sunday, Abbott rejected the idea that the president could use executive orders to limit the Second Amendment.

I think that there is no acceptable way that a president by executive order can infringe upon Second Amendment rights or alter Second Amendment rights, the Republican governor said. If the president wanted to do something more than showif the president really wanted to do something substantively, what he really could do by executive order is to eliminate the backlog of complaints that have already been filed about gun crimes that have taken place.

Abbott went on to say that Americans need their guns for self defense now more than ever, citing the border crisis being taken advantage of by Mexican drug cartels, the Defund the Police movement, and bail policies that allow very dangerous criminals to be released back onto the streets.

Texans and Americans know they need their Second Amendment rights to defend themselves at a time when the United States government and other governments are doing less to defend our fellow Americans, he said. That is exactly why we should not have any further limitations of our Second Amendment rights.

Abbotts comments come after he endorsed a proposed bill to turn Texas into a Second Amendment Sanctuary State. The House Bill 2622, filed by Republican state Rep. Justin Holland, would prohibit state and local government agencies from enforcing or providing assistance to federal agencies on any new federal laws or rules regarding firearms, ammunition, and accessories.

Its time to get legislation making [Texas] a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary State passed and to my desk for signing, Abbott wrote on Twitter.

In an effort to tackle what he described as a gun violence epidemic, Biden on April 8 introduced a number of measures that limit the availability of certain guns and accessories and encourage states to adopt red flag laws, which allow family members or law enforcement to ask a court to bar people from possessing guns if they show signs of being a threat to themselves or others.

One of the executive orders seeks to restrict ghost guns, or homemade, unregistered firearms usually built from a kit that could be ordered online. Another order restricts the sale of stabilizing braces designed to increase the accuracy and reduce the recoil of pistols, making them behave more like rifles.

No amendment to the Constitution is absolute, Biden claimed while announcing his gun control package. From the very beginning, you couldnt own any weapon you wanted to own. From the very beginning that the Second Amendment existed, certain people werent allowed to have weapons.
A second lieutenant in the U.S. Army has filed a lawsuit against two police officers in Virginia for a traffic stop in which they drew their guns, pointed them at him in a threatening manner, and pepper-sprayed him before knocking him to the ground and placing him in handcuffs. The reason that warranted such a high degree of force? Caron Nazario had tinted windows and didnt have a rear license plate. Footage of the December stop from body cameras shows how Nazario, who is Black and Latino, was wearing military fatigues during the stop and had his arms up the whole time. Im actively serving this country, and this is how Im treated? Nazario says at one point.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

The video shows how the officers had their guns pointing at him while Nazario sat in his parked car at a gas station. The officers repeatedly tell Nazario to get out of the car. Whats going on? Nazario repeatedly asks. Officer Joe Gutierrez at one point says, Whats going on? Youre fixin to ride the lightning, son. The lawsuit states that phrase was a line from the movie The Green Mile and is a reference to the electric chair. Im honestly afraid to get out, Nazario says at one point. Yeah, you should be! Gutierrez responds. He then proceeds to pepper-spray Nazario several times. Nazario demands explanations for what is happening, saying his dog is in the back of the car choking on the pepper spray. This is really messed up, Nazario says.

Advertisement

WATCH: A new lawsuit claims Windsor police officers drew guns, pepper-sprayed uniformed Army officer during traffic stop. More at 5 on #13NewsNow pic.twitter.com/OQotHHnb47  Ali Weatherton 13News Now (@13AliWeatherton) April 8, 2021

Advertisement

Previously, Windsor Police Officer Daniel Crocker had radioed the station saying he was attempting to stop a vehicle but the driver was eluding police and he was considered a high-risk traffic stop. Gutierrez was driving by and heard Crockers call and decided to join. Nazario disputes the allegation he was attempting to drive away, saying he traveled less than a mile and was just trying to stop in a well-lit area. By the time the officers reached Nazarios car they could see that he had a temporary license plate taped to his rear window, according to the lawsuit.

Advertisement

Advertisement

After he is pepper-sprayed, the officer manages to pull Nazario out of the SUV. Nazario is clearly disoriented, but the officers dont stop yelling at him. Can you please talk to me about whats going on? Nazario asks several times. Why am I being treated like this? Gutierrez proceeded to respond with knee strikes to the legs, which knocked him to the ground. These cameras captured footage of behavior consistent with a disgusting nationwide trend of law enforcement officers, who, believing they can operate with complete impunity, engage in unprofessional, discourteous, racially biased, dangerous and sometimes deadly abuses of authority, notes the lawsuit.
Members of the National Guard protect an Employment Development Department building near the State Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on Jan. 17, 2021. (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)

California Lawmakers Take Action as EDD Problems Persist

As Californias Employment Development Department (EDD) scrambles to resolve the ballooning fiasco resulting from fraudulent jobless claims during the pandemic, state lawmakers are saying enough is enough.

Recently released official reports cite numerous systematic problems with the agency, resulting in tens of billions of dollars paid out while needy citizens wait to receive legal benefits they desperately need.

They seem to be impervious to the situation that they are in, Sen. Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) told The Epoch Times. The fact that theres no great movement to resolve it makes no sense.  How in Gods name does something like this happen and it just continues?

Bates said her staff has essentially become de facto, surrogate EDD staffers, working four to six hours each day to remedy some 400 unresolved cases in her district. For every page of claims they help resolve, she said, they have to add an additional page of claimsand some go back as far as November 2020.

You hear those desperation calls [from] a mother with four children and no benefits, Bates said. A father was on the phone crying. I was about ready to run down to Dana Point where he lives and write a check for him, and bring him some food.

Representatives for the EDD say the organization is actively addressing the issues. An EDD spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email that the department recently suspended almost 1.5 million potentially fraudulent claims.

We are in the process of completing our analysis of the remaining potentially fraudulent claims and will report on the final results in April, the spokesperson said.

But despite the EDDs best efforts, the problems persist, and officials suggest a task force is needed to overhaul the system.

Widespread Issues

Some of the systematic problems with the EDD include weakness in claims processing, call center deficiencies, and failing to properly prepare for an economic crisis despite several warnings, according to a January state auditors report.

In January, the EDD confirmed that it had paid out over $11 billion in fraudulent claims between March 2020 and Jan. 16, and said that an additional 17 percent of payments made during the periodnearly $20 billion morewent to potentially fraudulent accounts.

Those benefits included more than $810 million paid to 45,000 prison inmates last yearwith one criminal managing to collect $21,000 by claiming to be U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. In another instance, 1,700 claims were filed from one address and still received payments.

EDD was clearly under-prepared for the type and magnitude of criminal attacks and the sheer quantity of claims, EDD Director Rita Saenz said in a January statement.

State legislators told The Epoch Times that frustrated constituents have turned to them for help.

On March 31, Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) contacted The Epoch Times to share photos forwarded to her from an employer in Encino. The photos show a pile of 87 fraudulent claims received in one week. The employer expressed extreme frustration to Grove, and told the senator she was no longer going to bother returning the claims to EDDbut the problem still needs to be addressed.

Business owners throughout the state contribute taxes to the EDD to fund the states unemployment benefits. Fraudulent claims, made by nonexistent employees, can increase an employers tax burden, and take time and effort to remedy.

Grove said she heard similar stories from employers in Visalia and Bakersfield, who also sent her photos of stacks of envelopes from the EDD. When opened, some displayed Social Security numbers.

Bates said a constituent sent her office 30 mailed replies from the EDD a few weeks ago, some of which contained debit cards. The mail pieces had been inexplicably sent to a man in San Francisco who didnt file for unemployment benefits; he sent them to his mother in the 36th Senate District, who turned them into Batess office.

When you think about that, thats got to be technology, Bates said. Youve got a system that cant handle the cumulative, duplicative cries for help that are going on.

A Personal Nightmare

Meanwhile, some genuine claimants waited months to receive needed benefits.

Joe Smith (a pseudonym) told The Epoch Times he went two months without receiving unemployment benefits because the EDD suspected him of fraud.

Smith, 69, is a retired firefighter who lives in Capistrano Beach. In early 2020, he had a seasonal position with a private company that provided transportation for college campuses and special events, but the shutdown put him out of work.

When Smith initially applied for unemployment last May, things went smoothly, he said. But in October, he got a letter in the mail saying his account was suspendedwith no explanation. When he signed into his account, he saw that he had been flagged for identity fraud.

I mean, theyre kind of pointing the finger at me when they tell me my accounts suspended for identity fraud, he told The Epoch Times. Im thinking, Ive been the same guy for 60-some years. Same name, you know?

Smith tried contacting the EDD, but said it was an absolute nightmare.

I tried to call them from 8 oclock in the morning until 5 at night, and it was virtually impossible to get through, or they would tell you they have too many calls.

Smith said hed call 50 or 60 times a day.

I spent hours and hours and hours, he recalled. This went on for a week. Usually, he was met with a recording saying they couldnt take his call; on a few occasions, he was propelled through a serpentine series of press-a-number commands that led nowhere.

With no solution in sight, Smith reached out to Batess office for help. Thanks to their assistance, the EDD provided a link for him to verify his identitybut after he entered his information, the system rejected it.

When he was finally able to speak with an EDD employee, the representative guaranteed that his information had been confirmed and said he was good to go. Several days later, however, he was informed that his information was invalid; though approved by a human employee, the computer wouldnt accept his drivers license.

Eventually, Smith was told his benefits would be processed retroactively. But three weeks later, he was still waiting.

I know it doesnt seem like a whole lot of money  but that was our lifeline. That was what we were paying the light bill with, and the rent, and eating on, said Smith.

In early 2021, he finally received the benefits he had been denied. I had to jump through hoops, and spend a whole lot of my time  [while] I could have been out attempting to gain employment.

A woman wears a mask as she enters a building where the Employment Development Department (EDD) has its offices in Los Angeles, on May 4, 2020. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

A person passes the office of the California Employment Development Department in Sacramento, Calif., on Dec. 18, 2020. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo)

EDD Efforts

While some lawmakers say little progress has been made, the EDD recently presented a progress report to the state legislature, indicating that theyre addressing as many problems as possible.

In the two-week period leading up to March 13, the EDD reported that the staff at its call centers had received 5 million calls, and answered just over 10 percenta marked improvement.

At the beginning of the claim surge, EDDs call center answered less than 1 percent of the calls it received, according to a January state auditors report. The auditor stated that the EDD quadrupled its call center staff to more than 5,600 people in response to the problems, but only marginally improved the percentage of calls it answered.

Between March 1, 2020, and March 13, 2021, the EDD paid over 12 million claims, according to its progress report. During the same period, it had declared about 674,000 claims to be ineligible to receive benefits, with over 200,000 pending claims yet to be resolved.

A spokesperson with the EDD told The Epoch Times that they had suspended nearly 1.5 million potentially fraudulent claims, detected by a fraud screening process in conjunction with Thomson Reuters. The claimants were notified in December 2020 and given until mid-March to verify their identities using the ID.me website or additional documentation, the spokesperson said in an email.

In that time, just over a third of claimants verified their identities or resolved a non-identity eligibility issue and have been able to certify and receive benefits, the spokesperson said, adding that the analysis was still in progress.

The Social Security Number Problem

State legislators assert that detecting fraud is only part of the problem. Their main concern is that the EDD is perpetuating fraud by sending out mail containing Social Security numbers (SSNs).

The EDD sent out at least 38 million pieces of mail containing SSNs over eight months, according to a November 2020 auditors report, which noted that such mail pieces could be stolen, accidentally sent, or delivered to the wrong address.

Moreover, fraudulent claims could result in multiple mailings to an incorrect address selected by the perpetrator. The auditor recommended removing SSNs from the three highest-volume forms by March.

A spokesperson from the EDD told The Epoch Times that theyve already complied with the recommendation.

Two of the forms were fixed in December and one in February, the spokesperson said.

Nevertheless, lawmakers are advancing legislation that will prohibit EDD from mailing out such documents with SSNs.

Senate Bill 58 (SB 58)co-authored by Sens. Bates, Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore), Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (R-Yucaipa), Anna Caballero (D-Salinas), and Brian Dahle (R-Bieber), with otherswould help prevent identity theft and fraud. Among other things, the bill would require the EDD to designate a single unit responsible for coordinating fraud prevention and align the units duties with best practices for detecting and preventing fraud.

While the bill isnt a solution, Melendez said its a start. Like Bates, she said her office still has hundreds of open cases with EDD, from constituents dealing with hardships.

SB 58 is just the first step to completely overhauling the prehistoric systems over at EDD to ensure they achieve their mission of helping Californians, Melendez told The Epoch Times.

The Legislature needs to ensure that EDD is not giving criminals the information they need to defraud my constituents through the mail or by any other means. Considering the laundry list of problems at EDD, I would hope my colleagues understand the importance of this legislation and dont let that happen. I would hope this bill is passed sooner rather than later.

The bill has been approved by the Senate Judiciary and Labor committees, and is pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

If the governor isnt going to take responsibility for fixing EDD, then the Legislature needs to use its powers to do so for him, Melendez added.
Housatonic: A 'simmering' village on the cusp ... of what? Villagers aren't sure yet.
Yahoo Life, part of the Verizon Media family of brands, is committed to finding you the best products at the best prices. Some of the products written about here are offered in affiliation with Verizon Media. We may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change.

Identity theft

Its one of the taboos of our time, but plenty of us are guilty of it. In fact, 41 percent of Americans are brave enough to admit they plug their own names into search engines frequently. But did you ever wonder who else is studying your online footprint? Heres a hint: its not just old flames and curious colleagues. Identity thieves have their eyes on your digital presence, too  and identity theft has been on the rise since the beginning of the pandemic.

Online criminals have a plethora of weapons in their arsenal, from phishing emails to password hacking. But first they have to know you exist  and the more they know about you, the easier it is to bait you. It doesnt take something as dramatic as a security breach at a major company to dig up the dirt on you, though. Scammers usually start with the plain old internet; its the path of least resistance.

Try Malwarebytes Premium Multi-Device for 30 days free. After that, it's $4.99 per month.

How can cyber criminals use your digital footprint against you?

Criminal jackers are looking closely at your personal details on people search engines, social media sites, and more. (Photo: Getty)

A quick search of your name alone generates links to dozens of what cybersecurity experts call people search engines, kind of like the internet versions of telephone books. Plenty of these sites dont even require a membership to access things like your home address, email address, phone number, birth date, and relatives. The information isnt always 100 percent accurate, but scammers can find more than enough leads.

Your social media accounts are bound to be top search results, too, offering all sorts of personal information: your workplace, hobbies and even your pets name, an all-too-common security question. And popular real estate sites wouldnt be far behind, sometimes divulging the details of your property ownership in painstaking detail.

Story continues

Hackers are hungry for intimate information like this. Its easy for them to connect the dots until a full profile of your life materializes  and from there, they can more easily guess your passwords, impersonate you in an attempt to take over your accounts or send you malicious links disguised as friendly emails.

Try Malwarebytes Premium Multi-Device for 30 days free. After that, it's $4.99 per month.

Malwarebytes Premium gives you peace of mind. (Photo: Malwarebytes)

Once hackers get their sticky fingers on your most personal details, all hell can break loose. There are a lot of things you can and should do manually to clean up your digital footprint, but that takes some time. The easiest first step is to install cybersecurity software that helps keep you safe from incoming threats in the meantime.

Just like installing an alarm system to protect your house, installing powerful antivirus software in your computer should be your first line of defense against an enemy intent on stealing whats most precious to you. Malwarebytes Premium uses advanced, multi-layered technology that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to help protect you from sophisticated cyber threats.

It thwarts online scams and phishing attacks that are cleverly engineered by well-informed criminal hackers to dupe you into sharing things like login credentials and even your social security number. It proactively protects you from accessing malicious websites, even if you click on the wrong link.

Malwarebytes Premium even removes malicious programs that have already made their way onto your PC.

Try Malwarebytes Premium Multi-Device for 30 days free. After that, it's $4.99 per month.

Malwarebytes Premium is free for 30 days. (Photo: Malwarebytes)

Malwarebytes award-winning malware remediation technology even catches red flags that other software misses, like ransomware threats, a scary phenomenon in which criminal hackers encrypt your files and hold them hostage until you pay an actual ransom!

Why would a scammer target you with ransomware? All it takes is a quick search on a people search engine or real estate site to show that youre a homeowner or drive a new car, for instance. They might then send you an email that looks like its from the bank that gave you your loan. The message convinces you to click on a link thats actually infected with malicious software designed to extort you into paying big bucks to remove it.

Malwarebytes Premium is built to help protect you from ransomware attacks 24/7.

Face it: in this day and age were all pretty desensitized to our personal information surfacing online. In fact, when scammers identify your main social media account, for example (people search engines can help them narrow down which Jane Smith is actually you), they can target you right then and there.

One scam involves creating a fake profile to impersonate someone in your friends list and encourage you to click on a malicious link via private message. The opportunities for attack increase the more the fraudster knows about you. If you lock down your privacy settings on social media, then you have made the biggest step in controlling what information is available. (Learn all about keeping your social media accounts private here.)

Best practices for cleaning up your digital footprint on your own

Cybersecurity software is powerful. Theres no denying it. But there are manual steps you can take to make yourself way less visible online  or close to invisible, if you prefer.

The first step is to unsubscribe from every people search engine possible...and there are many of them. Its like opting out of the telephone book if dozens of companies published different ones  so yes, its a little more laborious, but worth it. Heres a pretty extensive list of them along with removal instructions.

A few more tips:

Delete email addresses you no longer use.

Delete or severely limit the privacy of your social media accounts.

Contact web administrators of any sites, including those that have published news articles or blog posts that reveal your personal details. Ask them politely to remove your personal information for privacy reasons.

Contact data brokers, the repositories that hold your data and feed it to people search engines, and request to be removed.

Unsubscribe from newsletters that collect and share your information.

Use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to surf the web.

Routinely delete all cookies and cached information from every web browser you use so sites wont track you.

Opt out of social sign-in and use unique passwords instead (managed by a password manager) and an anonymous email account.

Try Malwarebytes Premium Multi-Device for 30 days free. After that, it's $4.99 per month.

Read more from Yahoo Life:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day

Want daily pop culture news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Entertainment & Lifestyle's newsletter.
Older victims of child sexual abuse faced an even longer wait for a chance at justice after a procedural error prevented placement of a crucial statewide referendum on the May 18 primary election ballot.

The Legislature has approved a state constitutional amendment eliminating time limits on filing criminal and civil cases regarding child sexual abuse, and opening a two-year window for older victims to sue if their cases are older than the current deadlines allow.

Voters must approve constitutional amendments after the Legislature does so for the changes to take effect. But the state Department of State failed to advertise the proposed referendum as required, precluding its placement on the ballot.

That restarted the clock on passing a new amendment, which requires passage in two consecutive sessions of the Legislature and by voters statewide.

Recently the Legislature approved the new amendment for the first time, but even so the voters final say remains at least a year away.

Meanwhile, the House has followed through on a theory that it can create the two-year window to sue based on older allegations, without a constitutional amendment. It has passed a bill to create that window by law rather than constitutional amendment.

If the Senate passes the bill and Gov. Tom Wolf signs it into law, it is certain to produce a flurry of litigation, most likely from entities, such as the Catholic Church, that face significantly increased potential liability from older allegations.

But the Legislature should continue to pursue the matter on both tracks. Passing the bill would enable some older people to seek justice in the courts without waiting for the amendment. And, when the amendment passes again and goes to voters  who are likely to pass it, according to an array of polling  that will bolster the validity of the law if it is challenged.

Access to the courts is important not only for older people who say they were abused as children, but for the individuals and institutions that have been accused. Civil claims require proof rather than allegations alone, and it will force those individuals and institutions, in many cases, to finally take responsibility.
Meyersdale takes down Shade for fifth district title in six seasons

Meyersdale took down Shade in the District 5 Class A softball championship on Friday, marking its fifth overall title win in the last six years.
KONNOR PERRIN, Chariho boys lacrosse, freshman: Perrin established a school record for assists in a game with nine in the Chargers 22-0 win over Ponaganset. Perrin leads the team with 21 assists to go with 14 goals.

LILA RICH, Stonington girls track, senior: Rich won two events at the ECC Division I track meet. Rich was first in the high jump (5-0) and the pole vault (10-0) as the Bears finished third at the meet.

MADIGAN HILTZ, Westerly boys lacrosse, senior: Hiltz scored seven goals and had three assists in pair of victories for the Bulldogs. Hiltz has 17 goals and seven assists for the season.

ADDIE HAUPTMANN, Wheeler softball, junior: Hauptmann was 4 for 9 with a home run and six RBIs in two games. For the season, Hauptmann is hitting .617 with eight homers and 42 RBIs. She has 50 hits.

Vote

View Results
Alameda County has quietly expanded its coronavirus vaccine eligility to people age 16 and older, in advance of the formal statewide opening Thursday of vaccinations to all California residents in that age range.

Residents of Alameda County 16 and older can now book appointments through the states My Turn system, according to the countys public health departments site. Its unclear when the county made the change, but last week Alameda and San Francisco expanded eligibility for people ages 16 and older who live in ZIP codes that were hardest hit by the coronavirus.

Alameda County also expanded eligibility to people who work there, according to San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney. Alameda County residents 16 and older can even sign up for a slot at a vaccination site in San Francisco for this upcoming week, where most residents ages 16 to 49 are still not allowed to do so.

Haney said hes happy eligibility widened for Alameda County residents and hopes San Francisco will soon follow suit.

It seems clear that everyone ages 16+ in the Bay Area counties (or all of California) should just be all made eligible for vaccine appointments right now, Haney wrote on Twitter. The inconsistencies and inequities are reaching peak ridiculousness in light of how close we are to opening it up to all.

The inconsistencies of vaccine eligibility throughout the Bay Area has been a problem that has caused uneccessary confusion for residents, Haney said to The Chronicle  especially for individuals who live and/or work in counties where they are not eligible yet.

Instead, all counties should allow their residents to book appointments before the statewide expansion Thursday, Haney said.

A few other California counties, including Contra Costa, Butte and Stanislaus, have already opened up vaccines to all residents 16 and older, regardless of ZIP code. The city of Los Angeles also did so this weekend, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Alameda Countys public health department has not yet responded to questions from The Chronicle.

Jessica Flores is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jessica.flores@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jesssmflores
As important as the U.S.-Mexico border debate is for national politics, its rare to see Connecticut play a major role in the discussion. But that was the scenario recently when state officials said they had been asked by the Biden administration about using the shuttered Connecticut Juvenile Training School as a shelter for migrant children who are now being housed in overcrowded facilities in Texas.

When assessing whether this would be a good idea, its important to separate facts from everything else. The history of the building, for example, should not be a determining factor. A building doesnt care for kids. People do, Vannessa Dorantes, commissioner of the state Department of Children and Families, said in response to a public outcry over the possibility.

The history of the detention center includes its closure under former Gov. Dannel Malloy at the behest of mental health experts and human rights advocates. But the facility only opened in 2001, and is not nearly as foreboding as other potential holding areas.

Its also important to differentiate what is happening at the border now with what went on in recent years. The Trump administration drew widespread condemnation over its family separation policy, where parents who presented themselves at the border were taken away from their children and held separately, often without any records being kept. In some cases officials were unable to reunite families at all, making the situation a grotesque violation of human rights and dignity.

That isnt whats happening now. The question is what to do about minors who come to the border unattended, and there isnt a good answer. Sending them back where they came from can put them in danger, as could releasing them of their own recognizance in this country. So they are typically held until their cases can be processed and relatives located, which can take time. Those facilities are often overcrowded, leading to further complaints from observers.

Thats where the search for better options comes from. Connecticut has been approached in the past about housing migrants, but officials rightly said Southbury Training School, with its outdated buildings, is unfit for such a use. The Juvenile Training School in Middletown could be a better option, as long as it is treated as a shelter and not a prison.

Youth advocates are rightfully worried about reopening a facility with such a notorious history, and assurances would be necessary to see that it would only be used as currently envisioned. There is nothing to justify returning the training school to service as a youth prison.

There are questions at the border that defy easy answers. The last administrations crackdown on immigration and admittance of refugees was self-defeating and cruel, and few believe a bigger wall is going to solve anything. At the same time, immigration laws exist for a reason, and were not equipped as a country to simply let in anyone who wants to cross the border.

Those are issues Congress needs to answer, and immigration reform should be a top priority. In Connecticut, the question is how we can play a part. The shuttered Middletown facility could be a part of that answer.
A legal loophole allowed a psychopathic father with a long history of violence and abuse to access and buy guns before shooting his two teenage children dead.

John Edwards, 67, killed his daughter Jennifer Edwards, 13, and his son Jack, 15, in West Pennant Hills in Sydney's north-west on July 5, 2018 in a double murder-suicide that shocked Australia.

Over the years, Edwards had applied for several gun licences but was rejected because of numerous convictions for malicious damage and assault.

He then came across a loophole, the NSW Commissioner's Permit, which allows people who've been rejected for gun licenses access to pistols and rifles.

After shooting his children 14 times in the chest and head, Edwards returned to his rented home in nearby Normanhurst and took his own life, leading his estranged wife and the children's mother Olga to tragically do the same five months later.

John Edwards (right) killed his daughter Jennifer and his son Jack (left) in 2018. His estranged wife and the teens' mum Olga (second from left) took her own life five months later

Olga (right) was just 19 when she became John Edwards' (left) sixth wife in 2001 - she would later go on to take her own life after the horrific murder of her two children at the hands of their own dad

An inquest ruled last week the deaths of Jennifer and Jack were preventable after their father discovered the loophole to access and buy guns, despite apprehended violence orders being issued against him by three former partners.

UK criminologist David Wilson specialises in the the study of so-called 'family annihilators' and believes Edwards set himself on the path to murder long before that fateful night in 2018.

'John Edwards was not a nice old bloke who was a bit broken by the break-up of his sixth relationship. John Edwards was a killer,' Mr Wilson told 60 Minutes on Sunday.

'With family annihilators like this, they reduce their family to simply possessions that they own. They're part of their chattel.

'And that was the overwhelming thing that I felt meant that he annihilates Jack and Jenny to punish Olga, because she was the one that he felt most proprietorial over, that their offspring were simply his chattel. He owned them.'

Edwards' former partner Stacey (pictured) broke a two decade-long silence to question why he was granted various gun licences, despite his violent and abusive past

John Edwards (pictured as a young man) set himself on the path to murder long before he killed his two children Jack and Jennifer, an expert claimed

The program also exposed yet more of Edwards' patterns of abuse, subjecting his wife, former partners and children to years of torment.

Ten years into his marriage to Olga, she complained to her GP that her husband was controlling, even demanding she wear shorts skirts and kept her hair long.

The abuse also turned increasingly physical, particularly to Jack, who was nearly strangled on a family holiday.

One of Edwards' former partners also broke her silence for the first time in more than two decades to question why Edwards was able to access firearms, despite his violent and abusive past.

WHAT IS A 'COMMISSIONER'S FIREARMS PERMIT?' Anyone can apply for the permit if they intend to possess or use a prohibited weapon for a purpose not covered by an existing Prohibited Weapons Permit. They only have to prove they have a 'genuine reason to possess or use the weapon'. It costs just $127 to apply and if granted lasts for five years. If a person secures a Commissioner's Permit, a gun club can legally train them to use hand guns, even if they have ticked 'yes' to red-flag questions - including whether they've been subject to a domestic violence order. Source: ABLIS Advertisement

'If the police had told me this man's applied for a gun licence, I would've told them "don't give it to him",' Stacey told the program.

'I have no hesitation in knowing that he could kill someone.'

Stacey also recalled her fears for her own life where she was threatened by Edwards at his home while trying to escape their relationship in 1998.

Looking back on the ordeal, Stacey believes she's lucky to be alive.

'I went through the front door, the front door was deadlocked, and I was thrown into a wall and over a heater. Pushing, throwing, pulling hair. Telling me I'm gonna die,' Stacey recalled.

UK criminologist David Wilson (pictured) described John Edwards as a 'family annihilator' - a psychological term for someone who views their children as possessions

Jack Edwards (pictured) was 15 when his life was abruptly cut short by his father - and died bravely protecting his little sister

'I did not think I was going to come out of that house alive.'

When asked why she feared for her life she replied: 'Because he told me that he had a gun ant that he was going to kill me.'

'He told me that I wasn't going to go and be with someone else.'

Edwards threatened, bashed and held Stacey captive for seven hours before she tricked him into believing she'd stay with him if he allowed her to go home.

She fled to the closest police station.

Edwards was charged with assault but the case was later thrown out of court.

Two years later, Edwards met a teenage Olga online, who became his sixth wife the following year in 2001.

Olga (pictured) told her GP that her husband was controlling, even demanding she wear short skirts and kept her hair long

John Edwards followed his 13-year-old daughter Jennifer (pictured) home before shooting her and her brother Jack dead as they cowered together under a desk

After being rejected from one gun club, Edwards was accepted at another club in western Sydney armed with character references from a friend and his cousin Michael.

'He wanted us to sign a letter for him as good character so that he could get a license to take Jack shooting,' Michael recalled.

'Nothing wrong with that. We didn't know anything of his past. So we thought, "yeah, that's fair enough".'

Michael now regrets writing the character reference for his cousin.

'I wished to hell I never would've signed it. I wished to hell he never would've got a license, then everything would've been totally different, I hope.

NSW Police Police Commissioner Mick Fuller admitted the force had failed Olga and her children and is determined to not let a similar tragedy reoccur.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller admitted police failed Olga (second right) and her children Jennifer (left) and Jack (right). Pictured second left is John Edwards

'The systems, the processes, the people let Jack and Jennifer and Olga down, absolutely, and I am sorry for that,' Commissioner Fuller said

'We have to take responsibility for their deaths.'

'I'm saying to you, he should never have had a gun and the fact he had a gun is our fault I can give you an ironclad guarantee that that can't happen again.'

The tragic murders of Jack and Jennifer led to firearm reforms in NSW, but Commissioner Fuller admitted there is shame that it took the tragedy for such changes reforms to be implemented.

'As the Commissioner and I'm the gatekeeper for the Firearms Act, yes, it does. Now, I've got to take responsibility for that, but I changed the leadership immediately, we changed the structure to ensure this can't happen again, but will I have regrets about these deaths? Yes, I will,' Commissioner Fuller said.

John Edwards shot dead his daughter Jennifer (left), 13, and son Jack (right), 15, in West Pennant Hills in Sydney's north-west on July 5, 2018

NSW State Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan on Wednesday found police failed to make reasonable inquiries after the children's mother Olga reported instances of Edwards' abuse and stalking in 2016 and 2017.

Gun registry staff, in the job without any formal training, then failed to recognise Edwards' long pattern of domestic violence when granting him the permits and licence to shoot and buy pistols and rifles.

The coroner could not be satisfied Edwards initially started gathering permits in order to murder his children.

But she said he'd formed that intent by April 2018, when he acquired his second pistol.

Her voice wavering at times, the coroner said it was unquestionable the deaths of the children and their mother's December 2018 suicide had caused unbearable suffering for many.

'However, to describe this as a tragedy is to import a sense of inevitability that nothing could have been done to change the outcome,' she said.

NSW Coroner found the deaths of the two teenagers who were killed by their father John Edwards (pictured) was preventable

'Instead, the evidence before this court plainly reveals the deaths of Jack and Jennifer were preventable.'

Among her 24 recommendations, Ms O'Sullivan has called for the process allowing people to shoot guns on-the-spot to be abolished, police officers' training to include more on domestic violence and regular audits of police reports to ensure they comply with best practice.

Despite the NSW Police's overhaul of the gun registry in response to the deaths, the coroner said more was needed to address the 'serious, systemic failures' present until July 2018.

She also called for better information sharing between the registry, police and Family Court to verify answers given by applicants, including whether they were subject to family law proceedings.

Gun clubs that interacted with Edwards in 2016 and 2017 adhered to their obligations, the coroner found.

But she recommended a new law forcing gun clubs to tell the registry when they refuse someone membership and give reasons.

Unlike other inquiries, the coroner cannot extend her inquiry and recommendations to address community-wide issues if they don't relate to the deaths in question.

'Notwithstanding, the deaths of Jack and Jennifer serve as a stark remainder of the broader systemic problems that face too many women and children every day,' the coroner said.

Commissioner Fuller released his public statement on behalf of NSW Police shortly before 60 Minutes aired on Sunday night.

'We see some 150,000 victims every year come forward to report family and domestic violence,' it went on.

'Half of all homicides in NSW are domestic and family violence related. We have more police and more training than we have ever had in this space.'

'Whilst we have made significant changes to the systems and processes, 15 recommendations made primarily for the NSW Police Force have been rectified.'

Anyone in need of support can contact Lifeline 13 11 14 or beyondblue 1300 22 4636.

Flowers and tributes are seen in West Pennant Hills following the deaths of sibling Jack and Jennifer Edwards in 2018
Naveen Patnaik has ordered the administration to double the penalty rate for not wearing masks.

Amid the surge in COVID-19 cases in Odisha, the government on Saturday sealed its border with Chhattisgarh and intensified patrolling along the interstate boundary.

Districts bordering Chhattisgarh have registered a spike in cases over the past few days, prompting the administration to issue an order asking people from the neighbouring state to furnish their COVID-negative reports for entry to the state, senior officials said.

Chief Secretary SC Mohapatra, who visited the western districts of Kalahandi and Nuapada during the day, asked officials to reinitialise awareness campaigns, and take strict action against people if they fail to abide by the health protocols, despite requests and warnings.

"Do not show any mercy to offenders of COVID-19 protocols, after holding awareness campaigns for two to three days. Let people understand that wearing face mask is mandatory to avoid spread of infection," the chief secretary said at a review meeting in Nuapada district.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has, meanwhile, ordered the administration to double the penalty rate for not wearing masks. People will have to cough up Rs 2,000 for the first two violations, and fine would go up to Rs 5,000 for subsequent transgressions.

Official sources said the COVID-19 situation in Nuapada district, bordering Chhattisgarh, has been categorised as "critical", after infections there recorded a five-fold jump over the past four days.

Mohapatra, along with senior officials, checked treatment facilities in the two districts, and gave assurances that steps are being taken to increase beds in ICUs and ramp up clinical examination.

The sources also said that migrant workers, who had returned to their place of work after the COVID situation improved across the country, are coming back in hordes.

State labour minister Sushant Singh said arrangements were being made for the returnees.

"Migrants are returning to Odisha from some highly- infected states. All district administrations have been asked to keep Temporary Medical Camps (TMCs) ready at the entry points to meet any eventuality. A detailed guideline for migrant workers will be issued soon, the minister stated.

Odisha on Saturday registered its highest single-day spike in 2021 with as many as 1,374 people testing positive for the infection, which further pushed the tally to 3,48,182, the health department said.

Two fresh fatalities in the coastal state raised the toll to 1,926, it added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police transparency in Hudson County will be greatly enhanced in the coming months as nearly all cops begin wearing body cameras while on duty.

Police departments countywide are putting the finishing touches on contracts, or are already in the process of rolling out the equipment among staff to fully comply with new state guidelines that take effect in June.

At least five municipalities  Jersey City, Union City, North Bergen, Harrison and Bayonne  already have most or all officers equipped with cameras. Others, like Hoboken and Weehawken, said theyve secured five-year contracts for the equipment and should have no issue meeting the states deadline.

Im a big proponent of it, Weehawken Public Safety Director Jeff Welz said. It protects the public and it also protects the police officers.

New Jerseys body camera law, which takes effect June 1, generally requires all officers, with a few exceptions, to wear the cameras while working. Gov. Phil Murphy signed it in November in the wake of global protests following George Floyds death.

It requires departments to retain footage of arrests and use of force for at least three years, and all other footage for at least 180 days. As of September, nearly 300 of New Jerseys 537 law enforcement agencies did not have cameras.

Union City purchased 150 cameras last summer, months before Gov. Phil Murphy signed the legislation into law, Police Chief Nichelle Luster said.

I think that its very important that a police department has a partnership and public trust and we just thought that these would go a long way in furtherance with that, Luster said. Weve always been professional, but this is an opportunity for us to show that if theres any question.

She expects to have an additional 34 cameras by June for the remaining officers who need them, as well as some plainclothes officers who are not required to wear them under the states guidelines.

The only downside to cameras is the cost, Luster said. Municipalities have approved funding for contracts in the hundreds of thousands in recent weeks that in many cases will last for five years.

But police departments are also applying for grants through a nearly $58 million state fund the state established to support the body-worn camera initiative.

Harrison officers began wearing cameras just this month, the chief said.

Since the April 5 rollout, things have gone smoothly for the most part, with only minor kinks to work out, Harrison Police Chief David Strumolo said.

East Newark, which only has eight sworn officers, will bring a contract before the Borough Council for the first time at an upcoming meeting, but anticipates making the June deadline, Chief Anthony Monteiro said.

We had cameras in our vehicles  and its helped us in the past with numerous jobs that weve had, so putting the camera on the body will help us even more, Monteiro said.

And Jersey City, which has the countys largest police department, already requires officers to wear the cameras every shift, said city spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione.

The only modification the JCPD needs to make under the new guidelines is to extend the retention time from 100 days to 180 days, which will be implemented well before the deadline, she said.
"Now that everyone is eligible, it gives us the opportunity to ramp up our education and outreach and help people with their decision making process," Ashton Day of the Health Department said.
NEW DELHI: West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee has cancelled her two rallies scheduled to be held in Jalpaiguri district on Sunday (April 11). The Trinamool supremo, who on Saturday announced she would visit Cooch Behar to take stock of the firing incident in which four people lost their lives, has now rescheduled her visit on the 'fourth day'.

The development comes a day after Mamata questioned the version that central forces fired on voters 'in self-defence' in Cooch Behar district killing four persons and stated that her government in West Bengal will initiate a CID probe into the incident.

"A CID probe will be initiated to find out the circumstances behind the incident," the CM said. Mamata said that she would visit Mathabhanga Hospital on Sunday morning.

EC should rename MCC as Modi Code of Conduct! BJP can use all its might but NOTHING in this world can stop me from being with my people & sharing their pain. They can restrict me from visiting my brothers & sisters in Cooch Behar for 3 days but I WILL be there on the 4th day!  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) April 11, 2021

Meanwhile, the poll panel barred the entry of politicians in Cooch Behar district for the next 72 hours to prevent any possible law and order flare-up and directed the union home ministry to deploy an additional 71 companies of central armed police forces (CAPF) for the next four phases of the polling. It also put in place restrictions, including extending the 'silence period' from 48 hours to 72 hours, for the fifth phase of polling after the violence. Candidates will now not be allowed to canvass door to door 72 hours before the end of the polling hour instead of the usual 48 hours prior to the conclusion of the exercise.

At least four persons were killed as central forces opened fire allegedly after coming under attack from locals, who 'attempted to snatch their rifles' near a booth in Sitalkuchi constituency in North Bengal when polling was underway. According to official sources, the preliminary report submitted by the EC's special police observer Vivek Dubey said that a huge mob of around 350-400 people had gheraoed the central forces, following which they fired in "self-defence".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed an election meeting at Siliguri earlier in the day and extended his condolences to the bereaved families, besides urging the Election Commission to take action against those responsible for the incident.
Felicity Jones looked the picture of sophistication in a black beaded floor length gown as she arrived at London's Royal Albert Hall on Sunday for the BAFTA 2021 Film Awards.

The actress, 37, draped a tailored black blazer over her shoulders as she stepped out of her car and made her way into the venue.

She styled her brunette tresses in soft waves and wore a gentle glow of make-up offset with a deep shadowing of mascara on her lashes.

Bringing the glamour: Felicity Jones looked the picture of sophistication in a black beaded gown as she arrived at London 's Royal Albert Hall on Sunday for the BAFTA 2021 Film Awards

The BAFTA and EE British Academy Film Awards 2021 is the first of the Academy's film ceremonies to be held virtually.

The TV version of the awards show took place online during summer 2020, but last year's film ceremony managed to go ahead a month before the Covid pandemic forced the UK into lockdown.

With the pandemic still raging, another change will take place this year: the BAFTAs will happen in two parts.

Both shows, recognising the very best in film of the past year, will be broadcast virtually from London's Royal Albert Hall.

Beauty: The actress, 37, draped a tailored black blazer over her shoulders

The first show celebrates the craft of film while the second main show will feature the mainstream awards.

Show one was hosted by Clara Amfo on Saturday night and saw eight of the 17 gongs awarded.

During the broadcast it was revealed that Ma Raineys Black Bottom won two awards: Costume Design and Make Up & Hair.

Rocks won Casting while Sound of Metal won Sound. Mank picked up Production Design, and Tenet won Special Visual Effects.

Sleek: She styled her brunette tresses in soft waves

The Present won the British Short Film award, while the BAFTA for British Short Animation was won by The Owl and the Pussycat.

The award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema, announced last month, was presented to filmmaker Noel Clarke.

Show two is fronted by Dermot O'Leary and Edith Bowman from London's Royal Albert Hall where the acting prizes will be given out. No audience will be present.

Both programmes are being broadcast in all major territories around the world and a total of 50 feature films received nominations this year.

Glammed up: She wore a gentle glow of make-up offset with a deep shadowing of mascara on her lashes

Presenters will appear during the ceremony from both London and Los Angeles, but all nominees will accept their prizes virtually in front of a virtual audience watching from home.

Among the prizes announced on the second night will be the public-voted EE Rising Star Award and the Fellowship, BAFTA's highest honour.

BAFTA has announced their most diverse list of nominees in the awards' 74-year history.

Night out: The BAFTA and EE British Academy Film Awards 2021 is the first of the Academy's film ceremonies to be held virtually

In a first for BAFTA, four women have been nominated in the Director category. Three of the nominated directors are also nominated for Film Not in the English Language.

As part of BAFTAs pledge to support fresh talent, four of the five nominated films in Outstanding Debut are also nominated across other categories, with first-time nominees accounting for four of the six nominated Directors and 21 of the 24 nominees in the performance categories.

British talent is rife in 2021, with the Outstanding British Film category increasing from six to 10 nominations, three of which are also nominated for Best Film.

Of the difficult times the awards and creative industries have had during the past 12 months - which saw a total shut-down of TV and film production across the world - BAFTA's Chief Executive Amanda Berry said: 'The last year has seen the Covid-19 pandemic impact everyone, and the film industry is no exception.

'I would like to thank all those who have supported us and enabled BAFTA to continue to celebrate the very best work in film, from our members who embraced the changes we made to the voting process to the distributors for ensuring that many more films were available for online viewing.

Prestigious: The TV version of the awards show took place online during summer 2020, but last year's film ceremony managed to go ahead a month before the Covid pandemic forced the UK into lockdown

'Film has always held an essential place in our culture but I think we can all agree that it has been even more important during this time.

'I very much look forward to celebrating the incredible talent of all our nominees.'

In the past year, BAFTA undertook a wide-ranging Review, signalling the beginning of a significant cultural shift within the organisation.

The changes introduced for the Film Awards are the first phase in an ongoing process of levelling the playing field for all entered films.

Krishnendu Majumdar, Chair of BAFTA, said of this: 'This years nominations showcase and celebrate the remarkable range of performances and nominees behind the camera from 50 films and were delighted to recognise such high-quality work.

With the pandemic still raging, another change will take place this year: the BAFTAs will happen in two parts. Both shows, recognising the very best in film of the past year, will be broadcast virtually from London's Royal Albert Hall

'We are also delighted to see the strength of British film shine through in all categories.

'After last years nominations, we started the BAFTA Review process with the intention of levelling the playing field and introduced a range of measures to ensure that all entered films were seen by our members and judged on merit.

'We hope today you can see some of those changes reflected in the breadth and depth of those nominated and we congratulate all our nominees.'

Marc Samuelson, Chair of the BAFTA Film Committee, said: 'It has been an extremely tough year for everyone, including for cinemas and for the film industry, so we are looking forward to some fun, and a celebration of great talent across the weekend.

'The industry and film lovers are coming together to shine a spotlight on the creativity and craft behind the 50 nominated films, and to recognise and celebrate the efforts of the industry to keep going during this particularly challenging time.'
New Delhi:

The administration of Banaras Hindu University is constantly under fire after the recent protests over rising eve-teasing cases in the campus. Now, BHU Registrar Neeraj Tripathi on Wednesday appointed as Interim Vice-Chancellor of the University after Girish Tripathi went on indefinite leave.

BHU Vice Chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi, who was in the eye of a storm in dealing the student protest in campus, on Monday proceeded on leave, citing personal reasons, university officials informed.

Tripathi, who is set to retire on November 30, had gone on indefinite leave, BHU officials said.

The move came amid indications from top HRD ministry sources that the central government was not happy with the manner in which he handled the entire episode, including a protest by women students following an incident of alleged harassment.

The BHU appointed its first woman chief proctor after the resignation of her predecessor on moral grounds. Royana Singh replaced ON Singh as chief proctor of the varsity.

A number of students, including women, and two journalists were injured in a baton-charge by the police in BHU where a protest on Saturday night against an alleged eve-teasing incident turned violent.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Beijing: Twenty-one miners are trapped in a flooded coalmine in northwest China's Xinjiang region, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday, citing a local emergency department.

A section of the mine filled with water, leading to power outages just after 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) on Saturday when 29 miners were working at the site in Hutubi county, the report said.

Eight miners have been lifted out.

State media outlet Global Times said 12 of the miners who remain trapped have been located and are expected to be rescued.

The location of nine others has been determined, but their condition is unknown, the newspaper said. The 12 are on a platform around 1.2 km (4,000 feet) below ground, and the layout of the mine is complex, complicating rescue efforts, it said.

Emergency workers have set up several water pumps at the site.

Chinese mines are among the deadliest in the world.

Ten gold miners were confirmed dead in January following an explosion in a mine in coastal Shandong province.

In December, 23 people were killed after being trapped in a mine in the southwestern city of Chongqing. Three months earlier, 16 people died in a coalmine in the same area.
VINCENNES, Ind. (WTHI) - More than a hundred years ago this month, the United States formally declared war against Germany and entered the fight in Europe.

The "Indiana Military Museum" in Vincennes details the history of world war one.

It's hosting a "Great War" event this weekend.

You can watch weapons demonstrations, battle reenactments, and aircraft flyovers -- if the weather cooperates.

News 10 stopped by the event today.

Organizers say it is even more important to learn about the "Great War" as more time passes.

Museum volunteer and reenactor Bryan Andrews says, "It's really important that we tell that story and remember that sacrifice and honor that sacrifice because they're no longer able to tell that story."

This event continues tomorrow.

Gates open at 9 in the morning.

A battle recreation is tentatively scheduled for 1:30 in the afternoon.
A young girl who was born with one leg shorter than the other because of a rare birth defect has received life-altering surgery to extend her leg by eight centimetres.

New Zealand girl Lydia Golding, four, was born with her right leg 14 centimetres shorter than her left.

A birth defect known as proximal focal deficiency, which affects one in every 200,000 people, had compromised her femur bone, causing the right leg to stop growing.

Not only would Lydia need a prosthetic leg in order to walk around for the rest of her life but the limp would place extra strain on other bones and joints and cause future problems for her body.

Her parents Lauren and Hamish looked everywhere for a doctor who could offer an alternative to the painful lifestyle waiting for their daughter.

New Zealand girl Lydia Golding, 4, was born with her right leg 14 centimetres shorter than her left

They came across American doctor Dror Paley, who performs limb lengthening and deformity correction surgery out of his practice at the Paley Institute, in Florida

They came across American doctor Dror Paley who performs limb lengthening and deformity correction surgery out of his practice at the Paley Institute in Florida.

The family didn't have to think twice about moving overseas and their daughter went under the knife in November last year.

Doctor Paley inserted 12 pins into her leg, hips, femur and knee and then painfully extended the leg by 0.75 millimetres a day until it lengthened by eight centimetres.

Lydia is now undergoing walking therapy and strengthening rehabilitation at the institute in Florida.

Ms Golding told Daily Mail Australia her daughter has been doing extremely well, except for one minor setback.

'She had an infection last week and that's what sent her back for another surgery to get it cleaned up,' she said.

'She is honestly doing amazing and it really blows me away constantly how well she copes.

'There's definitely good and bad days.'

Lydia will require four more procedures to lengthen her leg, which doctors will space out every three years.

She will be 16 by the time she receives the last operation, when both her legs will finally be the same length.

Ms Golding has already described the journey as 'an emotional roller coaster.'

'We are taking each day one step at a time.'

Lydia is now undergoing walking therapy and strengthening rehabilitation at the institute in Florida

The family have kickstarted a GoFundMe to help raise money and cover the costs of the surgery.

The initial procedure cost $250,000 and Lydia will require another medical procedure later in the year worth $60,000.

The family also has to pay rent for their Florida apartment, meaning costs have skyrocketed to $400,000.

Ms Golding said the price tag has been worth it just to see her daughter smile again.

'Lydia has an absolute heart of gold, an infectious smile, and melts people's hearts,' Ms Golding said.

'We are hoping by sharing her story she will also melt yours and your donations will go towards achieving the very best outcome for our brave little girl, to fulfil her dream of walking with her own two feet.'
A woman who is expecting a baby with her ex-boyfriend has revealed his new partner is treating her 'like a surrogate' - and even threw a gender reveal party for her babies without inviting her.

The anonymous woman, 29, from the US, explained in a lengthy Reddit post that she her ex Joe, 30, had broken up with her to get back together with his former partner Kim, also 30, when she discovered she was pregnant with twins.

Despite her worries that Joe would not want to be involved, she said he was 'ecstatic' about the pregnancy because Kim had fertility issues and he had always wanted to be a father.

However the expectant mother became increasingly frustrated as Kim became more 'overbearing', announcing on social media she was expecting twins 'the non-traditional way' and even trying to influence where she gave birth.

An expectant mother has revealed that her ex partner's new girlfriend is treating her 'like a surrogate' and threw a gender reveal party without even inviting her (stock image)

Posting under the username throwaway-twinmama, she said she found out she was pregnant right after she and Joe broke up.

She explained: 'Getting back together was out of the question for both of us so he's still with his girlfriend. Joe was only allowed at the initial appointment because of COVID-19 and we found out I was having twins.

'According to Joe when he told Kim she had a mental breakdown about her infertility, and wanted to talk to me.

'I met them at their house and Kim stated that she wanted to be involved in my pregnancy because she would eventually be the children's stepmother.'

The anonymous American woman, 29, took to Reddit to say her ex-boyfriend Joe, 30, broke up with her to get back with his ex Kim, when she found out she was pregnant with twins

She continued: 'She started telling me that I needed to do a home birth, that I needed to formula feed so that they could have the babies half of the week, that she wanted one boy and one girl, and that she wanted the kid to call her Mama since they would be calling me Mommy.

'I shut her down and said I would make the best choices for my children and my body and left.'

The woman went on to explain that Kim continued to be 'overbearing' and treat her like a 'surrogate', even getting annoyed that her job wouldn't give her maternity leave for the pregnancy.

She explained: 'At the virtual genetics counselling appointment, she attended instead of Joe and took over the whole meeting trying to talk about her family history which wasn't relevant.'

But she said things got even worse for her, revealing: 'I put a pregnancy announcement on my social media and then she put up an announcement saying they were expecting twins 'the non-traditional way' and how blessed she was. I was irritated but I kept my mouth shut.

'Then she threw a gender reveal party and posted it on social media. I wasn't even invited. She also announced that she's having a baby shower.

Other shocked Reddit users were quick to assure the woman that she wasn't being an 'a**hole', urging her to get a 'lawyer' against the 'lunatic' ex-girlfriend

WHAT ARE THE LAWS ON SURROGACY? The laws of surogacy differ from country to country. In the US the laws suffer from state to state; some states have written legislation while others have common laws stemming from court decisions. For example, California is accepting of surrogacy agreements and upholds agreements that include LGBT people. However, others are stricter, like Michigan, which forbids absolutely all surrogacy agreements, and fines people $500,000 for entering into agreements. In the UK surrogates are the legal mother of any child they carry, unless they sign a parental order transferring their rights to the intended parents when they give birth. The birth mother always has the right to keep her child, even if they are not genetically related. Its illegal to pay a surrogate in the UK, except for medical expenses. Advertisement

'I commented on her posts and told her to stop treating me like a surrogate, that the kids weren't hers, and that Joe didn't have any claim or custody of the kids until they are born.

'I then called Joe and reiterated all of this and stated that I would not be seeing either of them until we went to family court and that my mother would be my birthing partner.'

The mother-to-be said that Joe, Kim and their friends have been calling her an 'a**hole', with Kim's mother even insisting that she 'give' one of the babies to Kim and Joe.

Other shocked Reddit users were quick to assure the woman that she wasn't being an 'a**hole', urging her to get a 'lawyer' against the 'lunatic' ex-girlfriend.

One person slammed the ex-girlfriend's behaviour as 'creepy' while others insisted that she would likely try and 'steal' her twins from her after they were born.

Hoards of other people urged the expectant mother to get legal help to stop the situation from 'escalating' any further, with some even suggesting a 'restraining order'.

One person fumed: 'OP [original poster] needs to sue for full custody, I would NOT leave my kids with this lunatic, she might train them to call her mom.

'Also her mom suggested she give them one?! What the actual f**k is wrong with these people?!'

Another commented: 'God, I can't even imagine co-parenting with this man. OP is going to have to fight them on every decision regarding the babies for the next 18 years and dealing with Kim probably on the daily.'

While a third penned: 'You need to talk to a family lawyer about how to protect yourself against Joe and Kim trying to gain custody out from under you asap, and Kim needs to see a therapist because she really is treating you like a surrogate and it's incredibly creepy.

'Joe not telling her to stay in her lane is also a serious problem.'

The pregnant woman later clarified that she plans to get a lawyer 'as soon as possible' because the hoards of comments had 'scared the s**t' out of her.
Sight & Sound Theatres has announced when tickets will go on sale for its new original stage production, "DAVID."

Tickets will go on sale April 20 for the highly anticipated presentation coming to its theatre in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 2022. The story is about the biblical hero who went from shepherd to king after defeating a giant named Goliath.

"This new production has been four years in the making and we couldn't be more excited to finally bring it to the stage," Joshua Enck, chief story officer for Sight & Sound, said in a statement shared with The Christian Post.

"David was many different things: a shepherd, king, poet and a warrior. Through this new live-stage production, this powerful yet personal story will come to life like never before," Enck said.

Source:The Christian Post
New Delhi: Actress Alia Bhatt who is battling COVID-19 is taking plenty of rest and is on the path to recovery at the comfort of her home.

On Saturday (April 10) the Raazi actress gave fans a sneak peek into her time in quarantine with beautiful sun-kissed selfies which left fans swooning over her. The 28-year-old captioned the photos saying, "Dreamers never wake up".

Here's the post:

The actress announced that she had tested positive for the coronavirus infection on April 2 through her social media handles. Since then, Alia has been under home quarantine and following all the safety protocols listed by her doctors.

Last month, Alia Bhatt's beau, actor Ranbir Kapoor, had also tested positive for COVID-19. The Rockstar actor has however fully recovered now.

On the work front, the actress has her kitty full. Alia will be seen opposite beau Ranbir Kapoor in Ayan Mukherji directorial 'Brahamastra'.

The actress will also star in Sanjay Leela Bhansalis biopic 'Gangubai Kathiawadi', Karan Johar's period-drama 'Takht' and Darlings.

Alia recently turned producer and opened her production company called Eternal Sunshine on March 1. The actress announced the first movie named Darlings to be co-produced by her production house along with Shah Rukh Khans Red Chillies. Alia will feature in Darlings as well.
(Natural News) With Hunter Biden on a serious image rehabilitation tour  a tell all book combined with television interviews from friendly outlets designed to invoke pity over the First Sons crack and hooker habits, the Daily Mail is now telling the rest of the story regarding the contents of his abandoned laptop after Hunter admitted it certainly could be his in a Sunday interview with CBS.

(Article by Tyler Durden republished from ZeroHedge.com)

If youve seen the laptop photos which leaked last October, you can probably stop here. The Mail did spare us from blurred pictures of Hunters wang, along with several sex tapes released by exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui.

After obtaining a copy of the hard drive, DailyMail.com commissioned top cyber forensics experts Maryman & Associates to analyze its data and determine whether the laptops contents were real. The firms founder, Brad Maryman, is a 29-year FBI veteran Supervisory Special Agent who served as an Information Security Officer and founded its first computer forensics lab. Daily Mail

The Mail obtained over 100,000 text messages, 154,000 emails and over 2,000 photos which were verified by top forensics experts, which reveal that Joe became a punching bag for Hunters drug-fueled rants, and paid his grandchildrens bills when Hunter had drained his bank accounts with prostitutes and crack cocaine.

Hunter appeared to be obsessed with making and starring in porn films with prostitutes, videos and photos on his laptop show. The hard drive contains hundreds of pictures of naked women and naked selfies of Hunter, as well as dozens of videos. Hunter photographed and filmed himself, often with two prostitutes at a time, in explicit videos that he then posted on adult website Pornhub under the username RHEast. Hunter filmed himself with the women from his laptop webcam, sometimes shooting at different angles using an iPad and cell phone. Daily Mail
Janakpurdham/Biratnagar,

Police in Siraha of Lahan and Biratnagar of Morang have reported two murder incidents in the cities on Saturday night.

In Lahan of Siraha, Pradeep Mijar, 45, a jeweller by profession, was reportedly killed by a group of robbers who barged into his house after midnight, according to police.

He was seriously injured as the robbers reportedly attacked with a khukuri on his head, face and both hands and with a pistol on his chest. He was rushed to the nearby Saptarshi Hospital, but was declared dead, informs the Siraha District Police Office Shaligram Sharma.

The suspects also attacked the victims wife, Anita Kumari Dulal, and she is undergoing treatment at the same hospital, it has been learned.

Police have arrested two persons in connection with the case for further investigation.

Likewise, in Biratnagar of Morang, Ravi Sahani reportedly murdered his father Biko, 52, at Baluwai, Biratnagar-8, on Saturday night, local police inform. The suspect is on the run since the incident.

Seriously injured in the incident, he was rushed to the Koshi Hospital for treatment. He died after a few hours.

Further investigation is underway, informs DSP Man Bahadur Rai of the Morang District Police Office.
Four men have been jailed for a total of at least 113 years for their role in a shocking fatal drive-by shooting in a busy street.

Dante Mullings, 20, died after he was hit with a hail of bullets as he sat in a parked car on St Vincent Street West, Ladywood, Birmingham at 5pm on May 7, 2019.

Chilling CCTV captured the moment a gunman leant out of a VW Passat window and fired at least eight shots at the vehicle.

Mr Mullings was shot three times including in the lower back but he managed to run away and hurdle roadside barriers before collapsing on the ground.

Two other passengers also suffered gunshot wounds but survived the attack while Mr Mullings died in hospital.

Four men have been sentenced to a total of 113 years in jail for conspiring to murder Dante Mullings. The 20-year-old was shot three times by a passing gunman as he sat in a parked car in Birmingham in May 2019

Dior Jackson, 20, Ihsaan Bernard, 21, Omarni Bernard-Sewell, 21, and Ayuub Mahmood, 19, denied conspiring to murder and possessing a gun with intent to endanger life.

All four men were found guilty of the charges at Birmingham Crown Court on February 4 and were all given life terms on Friday.

The court heard how after the revenge attack, The Passat, which was stolen and displaying cloned number plates, was found on fire in Nechells, later that night.

Bernard and Bernard-Sewell - both prominent Birmingham gang members - orchestrated the murder plot in revenge for a serious stabbing less than 24 hours earlier that left a friend critically ill in hospital.

Ihsaan Bernard, 21, and Dior Jackson, 20, denied conspiring to murder and possessing a gun with intent to endanger life, but were found guilty and sentenced to 29 years in jail each at Birmingham Crown Court

Omarni Bernard-Sewell, 21, and Ayuub Mahmood, 19, were also found guilty of the same charges and sentenced to 29 years and 26 years respectively

Detectives trawled CCTV to track the Passat at various points throughout the day including the area of Hockley, Birmingham, immediately after the murder.

Footage shows Jackson walk from the direction of the Passat into a block of flats wearing a grey hoody and re-emerge minutes later having changed tops.

Further CCTV and phone enquiries implicated Bernard and Bernard-Sewell.

Detectives discovered Mahmood contacted Hockley Car Spares on the day of the murder and collected the Passat's cloned number plates from the business at 2.20pm on the day of the murder.

Eight shots were fired into the stationary car, with three shots hitting Mr Mullings

Dante Mullings died in hospital after being fired at eight times in the drive-by shooting

Police raided the site on July 3 and recovered a machete, cloned number plates and laptop software used to create registration plates.

Bernard-Sewell, was arrested from his home in Selly Oak, Birmingham on July 16.

Police bodycam captured the moment Bernard, of Kingstanding, Birmingham, was arrested at Birmingham Airport as he arrived from Amsterdam.

Jackson, of Great Barr, Birmingham, surrendered the following day and Mahmood, from Lozells, Birmingham, was arrested during a dawn raid on August 7.

How long will each spend behind bars?* Ihsaan Bernard - 29 years Dior Jackson - 29 years Omarni Bernard-Sewell - 29 years Ayuub Mahmoud - 26 years A 16-year-old boy was also charged with conspiracy to murder and is set to stand trial on May 17. Two other men Mohammed Qadir, 20, and 26-year-old Wasim Hussain were both cleared by a jury of involvement in the murder plot. *Minimum length of sentence Advertisement

The murder weapon - a 9mm self-loading pistol was found in a bag hidden in bushes in Leicester on November 4,2019.

It was examined by ballistics experts and shown to have fired the rounds that killed Mr Mullings - and was also linked to four other firearms discharges in Birmingham.

Detective Inspector Hannah Whitehouse, of West Midlands Police, said: 'The shooting was prompted by a stabbing the previous day.

'The defendants were all friends or associates of the victim and made a pact to exact revenge.

'However, neither Dante Mullings nor the other two men in the car were involved in the knife attack.

'We don't think they were specifically targeted but that the defendants drove around Ladywood searching for anyone associated to the group.

'Unfortunately for Dante, they came across him and his friends first.

'We know Dior Jackson was in the VW Passat at the time alongside another man.

'We weren't able to prove who pulled the trigger - but we were able to show this group plotted together to carry out the shooting. And therefore they were jointly liable.'
Britain's biggest lenders are gearing up to collect billions of pounds in crisis loans amid rising concerns that firms may be bullied into making repayments.

Banks are allocating hundreds of extra staff to spearhead the recovery efforts and bosses have been in regular talks with the Treasury to finalise plans.

HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds have all begun dispatching letters to customers to warn them that repayments will soon be expected.

Payback time: HSBC and other banks will now charge for loans in scheme set up by Sunak

Banks have handed out more than 75billion to 1.6million firms under a number of emergency support schemes set up by Chancellor Rishi Sunak and backed by the taxpayer.

Businesses were granted an interest-free period of a year and are due to start making repayments in as little as two weeks' time.

But sources said bankers could be forced to use heavy-handed tactics  and risk a painful repeat of the financial crisis when beleaguered firms faced high-pressure debt collection tactics.

Small business owners warned that lenders may feel entitled to 'threaten, bully and intimidate' borrowers after a court last month ruled that they do not need to act with 'reasonable care and skill' when recovering debts.

Banking sources said they are aware that some companies may still be facing severe financial difficulties. One senior banker warned that small firms  many of which have loans of 50,000 or less  might even refuse to make repayments because they have mistaken the money for grants or debt that will be written off.

The Treasury is believed to be expecting the banks to be 'quite hard' in their recovery efforts. It is understood that banks must exhaust all other options before turning to the taxpayer to recoup the money.

Banks have handed out more than 75billion to 1.6million firms under a number of emergency support schemes set up by Chancellor Rishi Sunak and backed by the taxpayer

The banker said: 'At the moment the view is you are going to have to pursue [the loans] quite hard, because people might play awkward and think the banks will just forget about it.

'It will get tricky when you get right down to the wire. And will we go legal on this? [The Treasury] hasn't ruled it out.'

Banks are spending millions of pounds on debt recovery. They are required to offer a raft of forbearance measures before calling in the debt. HSBC has allocated 400 staff to its collections team to discuss payment holidays, interest-only repayment periods and extending loan terms.

Barclays is sending out letters to inform customers of the measures in place. Metro Bank has hired new staff for a unit to support customers. NatWest will launch a new website dedicated to customers struggling with repayments. It said it will give every customer three months' notice before payments are expected to be received.

Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking, said: '[If] a business is in default and can't make ends meet, the bank then needs to be very good at setting out the next steps. I should think most businesses will participate in an orderly wind-down. But firms do now have free dispute resolution in the Business Banking Resolution Service. And hopefully the banks will stay proceedings with a business until the case has been resolved in the BBRS.

'I think with all of these measures in place, it is far less likely we will see the abuses of the past take place. Banks will now get caught out if they foreclose on someone unfairly or stick them into a restructuring division without notification.'

Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking

The ruling by the Court of Appeal decided that banks do not have a duty of care to borrowers who fail to repay. The decision came as part of a tense legal battle between RBS and property tycoon Oliver Morley.

Morley claimed bankers forced him to hand over his business in 2010 after he failed to repay a 75million loan. He claimed RBS had breached a duty to provide banking services with reasonable care and skill because it had violated its internal policies in negotiations.

But the High Court ruled that bankers only have to comply with regulatory standards, not internal guidelines. The Court of Appeal later said the bank had a duty of care when providing the loan as a banking service, but not in the recovery process.

Morley said: 'I fully respect all the decisions handed down by the court. But I am worried about the law. My case highlighted that small firms get no protection whatsoever from our system when banks come knocking. Banks can threaten, bully and intimidate their borrowers using the enormous imbalance of power they have at their disposal.'
Opportunities and threats of global economic recovery View(s):

The gradual recovery of the global economy brings with it benefits, disadvantages, opportunities and challenges. It provides Sri Lankas export-import economy with both opportunities for export growth and also brings with it external shocks and disadvantages as prices of essential imports are likely to increase.

On balance

However, on balance, the global economic recovery confers more benefits and opportunities than setbacks. This is especially so with respect to merchandise exports and earnings from services.

If there are increased earnings from ICT services, workers remittances are at around last years amount and there is a revival of tourism at the end of the year, there is a prospect of this years balance of payments being in surplus and enhancing the foreign reserves at years end.

The increased expenditure on essential imports would however be a strain on the trade balance. There are also many uncertainties in the expectations on ICT Services, workers remittances and tourist earnings that could contribute much to the balance of payments.

The COVID pandemic

Despite the increasing optimism of a COVID free world, there are fears that the pandemic will not pass away easily. There are fears of increasing spread of COVID in some countries and lockdowns in the countries that matter.

The global economic recovery is possible only after the COVID pandemic is eliminated globally. The world would be completely safe only when it is eliminated in the entire world.

As Geoffrey Okamoto, First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF said recently, this pandemic will only really be over when it is over for everyone.

Mr. Okamoto said the economic recovery is still uncertain incomplete and unequal.

It is incomplete because despite a stronger than expected recovery in the second half of 2020, GDP remains well below pre-pandemic trends in most countries. The recovery paths have also been different across countries, as well as across sectors, he said.

Global economic recovery

The latest IMF forecast of global economic recovery in April was more optimistic than at the beginning of the year. It forecasted a global economic growth of 6.6 percent.

China was expected to grow by 8.8 percent, while the US was expected to grow at 6.4 percent. India was expected to recover to a growth of 12.5 percent this year.

Opportunities

The economic recovery of Western countries, in particular, would enhance the demand for Sri Lankas manufactured exports. Chinas speedier recovery could also enhance certain exports and tourism. It provides new opportunities for exports and increased trade.

Economic recovery will vary widely in different regions. The fastest recovery is expected from China and East Asia, South Korea, Vietnam and Japan. These countries are expected to be near normal later this year.

Uncertainty

Nevertheless, there is no certainty that global economic growth will accelerate until the pandemic is eliminated globally. There have also been set-backs to the economic recovery. Germanys lockdown, the banning of vaccines by France, Spain, Germany and several other European countries makes the containment of the pandemic uncertain.

Furthermore, the unavailability of the vaccine in many countries and a sizeable extent of the pandemic in some continents add to the skepticism of its elimination. New mutations of the virus in various countries and their spreading to other countries have also been a severe setback to expectations of controlling the virus.

Economic recovery

Despite these reservations, the global economy will revive to some extent and the global demand for goods and services would increase. There is evidence that in the first two months of this year there was an upsurge in international demand for apparel, rubber goods and PPE items. We expect this demand to increase in the coming months.

Tourism

The revival of travel and tourism will take a longer time as conditions in the country of origin and of the destination would matter. Furthermore, we should adopt a cautious approach to the expansion of tourism. Lack of vigilance in tourists coming into the country could be a serious health hazard that would impact on the economy as last year.

Downside

The global economic recovery has significant downside impacts on the Sri Lankan economy. In as much as the demand for the countrys industrial exports are likely to increase, import expenditure is likely to escalate owing to higher prices.

Already international prices 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, increased to above US$ 60 this year. Fuel prices are likely to increase further as the world economy revives. They are also likely to fluctuate, as always, but not reach the low prices of 2020.

Import prices

In fact, commodity prices for most part 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. It is therefore critical that imports of raw materials for industry are not affected by import restrictions. The bottom line is that the countrys import expenditure is likely to increase significantly this year in spite of import controls.

In all probability, the global economy is likely to recover, though the nature and pace of it is uncertain. The extent of the control of the pandemic would be a determinant of the pace of such growth.

Sri Lankas exports are likely to benefit. On the other hand, import expenditure is likely to increase and cause a higher trade deficit. If workers remittances remain at last years US$ 7.1 billion and tourism revives, the balance of payments could be in surplus. Uncertainties in these are however serious concerns.

Remittances

Last years increase in workers remittances is difficult to explain as workers were returning to the country. One explanation is that returning workers are remitting their accumulated savings through official channels rather than informal channels. If this is so, we could expect remittances to decline 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.

Remittances in the first three months of this year are estimated at about US$ 1.5 billion. This is indicative of a decline 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. Hopefully, remittances will not fall below US$ five billion this year.

Serious threat

Furthermore, the threat of economic sanctions as a consequence of the UNHRC resolution on human rights violations poses a huge threat to the economy. Economic sanctions by Western countries that are the main markets for our exports would negate the benefits of the global economic recovery.

Concluding reflection

Merchandise exports, have to be increased significantly to contain the trade deficit to as low a gap as possible as there would be a significant increase in import expenditure. The expectation of continued increases in remittances and the revival of earning from tourism, if realised, would strengthen the balance of payments and external finances.

The countrys hopes are that there would be a global containment of COVID and a robust world economic recovery that would enable a revival of Sri Lankas economic growth. It is most important that the governments diplomacy would eliminate the threat of economic sanctions.
Emergency personnel will resume Sunday morning searching the Brady's Lake area in Monroe County for a 72-year-old man missing since Monday from Clifton Twp., Lackawanna County, after his truck was found at the lake Saturday, authorities said.

State police in Dunmore on Friday night issued a missing endangered person advisory for Ronald Nicholas who was last known to be in the area of Firefighter Lane in Clifton Twp. Monday around 11 a.m.

The advisory said, Police believe this person may be at special risk of harm or injury, or may be confused.

Nicholas' vehicle was described in the advisory as a blue 2017 Toyota Tacoma pickup.

Discovery of Nicholas' truck at Brady's Lake Saturday morning led emergency personnel to respond for search-and-rescue efforts, said a supervisor with the Monroe County 911 dispatch center.

Brady's Lake is about an 8-10 mile drive south of Firefighter Lane.

State police said search efforts were undertaken on land, in the water and by air throughout the day, to no avail, before being called off for the night, and the searching will resume Sunday morning.
What did it recommend? The report made 339 recommendations for state and federal authorities, including 35 relating to the investigation and notification of deaths, 13 recommending diversion from police custody, 30 on imprisonment as a last resort, and 36 on custodial health and safety. The recommendations ranged from strategies for directly preventing death (including examining cells to ensure there are no hanging points), to more structural improvements relating to health, education, economic opportunities, housing, land needs and reconciliation. Some of the recommendations included: Abolishing the offence of public drunkenness (recommendation 79) and providing adequate funding for a non-custodial place for intoxicated people (recommendation 80)

Ensuring the principle of self-determination is applied in any policy or program which will particularly affect Aboriginal people (188)

Giving Aboriginal media organisations adequate funding in recognition of their important function (205a)

Encouraging police to give youths cautions, rather than proceeding by arrest, summons or court attendance notice (240a)

For police services to take all possible steps to eliminate violent or rough treatment or verbal abuse of Aboriginal persons (60a)

That police take steps to eliminate the use of racist or offensive language, or the use of racist or derogatory comments in log books and other documents (60b)

An urgent need for governments and other organisation to discuss strategies to reduce the rate at which Indigenous youths are involved in the criminal justice system (62)

Its final recommendation, number 339, was for political leaders to recognise that reconciliation between the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities in Australia must be achieved if community division, discord and injustice to Aboriginal people are to be avoided. Young people show their support at the rally against deaths in custody. Credit:Brook Mitchell How many of those changes have been implemented? Despite $400 million being pledged by the Commonwealth government in 1992 (including $65 million for criminal justice), there are still many recommendations that have not been implemented. A Deloitte review in 2018, spanning more than 800 pages, found that 64 per cent of the recommendations have been implemented in full, while 36 per cent have been implemented partially or not at all.

In December 2017, public drunkenness remained a crime in Victoria despite the recommendation to abolish it. Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day was arrested after she was found asleep on a train and taken into custody, where she fell and hit her head in a police cell. Her injuries were not detected for hours and she later died in hospital. A bill to decriminalise public drunkenness in the state, passed in February this year, will come into effect in 2022. A NSW coroner found last year that the recommendation on addressing obvious hanging points in cells also remains unresolved. Thirty of the 99 deaths examined by the royal commission were deaths by hanging, including a 19-year-old man who died in an Adelaide prison in July 1987 in a protest that went wrong. Demonstrators hold placards showing the faces of those who have died in custody. Credit:Brook Mitchell In September 2017, 30 years and two months after this young mans death, a piece of plumbing pipe remained exposed in one of the cells at Tamworth Correctional Centre. Tane Chatfield, a 22-year-old Gamilaraay, Gumbaynggirr and Wakka Wakka man, used the obvious hanging point to take his own life. The inquest into Mr Chatfields death was told it is very challenging for corrective services to remove all hanging points, particularly in old, heritage-listed facilities. Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame described this in her findings as unacceptable 30 years on from the royal commission.

Speaking in the Senate in June last year, Labor senator Patrick Dodson  who was involved in the royal commission  said the past 30 years have not addressed the underlying issues that give rise to this awful blight. For too long, nice words, good intentions but the lack of action and commitment have not seen a reduction to the custodies or the deaths in custody, he said. It diminishes us as a nation, because we are incapable of dealing with it. What is the situation now? Since the royal commission, at least 455 Indigenous people have lost their lives in custody, according to the latest-available statistics from the National Deaths in Custody Program. Of these, 295 deaths related to prison and 156 related to police. Reporting by The Guardian puts the figure at 474 deaths since 1991. The National Deaths in Custody Program is expected to release its next report later this year, after the data is examined and reviewed.

High-profile deaths since the royal commission include David Dungay, 26, who was held down while saying I cant breathe, Ms Dhu, 22, who died in a police cell after she did not pay parking fines, and Nathan Reynolds, 36, who died from an asthma attack in prison after an inadequate emergency response. The situation has once again risen to public prominence after five deaths in custody were reported over the space of several weeks in March this year. Since 1991, the numbers of deaths in custody have fluctuated between single and double digits each year, with the highest number in one year being 24 (in 2002-03) and the lowest being eight (in 2011-12). The most recent year available (2018-19) had 20 deaths, with some dying in a cell, some in hospital and some in public. In 1991, the [royal commission] concluded that Indigenous persons were no more likely to die in custody than non-Indigenous persons, but were significantly more likely to be arrested and imprisoned. The same remains true today, the National Deaths in Custody Program found. The majority of deaths are due to natural causes (including cancer, heart disease and respiratory issues) followed by hanging, drugs and alcohol, and external trauma. In one of the most recent deaths in custody, a 37-year-old man died in a police pursuit in March.

A death is considered a death in custody if it involves a prison (including being taken to hospital from prison) or the police. Police custody includes police cells and vehicles, as well as police operations (including a raid, shooting or siege), a police pursuit, or self-inflicted death in the presence of police. Indigenous prisoners made up 28 per cent of the Australian prisoner population in 2019 and accounted for 18 per cent of all deaths in prison custody. In the most recent census, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people accounted for 3 per cent of the Australian population. Demonstrators in Sydney on Saturday call for an end to black deaths in custody. Credit:Brook Mitchell In a statement to the Herald and The Age, NSW Coroner Teresa OSullivan said the issue of deaths in custody could not be separated from the over-representation of First Nations people within the criminal justice system, nor can we separate it from the colonial history of this nation. Since the [royal commission] 30 years ago, First Nations people continue to be over-represented in custodial populations in NSW, and continue to be over-represented in every category of death dealt with by the Coroners Court, she said.

What are the next steps? Across the country, there have been calls for concrete action to be taken to address the continuing issue of deaths in custody. The families of 15 people who died in custody have joined together to demand action from politicians. Among their demands is the implementation of all of the recommendations from the royal commission, and raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14. Actor Meyne Wyatt speaks at a rally on Saturday to mark 30 years since the royal commission. Credit:Brook Mitchell In honour of the legacy of our loved ones who have died, we call on governments to sit down with us in transparent, open and honest conversations about solutions and proactive measures to effectively eradicate Black deaths in custody for future generations, the families said in a statement.

We call on governments to listen to us and work with us to action our demands, so that no other family has to experience the injustice of living without their loved ones. Our communities have had the solutions to end this injustice for 30 years but Governments have chosen not to prioritise saving Black lives. Enough is enough. Loading In NSW, a parliamentary committee examining the unacceptably high level of Indigenous people in custody is due to deliver its findings by April 15, 30 years to the day since the royal commission report. At a rally in Sydney on Saturday, actor Meyne Wyatt told a crowd of thousands of people that deaths in custody make him angry, but we have been saying this time and time again but nothing f---ing happens. I am sick and tired of being a problem in this country, Mr Wyatt said. I am not an animal; I am not a problem.
Revoke removal of nominee from NMRA  SLCP By Kumudini Hettiarachchi and Ruqyyaha Deane View(s): View(s):

The Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians (SLCP) has expressed their greatest dismay over the recent sacking (on April 1) of their nominee from the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) by Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi and sought a revocation of this order as well as an urgent meeting with the Minister.

In a letter sent to the Health Minister on Wednesday (April 7), the SLCP has stated that they selected their nominee, Dr. LakKumar Fernando, unanimously after careful discussion in the Council as he had suitable qualifications and credibility to represent them.

The SLCP pointed out that on February 24, they received a letter from the Secretary to the State Ministry of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals, K.R. Uduwawala, requesting them to nominate three members to the NMRA Board.

We are in the firm belief that this letter misled us to nominate two members in addition to Dr. LakKumar Fernando, although it was not according to the NMRA Act. However, two of these members declined participation and we clearly communicated that to the Secretary on March 12. The only remaining name was Dr. LakKumar Fernando, to represent the SLCP on the NMRA Board, the SLCP said.

Terminating his service to the NMRA leads to the loss of SLCP representation there, they state, explaining that they should have a position in the NMRA as they represent the healthcare needs of children.

Requesting the revocation of the Ministers decision to terminate the service of Dr. LakKumar Fernando, the SLCP urged immediate steps to reappoint him to the NMRA, while seeking a meeting with the Minister.

The letter signed by SLCP President Prof. Vasantha Devasiri has been copied to many including Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals State Minister Channa Jayasumana; Primary Health Services, Pandemics and COVID-19 Prevention State Minister Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle; Health Secretary Major-General Dr. Sanjeewa Munasinghe; and Director-General of Health Services, Dr. Asela Gunawardena.

Meanwhile, the Students Involved in Rational Health Activities (SIRHA) of the Colombo Medical Faculty have raised issue with regard to the recent shake-up at the NMRA.

They state that during the past couple of weeks, there has been a turnover of posts in the Board of the NMRA, starting with Dr. Palitha Abeykoon (who is the current WHO special envoy on COVID-19 in South-East Asia), Prof. Asita de Silva (former Chairman) and eight others of the 13-member Board.

The SIRHA says: We are reliably informed that the apparent reason for this turnover is to accelerate the procedure to get Chinas Sinopharm vaccine approved through the NMRA. The new acting-Board has been favouring the Waiver of Registration (WOR) to the recently imported (donated) Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use in Sri Lanka, based on insufficient information. A proper phase III clinical trial has not been done with a larger, adequate sample. The WHO has also not approved the Sinopharm vaccine yet, probably due to lack of evidence-based information.

Pointing out that the Association of Medical Specialists (AMS) and the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) have already expressed the downside of this issue, the SIRHA stresses that all vaccines that are being imported to Sri Lanka should undergo a proper secure procedure to get approved to be used here.

The NMRA is authorized to carry out that process with experts who are impartial and unbiased. In that process, sufficient evidence-based (research-based) information is analysed regarding the efficacy, potency and safety of all vaccines. The recommendations of this impartial board of experts are adhered to by the NMRA when registering a medicinal or cosmetic product. Similarly, this process should be adhered to with regard to the Sinopharm vaccine, the SIRHA adds.
New Delhi, April 11 : The BJP on Sunday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of "politicising" the poll violence in Cooch Behar during Saturday's fourth phase of Assembly polls in the state.

The BJP said that Banerjee's sympathy for the deceased depends on the faith of the person who was killed.

Talking to the media after a roadshow in Santipur on Sunday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that Banerjee has politicised the poll violence.

"A voter by the name of Anand Burman was killed but Mamata Didi condoled only the deaths of the other four people. Appeasement and vote bank politics even in death shows how much she has lowered the politics in Bengal," Shah said.

Five people, including Burman were killed during the fourth phase of polling on Saturday morning in two separate incidents of poll-related violence in Cooch Behar. Four persons were killed in firing by the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF).

Some miscreants had tried to snatch the weapons of the CAPF which forced the security forces to fire. Four people lost their lives in the firing.Terming the incident death was 'unfortunate', Shah said that Burman's killing was not condoled because he was not Banerjee's "vote bank." Banerjee still has time. The fifth person who lost his life, she should condole his death as well," the Union Minister said.

West Bengal BJP in-charge, Amit Malviya has alleged that Banerjee's sympathy depends on the faith of the person who was killed.

"It seems no one killed Anand Burman in Cooch Behar's Sitalkuchi. Mamata Banerjee's sympathy for the deceased depends on the faith of the person who was killed. Her deafening silence on those who instigated violence and attacked central forces reeks of appeasement and communal overtone," Malviya said.
A 101-year-old veteran and former Queen's Bargemaster hailed the late Duke of Edinburgh as the 'tower of strength' that supported the monarch for decades as he recalled his 'happy memories' of serving the royal family.

Major Ted Hunt, who commanded landing craft on to Gold Beach in Normandy in June 1944, spent 12 years leading the ceremonial duties of the Royal Watermen.

Mr Hunt, from Lancing, West Sussex, said: 'Without him I don't think she could have done it,' adding: 'No-one could do her job so well as she does it unless things were good at home.'

Major Ted Hunt, 101, from Lancing, West Sussex, who commanded landing craft on to Gold Beach in Normandy in June 1944, paid tribute to Prince Philip as a former Queen's Bargemaster

'Clearly the way they look at one another, they like each other don't they? You can't act that out all the time non-stop,' he said.

Born in Canning Town, east London, in 1920 to a 'river family' whose heritage dates back to the 17th century, Mr Hunt was apprenticed as a River Thames waterman and lighterman before the war.

Years later, he was appointed Queen's Bargemaster in 1978, with the veteran's duties including escorting visiting heads of state and being responsible for transporting the crown at state openings of Parliament.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic Mr Hunt, alongside several other former servicemen, has been receiving support from the volunteer cabbies of the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans.

Mr Hunt said of Prince Philip's service to the Queen: 'Without him I don't think she could have done it. No-one could do her job so well as she does it unless things were good at home'

He recalled once riding in a carriage with visiting Senegalese dignitaries and telling them, in French, where to spot the Queen waving from a balcony at Buckingham Palace as they passed.

Later arriving at St James's Palace, Philip approached Mr Hunt and said: 'Oh it seems Bargemaster I have to congratulate you on your French. Your passengers were delighted that they didn't miss the Queen waving them goodbye.'

Mr Hunt, who learnt French at school, added: 'It was important to him to tell me that what I'd done was not only alright, it was jolly good.'

The chuckling veteran said the duke asked if he had been living in France, with the veteran replying: 'No... my first time in France was D-Day.'

The first time Mr Hunt met Philip was at the opening of a new barge house at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London.

Major Ted Hunt commanded landing craft on to Gold Beach in Normandy in June 1944

The veteran found himself explaining to the duke his role and how he commanded 23 watermen.

'Why the odd bloke?,' the duke said to him, 'because you row in pairs'.

Mr Hunt had joked: 'I said they row so badly that they need a man with a fender.'

'A fender is that large round globe of rope that is put in to reduce damage when two vessels come together,' the veteran explained.

'You can imagine someone standing by - mustn't hurt the royal barge because you're rowing badly.'

He added: 'Being his naval background he took the joke, very, very well.

'He said 'if anyone asks me I'll know what to say'.'

Mr Hunt said he 'got along all right' with the duke who 'knew when to tell me off'.

On one occasion at London's Victoria Dock, the then Bargemaster turned up a boat's speed 'a little faster than I should'.

Mr Hunt said the duke had exclaimed: 'Take care man, the bloody wash you're making is damaging all these boats'.

'So he was quite happy to tell me off,' the veteran added.

He emphasised that the duke 'knew his job and he didn't suffer fools gladly'.

Mr Hunt eventually retired from royal service as a Member of the Royal Victorian Order in 1990.

As a civilian, he remembered attending a function at Watermen's Hall in central London where the duke 'kept people in fits' with his jokes.

Mr Hunt, who learnt of the duke's death while on the way to receive his second Covid-19 jab, said he felt the Queen would cope with her loss 'because she's a very sensible, hard-working person and she will know what to do about it'.

Major Hunt revealed how he told visiting Senegalese dignitaries where to spot the Queen waving from a balcony at Buckingham Palace (pictured) as they passed by

'She will probably have done her homework previously on what are things going to be like when Philip's gone.'

He said people were 'beginning to realise what a wonderful value he was to the Queen'.

'He was a very, very, good man and I'm aware now of more of his good qualities than I once was,' he added.

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Mr Hunt enlisted with the Royal Engineers and served at the Battle of Narvik in Norway.

He later worked in London and East Anglia, preparing defences in case of a German invasion, and by 1944 he was a captain commanding 15 Rhino ferries on D-Day.

He saw out the war in Europe working on the engineering of water crossings in the Netherlands.

Demobilised as a major he returned to civilian life as a college lecturer in navigation and watermanship at City and East London College in London from 1948 until 1988.
By Kim Tae-jong





Over 150 global environmental groups, including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, are calling on John Kerry, the special U.S. presidential envoy for climate, to help shut off the flow of money from Wall Street to the fossil-fuel industry.



Today, fossil fuel financing is one of the principal obstacles to the transition to a low-carbon economy. Five years after the Paris Agreement, the world's 60 largest banks have financed about $4 trillion in fossil-fuel projects.



There is already a strong international movement to catalyze a low-carbon shift. According to the global Fossil Free campaign, more than 1,300 institutions have made a divestment commitment to date.



South Korean financial institutions, however, have been very slow to catch up with the change, and we are one of only two countries in the OECD, alongside Japan, still to use public money to finance coal power.



Making financial institutions move away from coal is critical if we are to have any chance of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.



Encouragingly, the local private financial sector has started to show some signs of change, with more than 100 financial institutions holding a joint ceremony in March to pledge support for sustainable finance.



But Korea's National Pension Service (NPS), the world's third largest in terms of assets under management, is behind the curve.



The state-owned pension fund is by far the largest coal financier at home and the 11th biggest globally, with around US$9 billion invested largely through acquisitions of corporate bonds over the past decade.



Major funds, such as Norway's Government Pension Fund and the UK National Employment Savings Trust, have started to cut all ties to the fossil fuel industry, and they have shown that coal divestment has been the right choice not just morally, but also financially.



The exposure to coal poses a big financial risk, as coal is increasingly becoming a stranded asset, with wind and solar power becoming more and more competitive and replacing coal in the global energy market. BlackRock, the world's top asset manager, has warned KEPCO over the Korean utility giant's plan to expand overseas coal projects in this regard.



On a personal level, as an NPS client myself, I don't want my money invested in something that is driving air pollution and global warming, which are already having an impact on our lives.



As of December last year, the number of NPS clients stands at 22.1 million, more than 40 percent of the entire population. I'm sure they would not want NPS to make a morally and financially poor decision with their money. After all, our investments should be about creating a healthy and happy future, not about making us sick and accelerating climate change.



Faced with mounting criticism, the NPS announced that it will increase the proportion of ESG-focused investments by up to 50%. That's a start, but "green" investments cannot undo the damage caused by polluting ones.



NPS' guiding principle should be, "Do no harm," and that means more than just making "green" investments. It also means ending funding for pollution-causing coal.



Our future depends on it.





Kim Tae-jong is the head of Climate Media Hub, a Seoul-based climate advocacy communications organization. He can be reached at tj@climatemediahub.com.


The United States has warned of "consequences" if Russia "acts recklessly or aggressively" toward Ukraine amid concerns over Moscow's troop buildup near Ukraine's borders.

"President Biden's been very clear about this," Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC's Meet The Press on April 11. "If Russia acts recklessly, or aggressively, there will be costs, there will be consequences."

Fighting has escalated between Ukrainian government troops and pro-Russian separatists in the country's east in recent weeks, with evidence of Russia moving troops toward or near Ukraine's borders and into Russian-occupied Crimea.

The Kremlin has rejected Western calls to pull back its troops, denying they are a threat while adding that military movements within Russia are a sovereign, internal issue.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on April 11 said that "nobody is planning to move toward war," but added that Moscow "will not remain indifferent" to the fate of Russian speakers who live in eastern Ukraine.

Earlier on April 11, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said London and Washington "firmly oppose Russia's campaign to destabilize Ukraine" and call on Russia to de-escalate the situation.

Blinken "& I agreed Russia must immediately de-escalate the situation & live up to the international commitments that it signed up to at @OSCE," Raab said on Twitter, referring to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The statement by Raab comes a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy briefed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the situation.

After their talks in Istanbul, Erdogan called recent developments "worrying" and said he hoped the conflict would be resolved peacefully through dialogue and in line with Ukraine's territorial integrity.

"We believe that the current crisis can be solved with peaceful and diplomatic means on the basis of the integrity of Ukraine and international law," Erdogan said.

During their meeting, the presidents also discussed expanding defense cooperation between their countries. Zelenskiy said the stepped-up cooperation would apply especially to weaponry and the construction of fighter jets.

Zelenskiy, who visited Ukrainians troops in the Donbas region on April 8, said Kyiv and Ankara shared the same view on threats in the Black Sea region and the response to those threats.

Blinken consulted the German and French foreign ministers on April 9 about the need for Russia to cease its military buildup on the occupied Crimean Peninsula and near Ukraine's eastern borders.

Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014, sending in troops and staging a referendum denounced as illegitimate by at least 100 countries.

Since then, overwhelming evidence suggests Russia has continued to lend diplomatic and military aid to armed separatists fighting in the Donbas region.

The conflict has killed more than 13,000 people and displaced more than 1 million since April 2014.

With reporting from Reuters and AFP
Bhadohi: Eleven BJP members, including the brother of the Bhadohi MLA, have been expelled from the party for six years on disciplinary grounds, a senior leader said on Sunday.

The action was taken against them for revolting against the party and forcibly trying to occupy the office of its official candidate for the panchayat polls here, district BJP chief Vinay Srivastava told reporters.

Eleven BJP members, including Anirudh Tripathi, who is the brother of BJP MLA Ravindra Nath Tripathi, have been expelled from the party for six years, he said.

Contrary to BJP's stand that no relative of a party member will contest the panchayat polls, besides Anirudh Tripathi, Sachin Tripathi and Chandrakant Tripathi, nephews of the MLA, filed nomination papers, Srivastava said.

"On Sunday afternoon, Chandrakant Tripathi declared that the BJP has given him a ticket, and he ransacked the office of party candidate from ward 8 Gauri Shankar Mishra. The party taking serious note of the incident, has expelled 11 party office bearers," Srivastava said.

Panchayat elections in Bhadohi will take place on April 15.
Ankara, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Apr, 2021 ) :A large Libyan government delegation led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah will travel Monday to Turkey, a country playing a key role in the North African nation, Turkey's foreign ministry said.

Dbeibah will be joined by 14 ministers and the head of the armed forces, a ministry official told AFP on Sunday, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan due to receive the delegation at the presidential palace in Ankara.

Analysts say the size of the delegation is an indication of the importance placed by Tripoli on its relations with Ankara, which has troops deployed in Libya under a deal with a new unity government led by Dbeibah.

Turkish state news agency Anadolu said officials from the two sides were expected to discuss boosting bilateral ties as well as treaties signed between Libya and Turkey.

A first meeting of the two countries' Strategic Cooperation Council, set up by Ankara, will also take place during the visit, the Turkish presidency said.

The presence of Turkish troops in Libya has angered some Western countries, with the interim US ambassador to the UN calling in January for them to withdraw immediately, along with Russian forces.

Dbeibah was selected earlier this year through a UN-backed inter-Libyan dialogue to lead the country to national elections set for December 2021.

His government replaces two rival administrations based in Tripoli and the country's east, the latter loyal to military strongman Khalifa Haftar, whose forces tried but failed to seize the capital in a 2019-20 offensive.

The rival Libyan authorities have given their backing to the new administration, adding to tentative hopes that the country can exit a decade of crisis.

It has been mired in chaos since dictator Moamer Kadhafi was deposed and killed in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising.

Russia was one of several powers backing Haftar in his offensive against Tripoli, while Turkish support to the last administration in the capital helped beat back the strongman's advance.
A report Cruel numbers of 2020 recently revealed that Pakistan witnessed a rise in crimes against children and eight kids were abused every day in the country in one form or another in 2020. According to ANI, the report, which is a compilation of statistics on crimes against children, said that children in Pakistan witnessed sexual abuse, abduction and child marriages. The report was compiled by Sahil, which is an organisation focused on child protection, and was based on cases reported in 84 national and regional newspapers in 2020.

According to the report, children most vulnerable to abuse belonged to the age group of 6-15 years. Children as young as 0-5 years were also a victim of sexual abuse. Further, out of the reported cases, around 985 were sodomy, 787 rape, 89 pornography and child sexual abuse and 80 were of murder after sexual abuse.

Cases of abduction, missing children and child marriages were around 834, 345 and 119, respectively. Moreover, the data also showed that more than 80 per cent of the abusers were known to the children. In most cases, the abusers were either acquaintances or service providers, such as teachers, shopkeepers and drivers.

2,960 cases reported in four provinces

The report said that around 1,780 kids were abused by acquaintances, while around 109 were abused by the aforementioned service providers. In a total of 91 cases, family members and relatives and in 92 cases neighbours were also involved. Around 468 children were abused by complete strangers. The report revealed that nearly 2,960 major crimes against children were reported in the four provinces, including Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) in 2020.

Meanwhile, another study in 2020 revealed that the crimes against women and children in Pakistan have seen a 200 per cent rise. In its report, the Sustainable Social Development Organisation (SSDO) said that cases of violence against women increased by 200 per cent, while the cases of child abuse, domestic violence, kidnapping and rape registered a marked increase. The study also said that there may be some deviation in the data as many crimes may have been committed but not reported or misreported.

(Inputs & Image: ANI)


(@ChaudhryMAli88)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th April, 2021) South Korean and US intelligence suspect that North Korea has completed the assembly of a 3,000-tonne submarine and is ready to launch it when the time is right, media reported on Sunday.

"Both South Korea and US intelligence authorities made the assessment that North Korea has already finished building the 3,000-tonne submarine unveiled in July 2019," sources told the state Yonhap News Agency.

According to the agency, the news comes from a US think tank that said North Korea had moved a submersible missile test barge to a new position, likely hinting at an upcoming submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) test to take place.

"The authorities assess that North Korea is reviewing the right timing to roll out the submarine for a strategic effect, including maximizing pressure against the United States," said a source, as quoted by Yonhap.

According to the US think tank, this would be North Korea's first true ballistic missile submarine.

During an annual military parade late last year, Pyongyang showcased a beefed-up nuclear-capable missiles arsenal, with upgraded SLBMs as the main addition.
A probe of what caused a fatal house fire in West Side may extend through Monday, Fire Chief John Judge said Saturday.

The state Public Utility Commission is investigating whether natural gas service was involved, an agency spokesman said.

The fire Thursday at 1420 Amherst St. killed resident Paul Sekelsky, 48.

Investigators were joined Saturday by representatives of PUC and UGI Utilities, Judge said. He expects Department of Public Works crews to pull the pile apart Monday as part of the search for a cause.

Investigators are still working the scene, Judge said. I don't know that we'll find a cause, but we'll do our best.

UGI spokesman Joseph Swope said in an email Saturday that the company responded during the fire Thursday to shut off the gas to the area and the gas system worked properly.

"UGI expresses its condolences to the victim of the incident and his family. We did respond to the incident. We found our system was operating properly and there were no issues with our system integrity. We did shut off gas to the vicinity during the incident as a safety precaution. We are cooperating with the fire department in their investigation and were at the site today at their request to assist in the investigation with our expertise," Swope said.

PUC spokesman Nils Hagen-Frederiksen said in an email Saturday that engineers from the PUCs Safety Division, which is part of the PUCs independent Bureau of Investigation & Enforcement, have been on-site in Scranton since the incident was initially reported Thursday, and have been working with local officials.

"The focus of the ongoing PUC safety division investigation, which is separate from any local fire marshal investigation, is to determine whether natural gas service was involved in the incident and, if so, whether there were any violations of state or federal safety regulations," Hagen-Frederiksen said.
The Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has said the government of Ghana is engaging the relevant stakeholders as part of efforts toward passing the broadcasting bill.



According to him, the government is taking inputs from technocrats and industry experts and at the same time being tactful in the passage of the bill so as to not create a situation where it becomes a tool for successive governments to stifle media freedom and free speech.



The minister said on Saturday that the government is treading cautiously in the passage of the bill because one of the key tenants of democracy is media freedom, noting that it will rather be out of place to pass a bill that curtails the freedom of the media  one of the key players in every democratic dispensation.



We, in government, or the Ministry of Information responsible for information sector policy formulation, agree that there is the need to pass the broadcasting law.



I and my directors and technocrats have spent about a year working on it and engaging with stakeholders including the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) etc., but doing it tactfully, he noted.



We are being tactful because media freedoms and freedoms of expression are rights that are given to us by the Constitution and which right, even though can be effected by law, must be done carefully in a manner that we dont create a ruse for the government to use it as an opportunity to stifle those freedoms, he added.



His comments come at the back of public clamour for the expeditious passage of the bill to regulate the media ecosystem following the recent murder of an 11-year-old boy for money ritual purposes by two teenagers in Kasoa.



The minister said the passage of the broadcasting bill will control media excesses in the country and assured Ghanaians that when Parliament resumes in May this year, the bill will be laid before the house for deliberation.



He said the bill, when passed into law, will help, among other things, arrest the falling standards in Ghanas electronic media space and ensure it embraces modern best practices.

Source: classfmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Ghana, and China, have assigned the Implementation Agreement of the China-Aid Annex Office Building Project for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.



The agreement signing took place in Accra between Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, and Mr Lu Kun, the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana.



Madam Ayorkor Botchwey lauded the warm and cordial relations Ghana enjoyed with China and the support that China continued to make towards Ghanas socio-economic development.



"This Ministry, in particular, remains appreciative of the building of our Headquarters in 2013 and now the construction of the Annex Office Building. Ghana cherishes the bonds of friendship and our continued engagement and collaboration in several other areas of national endeavour," she said.



"The construction of the Annex Office Building project is of great importance to the Ministry as the facility will resolve the problem of inadequate office space which has been occasioned by the increase in the number of staff."



She announced that both parties had successfully concluded negotiations, which began about three years ago.



The Minister said both parties had agreed and signed the Minutes of Meetings for the onsite feasibility study in June 2019 as well as the Letter of Exchange of Note with the Ministry of Finance for the project in June 2020.



"Today we are signing the Implementation Agreement for the commencement of the China-Aid Annex Office Building Project, as the next step in this collaborative effort."



The China-Aid Annex Office Building Project is to be funded by the Chinese Government under the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation between China and Ghana.



The Project is a Six-Storey building to be situated at the south of the existing office building.



The Project will include ultra-modern office space for the Minister, the Chief Director, Directors, and Officers, and will host a Conference Room, Press Room, Banquet Hall, Gym, Clinic, Flag Holding room, and underground Parking Lot.



Madam Ayorkor Botchwey said for the past two weeks, the Ghana side had been working assiduously with the Team of Experts led by Mr Shen Gang to undertake further investigations on the assessment and evaluation of the Design Scheme and Architectural drawings of the Annex Office building project.



Mr Lu said the Foreign Ministry annex building office building project was a very important gesture from the Chinese Government to the Government and People of Ghana.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Two Salt Lake County sheriffs deputies were wounded - one shot in the eye and the other in the cheek - and the suspect was killed during a shootout Saturday morning outside the county jail.

Officials said both deputies were taken to a hospital and were expected to survive. Their identities were not immediately available.

Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said in a news conference that the two injured officers were partners and worked as part of campus security.

The deputy shot in the eye is in critical but stable condition and undergoing surgery, officials said.

Two Utah sheriff's deputies were wounded and the suspect was killed in a shooting outside the Salt Lake County jail

'We do believe he is going to survive,' Rivera said.

The other deputy was grazed in the cheek by a bullet and is expected to be released from the hospital soon, officials said.

'It could have been a lot worse,' Rivera said, adding that officials have surveillance video of the shootout.

Rivera said the suspect, a man who appeared to be about 30 years old, is not known to the department and appeared to be a transient.

Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera (pictured) said in a news conference that the two injured officers were partners and worked as part of campus security

'We don't know what their intent was,' Rivera said of the suspect.

The suspect was carrying a weapon and opened fire as deputies approached him on a lawn outside the jail around 10.30am, Rivera said. She did not know if one or both deputies returned fire, or how many shots were fired.

'We are just fortunate that they weren't killed,' the sheriff said.
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

WebRTC solutions provide secure and dependable communication to end users, and furthermore enable associations to use the advantages related with the implementation of such moderate communication solutions. There are various solutions accecible in the worldwide market such as messaging & file sharing, voice calling & conferencing, video calling & conferencing, and different solutions. Of these, the voice calling and conferencing solution is considered to be the most lucrative in the worldwide WebRTC solution market. This development is considered to predominantly credited to the change in perspective from staggering expense encoring voice communication services to financially savvy internet communication. Then again, the video calling and conferencing solution category is anticipated to develop, inferable from the expanding requirement for enterprise conferencing and video calling administrations.

The utilization of webRTC has expanded strikingly in both unified communication and telecom applications and is considered to keep extending over the years to come, invigorating the market to expand further. Throughout the following couple of years, the requirement for WebRTC is required to push fundamentally among end users, attributable to its open source nature along with the high similarity with different gadgets that is probably going to consider emphatically the advancement of this market soon.

WebRTC provides a bright solution for customer facing businesses. As this communication is real time, WebRTC provides audio visual solutions without any cost. Retail and healthcare are two industries with high demand for WebRTC as direct communication with end users or customers is of immense importance in these industries.

Click Here to Get Sample Premium Report @https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/13483

WebRTC is unreservedly open globally which fuels the market for web real-time communication all around. In addition, the WebRTC is UI platform and autonomous on device; this aspects is foreseen to help the market requirement over the years to come. Also, it offers advanced video quality alongside other usable purposes with high security. Additionally, services division organizations, for example, retail and healthcare are making utilization of WebRTC for direct communication with clients that thusly is anticipated to push the requirement in the market. Conversely, WebRTC utilizes Internet platform dependent on public domain, wherein case service quality can't be ensured; this may go about as market restriction later on hampering the development of the market.

Utilization of Internet could outcome in privacy issues since it is as yet not clear how WebRTC deals with the privacy and security. Moreover, integration is another foremost challenge related with WebRTC. Companies may possibly confront issues in adapting and integrating the WebRTC to their present system. It is as of now not supported on Microsoft Internet Explorer. In this manner, there are various complexities connected with WebRTC, conversely,technological progressions are foreseen to wipe out these difficulties over the years to come.

You can Buy This Report from Here @https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/13483/Single

With WebRTC approaching its fulfillment, companies particularly the customer confronting entities are likely to utilize this technology in not so distant future over all platforms. WebRTC is a rising industry standard for video and audio communication throughout an internet browser. The IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) chose that program producers should execute VP8 and H.264 video codecs. It is of immense significance for customer care centers and call centers, where direct communication is going on between an organization agent and customer or the end user. It can rearrange this communication further and increment the dimension of consumer loyalty. Organizations are integrating WebRTC into their sites to improve the overall user experience.

Request For Report Discounts @https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/13483

The top participants in the worldwide WebRTC market include Facebook, Inc., Google Inc., Citrix Systems, Inc., Sinch AB, TokBox Inc., Twilio, Inc., Talko Inc., WIRE SWISS GmbH, Comcast Corporation, and Screenhero, Inc., etc.

About Us

Trends Market Research has the distinguished objective of providing the optimal quality market research reports to clients. Our market research studies by products, services, applications, technologies, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to know more, see more, and do more, which further help answer the important questions you have about the industry. Our Research Analysts are eager to share their knowledge and assist you in making strategic decisions and to lead you company toward a greater endeavour. We bridge the gap between our clients and their clients by identifying and decoding just the target group, while generating leads with the highest accuracy.

Why select TMR

Trends Market Research can assist you with identifying the key opportunities to boost your business growth exponentially. We have a diligent team of analysts specialized in specific industries to assist you with your mission and vision for the future. From market reports to customer service to our internal mechanism, we live by quality and pour our heart and soul into maintaining it.

Contact Us:

One Vincent Square

Westminster, London SW1P 2PN

United Kingdom

Email: sales@trendsmarketresearch.com

Website: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com
Photo: Contributed

A landlord of a commercial building in southeast Vancouver was stabbed numerous times after a confrontation between a woman with a weapon turned violent.



According to a release from the Vancouver Police Department, the incident occurred last weekend when the landlord approached the woman at the rear of his property and asked her to leave. The woman became aggressive and stabbed the man multiple times but he was able to escape and call the police.

Police officers in the area located the woman and she was arrested for assault with a weapon and taken to jail.

The victim was treated in hospital for non-life-threatening injuries
(Newser)  Never a show to shy away from politically hot topics, Saturday Night Live took on the ongoing Derek Chauvin trial in this week's cold open. In a morning news show spoof called "Eye on Minnesota," fictional news anchors played by Ego Nwodim, Kenan Thompson, Alex Moffat, and Kate McKinnon discuss what they think the outcome will be for Chauvin, a white police officer charged with murdering George Floyd in Minneapolis last year. While the sketch's white anchors seem confident in a guilty verdict for Chauvin, the black anchors aren't so sure.

story continues below

"Sounds like we all agree there's no way that Derek Chauvin walks away from this," McKinnon's character chirps. "Hmmmm ... well ...," responds the character played by Thompson, who's Black. McKinnon's host relents that "historically, police have gotten away in other cases like this," to which Thompson's wonders "Historically?" before Nwodim chimes in with the money line "She means every single time." The anchors continue to be at odds along racial lines about the deaths of rapper DMX and Prince Phillip before giving up to shout the familiar "Live from New York," intro. (Read more Derek Chauvin stories.)
Britain's Prince Philip  the Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away at the age of 99 on Friday morning, made three memorable royal visits to India in his long years of accompanying the 94-year-old monarch during her nearly 69-year reign.

The UKs longest-serving royal consort joined the Queen in India in 1959, 1961, 1983 and 1997  during which he made quite an impression with his sense of humour, which often also got him into some controversy.

Deeply saddened at sad demise of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, an iconic pillar of the British monarchy, regarded by his people and world with the highest esteem and affection. India had the honour of receiving him and HM The Queen on four memorable occasions, the Indian High Commission in London said in a statement.

During his 1961 visit to India, he was pictured with the Queen and the Maharaja and Maharani of Jaipur with a dead eight-foot tiger he had shot while on a hunt. It happened to be the same year he became president of the World Wildlife Fund UK.

Read | Prince Philip was the gruff figure at heart of Britain's monarchy

He also shot a crocodile and mountain sheep on that trip but it was the photograph of the tiger that caused ripples around the world.

Later in life, he went on to reinvent himself as an environmentalist and champion of the natural world as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson referred to him in his tribute on Friday.

During Prince Philip's last visit to India to mark the 50th anniversary of independence in 1997, he joined the Queen on a visit to Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar where the royals laid a commemorative wreath at the site associated with General Dyers orders to open fire on a large Baisakhi gathering in April 1919.

As someone known for his gaffes, among his many infamous ones includes his query of the death toll at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

"Two thousand? It wasn't, was it," he questioned, as he passed by a plaque at the memorial, which read This place is saturated with the blood of about two thousand Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims who were martyred in a non-violent struggle".

"That's wrong. I was in the Navy with Dyer's son. That's a bit exaggerated it must include the wounded," he is reported to have said.

Also read: Queen Elizabeth II's husband Prince Philip: the strength behind the crown

Among his other gaffes included a quip at Indian-origin entrepreneur Atul Patel during a Buckingham Palace reception for hundreds of successful British Indians in 2009: Theres a lot of your family in tonight.

Ten years earlier, while inspecting a factory in Edinburgh and coming across an old-fashioned fuse box, he said: It looks as if it was put in by an Indian.

It had become common practice for the UK media to regularly compile a list of the Dukes many gaffes, many of which were believed to have been made in a light-hearted vein.

Philip was born on June 10, 1921, on the Greek island of Corfu, the youngest child and only son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg. That heritage made him a Prince of Greece and Denmark, but the following year the family was expelled from Greece after a coup and a British warship carried them to safety in Italy with baby Philip.

His childhood was turbulent and in 1930, when he was eight years old, his mother was committed to a secure psychiatric centre after suffering a nervous breakdown, a story most recently covered in the Netflix series The Crown.

When Philip left school in Scotland, Britain was on the verge of war with Germany and he joined the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, the UK's naval academy. He went on to serve with distinction in World War II, seeing military action for the first time in the Indian Ocean.

When King George VI paid an official visit to the naval academy in July 1939, Philip was charged with entertaining his young daughters, Princesses Elizabeth  later to be Queen  and Margaret. He made an impression on the then 13-year-old Elizabeth and the couple were to later get married after a courtship through letters.

The erstwhile Prince of Greece and Denmark became a naturalised British subject, formally joined the Church of England and gave up his foreign titles. On his wedding day, November 20, 1947, he was made Duke of Edinburgh, aged 26.

The couple's marriage was to last 73 years, during which the Queen described him as her strength and stay, and they had four children  the eldest and heir to the throne Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward. He is also survived by eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

As the Queen's consort, his primary function was to support his wife and he accompanied her extensively alongside his own royal charities and patronages until his retirement from royal duties in 2017.
Mosques are preparing for Ramadan after the holy month had to be observed during last years coronavirus restrictions without the usual community prayer gatherings.

Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, begins with the first sighting of the new moon over Mecca in Saudi Arabia, expected on April 12 this year, although this may change.

Many Muslims abstain from all eating and drinking during daylight hours, although Islamic medical professionals have urged those fasting to still get vaccinated against coronavirus.

Salman Waqar, from the British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA), told the PA news agency Muslim scholars across the world have said vaccinations do not break the fast, and people should not delay their jab on account of Ramadan.

To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so.

Dr Waqar co-authored a study that assessed the impact of Ramadan fasting on Covid-19 deaths in 2020, which found it did not contribute to a rise in deaths.

The report said: There has been much commentary suggesting that the behaviours and cultural practices of minority communities explain their increased exposure to the pandemic.

It said these claims were not evidence-based but unhelpful distractions from existing health inequalities.

Dr Waqar added: We dont want to exceptionalise Muslim communities for observing these religious or cultural practices. Everyone everywhere is fed up with being stuck indoors.

To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so.

Even when places of worship were open, Test and Trace didnt attribute many cases of Covid transmission to those places.

Of course, the data is self-reported, so there is some under-reporting of that, but there doesnt seem to be a suggestion that places of worship are responsible for outbreaks of Covid.

The East London Mosque and Muslim Centre, one of the largest mosques in Europe and the biggest in the UK  accommodating more than 7,000 worshippers on Fridays before the pandemic  is preparing to welcome people back for Ramadan prayers.

Head Imam, Shaykh Abdul Qayum said they were blessed to be able to return: However, we shouldnt forget that we are still in a pandemic, and as such, the mosque has taken appropriate precautions to ensure that Ramadan in its premises is conducted in a safe way.

Mosques usually see thousands of worshipers kneeling side by side for prayers (PA)

The mosque will not open until 15 minutes before prayer starts, and everyone is asked to leave with 10 minutes of it ending. The prayers, usually two hours long, have also been shortened.

Worshippers are to bring their own prayer mats and bags for shoes, and no one under the age of 12 should attend. Sanitation stations have been placed throughout the building, which will operate with a one-way system.

Traditionally, the mosque hosts a big meal after sunset so everyone can break their fast together but this year donations are being made to the mosques foodbank instead.

Khizar Mohammad, from the mosque, said: The vast majority of people are very receptive to the rules. They understand the need for them because one of the key features of Islam is that it advocates the preservation of life, so that overrides a lot of rules.

Zara Mohammed (MCB/PA)

Zara Mohammed, the first female secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said she was looking forward to a more health-conscious and sustainable Ramadan when it came to breaking her own fast.

We are hoping that it will give everyone a renewed optimism, in a sense to be grateful and come back again to the spiritual, Ms Mohammed said.

She said the month was one of the biggest charitable times for Muslim communities, adding: My message would be to keep in mind and pray for those who are still going to have a quite difficult Ramadan because they are not going to be around their loved ones, whether they are shielding or have lost loved ones through this time.
On Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Francis celebrates mass in the church of Santo Spirito in Sassia with a congregation of missionaries of Mercy, prisoners and detainees, migrants and refugees, nurses and hospital nuns. "Jesus brings about the resurrection of the disciples through his mercy. The peace of Jesus makes the disciples pass "from remorse to mission". Pooling resources "is not communism, it is pure Christianity". " Let us not live a oneway faith, a faith that receives but does not give, a faith that accepts the gift but does not give it in return." The Regina Caeli and the greeting to those present.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - " Having received mercy, let us now become merciful ": continually pronouncing a neologism coined by himself, Pope Francis today celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday in the church of Santo Spirito in Sassia, already dedicated by John Paul II to Merciful love, according to the revelations to Saint Faustina Kowalska.

Today's celebration is closely related to the Jubilee of Mercy, established by Francis in 2015-2016. In fact, some missionaries of Mercy, instituted during that Jubilee, with special powers of absolution concelebrated with the pontiff.

The congregation present at the Mass also included representatives of various groups who need mercy or who offer mercy: prisoners and inmates of Romes jails and those of the surrounding area; Sisters Hospitallers of Mercy; nurses; the disabled; migrants from Argentina; refugees from Syria, Nigeria and Egypt; representatives of Caritas Syria and the Syriac Church.

In his homily, the Pope explained that after the resurrection, Jesus brings about the "resurrection of the disciples", precisely through his mercy, which is offered to them "through three gifts: . First, Jesus offers them peace, then the Spirit and finally his wounds."

The disciples - the pontiff recalls - were not only huddled together in a room; they were also trapped in their own remorse. They had abandoned and denied Jesus. They felt helpless, discredited, good for nothing. Jesus arrives and says to them twice, Peace be with you!  The peace of Jesus made them pass from remorse to mission. The peace of Jesus awakens mission. It entails not ease and comfort, but the challenge to break out of ourselves. The peace of Jesus frees from the self-absorption that paralyzes; it shatters the bonds that keep the heart imprisoned Today Jesus also tells us, Peace be with you! You are precious in my eyes. Peace be with you! You are important for me. Peace be with you! You have a mission. No one can take your place. You are irreplaceable. And I believe in you.

Second, Jesus showed mercy to his disciples by granting them the Holy Spirit. He bestowed the Spirit for the forgiveness of sins... Forgiveness in the Holy Spirit is the Easter gift that enables our interior resurrection. Let us ask for the grace to accept that gift, to embrace the Sacrament of forgiveness. And to understand that Confession is not about ourselves and our sins, but about God and his mercy. Let us not confess to abase ourselves, but to be raised up.

, Jesus gave his disciples a third gift of mercy: he showed them his wounds. By those wounds we were healed (cf. 1 Pet 2:24; Is 53:5). But how can wounds heal us? By mercy. In those wounds, like Thomas, we can literally touch the fact that God has loved us to the end. He has made our wounds his own and borne our weaknesses in his own body... in his tender love all our weaknesses are accepted. This happens at every Mass, where Jesus offers us his wounded and risen Body. We touch him and he touches our lives. He makes heaven come down to us. His radiant wounds dispel the darkness we carry within... . Only if we accept the love of God, will we be able to offer something new to the world.

The "merciful" disciples became "merciful". The pontiff recalls the first reading of the Mass (Acts 4: 32-35), in which it is said that " no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common (4:32). This is not communism, but pure Christianity. It is all the more surprising when we think that those were the same disciples who had earlier argued about prizes and rewards, and about who was the greatest among them (cf. Mt 10:37; Lk 22:24). Now they share everything; they are of one heart and soul(Acts 4:32) ".

Sister, brother - he concluded - Dear sister, dear brother, do you want proof that God has touched your life? See if you can stoop to bind the wounds of others. Today is the day to ask, Am I, who have so often received Gods peace, his mercy, merciful to others? Do I, who have so often been fed by his Body, make any effort to relieve the hunger of the poor? Let us not remain indifferent. Let us not live a oneway faith, a faith that receives but does not give, a faith that accepts the gift but does not give it in return. Having received mercy, let us now become merciful So let us be renewed by the peace, forgiveness and wounds of the merciful Jesus. Let us ask for the grace to become witnesses of mercy.

After the Mass, the Pope recited the Regina Caeli with those present. Before the Easter Marian prayer, he wished to thank "those who collaborated to prepare it [the celebration] and to broadcast it live", together with "all those who are connected through the media".

Then greeting those who are present (faithful, nurses, prisoners, refugees and migrants,), he said: You represent some realities in which mercy becomes concrete, closeness, service, attention to people in difficulty. I wish you to always feel mercy in order to be merciful in turn. May the Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, obtain this grace for everyone.

After the prayer, Francis greeted those present one by one, starting with the sick and disabled.
Subscribe to How To! on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher for the full episode.

As the pandemic wears on, more Americans are exploring the great outdoors than ever beforeand getting into trouble. Survival movies may glorify feats of man versus nature, but expert adventurers like Jill Fredston know the truth. For decades, the author of Snowstruck, Snow Sense, and Rowing to Latitude, led avalanche training and rescue efforts in Alaskauntil one day, she had seen enough. On a recent episode of How To!, Jill shared what we get wrong about risk and what led her to stop doing avalanche rescue missions. The key to surviving an avalanche, or any dangerous situation in nature, Jill says, is to put aside our egos and not get caught in the first place. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

David Epstein: Can you tell us a little bit about how you first became interested in avalanches?

Jill Fredston: I have had a fascination with snow since I was 5, which is a little bit mysterious because I grew up in suburban New York. It led me to a masters degree in snow and ice, which led me to Alaska, working with the university on anything frozensea ice, glacier ice, river ice. And one day it was proposed that I be put in charge of the Alaska Avalanche Forecast Center because I knew something about snow. The only problem was I really had never even seen an avalanche.

So I went to the states reigning avalanche authority, and he was a big bearded guy who looked a little bit like Moses. He sat back in his chair and he said, Well, if you want to learn about avalanches, what you have to do is go into the den of the dragons. You have to go to the mountains when everybody else is leaving and you have to climb up the ridge. And its probably going to be snowing so hard that your eyes are going to freeze shut. But that doesnt matter because if you do that for 5, 10, 15, 20 years, maybe, just maybe, youll learn something. I was such a nerd that I wrote everything down and I started doing that. Over the next few years we did a very strange dance where he went from being probably the biggest skeptic Ive ever had in my life to mentor, to partner, to husband.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Oh, wow. So this was a very fruitful partnership.

Yes. Avalanches have been a big part of our partnership, really. I mean, its kind of funny because I spent all this time focused on the union of circumstances that make avalanches possiblesnow terrain and weatherand got completely blindsided by this opposite union of circumstances that ended up having us married for three decades now.

Can you tell us about your work with avalanches?

Its been a lot of teaching people how not to get caught. In avalanche classes, I would try to trigger avalanches because theres no better way to learn. If you pick a small slope and you use a bunch of student bodies, its quite fun to make small slopes avalanche. In the bigger realm we would use explosives. We also ran the rescues in Alaska for many years. Its not so much about saving people, because if a call is going out for help, its pretty much a body recovery. I think Ive dug more than 40 people dead out of avalanches and I have done one life recovery of someone completely buried in an avalanche.

Advertisement

What happened with that one?

Advertisement

It was in Cordova, Alaska, which is a fishing port about 110 miles from Anchorage. An avalanche came down into a subdivision. By the time I got there, they had found one woman dead. She had been sitting in her La-Z-Boy recliner still holding the remote control for the television set when they dug her out. The search was going on for the other person whod been living in that same house. It was a mess. There were bits of house everywhere, and parts carried a half mile out onto a lake. There had been a number of houses completely destroyed. So all we could really do was dig with heavy equipment and then shut the equipment down every 15 minutes or so and shout and listen. Normally, I would say that doesnt work. I think I got there at about hour 4 and at about hour 6 I was thinking of just trying to shut things down for the night, but just about when I was going to start that, we heard a shout. We dug like crazy and we found a blue door that was on top of this person, which is probably what protected him. And as we dug him out, he actually stopped breathing. He was not breathing when we put him in the ambulance. So we had had this enormous effort to get him out, and then we just sat down completely shattered that we had not done it in time. But they revived him in the ambulance, and hes alive today.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Thats incredible. Was there any logic to why he survived or was this pure luck?

I think in his case, it was luck. He was in his utility room and just heading out the door when the avalanche hit and blew him back in. We found him in an air space that essentially had been created by the door that had been blown off and the air space of the furnace.

Talking about what you should do if youre caught in an avalanche is a little bit like my telling you to go climb in your dryer and do all this stuff. The whole key to surviving an avalanche is not to get caught. Every accident Ive seen has had a number of clues pointing to the instability. Most people who are completely buried, theres less than a 50 percent chance of survival within about 25 minutes. Within 45 minutes, three-quarters of all victims are dead. Were allowing these accidents to happen because of human factors. Were not making our decisions based on the mountains terms. Were pushing on with our assumptions and desires. Does the mountain care that youre such a good skier? Not at all. Does the mountain care that it just got 2 feet of load on top of a weak layer? You bet. So what we often find is that even if people recognize those red-light conditions theyre still allowing their wants and needs to get them into trouble.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Subscribe to How To! Get more expert tips from David Epstein and his guests every week. Join Slate Plus

So I know there was a point where you decided you didnt really want people to think of you as an avalanche expert. Can you tell us about that?

After almost 30 years for me, longer for [my husband] Doug, we just burned out on digging out people dead out of avalanches and giving the same explanation to families over and over again. So we decided that we would sail away to Baja and experience our first ever winter without snow and by the time we came back, people would forget about us. We did that, but we had such a good time that we ended up not coming back for 7 years.

In the summers, we took off on long rowing journeys and rowed about 25,000 miles in northern terrain. The philosophy that we use in the mountains is exactly the same as what we use on the water. When youre traveling in a wild place, you need to make your decisions from natures perspective. So weve learned to build fluidity into our decision-makingto allow ourselves more time, to have lots of food, to make sure nobody is expecting us at a particular place and time so that we dont fall into that human trap of forcing ourselves to move because we think people are going to come look for us. And its interesting because as weve become more comfortable with hazardIm not uncomfortable rowing in big waves or standing on very steep snow-covered slopeswe realized that it was going to take a much smaller mistake for us to get into trouble. So weve made a pretty conscious effort to step back. We dont push ourselves to the full range of our skills so that were trying to allow a greater margin for error, because, to some extent, if you do something for 10, 20, or 30 years, youre up against the law of probability. One of the reasons I hated being called an avalanche expert is that the avalanches dont know youre an expert. And the fact that youve done it for 10, 20, or 30 years doesnt mean that you cant make an error in judgment.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Thats interesting you dont want anyone expecting you at a certain time. It sounds like you set your constraints ahead of time and then you stick to those.

What we have tried to do is to put into place a pretty good set of habits. So if Im talking about rowing, we always have each other in sight. Even if we have just had a ripping argument and we cant stand each other, we stay within shouting distance of each other. We also have to have a pact between us that we go with the more conservative judgment. Risk is a funny thing because it stems from an Italian word, rischio, meaning to dare, and that implies both opportunity and choice. But if we take on these risks and we treat them like games of chance, then were just shaping our fate. Were a very fickle society when it comes to risk because we celebrate it when it succeeds and we denigrate it when it doesntlike, oh, those people were being so reckless. We all take risks, but the key is to understand the risk that youre taking. You have to start out with whats your purpose? Why are you there? If youre there because you want to climb an impossible peak no matter what, then youre going to accept a higher level of risk. If youre there to just have a good time and come back another day, youre accepting a lower level of risk.

Advertisement

Advertisement

What was the most harrowing instance youve personally been involved in? I know youve encountered some polar bears.

Oh yeah, weve encountered dozens. Our closest encounter was in Spitsbergen, Norway and we had been told that there would be a polar bear behind every rock. The government requires that you carry a shotgun, so three of us were sharing a tent and we had three shotguns in the tent. And I thought that the greatest hazard was that we were going to shoot each others feet off. But we woke up in the morning and Doug was already outside. Hed heated up water on a camp stove and was washing his hair. I looked behind him and there was a polar bear on a rock right above him. Doug had his head down and shampoo in his hair and was paying no attention.

Advertisement

Normally just yelling to a bear or doing something unexpected, theyll run off, but this was, as Doug later liked to say, a teenage polar bear. So it had a little bit of an attitude. It wasnt very afraid of us and it didnt back off, which was really the first time that I started to get a little bit scared. I did not have my gun because it was in the tent. I couldnt really back up to the tent without increasing the danger to Doug. But our friend John was still in the tent, and he came out with his gun and ended up firing a cracker shell, which is a combination of a flare and firecracker. It was a hard judgment call because it would only have taken less than a quarter second for that bear to be on Doug, so do you fire another cracker shell or do you actually shoot at the bear? We were very reluctant to shoot at bears because we feel like were in their territory. John made the right call. He shot a third cracker shell and the bear ran off and we got out of there. He made the right call with the third shell, but if the bear had jumped on Doug, he would have made the wrong call.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Wow. Would you say that you and Doug, in terms of adventure seeking, have you changed over the years?

Id say weve become a lot more boring. We used to come back with a lot more stories about the polar bear that came right into camp or these huge waves. Now were a little bit smarter, so we dont have a lot of really exciting stories anymore. Most of the time we can still accomplish our goal. We just do it on natures timing and not on ours.

Subscribe to How To! on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher

To hear more of Jills stories plus how to survive a rattlesnake attack from our expert Kyle Dickman, listen to the episode by clicking the player below or subscribing to How To! wherever you get your podcasts.
Greg Sukiennik has worked at all three Vermont News & Media newspapers and was their managing editor from 2017-19. He previously worked for ESPN.com, for the AP in Boston, and at The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Mass.
Dubai: Iran has described a blackout at its underground Natanz atomic facility as an act of nuclear terrorism, raising regional tensions as world powers and Tehran continue to negotiate over its tattered nuclear deal.

While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, suspicion fell immediately on Israel, where its media nearly uniformly reported a devastating cyber attack orchestrated by the country caused the blackout. Israeli Defence Chief Aviv Kochavi later said Irans operations in the Middle East are not hidden from the eyes of the enemy.

On Monday (AEST) The New York Times reported that while Israel publicly declined to confirm or deny any responsibility, two US and Israeli intelligence officials said there had been an Israeli role.

Centrifuge machines in Irans Natanz uranium enrichment facility, pictured in 2019, were hit by the attack. Credit:AP

The two officials briefed on the damage said it had been caused by a large explosion that destroyed the independent  and heavily protected  internal power system that supplied the underground centrifuges that enrich uranium.
Lee Hart, the wife of former Senator Gary Hart of Colorado, who stood by him when his front-running campaign for the presidency collapsed in 1987 amid reports that he was having an extramarital affair, died on Friday in Lakewood, Colo. She was 85.

Her family confirmed the death but did not specify a cause.

Ms. Hart, a former English teacher, campaigned for her husband during his runs for the Senate and the White House.

In 1984, Mr. Hart sought the Democratic presidential nomination, losing narrowly to former Vice President Walter F. Mondale. He declined to seek re-election to the Senate in 1986 and sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988.

He was widely seen as the front-runner, but his campaign was derailed amid questions about his relationship with a young Miami model, Donna Rice. Mr. Hart denied that he was having an affair, and Ms. Hart strongly rejected the allegations.
The coronavirus pandemic wiped out most performance data from last school year, but SAT scores are one metric that survived.

The average score among New Jerseys Class of 2020 was a 536 in reading and writing and a 536 in math, for a total of 1,072 out of 1,600.

Those averages dont include as many scores as usual because the pandemic forced the nationwide cancellation of the exams in the spring and summer of 2020. But the statewide participation rate of 71.1% was down only slightly from 72.1% the year before.

Scores at individual schools in New Jersey followed long-standing patterns.

Magnet schools and academies with selective enrollment posted some of the top scores. And results at traditional high schools strongly correlated with demographics. Students are most likely to score well if they have parents who attended college and have a high family income, according to College Board data.

Use the tool below to see average scores among graduating seniors in each local high school.

Is the table not displaying? Click here.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Nick Devlin may be reached at ndevlin@njadvancemedia.com

Adam Clark may be reached at aclark@njadvancemedia.com. Have a news tip or a story idea about New Jersey schools? Send it here.
San Francisco, April 11 : Google operated a secret programme, known as "Project Bernanke," that relied on data from past bids in the search engine giant's digital advertising exchange and allegedly gave its own ad-buying system an edge over competitors, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The name of the secret programme got revealed in an improperly unredacted document Google had filed as part of an anti-trust lawsuit in Texas.

The report on Saturday said that Google's programme was not disclosed to publishers who sold ads through the company's ad-buying systems.

A federal judge has allowed Google to refile the document under seal.

Texas filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Google in December 2020, alleging that the company ran a digital-ad monopoly that adversely impacted both ad-industry competitors and publishers.

In the unredacted filing, Google wrote that data from Project Bernanke was "comparable to data maintained by other buying tools," according to the Journal.

The secret programme that Google operated allegedly gave it chance to change bids by its clients.

In court documents, Texas cited an internal presentation from 2013 in which Google said Project Bernanke would bring in $230 million in revenue for that year, The Verge reported.
SK Innovation's battery plant site in Georgia / Courtesy of SK Innovation



Biden calls settlement 'win for American workers and the American auto industry'



By Baek Byung-yeul



LG Energy Solution (LGES) and SK Innovation (SKI) reached an eleventh-hour settlement over their protracted battery dispute, leaving U.S. President Joe Biden as the main beneficiary through his green economy drive, which aims to create more jobs by nurturing eco-friendly businesses, industry officials said Sunday.



The two Korean EV battery makers said Sunday that they reached a settlement on the dispute over claims that SKI misappropriated LGES' trade secrets. The settlement came a day before the deadline for Biden's veto of a U.S. International Trade Commission's (USITC) decision to ban SKI from importing some batteries into the U.S.



In a joint statement, SKI agreed to pay 2 trillion won ($1.78 billion) to LGES to settle the dispute.



Under the agreement, SKI will pay 1 trillion won up front and another 1 trillion won in royalties. Also, they agreed to withdraw all their pending lawsuits both at home and abroad and will not raise any additional lawsuits over the next decade.



"The two companies agreed on sound competition and friendly cooperation for the development of the EV battery industry in Korea and the U.S.," LGES CEO Kim Jong-hyun and SKI CEO Kim Jun said in the joint statement. "The two agreed to make joint efforts for the Biden administration's effort to strengthen the EV battery supply chain and its eco-friendly policy."



With the settlement, the legal dispute that has continued since 2019 has come to an end. In 2019, LG Chem, the parent company of LGES, filed a pair of lawsuits with the USITC and a U.S. court, claiming that SKI misappropriated and used its EV battery trade secrets by hiring its former employees.



In February, the USITC gave a final ruling in favor of LGES. The commission also issued a 10-year exclusion order prohibiting SKI from importing some batteries into the U.S. But the commission permitted SKI to import components needed to produce EV batteries for Volkswagen and Ford for two years and four years, respectively.



An industry official here said the efforts of the U.S. government appear to have been behind the settlement.






NEW YORK, April 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the securities of SOS Limited (NYSE: SOS) between July 22, 2020 and February 25, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"), of the important June 1, 2021 lead plaintiff deadline.

SO WHAT: If you purchased SOS 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 SOS class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2070.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than June 1, 2021. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.

WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience or resources. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 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 information that resulted in a scheme that: (1) SOS had misrepresented the true nature, location, and/or existence of at least one of its principal executive offices listed in its SEC filings; (2) HY International Group New York Inc. and FXK Technology Corporation were either undisclosed related parties and/or entities SOS fabricated; (3) SOS had misrepresented the type and/or existence of the mining rigs that it claimed to have purchased; and (4) as a result, defendants' 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 SOS class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2070.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action.

No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/.

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Contact Information:

Laurence Rosen, Esq.

Phillip Kim, Esq.

The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.

275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor

New York, NY 10016

Tel: (212) 686-1060

Toll Free: (866) 767-3653

Fax: (212) 202-3827

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

www.rosenlegal.com

SOURCE Rosen Law Firm, P.A.

Related Links

www.rosenlegal.com


NEW YORK, April 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The world of finance is a vast and dynamic universe. Understanding and decoding the financial markets can seem overwhelming in the beginning. However, we at Building Your Authority believe that finance is not that complicated as it seems. With proper knowledge, anyone can understand the world of finance and make better investment decisions. There are several categories of market participants in the financial markets. From small retail traders to big players and institutions that manage billions of dollars, the financial markets have opportunities for everyone. In this article, we shall go over one such investment management firm that manages the worlds largest actively managed ETF or exchange-traded fund.



ARK Investment Management LLC is an investment management firm that manages the largest actively managed exchange-traded fund. Founded by Cathie Wood in 2014, ARK Invest operates out of New York City. This investment management firm actively manages an astonishing $52 Billion in assets under management as of March 2021. Named after the Ark of The Covenant from the Bible, Cathie Woods ARK Invest has been delivering stellar returns for their investors while outperforming the markets in general. So, lets explore and learn more about Cathie Woods ARK Invest and get a holistic view of this investment management firm.

ARK Invest

ARK Investment Management LLC or ARK Invest is an investment management firm based out of New York City which was founded by Cathie Wood in 2014. This institution manages the worlds largest actively traded ETF with over $52 Billion in combined assets under management. Since its inception in 2014 up until 2019, the ARK Innovation ETF managed to give an average of 39% return on investment to their investors. This is almost three times what the S&P 500 Index delivered during this period. However recently, in December, the ARK Innovation ETF delivered a staggering 170% return on investment for the year 2020. This ETF also became the worlds largest actively managed ETF recently with over $17 Billion in assets under management.

Founded in 2014 by Cathie Wood, ARK Invest was established only to focus on disruptive innovation and capitalize on opportunities in emerging sectors. However, this idea was deemed too risky by AllianceBernstein, where Cathie worked previously as the chief investment officer. Thats when Cathie Wood decided to quit AllianceBernstein and founded ARK Invest. With a clear vision in mind that no one else saw, Cathie Woods founded ARK Invest to focus only on disruptive innovation. ARK Invest focuses on ideas based on disruptive technology and manages ETFs that capitalizes on opportunities in these emerging sector. From artificial intelligence, robotics, electric vehicles, DNA sequencing to 3D printing and blockchain technology, ARK Invest focuses and invests in all these sectors.

Who is Cathie Wood?

Catherine Duddy Wood or better known as Cathie Wood is the founder, CEO, and chief investment officer of Ark Invest. Also named as the best stock picker of 2020 by Bloomberg News, Cathie Wood manages the worlds largest actively traded ETF that focuses on disruptive technologies. Born in Los Angeles, Cathie Wood was involved in the world of finance since the starting of her career. From working as an assistant economist at Capital Group to becoming the CEO of the worlds largest actively managed exchange-traded fund, she has seen it all. Recently in March 2021, two of Cathie Woods funds were on the list of the ten largest female-run funds. Cathie, who is a devout Christian, named her firm ARK Invest as she was reading the One Year Bible at the time of its inception. With her years of experience that involves working at several financial institutions including Jennison Associates, Capital group, and AllianceBernstein, Cathie Wood has deep and extensive understanding of the financial markets.

ARK Innovation ETF - ARKK

The ARK Innovation ETF or ARKK is the ARK Invests largest actively managed fund with over $17 Billion in assets under management. This ETF solely focuses on companies that create disruptive technologies. In other words, they invest in companies that create products or services that can potentially change the way our world works and functions. With heavy weightage in companies like Tesla, Zoom, Shopify, Roku, and many more, they have a well-diversified and balanced portfolio. Cathie Woods ARK ETF is one of the best performing ETFs lately and has delivered a staggering 170% return on investment for the year 2020.

ARK Invest & ARKKs Investment Strategy

With primary focus on companies that create new and innovative services or products, ARKK focuses and invests in sectors such as fintech, DNA sequencing, robotics, electric vehicles, and more. This ETF regularly publishes their analysis, transactions, and portfolios to the general public and often disclose their views. Apart from employing financial analysts and experts, Cathie Woods ARK Invest also employs scientists from various sectors to better understand and capture future opportunities in the disruptive technologies sector.

This ETF focuses on upcoming and emerging sectors where new and unique innovations can change the world. Having launched several ETFs in various sectors, they utilize a thematic investing approach to capture the opportunities in these disruptive innovation sectors. Analyzing various market aspects and asking questions such as Where is the next big disruptive innovation or Which industries offer potential opportunities in disruptive innovation, they have a solid investment strategy that has shown promising results.

How to Track ARK Innovation ETF & Monitor its Investments?

As an investor or trader, you may want to explore and see where ARK Invests ARKK ETF is currently investing and check out their holdings. This will allow you to enhance your market knowledge and possibly generate some investment ideas for yourself. While manually tracking the ARK Innovation ETFs holdings can be a challenging task, you can instead visit a website called Cathie Wood Stocks. Cathie Wood Stocks is a wonderful website that simplifies your work processes. This website offers a daily updated list of the top 25 holdings of ARK Innovation ETF or ARKK. Here, you can check where Cathie Woods ARK ETF is currently investing and also monitor their weightage in each stock.

This is a great way to monitor where ARK innovation ETF is currently invested, as it may give you several insights that might help you create investment ideas of your own. The website has a clean and basic layout where you can find the list with the top 25 holdings of ARKK with all the details. This list is updated daily and provides you with the latest information. Analyzing and doing market research on a particular ETF has never been easier before. You can go ahead and check out the website Cathie Wood Stocks to see all about ARK Innovation ETFs top 25 holdings and their latest investments.

About Cathie Wood Stocks and its Founder

The Website Cathie Wood Stocks was founded by Jeremy Lefebvre. Jeremy is a highly qualified professional in the field of finance who strives to spread financial literacy across the globe. With passion to teach people about finance and the stock markets, Jeremy also runs a popular YouTube channel called Financial Education which has over six hundred thousand subscribers. His aim is to make people financially independent and educate them so they make better investment decisions.

The website Cathie Wood Stocks is a great initiative by Jeremy Lefebvre as it gives the retail market participants an insight into the world of institutional investing. On the website Cathie Wood Stocks, you can find the daily updated list of ARKKs top 25 holdings. This will give you a better idea of where the ETF is currently investing. It can also show the stock where the fund has its highest weighting and will affect the funds performance the most.

While the data on Cathie Wood Stocks may not seem of much importance to a layman, an investor, on the other hand, can decode where the largest actively managed EFT is currently invested and possibly generate some investment ideas that may benefit them financially. If you are genuinely passionate about the financial markets and want to expand your knowledge, then you should definitely check out Jeremy Lefebvres YouTube channel Financial Education. Jeremy often shares valuable information on his channel in an easy-to-understand way and makes finance easy for beginners!

Conclusion

With all this information, we hope that you learned something new! According to Building Your Authority, the financial markets may seem complicated, but with a little bit of research and study, you can definitely make better investment decisions and generate wealth in the long run. So go ahead and check out Jeremy Lefebvres website www.cathiewoodstocks.com and his YouTube channel Financial Education to expand your financial knowledge. While investments are subject to market risk, with proper due diligence, you can definitely create wealth and become a financially independent individual!

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c651e89e-5472-478a-9736-11c85febff50
Click here for updates on this story

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -- Families that have lost loved ones to police shootings held a vigil in Northeast Portland.

They were joined by 35 families from across the country who have also been affected by police violence.

FOX 12 spoke to a woman whose son was killed in a police shooting in Longview. She said he had just been in a motorcycle accident, was unarmed and had suffered a concussion but an officer who responded to the scene shot him.

"We need to change the laws nationwide. We need to hold officers accountable for the things that they do," Marilyn Covarrubias said. "We have to have de-escalation, we have to have tactics that don't include murder, and that's the reason that I fight, and I'll continue to fight. I'm fighting for everybody

The vigil was hosted by Pacific Northwest Family Circle, a nonprofit led by people who have lost loved ones to police violence and who want to coordinate a national movement to hold officers accountable.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
Champagne Pommery Brut Royal NV: available at Drizly This versatile bottle lends itself to many meals or solo drinking at any time of the year. An almost equal blend of the big three grapes, this wine features a pale-yellow color with hints of green and an elegant and fresh taste of apples and honey. Like most champagne, it pairs well with meat and cheeses, but we especially like this option for glazed fare or sweet desserts.
The Bethlehem Food Co-op was looking for a unicorn site for its new grocery store: a place with great walkability, public transit access, parking and low-income residents to serve.

The nonprofit found all of that in 250 E. Broad St., where Peron Development plans a four-story building with 42 apartments that will be anchored by the grocery store on the ground floor.

This project will have the opportunity to sort of extend Broad Street, and extend our downtown in a meaningful way, and perhaps even create more walkability and foot traffic along the East Broad Street corridor, an area of the city that hasnt necessarily gotten a lot of new investments in the last decade or so, said John Callahan, Perons director of development and a former city mayor. We hope that we can help spur additional investment in this area.

The development firm was before the Bethlehem Planning Commission pitching the projects concept as part of a site plan review on Thursday. The commission granted several variances in its purview and referred the project to the city zoning hearing board with a favorable recommendation. The zoning board will learn about the plans at its Wednesday meeting.

Commission Chairman Rob Melosky said he is confident Peron can execute the project well and bring the co-op to the residents of the neighborhood.

The co-op plans to lease 6,500-square-feet from Peron for its member-owned grocery store and about 4,500-square-feet will be used for the actual store, said Elliot Nolter, board member. About 265 of the co-ops roughly 900 members live within a one-mile radius of 250 E. Broad St. and there are about 8,500 to 9,000 households in that same area, leaving great room for growth, he said.

Its the densest part of our membership throughout the whole city, Nolter explained.

The Bethlehem Food Co-Op's member-owned grocery store will be located at 250 E. Broad St., anchoring a new project by Peron Development and Boyle Construction.Courtesy rendering

The project is an urban infill development that requires Peron to tear down the existing one-story building. The property is tight and nonconforming to city zoning, but the entire neighborhood is largely nonconforming, Callahan said. City zoning allows for 40 apartments and Peron is asking for 42 amongst other site variances.

The project includes 84 parking spaces, with 23 dedicated for the co-op. City zoning requires 103 parking spots and Callahan argued that actual developments show the majority of apartments in the urban core dont require 1.75 spaces per unit.

The co-op was founded in 2011. Food co-ops are grocery stores owned by members who get to shop at a discounted rate and take classes. Members pay a one-time fee of $300, and the co-op offers an installment plan. Anyone will be able to shop at the Bethlehem Food Co-op but they wont share in the perks of membership.

The store will rely on local vendors to supply produce and products and feature bulk bins, a community kitchen and meeting room, a small outdoor dining area, a bike rack and off-street parking.

The co-op has a $1.7 million capital campaign to cover site design, construction and the costs associated with opening a community-owned grocery store. Funds will be raised from donations, member loans, bank loans and grants. Sponsorship and naming rights are available. The co-ops nine-member board of directors have each signed on to financially support the new store already.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com.
Police are asking for a thief to return an urn containing the ashes of a deceased mother after they were stolen from a car in Melbournes inner-east.

Sometime between 7pm Friday evening and midday Saturday, a red Mazda 3 sedan was broken into on Murphy Street in Richmond and several items stolen, including the urn and ashes.

Police are asking for a thief to return the ashes of a deceased mother stolen from a car in Richmond.

Police released an image of the urn in the hope that someone recognises it and contacts police.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
Sri Lankan Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi has said that the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine of China will not be administered to the people of Sri Lanka until the health authorities ensure that it is safe.

In the Sri Lankan Parliament, while responding to the opposition, the minister said that their regulatory authority had been analyzing data on the vaccine to ensure that the vaccine is safe, as per reports. He also said that Sri Lankans will be administerd the vaccine only after the World Health Organisation (WHO) approves it for emergency use. This statement comes amid growing criticism of the Chinese vaccine.

Manusha Nanayakkara, an opposition leader on Sunday reportedly said that four members of the country's medicine regulatory authority had to leave because they did not approve the Chinese vaccine.

"The government delayed the importation of the corona vaccine. Our experts say that the approval of the World Health Organisation has not been granted for the corona vaccine from China. However, when the doctors and officials of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority said they could not approve the Chinese vaccine, the government asked them to resign. That is how four people resigned refusing to approve the vaccine," Nanayakkara had said, as per news agency ANI.

Sri Lanka receives 600,000 doses of Chinas Sinopharm vaccine

In March, Sri Lanka had received 600,000 doses of Chinas Sinopharm vaccine that would be used for the vaccination of Chinese workers living in the island nation, a senior health official has said. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had accepted the vaccine from Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong at the airport after the doses were flown in on Wednesday. The vaccine was developed by Sinopharms Beijing Institute of Biological Products and the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products in China. As per the Chinese governments request, we will first vaccinate Chinese workers in Sri Lanka, most likely starting next week, Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera had said.

(With Agency Inputs)
Nexeo Plastics rileva Nevicolor THE WOODLANDS, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nexeo Plastics, LLC (Nexeo Plastics), un importante distributore globale di resine termoplastiche e socio delle GPD Companies, Inc. (GPD), oggi ha annunciato di aver rilevato Nevicolor S.p.A. (Nevicolor o la Societa), azienda leader italiana nella distribuzione e produzione di polimeri termoplastici e compounds. I termini della transazione non sono stati rivelati. Un'azienda []

CORCYM: OGGI IL LANCIO A LIVELLO GLOBALE LONDRA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CORCYM, la nuova societa indipendente di dispositivi medici interamente dedicata a supportare i cardiochirurghi con le migliori soluzioni per le patologie cardiache strutturali, annuncia oggi linizio delle attivita a livello globale. Nata dallacquisizione del business delle valvole cardiache di LivaNova PLC (LivaNova) da parte di Gyrus Capital (Gyrus), fondo di investimento che opera nei []

OSE Immunotherapeutics e la Fondazione FoRT annunciano l'inizio di uno studio clinico di fase 2 per la valutazione di Tedopi in combinazione con Opdivo (nivolumab) nel tumore polmonare non a piccole cellule NANTES, Francia, e ROMA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Notizie normative: OSE Immunotherapeutics (Paris:OSE) (ISIN: FR0012127173; Mnemo: OSE) e la FoRT (Fondazione Ricerca Traslazionale) oggi hanno reso noto che l'Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco (AIFA) e il Comitato etico nazionale hanno approvato l'avvio di un nuovo studio clinico di fase 2 per la valutazione di Tedopi in combinazione con Opdivo o []

Reply ancora in cima alla classifica: Reply - Digital Experience e al primo posto dell'Internet Agency Ranking BVDW TORINO, Italia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Per il terzo anno consecutivo, Il gruppo di agenzie e aziende Reply - Digital Experience si e aggiudicata il primo posto dellInternet Agency Ranking BVDW, la graduatoria - elaborata da Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW) e.V. (Associazione Tedesca dell'Industria Digitale). La posizione di leader e stata conferita in seguito alla valutazione dei ricavi generati []
Residents of the West Australian coastal tourist region of Shark Bay have raced to secure boats, sandbag homes and safeguard the local IGA as a tropical cyclone accelerates towards them.

The local State Emergency Service had been working for days and more SES volunteers had poured into town from other areas ahead of Cyclone Seroja, Shark Bay resident Leon Deschamps said.

The local IGA.

Volunteers have been making a Great Wall of China of sandbags for our main supply of food, the supermarket, he said.

And its tourism season so thousands more are in the community and havent left.
New York: The marble idol was carved as many as 6000 years ago, a 23 centimetre-tall female figure with a sleek, abstract form, its head tilted slightly upward as if staring into the firmament.

By the 1960s the idol had been transported to the United States, where it was in the possession of the court tennis star and art collector Alastair Bradley Martin and his wife, Edith, and known as The Guennol Stargazer.

Christies listed the stargazer for sale in 2017, drawing the attention of the Turkish government, which asked for the auction to be halted.

An anatolian marble female idol of Kiliya type. Chalcolithic period, c. 3000-2200BC. 22.9 cm high. Known as the Guennol stargazer. Credit:Christies

The Turkish government then sued Christies, saying the idol had been looted. The government asked the court to find that it is the rightful owner of the idol and cited the 1906 Ottoman Decree, which asserts broad ownership of antiquities found in Turkey. But the auction proceeded and the idol fetched a price of $US14.4 million ($18.9 million), before the unidentified buyer backed away.
Seyed Iman Tabarhosseini is wanted by police

Police are hunting a murder suspect after a man's body was found in St Leonards on Thursday.

Seyed Iman Tabarhosseini, 37, is wanted after the victim in his 50s was found with 'significant injuries', Sussex Police said.

The man was discovered in a property in Magdalen Road and police have launched a murder investigation.

Supt Katy Woolford said Tabarhosseini has links to Iranian communities in Hastings and London and is believed to have known the victim.

She warned anyone who sees him should not approach him but should call police quoting Operation Leaf.

Detective Chief Inspector Emma Vickers, of the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team, said: 'This is a tragic incident and my thoughts are with the family and friends of the victim at this difficult time.

'This is a fast-moving investigation and we have conducted a vast number of lines of enquiries to date.

A man was discovered in a property in Magdalen Road n St Leonards (pictured) and police have launched a murder investigation

'We are now appealing for help from the public. We believe Tabarhosseini has vital information to our investigation. He has links to Hastings and North London, and in particular with the Iranian communities.

'We are urging anyone who sees Tabarhosseini or has information on his potential whereabouts to dial 999 immediately. Please do not approach him.

'There will continue to be an enhanced police presence in the area for the foreseeable future while we continue our enquiries.

'Please do speak to our officers if you have any concerns or would like to raise any information you believe may assist our investigation.'
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.
Former Sebastopol Mayor Robert Jacob was arrested Saturday morning on suspicion of five felony and one misdemeanor sexual assault crimes against a minor, police said.

Jacobs arrest came just over a week after authorities on March 30 received information of possible sexual assaults in the Sonoma County town between December 2019 and March 2021, according to a statement from Sebastopol police.

Upon further investigation, the suspect was identified as Robert Jacob, the statement said. Jacob was being held at Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility as of late Saturday afternoon, jail records showed. Police said no bail was set.

Sebastopol Police Chief Kevin Kilgore told The Chronicle that Jacob is the former mayor of Sebastopol, and that As of now, the charges are connected to one victim.

A LinkedIn page under Jacobs name says he is the principal of Robert Jacob Executive Consulting, which provides consulting services for cannabis startups. Records from the secretary of state list him as the president and secretary of a cannabis business called Responsible Patient Care Inc., which is identified in news reports as Peace in Medicine. In 2015, the company merged its two Sonoma County stores with Sparc, a well-known San Francisco dispensary. State business records now list Sparcs founder, Erich Pearson, as the CEO of Responsible Patient Care.

Pearson did not immediately return a call and text seeking comment Saturday. A call to Jacobs cell phone went to voice mail.

Officers arrested Jacob on a warrant at 7 a.m. Saturday on the 7400 block of Woodland Avenue, police said. The alleged offenses include: making a child under 16 available to another person for lewd or lascivious act, committing such an act with a 14- or 15-year-old child, distributing harmful matter depicting a minor engaged in sexual conduct, arranging a meeting with a minor for the purpose of exposing genitals or rectal area, and participating in sexual penetration of a child under 16, police said.

The investigation is ongoing, Kilgore said. Well continue to see if we have more victims, and we would encourage anyone who may have information to please reach out to us, he said. Its important to note that these are all sexual assault crimes against a minor. The police contact number is 707-829-4400.

News accounts characterized Jacobs 2012 election to the City Council, which chooses the mayor, as noteworthy because he was a cannabis businessman, the founder of a medical marijuana dispensary. He outspent rivals by running the most expensive campaign in city history to win, the New York Times reported.

Jacob served one term, which included a leave of absence of at least six months to deal with a family illness, City Council member Patrick Slayter recalled. He did not seek re-election.

Lauren Hernandez and Rachel Swan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByLHernandez Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com, Twitter: @rachelswan
(CNN) -- Queen Elizabeth II has described being left with a "huge void in her life" after her husband Prince Philip's death, their son Prince Andrew said Sunday.

Speaking to media after attending a service at the chapel at Royal Lodge Windsor, the Duke of York said: "I feel very sorry and supportive of my mother who is feeling it probably more than anybody else."

Prince Philip, the lifelong companion of the Queen and the longest-serving consort in British history, died at the age of 99 on Friday. His body will lie at Windsor Castle until his funeral on Saturday.

"He was a remarkable man, I loved him as a father. He was so calm. If you had a problem he would think about it," Andrew said. "He was always someone you could go to."

The news was met with an outpouring of tributes from around the world, including messages from every living US President and other world leaders.

The royal family themselves are "all feeling a great sense of loss," the duke said. "We've lost almost the grandfather of the nation."

Asked how his mother is feeling, Andrew replied: "The Queen as you would expect is an incredibly stoic person. And she described his passing as a miracle. And she's contemplating.

"She described it as having left a huge void in her life," the duke said, adding that the family is "rallying around to make sure that we're there to support her."

Andrew, often referred to as the Queen's favorite son, has stepped back from public duties after a disastrous 2019 interview with the BBC over his association with prominent sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Prince Edward, the Queen and Prince Philip's youngest child, described the sense of shock over his father's death.

"However much one tries to prepare oneself for something like this, it's still a dreadful shock and we're still trying to come to terms with that and it's very, very sad," Edward, the Earl of Wessex, told the media after the same service.

He added the family is appreciative of the "extraordinary tributes, and the memories that everybody has had."

Edward's wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex, noted how Philip "always exchanged words with everybody" in and around the royal estates. "They all meant a lot to him, and he always took a very personal interest in everything that they were doing. So they all have got stories to tell him. Most of them are quite funny as well," she added.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Queen said Prince Philip's death has 'left a huge void in her life'"
Presiden

President Biden has created a 180-day commission to consider adding seats to the U.S. Supreme Court or setting term limits for justices, a move that some have warned could lead to irreversible damage.

The president acted under pressure from activists pushing for more seats to alter the ideological balance of the court after President Donald J. Trump appointed three justices, including one to a seat that Republicans had blocked his predecessor, Barack Obama, from filling for almost a year, The New York Times reported.

The purpose of the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court is to provide an analysis of the principal arguments in the contemporary public debate for and against Supreme Court reform, including an appraisal of the merits and legality of particular reform proposals, The White House said in a statement.

Source:The Christian Post
In the blue corner, the F-150 is an XL with the SuperCrew cabin and FX4 Off-Road Package that retails at $51,970, including freight. The Japanese pickup, which is manufactured in San Antonio, Texas, with locally-sourced parts, rocks the Nightshade limited-edition package and costs $53,354.Oldie but goodie is how Mr. Smirnov describes the 5.7-liter powerplant of the Tundra, which is connected to a six-speed automatic transmission. Given the terrible gas mileage of 14 miles to the gallon (16.8 l/100 km) on the combined cycle, the Toyota isnt exactly economical. By comparison, the Blue Oval flaunts a 3.5-liter EcoBoost twin-turbo V6, an electric motor integrated into the 10-speed automatic transmission, and 24 mpg (9.8 l/100 km).Although the XL trim level is the base configuration for the F-150 line of half-ton pickups, this workhorse boasts active aero in the guise of an under-bumper chin that comes down at speed to improve gas mileage. In terms of payload, the Tundra is woefully bad at 1,185 pounds (535 kilograms) compared to 1,708 pounds (774 kilograms) for the American truck.When Andre takes the hub cap off the driver-side rear wheel, he singles out the problem that affects many brand-new F-150s: surface rust . The Ford also leaves much to be desired on the inside, where you have to use the key to start the engine instead of pushing a button. Be that as it may, we shouldnt forget that the F-150 in XL form is a working man's pickup.Andre isnt exactly happy with the A/C either because you have to push the direction button and select the zone(s) of your liking on the media display. A two-step process for something this simple is pretty bad UI design in every respect. On the upside, the electrically-assisted column shifter goes into park when you open the door if you forgot something in the bed.When equipped with the PowerBoost powertrain , the F-150 also happens to accelerate remarkably fast. TFL drag raced this exact pickup against a previous-gen Raptor, and the XL took the win over the quarter-mile.An F-150 is far better than a Tundra from an overall standpoint, especially if you level up to the XLT or Lariat grades. But despite Fords dominance in this segment, Toyota National Dealer Advisory Council Chairman Robby Findlay described the all-new Tundra for the 2022 model year as  a world-beater that will go toe-to-toe with domestic trucks.
EIA gives nod to high-rise apartment complex on Weligama beach But warns of need to protect turtle nesting sites View(s): View(s):

Sri Lankas pristine beachfronts are drawing still more proposals for high-rise developments.

The latest is an eight-story, 106-unit apartment complex to be built at Pelena, South of Weligama, at an anticipated cost of US$ 10mn (Rs 1.8bn), according to an environmental impact assessment (EIA) opened for public review by the Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Department (CCD) this week.

The EIA concludes that there are no major negative structural, environmental and social impacts associated with the construction and operation of the proposed South Beach Weligama luxury apartment complex.

But it warns of turtle nesting sites on the beach and recommends to the project proponent to incorporate measures to safeguard the turtles that lay their eggs on the beachfront.

Conservation of the turtle nesting grounds is crucial to successful breeding and the continued survival of the species, it states. That means keeping the beach clean and quartering off nesting sites (based on long tracks leading to the nesting site) once identified by security or site personnel. Ensuring that construction and operational staff, and thereafter guests (during operations) are informed of the potential nesting by endangered mammals is crucial to their conservation.

The development will be on private land owned by the project proponent, South Beach Weligama Properties (Pvt) Ltd, adjoining the A2 Colombo-Matara road in the Weligama tourist zone. Water will be largely through town supply.

The CCD has stipulated a 10m coastal setback for the swimming pool and a 15m setback for construction. The height of the proposed tallest main building is 36.075 metres. The tallest habitable floor, the penthouse, will stand at 29.975 metres.

Island Capital Asia (Pvt) Ltd is the majority shareholder of South Beach Weligama Properties (Pvt) Ltd. the EIA states, describing it as a niche real estate investment that operates within the Asian region, with key projects in Sri Lanka such as the pioneering eco-resort Palgama Beach and Villa Weligama.

The apartments are intended for local and foreign investors as a means of a high-rise holiday home, the EIA states. The project is currently in planning, with construction due to begin in June 2021, to be completed by April 2023.

While it was first intended to be a mixed development (incorporating both hotel and apartment features), the project proponent has scaled it down from the initial 34-room hotel and 99-apartment unit development to the present 106-apartment unit condominium development.

Residents will be able to buy the apartments outright with the option of renting out the units (on platforms such as Airbnb or other measures) either on a long-term basis or short-term basis for tourists or holiday-goers.

The project will be internally funded by South Beach Weligama Properties (Pvt) Ltd, the EIA says. A budgetary allocation of Rs 1mn has been allocated for the environmental management plan during construction with a contingency budget allowance for a further Rs5mn for potential impact mitigation measures should such become necessary.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 10:08:59|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

FREETOWN, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Sierra Leone has received 640 doses of Ebola vaccines to boost prevention of the virus detected in its neighboring Guinea, said the health ministry on Saturday.

The vaccines, donated by the World Health Organization, will be mainly delivered to frontline healthcare workers in the border districts, it said.

The vaccine has been evaluated previously in Sierra Leone and proved to be safe and efficacious, the ministry said, adding that the country expects to receive another batch of 3,840 doses soon.

Given the broader use of the vaccine this time, a team of experts will monitor all those vaccinated for any serious adverse effects, it said. Enditem
Seguin, Texas (78155)

Today

Rain showers in the morning with numerous thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. High 81F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy during the evening followed by cloudy skies overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 70F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
Experts in the UK warned that virus hotspots have the potential to trigger a third wave of coronavirus infection in the country. The caution comes just a day before the Boris Johnson administration is scheduled to ease months of stringent lockdown with an aim to revive the economy and trade. However, experts in the country warned that with more and more virus epicentres emerging, lawmakers should follow the data, not dates, a promise they made earlier.

The UK, which has fully inoculated as many as five lakh people has reported emerging virus hotspots in over 30 areas. As per the latest tally by John Hopkins University, the country has reported an overall caseload of 4,382,880, with the averages number of cases per 100,000 people stands a 30.7. However, at least 28 local authorities have reported at least double that number. Five of them, which includes Wakefield, Barnsley, Mansfield, Corby and Clackmannanshire has reported an average of thrice that number.

Isolation systems

According to the country's leading experts, a more cautious approach would be to wait until more among the tens of millions of people who have yet to be inoculated have had their vaccinations. Additionally, they also pointed out that in the absence of a proper, well-organized system of isolating patients, there could be a significant rise in daily COVID-19 cases.

Speaking to the Observer, Stephen Griffin, an expert at Leeds University Medical School asserted that there were many regions in the country that still have high infection rates. Despite that, many people from the region have asserted that they cannot afford to self isolate, adding that it was the responsibility of the government to tackle the issue urgently.

Speaking about the same, Professor Lawrence Young from Warwick medical school later added that the test, trace and isolate that was supposed to curtail the spread of the infection was not working well. He highlighted that dozen of people, even after testing positive refrain from isolating, and there is a need for a properly funded system to quarantine COVID-19 patients safely.

(Image Credits: Associated Press)
If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us

We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.
Mumbai, April 11 : The decision of British Columbia province of western Canada to celebrate the upcoming 130th birth anniversary of Architect of Indian Constitution Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on April 14 as 'Equality Day' has been hailed by his kin in Mumbai and other prominent Indians, who term it as "yet another acknowledgement of his growing global acclaim".

The grandsons of Ambedkar - Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi President Dr. Prakash Ambedkar and Republican Sena President Anandraj Ambedkar - say that their grandfather is already an icon for the depressed classes of society and now the world is also recognizing this in a big way.

"The decision of the British Columbia government is indeed a great honour India and even his family -- The principles of Equality, enshrined in the Indian Constitution due to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, have inspired many other countries which secured independence after the 1950s to include similar fundamentals in their own Constitutions," Dr. Prakash Ambedkar told IANS.

"The Republican Party of India (RPI-A) and myself are moved by this honour to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in the British Columbia province -- I shall write a letter of thanks to the government there," an elated Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale told IANS.

He recalled how Dr. B.R. Ambedkar worked hard all his life, often surviving on a small loaf of bread, studying 18 hours daily at the Lehman Social Sciences Library during his days at the Columbia University in New York (USA), and later became its most famous alumnus to be honoured with a statue (bust) there in 1995.

"The British Columbia gesture has made us all extremely proud, it shows that the world understands and appreciates Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's philosophy of Equality, the first person to propound it after Lord Gautam Buddha, for the upliftment of the oppressed sections," Anandraj Ambedkar told IANS.

The Proclamation was made on April 1 by the Lieutenant Governor of the Province of British Columbia, Janet Austin, declaring that "April 14, 2021, shall be known as 'Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Equality Day' in the Province.

Decreed in the name of Queen Elizabeth II, the Proclamation noted that British Columbia is 'a culturally diverse province comprising many peoples and communities'.

It added that the "Indigenous people, Black people and people of colour in British Columbia continue to experience systemic racism, injustices, discrimination and hate" and the province's government was committed to address all forms of racism.

Dr. Prakash Ambedkar pointed out that this was in tune with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's doctrine of "positive revolution in all oppressed human societies", while Anandraj Ambedkar said "it respects (Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's) his humanitarian role as emancipator of the persecuted people world over'.

Athawale feels the latest recognition proves that "Dr. B.R. Ambedkar belongs not just to India but to the humanity and all tyrannized people everywhere on Earth", and said even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has deep respect for him.

The decision has struck a warm chord among Indians elsewhere in Canada, like a hospitality industry professional Shirish Deshpande in Mississauga in Ontario.

"It has made all Indians here very proud - Dr. B. R. Ambedkar taught the world to end all kinds of discrimination and his legacy is being followed in many parts of the world," Deshpande told IANS.

In 2015, the York University, Toronto, unveiled his bust and in 2016, Carleton University, Ottawa celebrated his 125th birth anniversary, he added.

A legendary jurist, economist, social reformer, anthropologist and political leader, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar was born in Mhow (now in Madhya Pradesh) town on April 14, 1891, as the 14th child of Ramji M. Sakpal and Bhimabai R. Sakpal with family roots in Ambadawe village of Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district, and belonged to the Mahar (Dalit) caste.

Facing the scourge of discrimination, untouchability from an early left a deep scar on his psyche and barely six years old, he moved to Bombay (Mumbai, now) and became the only 'untouchable' student at the famed Elphinstone High School.

By the time he was 15, he had an arranged marriage with a 9-year old girl, Ramabai, the next year (1907), he graduated from the University of Bombay in 1912, later went to Columbia University, New York and London School of Economics, acquired two PhDs, became a Barrister, was conferred with top academic honours and accolades.

On return to India, he joined the Freedom Movement, with Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and others, became a Minister of Labour in the Viceroy's Executive Council and a Member of the Constitution Drafting Committee.

Later, after the country's Independence on August 15, 1937, he became India's first Law Minister in Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's Cabinet and also Chairman of the new Constitution Drafting Committee.

After a glorious life dedicated to the common masses, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar who had converted to Buddhism on October 14, 1956, passed away peacefully on December 6 that year and his funeral was performed at Dadar Chowpatty in Bombay the next day, attended by over 500,000 people.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at q.najmi@ians.in)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized the way China handled the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that it failed to cooperate and be as transparent as possible in the early days of the outbreak. Blinken said that there needs to be a more thorough investigation into where the coronavirus originated and how it spread so quickly. I think China knows that in the early stages of COVID, it didnt do what it needed to do, which was to, in real time, give access to international experts, in real time to share information, in real time to provide real transparency, Blinken said on NBCs Meet the Press.

Advertisement

The countrys top diplomat went on to say that Beijings attitude helped the coronavirus spread more quickly. And one result of that failure is that the vaccinethe virus, excuse megot out of hand faster and with I think much more egregious results than it might otherwise, Blinken said. He did not answer whether he believes China knows more than it is saying about how the virus originated but did state that the pandemic should be the jumping off point to build a stronger global health security system to try to prevent, or at least mitigate, future pandemics. That means making a real commitment to transparency, to information sharing, to access for experts, Blinken said. It means strengthening the World Health Organization and reforming it so it can do that. And China has to play a part in that.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

WATCH: Sec. State Blinken calls on China to "get to the bottom" of Covid outbreak to prevent it "from happening again."



"I think China knows that in the early stages of Covid, it didn't do what it needed to do." #MTP pic.twitter.com/3PBYlONjyA  Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 11, 2021

In the meantime though there needs to be a thorough investigation of what happened. We need to get to the bottom of this, Blinken said. We need to do that precisely so we fully understand what happened, in order to have the best shot possible preventing it from happening again. Blinkens words marked a more diplomatic turn from his predecessor, who had claimed without providing evidence that the coronavirus had started in a research lab in Wuhan. But it still signaled that President Joe Bidens administration is skeptical of Chinas official narrative about how the pandemic began.

Advertisement

WATCH on #MTP: @chucktodd: "If China does try something in Taiwan, we will militarily respond?"

@SecBlinken: "I'm not going to get into hypotheticals. All I can tell you is we have a serious commitment to Taiwan being able to defend itself." pic.twitter.com/szH9DJYBSy  Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 11, 2021

Blinken also warned that the United States is concerned about Chinas aggressive moves against Taiwan and warned it would be a serious mistake for anyone to try to change the existing status quo by force. Asked about the possibility of responding with military force, Blinken said he would not discuss hypothetical scenarios. All I can tell you is we have a serious commitment to Taiwan being able to defend itself, he said. Blinken also said the United States has real concerns about Russias actions near the border with Ukraine. The question is, is Russia going to continue to act aggressively and recklessly? If it does, the President has been clear, therell be costs, therell be consequences, he said.

Advertisement

Advertisement

TODAY on #MTP: Blinken has "real concerns about Russia's actions on the borders of Ukraine."@SecBlinken: "The question is, 'Is Russia going to continue to act aggressively and recklessly?' If it does, the president's been clear, there'll be costs, there'll be consequences." pic.twitter.com/XccLl93p6O  Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 11, 2021
As a way to pay tribute to those who died from COVID-19 over the past year, American Fabrication owner Kevin Russell and his employees built a
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 15:42:53|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

MAIDAN SHAR, Afghanistan, April 11 (Xinhua) -- A total of five militants were killed as fighting planes struck a Taliban hideout in Jalriz district of eastern Wardak province on Saturday, said an army statement released on Sunday.

Acting on a tip off, the fighting planes targeted a gathering of Taliban insurgents in Dara-e-Ziarat Khawja Sahib village on Saturday, killing five insurgents on the spot and injuring three others, said the statement.

A weapon cache of the militants was also destroyed during the raid.

Wardak province with Maidan Shar as its capital 35 km west of Kabul has been regarded as a restive province in the militancy-battered Afghanistan. Enditem
International evangelist Luis Palau has passed away at the age of 86 after a three-year battle with lung cancer.

He died at his home in Portland, Oregon, surrounded by his family, his son Kevin Palau said in an announcement on Facebook.

He is survived by wife Patricia and their three other sons Keith, Andrew, and Stephen.

"We are heartbroken, yet full of hope and faith. We serve a good God who loves us tremendously. And Dad gave his life to share that Good News with the world," said Kevin.

In a joint statement, the four sons said he had died "suddenly and very peacefully, just as he had hoped."

The family is planning a small, private service in Portland to be streamed online in honour of his life, with details coming soon.

"This is hard news, but Luis is experiencing the beauty of the Lord face to face," they added.

Palau was born in Ingeniero Maschwitz, a small town near the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires, on November 27, 1934.

He became a Christian aged 12, not long after the passing of his father, and started preaching on the streets while still only a teenager.

He was already hosting his own Christian radio programme at the age of 19 before moving to the US in 1960 under the mentorship of Californian pastor Ray Stedman.

He met his wife while studying at Multnomah School of the Bible (now Multnomah University) in Portland, Oregon, but his ministry would extend far beyond the US, taking him to over 80 nations around the world.

His more than six decades in ministry included time as an intern with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and occasionally acting as translator for the late evangelist Billy Graham's Spanish-language outreaches.

He and Graham remained close friends and his involvement with the latter's ministry laid the foundation for the launch of his own global evangelistic organization in 1978.

Luis Palau visited the UK on several occasions, hosting a London outreach over several weeks at the Queen's Park Rangers Stadium in 1984 and an open-air event in Inverness, Scotland, in 2009.

Paying tribute, British evangelist J John said he had "the profoundest respect and affection" for Palau.

"One reason that Luis was so good as an evangelist was that he was so openly and wonderfully enthusiastic about the gospel. As anyone who heard Luis will testify, there was joy in what he said," he said.

People are being invited to share their memories of Luis at https://LuisPalau.org
A petrol station of Petrolimex (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi - The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has proposed a 35 percent cap on foreign investment in local oil and petrol businesses, but said it was open to scrapping the regulation.

The proposal is part of the draft revision and supplement of several articles in Government Decree No 83/2014/ND-CP on petrol and oil trading, which currently does not regulate a cap on foreign investment in the sector.

The ministry said 24 out of 25 comments from Government members approved the draft decree with the 35 percent cap, while one disagreed.

The MoIT said foreign investment into the local petrol and oil market has caused controversy over the years and the Ministries of Public Security, Planning and Investment, and Finance have long had concerns about energy security, legality and the intrinsic benefits of investment from foreign firms.

The MoIT said despite these concerns, several firms already have sizeable foreign ownership, including Petrolimex (20 percent owned by foreign investors), PVOil (35 percent) and BSR (49 percent) through equitisation, capital mobilisation and receiving approval from the Prime Minister. All the above firms have operated stably.

Foreign investors have contributed to a significant improvement in governance and transparency in financial statements, improving efficiency and competitiveness, while helping businesses increase their value, the MoIT said.

According to the ministry, foreign investors have abided by Vietnamese laws and regulations in the sector, but a lack of specific regulations on the shareholding ratios of foreign investors has caused confusion among domestic firms and regulators when discussing investment and capital increases.

The issue has even caused a lack of consistency in the shareholding rate when listing on the stock exchange.

In addition to the State-owned enterprises that have been permitted to sell stakes to foreign investors by the PM upon equitisation, there are thousands of listed petroleum companies that wish to attract foreign investors. Foreign businesses are also interested in their stocks but face difficulties due to the lack of clear and specific regulations.

These issues prompted the draft revision of the decree and the ministry is in favour of the 35 percent cap.

The proposal to open the petroleum market stems from the needs of domestic petroleum businesses, not from foreign enterprises, said the MoIT, adding that many countries have opened their petroleum markets such as China, Singapore, Thailand and Japan.

The ministry said petroleum enterprises, regardless of economic sector, when doing business in Vietnam, must comply with the conditions and provisions of this decree and other documents.

Any stake transfer is an indirect investment activity that does not allow enterprises to directly exercise the right to distribute petroleum in Vietnam. The exercise of the right to distribute petroleum in the country is only possible when a foreign enterprise establishes a branch in Vietnam.
Friends ask: Why hasnt Mike Madigan been indicted yet? After all, he has been under investigation for what must be a couple of years now.

My answer: Its because the federal prosecutor is not confident he can prove that the former Illinois House speaker personally did anything illegal.

I define public corruption as receiving unearned personal gain at taxpayer expense. There are obviously illegal forms of corruption  as well as legal corruption. In the latter, there is political gain but not provable personal gain.

For example, several decades ago, there was passionate debate in Springfield over Illinois ratification of the U.S. Equal Rights Amendment (an effort which then failed narrowly in Illinois). As the debate raged, in the state Capitol and within earshot of others, a woman baldly offered a legislator $500 or so if he would vote for the ERA Amendment. That is clearly an act of public corruption, and she was convicted for same, as I recall.

Similarly, Chicago Alderman Ed Burke has apparently been caught on a telephone wiretap saying he was holding up a needed city license until a small-time restaurant owner agreed to sign up with Burkes law firm for property tax appeal work. Again, if shown to be so in court, that represents seeking personal gain in return for releasing a license he controlled.

But, if no one gains personally, and there is never a communication between an official and a possible bribee about a quid pro quo, then where is the illegality?

Mike Madigan has been legend for decades in Springfield for never putting his fingerprints, or voice prints, on anything. He doesnt use email or the phone; instead, he winks and nods, say some insiders, and you cant indict a guy for winking.

Nor has he apparently received any personal gain from governmental transactions. He hasnt had to, because he has made his millions heading a law firm that does property tax appeal work in Chicago  most big building owners sign up to be represented by Madigan.

This is a hallowed scam, you might say, in which assessors, some of whom have been handmaidens of Madigan, jack up city building assessments. Then a property tax law firm like Madigans (there are half a dozen, all deeply connected to Chicago Dem politicos) goes in and appeals for the property owner clients.

And voila, the assessment is reduced to about where it should be. Everybody wins, you might say: Property owner gets a tax reduction, and an elected official/private attorney like Madigan earns a big fee outside government. All perfectly legal corruption.

(Note: Years ago, when I headed a statewide business organization, I had a property tax executive tell me: Jim, my company owns properties all over America, and Chicago is absolutely the only place in the nation that we have to hire an attorney to handle our property taxes!)

But, has Madigan done anything actually illegal? I dont know, and I am guessing the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois doesnt know either  or worries he cant prove in court  that Madigan has done so.

To paraphrase an old saw about grand juries and their proclivity to indict: A criminal trial jury today would convict a ham sandwich if it wore a Re-elect Mike Madigan T-shirt. But, would such a conviction stand up on appeal today, in light of recent US Supreme Court decisions that circumscribe the definition of what constitutes illegal public corruption?

Which gets us to the politics of US attorneys in Chicago. They have a greater than 95 percent conviction rate over the years in public corruption cases. Many top elected officials, like our late Governor Jim Thompson, got their jumpstart in politics as corruption-busting US attorneys, who put away lots of bad guys. Thus, a US attorney hates to lose in court; its not only embarrassing, but it dulls the luster on his or her future career.

For the past couple of years, the US attorneys phalanx of lawyers has been squeezing Madigan associates about what the speaker might have said, might have done.

In that regard, I have a good friend who was measured for a striped suit (he did time) as part of the conviction of former Illinois Governor George Ryan.

Friend said this about the grilling by prosecutors of politicos close to someone they are after: They are brutal. They threaten to send you off to the slammer and throw away the key. They threaten your wife, your family. They scare you so bad you could understand if a person admitted to something that wasnt even true, if it would get the feds off his back.

So, will Madigan be indicted? I dont know. If he is, you can bet the US attorney is confident he can convince a jury  and higher courts on appeal  that Mike Madigan is guilty of illegal corruption.

For many years, Jim Nowlan was a senior fellow and political science professor at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. He has worked for three unindicted governors and published a weekly newspaper in central Illinois.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

For some, homemade food is one of lifes small pleasures  like that moment when you bite into a gooey chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven. For others, making homemade food is a hobby, a way of life and even a career.

Unless, however, you live in New Mexico. New Mexicos laws have made it very difficult to sell homemade food, which hurts those who want to use their talents in the kitchen to support their families and their farms. Thankfully, that is about to change. The governor signed the Homemade Food Act on Wednesday. The new law will go into effect in July.

Although 49 states allow the sale of foods made in a home kitchen, New Mexico has had one of the strictest laws in the country. It is illegal to even sell homemade cookies to your neighbor. Instead, home bakers can sell only at farmers markets. And before a home baker can sell her cookies at the market, she needs to get a permit from the state that requires a stack of paperwork and can require thousands of dollars in kitchen upgrades. Making matters worse, Albuquerque bans the sale of homemade foods completely  one of the only cities in the nation to do so.

Amy Gants found out about New Mexicos law the hard way. When Amy lived in North Dakota, she was able to support her family by baking her delicious sourdough bread in her home kitchen and delivering it to her neighbors and community. But when Amy moved to Sierra County to care for her elderly mother-in-law last year, she was shocked to learn her little business became illegal the moment she crossed state lines. Now, Amy is struggling to pay her bills.

Amy is one of thousands of people who will benefit from HB 177, or the Homemade Food Act. The act will help New Mexicans support themselves, their families and farms by making it easier for people to sell foods made in their home kitchen  like birthday cakes, jams, dried herbs and artisanal coffee beans. This legislation passed the Legislature with bipartisan and near unanimous support.

The act makes three changes that make a big difference. First, it allows people to sell homemade foods directly to consumers, including out of their home, online and through the mail. Next, it eliminates the burdensome permit requirement that is currently required by the state Environmental Department. Finally, it legalizes sales in Albuquerque. All together, these changes will be life-changing for budding food entrepreneurs.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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

The act makes these reforms while still protecting safety. It allows the sale of only shelf-stable foods that do not require refrigeration. These homemade foods are legally sold in 49 states and reports of food-borne illness are almost nonexistent. Yet the act goes one step further than many states by requiring sellers to take a one-day online food safety course and abide by safety standards.

These reforms will benefit all New Mexicans, not just home cooks and bakers. New Mexicans want to buy local food from their community. Buying local food gives customers access to fresh food from people they know and trust. It will also give a much-needed boost to the economy. For example, after Minnesota eased its restrictions on selling homemade foods in 2015 and allowed more sales, 3,000 new homemade food businesses opened. Texas saw a similar development after it expanded its homemade food laws.

Expanding the law also opens the door to economic opportunities for people who need it most. Studies show that lower-income women living in rural areas are most likely to benefit from these laws. The bill also helps chefs, restaurant workers and others start home businesses during the pandemic while they are out of work or have had their hours cut back. Also benefiting are farmers, stay-at-home parents and retirees  all of whom want or need the flexibility to work from home.

As our state finally starts to turn the corner with the pandemic and begins to rebuild our economy, we need to make it easier for people to support themselves and their families. And thanks to our Legislature and Governor Lujan Grisham, thousands more will be able to do so.
New Delhi:

Haryana Police on Wednesday produced Honeypreet Insan, adopted daughter of jailed Dera Sacha Sauda Chief Gurmeet Singh in the Panchkula Court amid tight security.

After remaining fugitive for 38 days, Honeypreet was arrested by Punjab police on Tuesday from the Zikarpur- Patiala highway.

She was charged with sedition by Haryana government for allegedly inciting rioting after a Panchkula CBI court held Dera chief Gurmeet Singh guilty in a rape case.

After her arrest, Haryana police interrogated her for around three hours and police sources said she didnt answer directly to some of the questions.

She was evasive in her replies about her whereabouts and her role in inciting violence and providing funding to those behind the violence. We are interrogating her and will seek her police remand, a police officer involved in the questioning told IANS.

Here are the live updates:

#03:35 PM: The Panchkula court sends Honeypreet to six-day Police remand

#Honeypreet Insan sent to six day police remand by Panchkula Court pic.twitter.com/IB9TWMR79W  ANI (@ANI) October 4, 2017

#02:20 PM: Haryana: Honeypreet Insan being taken to Panchkula Court by police.

Haryana Police has also detained a woman, who helped Honeypreet evade arrest since her name first erupted as an accused of inciting violence in Panchkula and adjoining areas on August 25, the day when CBI court convicted the Dera chief for raping two of his convicts.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Patna, April 11 : The Janata Dal-United (JD-U) MLA from Gopalpur constituency in Bhagalpur Narendra Kumar Neeraj, popularly known as Gopal Mandal, has filed a complaint against sub-inspector of Ismailpur police station alleging him of assaulting innocent labourers and behaving inappropriately with him.

Maldal told IANS that he has filed the complaint with the district SP and DIG to suspend the errant sub-inspector named Mani Ram.

"The incident appeared a week ago when Mani Ram went to Ismailpur village and stopped the labourers to work on farms. He also assaulted them. When I got to know about the incident, I called him to clarify the ground on which he stopped them to work and assaulted them," Mandal said.

"He dared me of doing whatever I could while threatening me that he has recorded the conversation. His behaviour was very rude. I had filed a complaint with the the DIG, SP and other senior officers during weekly law and order meeting of the district and asked them to take stringent action against the alleged officer," Mandal said.

"I have also informed the CMO and DGP about the incident and urged them to take action against such officers," Mandal added.

Mandal is one of those MLAs who is vocal against his own government and administration.
kali9/iStockBy MEREDITH DELISO, ABC News



(SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah) -- Two deputies are injured and a suspect is dead following a shooting outside a sheriff's office in South Salt Lake, Utah, authorities said.



The shooting occurred around 10:30 a.m. local time Saturday, on the north side of the property's parking lot near a bus stop, Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said during a press briefing.



Two deputies on the campus security team were shot and are currently hospitalized, she said. One is in stable condition after getting shot in the face, and the other is in critical condition after being shot in the eye, the sheriff said.



An Officer Involved Critical Incident team will be investigating, she said, though didn't provide any additional details about the shooting.



"Something occurred to where there were shots fired and that is all we can release at this time," she said.



"These incidents are devastating for the department, and we hope and pray the deputies will be OK," she added.



The sheriff's office is located near the Salt Lake County Metro Jail, which is on lockdown following the shooting.



"It'll be on lockdown until we feel it's secure," Rivera said. "The jail is not in danger but that is our protocol."



ABC News' Sarah Hermina contributed to this report.



Copyright  2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
The Electoral Council said in a brief news conference that it would remain in session in case either Mr. Arauz or Mr. Lasso filed objections to the results  improbable after Mr. Arauzs concession.

The vote signaled a desire, at least among some, to shift right following years in which Mr. Correa has held sway over the country.

Hes been working since he was very young, and he has created jobs, said one Lasso supporter, Diana Velastegui, 33, the owner of several small restaurants. That is what is required right now.

But the vote was not just a battle between the countrys left and right. Among the hallmarks of the election this year was the emergence of the countrys long marginalized Indigenous movement as a key driver of the political conversation.

When Mr. Lasso is sworn in later this year, he will be forced to reckon with the countrys Indigenous party, Pachakutik. Pachakutik and its allies jolted the nation in the first round of voting, in February, winning half of all states, becoming the second-largest presence in Congress and transforming the agendas of the finalists in Sundays presidential race.
Welcome to Morningstar.co.uk!

You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details.
The Morrison government still hopes to give every adult Australian their first COVID-19 vaccine dose by the end of the year, as Labor pushes for the Prime Minister to guarantee that timeline despite new limitations on the use of the AstraZeneca jab.

The vaccine program, already bedevilled by supply shortages, took a blow last week when the government announced the AstraZeneca vaccine that Australia can produce locally was no longer preferred for people aged under 50.

Trade Minister Dan Tehan will go to Europe this week to make the case for greater global access to vaccines. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Trade Minister Dan Tehan will use a trip to Europe to push for greater global access to vaccines, many of which are manufactured and, increasingly, consumed in the European Union because of export controls that have effectively blocked contracted supplies to countries including Australia.

One of the things that I will be doing is vaccine diplomacy, said Mr Tehan, who has had one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine ahead of his trip, which begins on Wednesday. He will meet his ministerial counterparts in France, Germany and the European Union as an institution.
The North Sydney Bears havent given up hope of returning to the NRL in some form, with the clubs chairman declaring: We wouldnt be doing our brand justice if we werent getting ourselves available for any NRL growth.

Bears fans are still getting over the pain of being squeezed out of the top tier more than two decades ago. The foundation club exited the league in 1999, before their failed merger with Manly ended in 2003.

However, independent research shows the club still has 220,000 avid followers, a huge supporter base for an outfit now acting as the Roosters feeder club in the NSW Cup reserve grade competition.

While most pundits felt the Bears were content with their second-tier status, club powerbrokers say their ambition is to return to the NRL. While it is highly unlikely that will come in the form of a stand-alone entity, there could be an opportunity to partner with an existing club or one of the prospective franchises jockeying for the NRLs 17th licence.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 23:18:45|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Sources say the Japanese government may announce as early as Tuesday plans to dispose of radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.

Japan's fisheries industry has voiced its ardent opposition to the plan. Some of Japan's neighbors have also voiced their concerns about radioactive wastewater being discharged into the Pacific.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
Is this the classiest ever way to announce a split?

It looked like actress Lucy Boynton was getting at something when she posted this bleak-looking painting by American Gertrude Abercrombie in the same week that her boyfriend, fellow Bohemian Rhapsody star Rami Malek, was pictured sunbathing at Soho House Miami with a gaggle of young beauties.

Lucy was in Liverpool filming the TV series The Ipcress File.

I am no art expert but the surrealist piece called Coming Home, which depicts a solitary woman holding a suitcase, was quite the contrasting image.

Last summer, this column revealed the diminutive couple were house hunting in London but, somehow, I dont think this snap is a nod to their new digs...

The surrealist piece (above) called Coming Home, by American Gertrude Abercrombie, depicts a solitary woman holding a suitcase

Lucy Boynton and Rami Malek attend the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in February last year in Beverly Hills, California

Matthew Freud is set to be a grandfather... and there will be less than ten years between his grandchild and his youngest daughter!

PR supremo Matt will become a grandfather when his eldest son George, 25, has a baby with partner Flora Gardner any day now.

Matts youngest daughter, conceived with a nanny at the end of his marriage to Elisabeth Murdoch, is around eight years old, so shell be an aunt before she hits double figures.
Jaipur, April 11 : Curfew was clamped and internet services suspended in Chhabra town of Rajasthan's Baran district on Sunday as communal clashes broke out, leaving several shops and vehicles set on fire, while other shops were looted, police said.

Senior officials, including the Inspector General of Police, the District Collector, and the Superintendent of Police, were holding a high-level meeting.

Police said that two groups from different communities pelted stones on each other on Sunday and torched vehicles parked around after putting six shops afire. A few shops were also looted and police carried out a baton charge to disperse the crowd.

The District Collector announced imposition of curfew in the evening and later, the Divisional Commissioner announced suspension of internet.

Sunday's clash was an extension of an incident reported on Saturday, when Kamal Singh, a resident of Ahmedpura, faced comments while he was buying fruits. The matter escalated when the other side took out sharp knives. The shopkeepers present there intervened, but in the meantime, two people were injured, and taken to the hospital for treatment.

After the incident, people reached the local police station and demanded action against the accused. Police interrogated three youths and took them in custody.

However, on Sunday, a few people gathered at the same area while people from other communities also came there.

As members of the two communities came face to face, they started pelting stones on each other, and the matter escalated with the arson and looting.

The fire brigade was also vandalised, before police reached the spot, and used force to disperse the mob.

A few people have been taken into custody, police said.
By William Schwartz | Published on 2021/04/10

The upcoming Gwangju Uprising era drama "Youth of May" recently released behind the scenes stills of the drama. In the relevant photos, various actors can be seen taking selfies of themselves with their scripts, as well as studying those scripts diligently. Notably, multiple pictures also include characters wearing eighties-era school uniforms, suggesting that despite the main characters being college students, there will be flashbacks to their high school days.

The photos also suggest a possible modern-day framing device, owing to the presence of modern technology and even a contemporary plastic ice coffee cup. However, any of these objects may just be incidental to production, with the anachronistic objects appearing in frame only because they are being utilized for the actors for reasons of personal convenience. "Youth of May" will begin airing on May 3rd on jTBC and stars Lee Do-hyun and Go Min-si in the leading roles.

Written by William Schwartz
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 11)  Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque says he is already "feeling normal" on his third day of confinement due to COVID-19.

In a statement on Sunday, Roque said he is continuing medication and will likely be confined until Thursday.

"I am better after only one vial of remdesivir and steroids. I came in at the right time since pneumonia was caught early on," Roque said in his Facebook post. "Doctors won't discharge me though until 4 more vials of remdesivir which means I will be confined until Thursday."

"But I do feel normal already on my 3rd day of confinement, enough to do my thrice a week briefings," he added.

Roque said he will once again check into a temporary isolation facility on Friday, almost a month after revealing that he first caught the virus. On Saturday, he revealed that he was hospitalized for COVID-19. https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/4/10/roque-hospital-covid-19.html

On March 15, he first announced that he contracted the virus. However, he refused to disclose his test result to the public. On March 25, he said he is already COVID-free. It is not clear when he tested positive again.

READ: Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque tests positive for COVID-19

The government has yet to announce the latest quarantine classification for Metro Manila and four nearby provinces which are under the enhanced community quarantine until April 11.

President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to address the nation on Monday, April 12, after a weeklong postponement of his "Talk to the People."

READ: Duterte to address public on April 12, Palace says
In an absolute shocker in Delhi, a woman was stabbed to death allegedly by her husband at a market in broad daylight as per TNN.

It happened in full public view in Budh Vihar area of northwest Delhi. It was recorded on video. He stabbed her 25 times.

Instagram

The 26-year-old woman was reportedly killed by her husband as he suspected that his wife was having an extra-marital affair, according to a report in NDTV online.

The man also threatened people as some passersby tried to intervene in the matter and save the woman.



Police said they have arrested the accused who works in a marriage bureau.


Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said government is engaging with relevant stakeholders to pass the broadcasting bill. According to him, government is taking inputs from technocrats and industry experts and at the same time being tactful in the passage of the bill so as to not create a situation where it becomes a tool for successive government to use in stifling media freedom and freedom of speech.



Speaking on TV3's current affairs programme the Key Point, the Minister for Information, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said government is treading cautiously in the passage of the bill because one of the key tenants of democracy is media freedom and according to him, it will rather be out of place to pass a bill that curtail the freedom of the media - one of the key players in every democratic dispensation.



We in government or the Ministry of Information responsible for information sector policy formulation agree that there is the need to pass the broadcasting law. I and my directors and technocrats have spent about a year working on it and engaging with stakeholders including the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), etc but doing it tactfully.



We are being tactful because media freedoms and freedoms of expression are rights that are given to us by the constitution and which right even though can be effected by law must be done carefully in a manner that we dont create a ruse for government to use it as an opportunity to stifle those freedoms, he added.



His comments comes at the back of public outcry calling for the expeditious passage of the broadcasting bill to regulate the media ecosystem following the recent murder of an 11-year-old boy allegedly by two teenagers in Kasoa for money rituals.



This the Minister said that the passage of the broadcasting bill is imminent to control media excesses in the country giving the assurance that when Parliament resumes in May this year, the bill will be laid before the house for deliberations. He said the bill when passed into law will help among other things arrest the falling standards in Ghanas electronic media space and ensure it embraces modern best practices.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
J.P. Schaffner/AP

There are two tragedies in The People v. the Klan, CNNs four-part docuseries premiering on Sunday, April 11. The first is the brutal lynching of 19-year-old Black teen Michael Donald on March 21, 1981, which shattered his family in Mobile, Alabama, and went unsolved for more than 18 months, until it was finally determined that the Ku Klux Klan had been behind it. The second is the fact that this crime didnt occur in a vacuum but, rather, was part of a long legacy of racial terrorespecially in the American southwhich continues today in metastasized form, as evidenced by the recent killings of, among others, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd.

Produced by horror maestro Jason Blum and directed by Donnie Eichar, The People v. the Klan is a story about a fight for justice that resulted in triumph, and at its center is Beulah Mae Donald, Michaels courageous mother.

On the evening of March 20, 1981, Michael left the family home to buy a pack of cigarettes at a nearby gas station. When he didnt return home, his mom and siblingsincluding sister Cecelia Perry, who speaks candidly and at length in the docuseriesbecame concerned. Their worst fears were realized the following morning, when news arrived that Michael had been found hanging from a tree on Herndon Ave., his body badly beaten and his throat slit. The discovery of his wallet helped police identify him, and three suspects were quickly arrested. Yet when it became clear that they had been wrongly accused, the investigation ground to a halt, much to Beulah Mae and companys chagrin.

How a Detective Who Was Blamed for One Lynching Solved Another

Their frustration, anger and anguish was exacerbated by the context in which Michaels murder had taken place. The police had deep, enduring ties to the Klan, and the detective in charge, Wilbur Williams, had been peripherally involved in a prior 1976 incident involving a number of cops detaining Glenn Diamond in order to beat him and hang him by a noosealbeit not fatally, since they claimed it was a prank. Furthermore, Mobile had just hosted the headline-making trial of Josephus Anderson, a Black man accused of killing a white police officer in Birmingham, which ended in a mistrial. And of course, there was the lengthy history of racist murder throughout the South, most infamously of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy lynched in Mississippi in 1955, as well as of four young girls who perished in the 1963 bombing of Birminghams 16th Street Baptist Church.

Story continues

The fifth victim of that bombing, survivor Sarah Collins Rudolph, participates in The People v. the Klan, as do a host of talking heads, including former Mobile Mayor Sam Jones, district attorney Chris Galanos, former NAACP President and current Harvard Kennedy School professor Cornell William Brooks, and then-U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama Jeff Sessions, who confidently states, I wanted the African American community to know that the United States Attorneys Office in Mobile, Alabama, was not going to back away from tough civil rights cases. Lets just say that many others werent as convinced of Sessions dedication, especially attorneys Michael and Thomas Figures, the latter of whom later testified before Congress (when Sessions was nominated for a federal judgeship in the 1980s) that Sessions had initially attempted to dissuade him from taking Michael Donalds case.

Sessions denies such accusations with offputtingly cheery bluntness, claiming, I tell the truth, and someone else can write the history. The real focus of The People v. the Klan, however, is the many men and women who wouldnt let Michaels killers get away. Thanks to the efforts of Michael and Thomas Figures, Galanos, FBI special agent James Bodman, investigator Bob Eddy, attorney Doug Jones and more, the cops original theory that Michaels death was drug-related was exposed as a sham. Instead, Bodman learned that the street where Michael had been hung was home to numerous members of the KKK. Chief among them was Bennie Jack Hays, the second-highest-ranking Klansman in Alabama, and a nasty old racist who can be seen walking by Michaels still-hanging body in a shocking archival clip and who in separate footage attacks a news cameraman outside a courthouse.

As with many television docs, The People v. the Klan likely could have handled this material in three episodes. And the greater saga of American racial hostility and unrest is a topic that requires more time and care than Eichar can grant it. Nonetheless, his series lucidly lays out the means by which Michaels crusaders uncovered the plot to kill Michael, which was ordered by Hays and carried out by both his son Henry (who always sought his domineering fathers approval) and 17-year-old James Tiger Knowles. A new interview with Knowles, who flipped on his compatriots, is shot in darkness, as is one with his Klan buddy Frank Cox. Their input, as well as commentary from their picked-on Klan cohort Teddy Kyzar, helps provide a comprehensive overview of this heinous nightmare, revealing that Michael was selected at random during a hunt for a Black person to kill as payback for Anderson evading conviction.

For refusing to simply accept Michaels execution as par for the Alabama course, for demanding an open casket at her sons funeral (as was done for Till), and for eventually going after the United Klans of America organization in a civil trial (aided by Morris Dees Southern Poverty Law Center) that saddled the hate group with a crippling $7 million penalty, Beulah Mae Donald is venerated in The People v. the Klan as a member of a long line of Black mothers forced to seek justice for their slain sons. In doing so, the series highlights the sad familiarity of this story, both then and now, given that tales of woe like Michaels have been far too common in America, including in this present moment. In his closing argument at the civil trial, future senator Michael Figures said that the judge had to send a message, or wed never escape the question, Who will it be tomorrow? As Eichars history lesson elucidates, its something were unfortunately still asking today.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!

Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
D. Victoria Baranetsky and Christa ScharfenbergRevealMarch 29, 2021

"After more than four years of fighting a multimillion-dollar libel lawsuit brought by international aid group Planet Aid, Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting was handed a decisive victory last week by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. In a lengthy order, a federal judge dismissed the entire case with prejudice.

Reveals 2016 investigation into Planet Aid, which received U.S. government funds for aid programs in impoverished areas of southern Africa, tied the charity to an alleged cult and raised significant questions about whether the funds from the U.S. and other governments actually were reaching the people they were intended to help.

Several months after the initial stories were published, Planet Aid filed a vexatious libel lawsuit against Reveal in federal court. The case hinged on three key questions: Did our reporting result in falsity? Did our journalists act with malice in reporting the story? Are Planet Aid and Lisbeth Thomsen, director of its program in Malawi, public figures? After multiple fights over jurisdiction and more than two years of discovery, the court ultimately found in our favor and dismissed the case.

Beyond creating positive legal precedent, this case serves as a poignant example of a troublesome legal trend taking place in the news media industry over the past decade: deep-pocketed interests seeking to silence journalists with meritless, expensive defamation suits. The New York Times, Mother Jones, BuzzFeed News and other major news outlets have faced similar lawsuits in recent years. The 2016 claim brought against Gawker by Hulk Hogan, and funded by billionaire Peter Thiel, ultimately led to that outlets demise.

The potential impact of these lawsuits on nonprofit investigative newsrooms like our own (and Mother Jones) and on smaller outlets throughout the country  where local journalism already has been decimated  could be a serious blow for democracy. Fighting the Planet Aid case cost millions of dollars in legal fees and thousands of hours of staff time spent on the nearly constant legal back-and-forth over more than four years."

[ ... ]
(Natural News) A fictitious show that airs on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) recently featured a slew of episodes that touched on the George Floyd incident while also pushing a narrative of racial reckoning in America.

Queen Sugar centers around a family of black sugar plantation owners in Louisiana. Its themes reflect real-life news headlines, though the scenarios presented are often just as fake as the false flag events from the television set and mainstream media websites they aim to recreate.

Take the recent April 6 episode, entitled June 3, 2020, as an example. It opened with a flashback to one of the main characters encounters with a police officer from the previous week. The episode then shows this main characters son also encountering a police officer, followed by yet another incident where a 10-year-old boy thinks he is being shot at by the police.

Like the two episodes that aired prior to it, June 3, 2020 was obviously all about the George Floyd incident. Each of the shows black characters was shown having a similar police encounter, and all with similar theatrics. The purpose, of course, is to vilify law enforcement and paint all police officers as racist.

This is an unfriendly reminder that this  is exactly what Black Lives Matter wants black children to believe about the police, reported Lindsay Kornick from mrcCulture about the agenda behind Queen Sugar.

It doesnt matter how many kids are traumatized, so long as they grow up believing the lie that the whole country is racist and out to kill them. Heaven help the kids who dont hear any different.

Martin Luther King Jr. would be ashamed of the medias anti-white obsession with skin color

As the episode continues, other family members of the characters, all activists, are shown dealing with issues surrounding police brutality. Aunt Nova is seen working on a case involving police encounters with black people while Aunt Violet is seen hanging up a Defund the Police poster at the doorway to her diner.

Also shown on the diner door is the obligatory Biden Harris 2020 poster  because, you know, a senile privileged white man (Biden) and a corrupt Asian prosecutor who jailed black people for cannabis (Harris) are two perfect examples of anti-racists for the black community to honor.

Anyway, the episode gets even more ridiculous after the diner owner starts quoting black supremacist Congressman John Lewis, who infamously encouraged black people to keep ourselves busy with good trouble.

Finally, grandmother Darlene is depicted taking everything even one step further by declaring to viewers that there is a racial reckoning happening in the United States, which she exploits in order to get her grandson into a prestigious Washington, D.C., private school.

Were in the middle of a racial reckoning, Darlene says. And that school is like every institution and company, posting Black Lives Matter on their Twitter handle. I called them on it.

The shows producer, BLM activist filmmaker Ava DuVernay, apparently thinks that this is quality television. And Oprah, the networks owner and the worlds richest black woman, apparently agrees, which is hardly a surprise as Oprah also believes that lynching is still a thing across America.

Its one thing to take advantage of woke appeasers. Its another thing to genuinely believe America is in a racial reckoning, says Kornick. Queen Sugar is clearly in the latter camp and loving it.

Queen Sugar is sponsored in part by Hilton, LOreal, and Target. Be sure to shop and travel accordingly.

To keep up with the latest news about the mainstream medias obsession with race, read Racewar.news

Sources for this article include:

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
Conor Benn destroyed Samuel Vargas inside a round with an electric display to claim the WBA continental welterweight title.

The Destroyer was sensational from the outset with crisp combinations that dazed the experienced Colombian-Canadian at the Copper Box in a statement performance.

After a thudding straight right was swiftly followed up with a clever uppercut, Benn immediately pinned a buzzed Vargas against the ropes before unloading to force the referee to step in for the stoppage.

In the quickest loss of Vargas lengthy career, with the 31-year-old also stopped by elite talent at 147 pounds in the shape of Errol Spence Jr, Danny Garcia and Vergil Ortiz Jr, Benn managed to take him out with just 1:20 left of the opening round.

And with barely a bead of sweat on his body, Benns attention immediately turned to Amir Khan, another former opponent of Vargas.

The former world champion, who was dropped on his way to a points victory over Vargas back in 2018, has not appeared in the ring since the middle of 2019.

And since his last fight, Benn has transformed himself from a raw novice that was not even on Khans radar to a feared contender that might not be worth the risk of meeting at this stage of Khans career.

In fact, Benn demonstrated he now has a legitimate arsenal of shots to earn respect from the entire division.

Statement made, easy, easy, easy, an elated Benn screamed. Give me a proper test. Give me Amir Khan. If he wants it, he can get it. I know hes too busy on reality shows.

I didnt learn much in there tonight, but I can live with the pressure. You know what they say about diamonds.

Im ready for the top names. Shawn Porter, Adrien Broner. I was expecting a hard night tonight. Im the most rapidly improved fighter globally. I apply myself 100 per cent. Amir Khan, lets go mate!

The temptation will be to leap several more levels now, with his entire team likely to be high on adrenaline provided by this highlight reel knockout.

But it will be hard to slow Benn down, with the 24-year-old adamant he is Britains best welterweight. But only time will tell if that statement can be verified, as both Khan and Kell Brooks willingness to risk a passing of the torch at 147 pounds remains unknown.

Though there is no doubt now he is a bona fide talent, who has shed any skepticism surrounding the merit behind the opportunities that quickly came his way.

The lofty heights of his father, Nigel, remain out of reach for the time being due to the shallow collection of contenders at home, particularly in light of Josh Kellys recent defeat - which has scuppered a potential meeting between the pair for the time being.

But now he has solidified himself as a not only a skilful fighter on a sharp incline towards the fringe of the world scene, but the eye-catching style, combined with his brimming charisma, make him a genuine attraction.

So get ready for more of this, as this thrilling ride is just the beginning.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dbeibah conducted a tour of four Gulf countries, namely Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar April 7 -9.

The Libyan leader sought the support of these countries for his government and tried to obtain from them a unified position regarding the crisis in his country.

The United Arab Emirates was an important stop of this tour, as Abu Dhabi, which now claims to support the new Libyan authorities, was among the main allies of renegade Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, renewed his countrys support to the new Libyan executive and its action to ensure the security and stability of Libya, said a joint statement issued at the end of the meeting he held with Dbeibahs late Wednesday evening.

According to sources close to the Libyan Prime Minister, Abdel Hamid Dbeibah wanted to reverse the trend and get UAE support for the Libyan state. He also wanted clear positions regarding the Chadian and Sudanese mercenaries sent to Libya to support Khalifa Haftar.

In exchange, the Emirates have obtained the promise of a significant quota in the reconstruction of Libya. Moreover, Abdel Hamid Dbeibah said that his country aspires to a strategic partnership in different areas with the Emirates.

Sheikh Mohammed pointed out during the meeting that his country expects a unified international stance towards Libya based on securing the common interest of the country in a way that reinforces the prospects of stability and security and guarantees Libyas sovereignty over all its territories.

It was an honour to meet our brother Abdul Hamid Dbeiba, Prime Minister of Libyas Government of National Unity. Libya will overcome its challenges and we stand by the Libyan people at this critical moment. Hopefully the new roadmap will lead to stability and unity, tweeted Sheikh Mohammed.

Throughout his tour, the businessman-turned-Prime Minister invited the Gulf countries to increase their investments in Libya, a country that is struggling to emerge from ten years of chaos and violence.

As a sign of appreciation, the Libyan Prime Minister began his tour with Kuwait. This small Gulf country has always remained neutral towards the Libyan crisis and has always supported dialogue.
In this Oct. 22, 2020, file photo, health care workers transport a COVID-19 patient from an intensive care unit at a hospital in Kyjov to a hospital in Brno, Czech Republic. Lofty hopes that the crisis would encourage a new and tighter bloc to face a common challenge have given way to the reality of division: The pandemic has set member nation against member nation, and many capitals against the EU itself, as symbolized by the disjointed, virtual meetings leaders now hold. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)

European Union leaders no longer meet around a common oval summit table to broker their famed compromises. Instead, each of the 27 watches the other heads of state or government with suspicion via a video screen that shows a mosaic of faraway capitals.

This is what COVID-19 has wrought.

Lofty hopes that the crisis would encourage a new and tighter bloc to face a common challenge have given way to the reality of division: The pandemic has set member nation against member nation, and many capitals against the EU itself, as symbolized by the disjointed, virtual meetings the leaders now hold.

Leaders fight over everything from virus passports to push tourism to the conditions for receiving pandemic aid. Perhaps worse, some attack the very structures the EU built to deal with the pandemic. Last month, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz decried how vaccine-buying in the bloc had become a "bazaar," alleging poorer countries struck out while the rich thrived.

"Internal political cohesion and respect for European values continue to be challenged in different corners of the Union," the European Policy Center said in a study one year after the pandemic swept from China and engulfed Europe.

In some places, there have been demands for political accountability.

In the Czech Republic on Wednesday, Prime Minster Andrej Babis fired his health minister, the third to be sacked during the pandemic in one of Europe's hardest-hit countries. Last week, Slovakia's government resigned over a secret deal to buy Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, and in Italy, Premier Giuseppe Conte was forced to resign over his handling of the economic fallout of the pandemic.

In this March 25, 2021, file photo, European Council President Charles Michel shown on a screen, center, speaks during a video conference of a EU summit projected at the Elysee Palace in Paris. European Union leaders no longer meet around a common oval summit table to broker their famed compromises. Instead, each of the 27 watches the others with suspicion via a video screen that shows a mosaic of faraway capitals. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool, File)

But overall, political upheaval across the EU has been muted, considering that half a million people have died in the pandemic. At the EU level, there has been no serious call for the ouster of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the bloc's chief executive, despite her acknowledgment that serious mistakes were made.

It is clear that the EU has not risen to the occasion so farand it's not clear if it can. The European Policy Center noted that "there is no immediate end in sight to the health crisis, not to mention the inevitable structural economic challenges."

The EU and its countries, of course, fell victim to some events beyond their control, as other nations around the globe did. Good arguments can be made that part of the the bloc's problems are due to delayed deliveries from Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. But some of the crisis was plainly self-inflicted.

In this March 24, 2021 file photo, a woman receives a dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, during a mass vaccination campaign at San Pedro Hospital, in Logrono, northern Spain. While some non-European Union nations were speeding ahead with emergency use authorizations for vaccines, the EU's drug regulator moved more slowlyand hasn't caught up. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos, File)

The typical complaint is that there is no united EU health structure to tackle the pandemic and that largely health is still a national domain. But for years, the bloc has had a common drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency. And since last summer, the EU decided to pool vaccine purchases and spread them equitably among the 27 nations, big and small, richer and poorer.

But while some non-EU nations were speeding ahead with emergency use authorizations, the EMA moved more slowly, at least in part because it followed a process that was largely similar to the standard licensing procedure that would be granted to any new vaccine. The agency's first vaccine greenlight came some three weeks after one was OK'd in the United Kingdomthe first country to authorize a rigorously tested COVID-19 shot.

The bloc never caught up. On Friday, the U.K., for example, had given 46.85% of their citizens at least one dose, compared to 14.18% in the EU.

In this March 15, 2021, file photo, a nun wearing a face mask to curb the spread of COVID-19, walks past a closed shop in downtown Rome. Lofty hopes that the crisis would encourage a new and tighter bloc to face a common challenge have given way to the reality of division: The pandemic has set member nation against member nation, and many capitals against the EU itself, as symbolized by the disjointed, virtual meetings leaders now hold. In Italy, Premier Giuseppe Conte was forced to resign over his handling of the economic fallout of the pandemic. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

The EU also made the mistake of overly equating securing vaccines with getting shots in the armsand underestimating the difficulties involved in mass producing and distributing such a delicate product. While EU negotiators were focusing on liability clauses in a contract, other nations were thinking about logistics and pushing for speed and volume.

And while nations like the United States were sealing their borders to vaccine exports, the EU took the high moral ground and kept exports flowingto the extent that over the first quarter of the year almost as many doses left the bloc for third countries as were delivered to the clamoring EU member states.

On top of missteps with the vaccine rollout, the EU will be slow to disburse money from its 750 billion-euro ($890 billion) rescue package, which will share debt and give out grants to poorer members in an unprecedented way. But bickering among leaders over some clauses and intricate rules have made it anything but a speedy process. What's worse, the German constitutional court could still torpedo or further delay the whole initiative.

In this Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021 file photo, doctor Anil Mehta gives the AstraZeneca vaccine to a homeless person at the homeless accommodation YMCA in Romford, east London. While some non-European Union nations were speeding ahead with emergency use authorizations for vaccines, the EU's drug regulator moved more slowly. The agency's first vaccine greenlight came some three weeks after one was OK'd in the United Kingdom. The bloc never caught up. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

The nature of the crisis may be different from past ones, but familiar obstacles arose: onerous bureaucracy, unnecessary delays as legalistic and technical disputes overshadowed the bigger picture, and bickering politicians putting self-interest before the common good.

This past week was a case in point. The EMA reiterated its advice for all member nations to stand togetherthis time to keep on using the AstraZeneca jabs for all adults despite a possible link to extremely rare cases of blood clotting.

Instead, hours after the announcement, Belgium went against that recommendation, barring AstraZeneca for citizens 55 and under, and others issued or kept similar restrictions.

"If government leaders don't trust the science, trust in vaccination is gone. If we don't rely on (the EMA), ANY common EU approach is doomed," said leading EU parliamentarian Guy Verhofstadt, normally the staunchest of EU backers.

In this March 17, 2021, file photo, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gestures after participating in a media conference on the Commissions response to COVID-19 at EU headquarters in Brussels. COVID-19 has wrought division in the European Union. At the EU level, there has been no serious call for the ouster von der Leyen, despite her acknowledgment that serious mistakes were made. (John Thys, Pool via AP, File)

It is noteworthy that the EU nations insisted on delaying their vaccination drives in December specifically because they wanted to wait for the EMA's decision. But many have repeatedly ignored the EMA advice in the months since, setting more restrictions on vaccine use than the agency has called for.

This extreme hesitancy by many countriesin addition to often seesawing advicehas become a hallmark of a vaccination rollout gone wrong. It has exacerbated the supply and issues of trust the bloc has faced.

With barely half of the doses that the EU had contracted for the first quarter delivered105 million instead of 195 millionthe video summit last month saw EU nations squabbling over shots and a distribution system that a few thought unfair.

Now there are expectations the EU can turn it around. It is hoping for 360 million shots this quarterthat would keep the promise alive to vaccinate 70% of adults by the end of summer in the bloc of 450 million inhabitants.

In this Nov. 24, 2020, file photo, a physiotherapist from the Belgian Army works with a patient with COVID-19 on breathing at the St. Michel Hospital in Brussels. Lofty hopes that the crisis would encourage a new and tighter bloc to face a common challenge have given way to the reality of division: The pandemic has set member nation against member nation, and many capitals against the EU itself, as symbolized by the disjointed, virtual meetings leaders now hold. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

In this March 17, 2021, file photo, Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz speaks to European Council President Charles Michel via a video conference meeting at the European Council building in Brussels. Leaders fight over everything from virus passports to push tourism to the conditions for receiving pandemic aid relief. Kurz decried how vaccine-buying in the bloc had become a "bazaar," alleging poorer countries struck out while the rich thrived. (John Thys, Pool via AP, File)

In this March 19, 2021, file photo, stacked chairs in front of a cafe during the coronavirus pandemic in Lille, northern France. Lofty hopes that the crisis would encourage a new and tighter bloc to face a common challenge have given way to the reality of division: The pandemic has set member nation against member nation, and many capitals against the EU itself, as symbolized by the disjointed, virtual meetings leaders now hold. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler, File)

In France, President Emmanuel Macron gave a glimmer of hope to millions when he said that a return to a semblance of normal life could perhaps come by mid-May when people could "reclaim our art de vivre embodied by our restaurants and our cafes that we love so much."

By then, EU leaders might even mingle in person again at summits that go through the night.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Voting begins across 26 countries for final phase of elections for Sikyong/ president of Central Tibetan administration and 45 members of Tibetan parliament in exile. Tibet Govt in Exile general elections will be taking place today where the whole community around the world cast their votes.

Voting begins across 26 countries for final phase of elections for Sikyong/ president of Central Tibetan administration and 45 members of Tibetan parliament in exile. Penpa Tsering and Aukatsang Kelsang Dorjee are the two contesting for the president of central Tibetan administration. Eight candidates contested during the first phase for Sikyong/ President in which Pempa Tsering secured highest 24488 votes and Aukatsang Kelsang Dorjee secured second highest 14544 votes respectively. The results will be declared on May 4.

Tibet Govt in Exile general elections will be taking place today where the whole community around the world cast their votes. There is a polling booth in every settlement and in the national capital there are two booths- Lajpat Nagar and Majnu Ka Tila. They will hold the results for 2-3 days till the elections take place around the world. The Tibetan community across the world with their elections shows an unique and important case study example of how a community in exile vote.

Wangdu Tsering, the Chief Election Commissioner of the Tibetan Election Commission said around 26 countries the Tibetans in-exile are franchising their votes and the total number of the voter is 83,079. Tsering further informed that the community have two kinds of elections- Presidential election of the Central Tibetan Administration and Parliamentary. These elections hold a lot of significance for the Tibetan community as Tibet is ruled by the Chinese Communist Party government based in Beijing, with local decision-making power concentrated in the hands of Chinese party officials. Tibet was a sovereign state before Chinas invasion in 1950 when the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) entered northern Tibet.

Also Read: Serum fire probe findings still under wrap; Time to investigate #PuneWhoDidIt
As the state paraded medical experts to testify that Floyd died because his oxygen was cut off, not because of drugs, nel challenged the substance of their findings that the amounts detected in Floyd either were small or that people had survived significantly higher levels. But he also frequently framed questions to include the phrase illicit drugs, pointed out theres no legal reason for a person to have methamphetamine in their system, and asked one witness whether he agreed that the number of deaths of people mixing meth and fentanyl had risen.




Haiti - FLASH : Arrest in Chile of a Haitian, mastermind of student visa trafficking





Following the large number of suspicious requests for student visas, a report sent in 2016 by the Consulate of Chile in Haiti was the starting point for a long investigation in Chile into an alleged smuggling of Haitian migrants.



After more than 5 years of investigation, the Metropolitan Investigation Brigade on Human Trafficking of the Investigative Police (PDI) of Chile this week arrested the main accused in this case.



This is Wilguins Astreide (39), Haitian citizen with permanent residence in Chile, who operated from Chile, where he acted as attorney for "presumed students" to manage their visa in order to bring them to the country supposedly to study, but in reality, once they arrived in Chile, Haitians would get a work visa charged by Astreide between 1,000 and 1,500 US dollars.



What caught the attention of investigators was that all of the information associated with these visa applications was accompanied by the same address, which identified Astreide.



Bitrap's Deputy Commissioner Sebastian Ortega explained that investigators then had to trace each of the student residence visas issued. Nearly 200 suspicious visas have been analyzed. For each of them, it was necessary to determine the date of entry into the country, the educational institution in which they were supposed to be enrolled, to subsequently verify that the candidates had indeed completed the studies for which they were arrived in Chile.



The investigation succeeded in proving that at least 20 Haitian citizens had entered the country, between 2015 and 2016, with their registration with the "Compania Nacional de Capacitacion" a private technical training institute and it was shown that these visas were obtained with false documents and the crime of migrant smuggling could be established.



Despite the arrest of Wilguins Astreide, the investigation carried out in collaboration with the Central North Prosecutor's Office continues to try to find out if this mechanism exists in other types of cases, which the investigators do not exclude. "We are now investigating to determine if this is an isolated case or if it could be a recurring modus operandi" concluded Deputy Commissioner Ortega.



SL/ HaitiLibre


















Florence Standish - Early 20th Century Asheville VA nurse

The History of the Asheville Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) is a complex and fascinating one spanning over a century of care. Research continues to uncover connections, placing the people of this historic hospital site into better view. The latest of these discoveries involves a photograph, simply captioned: Unidentified woman, half-length portrait, wearing nurses uniform.

This photograph is part of a scrapbook at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, Ramsey Library Special Collection. The Mrs. Walter L. Massie Collection of Jesse Morris Photographs is the best resource for seeing what life was like at the Oteen Veteran's Administration Hospital, the forerunner of todays Asheville VAMC. Taken and assembled by one of the nurses at the hospital, the collection reveals what life was like at Oteen soon after World War I from a nurses point of view. However, like many archival finds, names and details are missing from the record for most of the images. Who was this unidentified woman? For the past five years, her identity has been unknown.

Research efforts included a chronological search of newspaper articles. Thats when a February 1919 Atlanta Constitutional story about the hospital helped reveal the nurses name. The article included images of the early Army Medical Detachment staff and there, was Head Nurse, Florence Standish.



Placing the two sources side by side, the photo from UNC's collection was positively identified as Chief Nurse Florence Standish. Armed with a name, more research revealed that U.S. Army Hospital # 19s first Chief Nurse, Florence Standish, had a remarkable life story.

Florence was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in 1875. She attended a school for deaconesses in Washington, D.C. by 1901 and in June 1905, she graduated from the Alsbury Hospital Training School for Nurses in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She worked as an hourly nurse in Wilkes-Barre until September 1909, when she left to become the Nurse Superintendent of a new Methodist Deaconess Hospital in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Col. Henry Hoagland met and knew Ms. Standish in the years before World War I, and when he was named the First Medical Commanding Officer of Army Hospital #19, he hand selected her to be the Chief Nurse at his new post. Found in The Oteen, a post magazine, a 1918 group photo shows all members of the Army Nurse Corps stationed at the hospital. Florence is seated in the second row, just left of the seam.



While her tenure at Oteen was brief, she made an impact. In an Asheville Citizen Times article about the departure of both Hoagland and Standish back to Colorado, it was reported that she has been very active as head nurse... and become very popular with all her associates at the hospital and will leave a host of friends. Upon returning to Colorado Springs, she opened her own Sanitorium for Tuberculosis Patients. According to 1920 federal census records, she was owner and proprietor of TB Sanitorium with her adopted son, Robert F. Standish.

Florence died in 1941 after a lifetime of nursing and helping others.

For more information on Nurse Standish, visit the Colorado Springs History Museum that references her work there including a portrait of her https://www.cspm.org/articles/florence-standish/



Submitted by Rodney S. Doty, Digital Library Technician, Medical Media and Photography Asheville VA Medical Center
Denmark has announced plans to restrict the number of residents of non-Western origin living in neighbourhoods across the country to 30 per cent of the areas population.

The bill is part of a raft of controversial legislation aiming to reduce parallel societies in the Scandinavian country, proposing a cap of 30 per cent in all local areas within ten years, according to reports in Danish outlets.

The interior minister, Kaare Dybvad Bek, said the legislation was meant to aid integration.

We have the next ten years to create a balance in our integration policy and the way we live and work together, the minister told Danish daily Berlingske. Otherwise, I think we will end up with a two-part society where people withdraw from each other.

The government proposes to change regulations around housing provision so that local authorities are not allowed to allocate housing to specific groups in the same areas.

Additionally, housing applicants in certain housing catchment areas will be prioritised if they meet certain employment and education criteria, the minister said.

Read more

Denmark to send almost 100 Syrian refugees home as Damascus is safe

Denmark and Norway temporarily suspend AstraZeneca Covid vaccine after blood clot reports

The government has reportedly dropped its use the controversial term ghetto  used to refer to neighbourhoods populated by primarily by non-Western immigrants  in its proposed legislation.

There are currently 15 residential areas on the governments list that fall under this category. In 2018, the government announced it would require children living in these neighbourhoods to learn about democracy and equality, as well as traditions such as Christmas.

No date has been set for a vote on the proposed legislation yet.

Last month, Denmark became the first European country to strip Syrian refugees of their residency permits, saying Damascus is now safe to return to.

In total, 94 Syrian refugees have had their permits removed, with Denmarks immigration minister Mattias Tesfaye insisting that the Scandinavian country had been open and honest from the start about the situation.

Some 900 Syrian refugees from the Damascus region had their temporary protection permits reassessed in 2020.
The longest night for all of us View(s):

Capt. Lalin Fernandos platoon of the First Battalion, Gemunu Watch was rushed to Wellawaya when the JVP insurrection broke out 50 years ago. Here he recounts his experience

I arrived at the Wellawaya Police Station in the afternoon of April 5, 1971 with two platoons of my Company (Bravo) of the First Battalion, Gemunu Watch that had finished a tour of Mannar on illicit immigration duties six weeks before. One platoon was ordered to debus and provide immediate all-round protection to the Police Station. The other platoon under command of Lt. Gibbrey Muthalib (who I had trained as an officer cadet) was sent off to Monaragala.

He had been there two weeks before on ammo and weapon searches with the Police. Unfortunately he suffered a gunshot injury to his head shortly thereafter but survived and made Major General in time. The 3rd platoon under Lt. Sunil Peiris, also trained by me (who later founded and commanded the Army Commandos) was later deployed to Balangoda.

An Internal Security platoon of 4 Regiment Artillery under later Captain F R A B (Bashoor) Musafer (now an Australian) was already there having come that morning. Bashoor and I had played rugby together for the Army and against each other in the regimental competitions. They (Gunners) were all in the four ton truck they had come in, ready to move back to Wirawila.

I reported to Major (later Major General) Gratian Silva (Grade 2 Operations Officer) who had just arrived by helicopter from Army HQ with DIG Rudra Rajasingham (later IGP). Major Silva briefed me and said that two policemen had been killed in the attack that took place at dawn. The Police and their OiC Donald Jayasekera looked demoralized and shell shocked. They said that about 500 JVP insurgents had attacked that morning. This number was broadcast on radio worldwide but the correct figure was 25.

I did a walk about of the Police Station to observe how the attack had been made. The insurgents had come along a stream that ran between the Police Sation and the post office on the east side and lined up in the rear where the policemens sleeping quarters were. The leader, wearing a coat had gone round the west side and taken a position in front of the hospital.

The OiCs wife said she observed every movement with gut wrenching fear from their quarters from the time her husband came in with the night mobile patrol. During the attack the OiCs tin house was riddled with shot gun pellets, all fired at waist height. His wife lay motionless on the cement floor with her Alsatian dog. The reserve Policeman who stepped out on the verandah to have a smoke after the night mobile patrol had come in, was shot by this leader. The constable was the first to die in the 1971 insurgency. The insurgent leader was the son of a long dead fisherman from Ambalangoda. It signalled the start of the shooting war in the very short 1971 insurgency. The insurgent leader was later killed by the Police under controversial circumstances as was another insurgent Appuhamy.

The other Policeman to die, Gunesekera, a very popular man, was unarmed and hurrying to the Police Station in uniform from his home, when he was killed by the retreating insurgents. His wife was a nurse in the Wellawaya hospital that was on the other side of the road from the Police sation.

The Police sleeping quarters were attacked with petrol bombs and a small fire had broken out which had been put out. During the attack PC Banda had run across the stream to the post office and opened fire from a flank with a .303 rifle. He probably saved the Police that day. The .303 rifle explains the gaping exit wound in the back of the only attacker killed. This turned the tide. The JVP fled.

PC Banda was awarded a bravery medal by the Police.

Another insurgent had been shot in the face with a Sterling sub machine gun by intrepid Police Sergeant Seneviratne. The Sergeant used to come with me on every patrol. When this wounded insurgent surrendered when an amnesty was announced later, he was an advertisement for Boric powder which a kind dispenser at Koslanda had applied to his festering mouth to help him recover completely. His scars on either side of his cheeks were hidden by a beard.

The evening before (April 4) a volleyball match had been played with the local team. The Police lost. The best local players had taken part in the attack. It was a betrayal of fellowship the Police found difficult to forgive.

I observed a fence at the rear of the police station. Behind it was a vast paddy field. I climbed over the fence and saw two very young lads lying down by the side of the niyara (bund) of the paddy field. At first, I mistook them for villagers and asked them to scram. They wouldnt move. I then drew my .38 revolver and aimed it at them. This was the first time I had ever confronted anyone with a drawn weapon. It did not make me feel good as these were native sons of the soil and not foreign enemy we trained to fight. I asked them to stand up.They were frightened and hesitant. I then yelled at them and they stood up.

Immediately Constable Amugoda (from my village Ambalangoda it turned out to be) jumped over the fence and aimed a kick at one of them. However he missed and fell down into the paddy field as he had dislocated a knee when jumping over the fence. Then an Artillery soldier (gunner) swung mightily with his rifle (.303 British WW One  standard issue in the Army) and also missed. I yelled at him to get out.

The two stood up slowly. I was unnerved. They must have been about 14-15 years old. They were unarmed and came up to me in great fear. I called the Platoon Sergeant Punchi Banda and asked him to give them a ducking at the station well and bring them back to me. This was the only 3rd degree we resorted to on exercises in Diyatalawa, where we had come from. The water there was icy cold. I warned the Policemen baying for revenge that the captives were not to be harmed in anyway.

After the ducking in warm water, which the two boys had apparently relished after a whole day in the sun, they were separated and each given a piece of paper and a pencil and asked to write down the names of those who came with them to attack the police station. Sergeant Punchi Banda supervised them.

We had 25 (not 500) identical names. This was passed on to the Battalion HQ. We had cracked the Wellawaya gang. The two captives and all prisoners taken thereafter by us (Gemunu Watch) were handed over to the prisons, remanded, tried by the courts, imprisoned and later released.

One insurgent we caught later was Sirisena. He was 12 years old. He was an orphan being looked after by his grandmother. His job had been to carry the boxes of matches to light the petrol bombs. He soon became the mascot of the platoon, eating and sleeping with them and helping in doing odd jobs. Concerned by the possible Police response, I released him on the day we pulled out of the Police Station. Most, if not all, of the surviving Wellawaya JVP like the tall Milton, teacher Dissanayake and of course Sirisena did not join in the 1988-9 JVP terrorism that killed 60,000 people in 13 months.

Major Gratian Silva gave me some useful tips, wished me luck and left for Colombo by helicopter with DIG Rajasingham. Capt Musafer left for Wirawila with his men.

I took out a clearing patrol of the surrounding area. There wasnt a person in any of the houses in the vicinity which however had pictures of Prime Minister Mrs Bandaranaike.

We then received information of insurgents in the wooded, rocky hills close by. I left with a section(8 men) with the help of a guide but we were unable to make any contact. It was after all nearly 10 hours after the attack. Later as dusk fell we searched each of the homes of the individuals listed by the two captives. The suspects had long vanished. Their families were in great fear of Police retaliation but were comforted I think by the presence of the soldiers.

That first night was the longest night in life for all of us as we awaited a response from the JVP. There was none.

In the first week of May 1971, the Prime Minister announced an amnesty and made a surrender offer. The response was excellent. It saved many hundreds if not thousands of lives of many poor and misled youth that an unforgiving JVP leadership was ready to sacrifice to satisfy their ends.

( The writer retired as a Major General in 1994)
MASADA VS. ALEX COLON, G-RAVER VS. SU YUNG & MORE: 4/10 NO PEACE UNDERGROUND 'SHALLOW GRAVES' REPORT FROM TAMPA

By Adam Cardoza & Shannon Walsh on 2021-04-11 03:36:00

ADAM CARDOZA REPORTING:

No Peace Underground "Shallow Graves"

4/10/21 -11:59pm

Tampa, FL - Streaming on FITE.tv

WELCOME TO THE FINAL SHOW OF THE COLLECTIVE. WE MADE IT YALL!

No Peace Underground is closing us out with their 3rd show of the week!

11:59PM

The Cuban Club

Inside the Cantina



SHALLOW GRAVES. pic.twitter.com/b7tFHFtSAA  No Peace Underground (@NoPeaceFL) April 10, 2021

We are in the Cuban Club Cantina. Fans are up on the sides of the catina, the floor area is covered in F***ery as the lights dim. You ever play Manhunt back on the PS2? This is the vibe Im getting from this venue. The shaky camera just makes this feel even MORE like a snuff film than NPU usually does. Also, commentary says this is 4 levels down in the Cuban Club....so it is LITERALLY No Peace UNDERGROUND.

Match 1: THE END (Parrow & Odinson) vs The Hustle & The Muscle (Jake Something & Rohit Raju)

Parrrow and Something go up in the crowd area right away, which Raju tries to chop down Odinson with forearms. Odinson giant swings Raju into the wall. Parrow with the chair shot and slam on Something to the door. Odinson with the DVD to Parrow on Something. Something tosses Parrow into the chairs, pin attempt for two.Raju and Something working over Odinson...DDT into the chairs. Kick out. It just occurred to me that Raju/Somethings team name is H&M. Hahaha, its late and thats funnier to me than it should be. Back in the....open space for murders, we have door set up and Parrow has recovered and chokeslams Raju through the door. Something grabs a light tube, Parrow walks through those shots. Raju swinging chairs and Parrow is staggered, losing blood from those light tubes before. Both teams slugging it out. The End hit a Super Collider and H&M crashes to the concrete. The End make the cover and they stay undefeated in NPU.

Winner: The End

AJ Gray is here and he is annoyed he isnt a part of this card. But hes the TRUTH. So f*** it, open challenge. Hardway Heeter answers the call with a bundle of light tubes.

Match 2: AJ Gray vs Hardway Heeter

Heeter blasts Gray with the tubes. Gray is pissed and blasts him with a chair and some tubes. Gray carving him up. Heeter slams to the chairs for a two count. Gray with more tubes and a suplex to an inflatable barbed wire gator. Setting up a structure....cover it in glass, youngboys. Gray with a light tube pyramid to the face of Heeter. Gray slams Heeter off the stage through the glass structure. Count to 100, ref.

Winner: AJ Gray

Match 3: Cole Radrick, Wolfe Taylor, JJ Garrett, Devon Monroe, Jimmy Lloyd & Kevin Blackwood (Scramble Match)

Im surprised to see Jimmy here, after the storied drama of his GCW shirt at Wrestlemania.

Big chaotic fight around the floor. Cole rams JJ into a door. Blackwoodchokes Jimmy with aa chair. Cole and Blackwood going back and forth with high velocity slaps. Double kicks and double down. No one can get there to make the pin. Jimmy with a uranage to Wolfr through a light tube board. Cole with a spinning kick to Jimmy. Sets him up on door, cannonball through the door. Blackwood back for more slams and eats an air raid crash into broken glass. Blackwood hits a DVD through a door to Cole. Devon runs in with a front guillotine. Forearm KOs Blackwood. JJ KOs Devon! Wolfe with a neckbreaker and wrenching back on JJs face, who taps out! Wild.

Winner: Wolfe Taylor

Match 4: Matthew Justice vs Erick Redbeard

Erick Redbeard attacked Matthew Justice on (consults a calendar)....WEDNESDAY...costing him his match against the Rejects. Justice is throwing around those big barrels of NEFT vodka for the second time today. Does Justice have a direct NEFT sponsorship or does he just really like barrels? Is Matthew Justice actually Donkey Kong? This musing doesnt matter as Erick Redbeard throws a chair and swings one of those big tree trunk legs into his face. Justice getting rag dolled into the cement flooring. Justice throws a chair into Redbeards crotch. Swinging that chair for the fences. Justice whipping a trash BARREL at Redbeard. Hmmmm. Erick puts that barrel on Justices head and kicks it off. Erick run into the support post and chased down with chair shots. Redbeard grabs a door and prefaces Justice with it. Door shots to the back. Two count! Redbeard takes off his belt and whips the back of Matthew Justice. Erick wraps the belt around Justices neck and pulls him to the wall. Erick HANGS JUSTICE FROM THE BALCONY. Redbeard lets it go and Justice grabs a chair to gut shot Erick. Cannonball off the stairs to Erick and now Justice has the belt. Justice strangling Redbeard with his belt. Justice throwing chairs. Justice hits a big splash and puts Erick through a door. Justice comes flying but Erick whips a barrel at him! And another one. Erick grabbing as many chairs as he can. Justice throws the double birds. Erick Redbeard with a slap to the face and iron claw slams Justice to the pile of chairs and broken doors. Count it off. 1, 2, 3. This was absolutely bananas.

Winner: Erick Redbeard

Match 5: Mance Warner vs. Conor Claxton

Claxton is unwrapped a pile of syringes while Mancer makes his entrance. Oh nooooo.... Mancer throws a light tube to Claxton and we start with an exploding sword fight. Mance has a chain and strangling Conor with it. Claxton getting dragged and Mance with an eye poke. Conor suckers in Mance with a spin kick and blasts a chair shot. Mance getting bounced off an interstate sign. Mance with some dusty punches and a low kick chaser. A drunk Joey Janela crashes the commentary booth while Mance gets thrown through a door. Trading jabs back and forth. Mance with a DDT. Time to staple gun some money to Conor....or just his shirt. Mance grabs Conors syringe and pierces his cheeks through. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....Conor running around with a mouth full of syringes and Mance hits a running knee with light tubes to get the pin.

Winner: Mance Warner

Jamie Senegal is here to let us know that shes weaseled her way onto the card as a special referee for.....

Match 6: Su Yung vs. G-Raver

Via video, Father James Mitchell has unleashed his undead bride in his quest to destroy the mind of G-Raver. Su has a kendo stick and a scythe for this war. Su is convulsing with rage as Senegal starts this. G-Raver sends Su to the rails and she decks him. G-Raver thrown up the stairs and back down to the cement. She sabus him. He gets the chair and gives it a return flight. G-Raver with the boot wash but Su with a big right staggers him and she spears through a door. G-Raver with a kendo shot and he grinds the tip of it into her throat. Su Yung dodges as G-Raver boots through a chair. Su Yungs music hits as she unloads kendo shots to G-Raver. Several undead brides arrives to carry panes of glass and set up some horrors. Su Yung and G-Raver with a big knee and a two count. He takes in the arrival of the brides as he grabs his pile of tattoo needles. He kisses Sus head before driving those needles into her skull. G-Raver grabs the throat and red mists his eyes. Su rips out the needles and shes furious. Double clothesline! G-Raver cant see but Su is dodging his swings and connecting flush. Su gets G-Raver in an airplane spin and DVDs him through the pane of glass. Su crawls into the glass to make the cover. Kick out at two! The brides are coming in as Su puts on G-Ravers mask. Su grabs her scythe. He dodges and powerbombs Su into the brides. Senegal counts her down for two...no its three! Momentary confusion but Su pops back up and drops him with a mandible claw. She covers a chair in tacks, she shoves tacks in his mouth and kicks low. G-Raver catches her running and hits a brain buster through the chair covered in tacks. Senegal raises his hand as he escapes this warzone. The brides carry their queen out of the arena.

Main Event: Alex Colon vs. MASADA

A deathmatch war to end a week of deathmatch wars. MASADA is leaking blood from Colon clawing at his face early. Colon takes a few shots to the head and he gushing too. Garbage cans getting thrown. Chairs getting swung, thrown and suplexed into. Colon lays out a skewers board, MASADA gets a hand of skewers, gut stabs him and digs those into the skull. MASADA swinging that skewer board. MASADA digging those skewers in hard. Colon grabs some skewers and gets a stack into MASADAs head. MASADA with a low blow and MORE SKEWERS. Colon thrown into a barbed wire board. Colon gets a shot in on MASADA and sets up a barbed wire board on chairs, taking a moment to cannonball into a door on MASADA. MASADA with a pair of blatant low blows and a rolling DVD through the barbed wire. Alex Colon is stone cold as the ref counts the three for MASADA. This felt like a sprint but they made a war out of it.

Winner: MASADA

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!
On the anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland is facing its worst violence in years, with politicians, religious leaders and police appealing for calm and dialogue.

By Lydia OKane

On April 10, 1998, the signing of the Good Friday Agreement ushered in a new era of peaceful co-existence in Northern Ireland after thirty years of violence known as the Troubles.

The buildings at Stormont became a familiar location to many over that period as the British and Irish governments and eight political parties worked to formulate the Accord.

Landmark Agreement

The Agreement was unanimously approved by voters on the island of Ireland in two referendums just a month after its signing, and paved the way for Northern Ireland's current devolved system of government.

It also led to the creation of a number of institutions between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Wave of violence

The Good Friday or Belfast Agreement remains an important milestone in Northern Irelands history, but the violence that has unfolded in Belfast and elsewhere over the past 12 days has laid bare, once again, the fragile nature of peace.

Northern Irelands darkest days claimed over 3,500 lives, but over the last twenty-three years, young people here have been fortunate enough to grow up against a backdrop of peace, thanks to this landmark Accord.

Youth dimension

However, over recent nights on the streets of this city, it is teenagers, some as young as thirteen, that have been involved in the unrest.

Bishop Donal McKeown lived through thirty years of conflict in Northern Ireland; now the Bishop of Derry, he says he feels both sadness and compassion, pointing out that it is always the poorer areas that suffer. But he also asks the question about whos benefiting from these people rioting on the streets. There are always others who are happy for this to be going on, he says, who never get their hands dirty by using young people of 12 and 14 and 16 to scream and shout so that the London government or the Dublin government get a message.

There will be peace in places, he adds, if the powerful and the strong want there to be peace.

Another question that needs to be asked, the Bishop says, is how we as civic leaders and as Church leaders help those communities to get up on their feet and be able to deal with the problems that they face in a way that enables their young people to look forward to the future rather than just be dragged back to the past.

Listen to the interview

Elements of the Agreement

The Good Friday Agreement was based on three strands which were deemed essential to the future of Northern Ireland. The first was the internal strand which focused on local parties working together; another was the North-South strand which involved the role of the Irish Government. The third element was the East-West strand between the British and Irish Governments.

Dwelling on these three key areas of the Accord, Bishop McKeown says its up to politicians at the Stormont parliament to show a good example and be a model of good relations. He also points out that theres a real feeling, especially in Loyalist and working class areas, that the British East-West dimension has forgotten about Northern Ireland; has forgotten about those who were told to vote for Brexit and now feel betrayed by it.

The Bishop is also keen to stress that unless a real interest in Northern Ireland is shown by politicians who encompass all these strands, theres no sense asking 16 year olds on the ground to be models of good behaviour.

Society and its impact

Addressing the scenes of young people rioting on the streets of Belfast in recent days, Bishop McKeown expresses extreme concern, but he also highlights that often times what they are seeing through films, computer games and political discourses is all about smashing the awful enemy and about venting your rage."

If that is the mindset that is really put before so many young people," he stresses, "why on earth wouldnt we think thats the way to act in real life on the ground? Therefore, he adds, part of our job as Churches is to challenge the powerful here rather than just condemning the little ones and the poor, who have been led astray, of course, but who have been given very bad role models of how to solve problems.

Memories of the the Troubles

For many people in Northern Ireland, the memories of attacks and killings are still vivid, and having experienced relative peace over the last 20 years, the majority here dont want to go back to the days of bullets and bombs. Bishop McKeown acknowledges that this current unrest will bring back very painful memories of thirty years of violence, brutality and loss. Its the poor, the workings class areas and the unemployment areas who always suffer the most in terms of (A) loss of life and (B) doing time in jail, he says.

With that in mind, the Bishop emphasizes that from a Church perspective, awkward prophetic questions need to be asked, to ensure that its not yet again the poorer areas that are further disadvantaged.

As tensions remain, Church leaders on Friday responded to the recent violence by holding an ecumenical service and walking close to the interface between the Springfield Road and Shankill Road; scenes of days of disturbances.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10)  Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro "Teddy Boy" Locsin, Jr. is pushing for a revision in the country's Mutual Defense Treaty with the US to include armed attack against civilian passenger vessels as a "trigger" for military assistance.

"Will work to expand definition of trigger to include civilian passenger craft which is logical," Locsin tweeted Saturday.

It was part of a series of tweets discussing ABS-CBN's report that its news crew, onboard a Filipino civilian vessel, was chased down by two missile attack craft of the Chinese Navy, as well as a China Coast Guard ship, when the group tried to enter Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.

READ: PH probes reported Chinese attack craft's chase of Filipino civilian vessel in WPS

"Wrong vessel," Locsin said over Twitter on Friday.

"MDT triggered only by an attack on Philippine public vessel," he added, even mentioning ABS-CBN's lack of a legislative franchise.

The MDT, signed by Manila and Washington in 1951, states the two countries will come to each other's defense in case their metropolitan areas or territories in the Pacific are attacked by a foreign force.

"[A]n armed attack on either of the Parties is deemed to include an armed attack on the metropolitan territory of either of the Parties, or on the Island territories under its jurisdiction in the Pacific Ocean, its armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the Pacific," the treaty reads.

"Im not being sarcastic. Seriously, what if Filipinos on a pleasure craft, one of many yachts out there, crosses an invisible line drawn by China IN Philippine waters? What if they are fired upon or heaven forbid rammedno, not that; those yachts cost millions of dollars," Locsin said in another tweet.

Professor Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines' Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, said Locsin's tweets show the potential threat posed by China's actions against freedom of navigation.

"PH civilian ships in PH waters should not have to worry about unknowingly tripping some invisible wire that makes them targets of China's cannons and missiles," Batongbacal said.

Locsin responded it is China that "should worry more."

"Trip over the wire it's WW3 (World War 3)," he said. He went on to say the MDT should also cover civilian vessels.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also proposed amending the MDT earlier to provide a clear answer to whether or not the US would come to the Philippines' rescue in case tensions escalate in the disputed South China Sea. In November 2019, Lorenzana said the two countries' officials were still in "low-level discussion."

However, in February 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte moved to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement, which complements the MDT, but he has since suspended the abrogation. His foreign policy has been seen as a pivot toward China and away from traditional allies like the US, although his administration officials call it an independent "friend to all, enemy to none" policy.

In a recent phone call with Locsin, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken reaffirmed the applicability of the MDT to the South China Sea. Blinken's spokesperson, Ned Price, disclosed the two diplomats "welcomed enhanced bilateral and multilateral cooperation" in the wake of the presence of suspected Chinese militia vessels in the West Philippine Sea.

The US does not claim any part of the South China Sea but conducts freedom of navigation operations, and calls out Beijing's alleged militarization and expansive territorial claims. Meanwhile, China claims almost the entire global waterway, including areas Manila considers the West Philippine Sea, through a historic nine-dash line that an arbitral ruling had already invalidated.
ADVERTISEMENT

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Sunday, declared the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Jude Ogbimi, winner of Saturdays bye-election in Isoko North State Constituency of Delta.

The Returning Officer for the election, Christopher Onosemuode, declared the result at Ozoro in Isoko council area.

Mr Onosemuode, of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, said Mr Ogbimi scored 29,421 votes to defeat eight other candidates in the bye-election.

He said the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Emmanuel Tabuko, scored 2,543 votes to place second, while Agose Ogagaoghene of Action Democratic Party (ADP), came third with 66 votes.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 11 political parties participated in the by-election, occasioned by the death of a former House of Assembly Majority Leader, Tim Owhefere.

In his reaction, Mr Ogbimi expressed gratitude to God and the people of the constituency for his victory at the poll, assuring that he would give his constituents the good representation they truly deserved.

He commended Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for his support and commitment to the development of state.

(NAN)
State Lawmakers Try to Throttle Power of Governors

By The Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY - As governors loosen long-lasting coronavirus restrictions, state lawmakers across the U.S. are taking actions to significantly limit the power they could wield in future emergencies.The legislative measures are aimed not simply at undoing mask mandates and capacity limits that have been common during the pandemic. Many proposals seek to fundamentally shift power away from governors and toward lawmakers the next time there is a virus outbreak, terrorist attack or natural disaster.The COVID pandemic has been an impetus for a re-examination of balancing of legislative power with executive powers, said Pam Greenberg, a policy researcher at the National Conference of State Legislatures.Lawmakers in 45 states have proposed more than 300 measures this year related to legislative oversight of executive actions during the COVID-19 pandemic or other emergencies, according to the NCSL.About half those states are considering significant changes, such as tighter limits on how long governors emergency orders can last without legislative approval.Though the pushback is coming primarily from Republican lawmakers, it is not entirely partisan.Republican lawmakers have sought to limit the power of Democratic governors in states such as Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina. But they also have sought to rein in fellow Republican governors in Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana and Ohio. Some Democratic lawmakers also have pushed back against governors of their own party, most notably embattled New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.When the pandemic hit a year ago, many governors and their top health officials temporarily ordered residents to remain home, limited public gatherings, prohibited in-person schooling and shut down dine-in restaurants, gyms and other businesses. Many governors have been repealing or relaxing restrictions after cases declined from a winter peak and as more people get vaccinated.But the potential remains in many states for governors to again tighten restrictions if new variants of the coronavirus lead to another surge in cases.Governors have been acting under the authority of emergency response laws that in some states date back decades and werent crafted with an indefinite health crisis in mind.A previous legislature back in the 60s, fearing a nuclear holocaust, granted tremendous powers to the governor, said Idaho state Rep. Jason Monks, a Republican and the chambers assistant majority leader.This was the first time I think that those laws were really stress-tested, he said.Like many governors, Idaho Gov. Brad Little repeatedly extended his monthlong emergency order since originally issuing it last spring. A pair of bills nearing final approval would prohibit him from declaring an emergency for more than 60 days without legislative approval. The Republican governor also would be barred from suspending constitutional rights or altering state laws like he did by suspending in-person voting and holding a mail-only primary election last year.A measure that recently passed New Hampshires Republican-led House also would prohibit governors from indefinitely renewing emergency declarations, as GOP Gov. Chris Sununu has done every 21 days for the past year.Next month, Pennsylvania voters will decide a pair of constitutional amendments to limit disaster emergency declarations to three weeks, rather than three months, and require legislative approval to extend them. The Republican-led Legislature placed the measures on the ballot after repeatedly failing to reverse the policies Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf implemented to try to contain the pandemic.In Indiana, the Republican-led Legislature and GOP governor are embroiled in a power struggle over executive powers. Unlike Congress and most states, Indiana lawmakers can override a veto with a simple majority of both houses.Several other governors also have vetoed bills limiting their emergency authority or increasing legislative powers.In Michigan, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed GOP-backed legislation last month that would have ended state health department orders after 28 days unless lengthened by lawmakers.Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, contended that legislation allowing lawmakers to rescind his public health orders jeopardizes the safety of every Ohioan. But the Republican-led Legislature overrode his veto the next day.Kentuckys GOP-led legislature overrode Democratic Gov. Andy Beshears vetoes of bills limiting his emergency powers, but a judge temporarily blocked the laws from taking effect.In some states, governors have worked with lawmakers to pare back executive powers.Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, signed a law last month giving the GOP-led legislature greater say in determining whether to end his emergency orders. It was quickly put to the test by the Arkansas Legislative Council, which decided to let Hutchinson extend his emergency declaration another two months.Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, also enacted a law last month giving legislative leaders power to revoke her emergency orders. Top Republican lawmakers immediately used it to scuttle a Kelly order meant to encourage counties to keep mask mandates in place.Republican lawmakers insisted that their push to curb the governors power is not partisan. Lawmakers said they didnt understand how broad the governors power was until she started issuing orders last spring to close K-12 schools, limit indoor worship services and regulate how businesses could reopen.
The modern human brain developed nearly 1.5 to 1.7 million years ago as a result of frontal lobe reorganization in great apes from Africa and Western Asia (Dmanisi), a new search has found. Using computed tomography, researchers at the University of Zurich found that the human-like brain was relatively young and was formed after human lineage Homo arose roughly 2.8 million years ago. In the study, researchers from the University of Zurich (UZH) in Switzerland also elaborated on the direct physical evidence for the actual course of brain evolution, saying brains do not fossilize, and its evolution comes from natural or virtual fillings of fossil hominin braincases, so-called endocasts.

In the study published on Saturday in the Journal Science, scientists explained that the modern brains complex but spatially reliable pattern changed over the course of several years. The human brains cerebral gyri and sulci, as well as vascular structures surrounding the brain, and the critical endocranial region that holds key information about the frontal lobe reorganized. Uncertainties also exist regarding the evolutionary reorganization of the parieto-occipital cortex, University of Zurich researchers stated, after studying the skulls of Homo fossils that lived in Africa, Georgia, and the Java in Indonesia 1 to 2 million years ago.

[Topographical relationships between neurocranial and brain structures on endocasts of great apes and humans. Credit: Journal Science]

[Endocranial organization of the Dmanisi crania. Credit: Science Journal]

Adept at performing 'complex cognitive tasks'

While the primitive human brain was hardly large or modern some 1.7 million years ago, the primitive human populations Homo erectus that migrated out of Africa were adept at performing complex cognitive tasks, such as language communication, social thought structure, and tool use for hunting or food gathering.

Scientists compared the outside skull structure of "prehistoric" or "modern" brains by studying the endocasts of 81 chimpanzees, 27 bonobos, 43 gorillas, and 32 orangutans, as well as 110 modern humans. Researcher Marcia Ponce de Leon, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Zurich told Live Science that his team was able to quantify brain-endocast relationships in living species by employing advanced technologies to study brain structures. Scientists conducted CT scans of fossilized skulls to analyze the vascular structures of the brain in detail and saw an evolutionary shift. For example, a backward shift of the precentral sulcus and Broca regions realignment to the front indicates that the modern brain evolved in its cognitive capabilities.

[Endocranial shape variation in fossil hominins, great apes, and humans. Credit: Science Journal]

(Image Credit: Unsplash/@natcon773)
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.
Keir Starmer has promised to introduce a Labour bill to protect women and girls in the wake of the death of Sarah Everard.

The Labour leader said that the 33-year-olds abduction and killing as she walked home through Clapham in south London was a watershed moment for the UK on the scale of the deaths of Stephen Lawrence and Jamie Bulger.

The bill, to be published before next months Queens speech, would make it an offence to harass women on the street, increase sentences for rapists and stalkers and introduce whole life jail terms for those guilty of abduction and sexual assault and murder of a stranger.

It would end the anomaly that sees men convicted of killing their partner at home receiving sentences as much as 10 years shorter than those who murder a stranger in the street.

The pledge came in an interview with The Sunday Times, in which Sir Keir also pronounced himself a monarchist and a patriot, but also confirmed that he does not believe in God.

This would make him the first prime minister to be a declared atheist if he reaches 10 Downing Street.

In a swipe at the prime minister Boris Johnson, Starmer said that he regards the core values in political leadership are principle and integrity and dignity, and added: He doesnt have them.

And I dont want to be Boris Johnson, said the Labour leader. Im not like Boris Johnson in any respect. Theres almost nothing we have in common.

In an implicit criticism of the Johnson government, Starmer said it was astonishing that in 2021 we do not have a comprehensive piece of legislation to protect women and girls.

Mr Johnson has been coming under increasing pressure to publish his long-promised strategy on tackling violence against women and girls.

Discussing the legislation which Labour is drafting, Starmer said: The more I turn it over in my mind the more obvious it is. I dont care whether Im a supporter of it, or the Labour Party, or its cross-party, or even the government takes it on. Because we cant go on like this.

Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, has been charged with the kidnap and murder of Ms Everard whose death led to an outpouring of grief, with women gathering for a vigil on Clapham Common, where flowers were piled high around the bandstand near to the spot where she disappeared.

Controversy over heavy-handed policing of the vigil led to calls for Met commissioner Cressida Dick to resign.

But Sir Keir said that views on Dicks handling of the event should not distract from the more important issues raised by Ms Everards death.

Instead of us talking about what women in Clapham wanted us to talk about, we started a discussion about Cressida Dick, which wasnt the issue, he said.

The Sarah Everard case is a Stephen Lawrence or Jamie Bulger moment. This could be a chance to actually do something.
Press Release

April 11, 2021 Pangilinan appeals anew for state of calamity due to African swine fever WITH the Senate convening as Committee of the Whole tomorrow to discuss possible corruption in pork importation, Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on Sunday appealed anew for Malacanang to declare a state of calamity due to the African swine fever (ASF). "For the sake of consumers, for the sake local farmers, for the sake of the local hog industry, please declare a state of calamity and provide the necessary funding para ma-address ang kalamidad (Alang-alang sa mga consumers, alang-alang sa mga Pilipinong magsasaka, alang-alang sa industriya ng pagbababoy, sana ay mag-declare na ng state of calamity para makapagbigay na ng pondo at matugunan ang kalamidad)," he said in a media interview. Pangilinan said that the ASF caused the culling of millions of pigs, and the near-collapse of the hog industry, 70 percent of which consist of backyard hog-raisers. "Nagawa na rin natin ito noong 1995 sa foot-and-mouth disease, at nung ako ay food security secretary noong 2014 sa cocolisap infestation. After six months bumaba from 57 hotspots to 1 hotspot pagkatapos ng state of calamity declaration," he said. "Pag nasolusyunan ang African swine fever, babalik ang sigla ng local hog industry, at OK rin tayong mga consumer dahil mas tiyak ang quality. Mas maganda ang sariwa at bagong katay kaysa imported na frozen na baboy (When we've solved ASF, the local hog industry will be revived and we consumers will be assured of quality. Fresh meat is better than frozen meat)," he added. A declaration of a state of calamity will unlock billions of pesos in calamity funds that can be used to indemnify hog raisers who had to cull their pigs, to pay for temporarily under-worked hog raisers for work as biosafety officers, and other similar efforts to help revive the industry, Pangilinan said. "Dagdag na kita ito sa kanila habang bumabangon ang industriya (This is additional revenue while the industry is recovering)," he said. The former food security secretary said that while importation is a stop-gap measure for the insufficient pork supply due to ASF, massive pork importation is not the solution to the disease. "Hindi tayo tutol sa importation dahil kulang nga ang supply ng baboy. Pero hindi yung sobra-sobra na papatayin mo pa ang industriya ng pagbababoy natin na dapang-dapa na rin (We are not against importation because there is shortage in pork. But not massive importation that will kill our local hog industry, which is also struggling to survive)," he said. At the Senate Committee of the Whole hearing on the possible 'tong-pats' in pork importation, Pangilinan said the following questions need to be answered: who applied for permits to import? What is their track record? Are they bogus or dummy? Are they part of a cartel or a syndicate? He said billions of pesos are at stake and it's not hard to imagine that some would be tempted to profit off the local hog industry's woes. "For sure, limpak-limpak na salapi umiikot. Sisiguraduhin nating hindi sinasamantala ang sitwasyon at ang ating mga local hog raisers," he said. Since the Department of Agriculture confirmed the first ASF outbreak started on July 2019, ASF outbreaks have been reported throughout the country. On March 17, DA reported that ASF has spread to 12 regions, 40 provinces, 466 cities and municipalities, and 2,425 communities in the Philippines to date, causing a loss of over 3 million pigs.
Share this:

April 9, 2021 by Eric Holdeman

Category: Emergency Management



All photos used for the blog provided courtesy of the City of Kirkland.

No matter what size your county, city, or special purpose district is, you need a physical location to coordinate from when a disaster strikes. It does not need to be a dedicated space, but it does need to have some functional aspects, as described in this blog.

A space where people assemble to react to a disaster on behalf of a jurisdiction or organization is normally called an Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Another term used by some, and one I prefer, is Emergency Coordination Center (ECC) because it aptly describes the activity that takes place in that location.

General Space Needs

A designated EOC needs to have the following attributes: (1) Open space with enough room for a significant number of people to gather, based on the size of your organization; (2) As many tables (the standard 30x72 oblong table will do) and comfortable chairs since a shift in an EOC can be for 12 hours or more. It is best to group tables into functional pods so that people can sit across from one another to coordinate activities.

The room needs as much wall space as possible because you will need plenty of display space for maps and status boards. The need for maps in an EOC is self-explanatory, but you should have ones that extend beyond your jurisdictional boundaries so that you can plot information from your neighbors that could be impacting your area (e.g., road closures). You will need some clear acetate for the maps so that you can annotate with water-based markers indicating incident sites, etc. A GIS capability might replace a series of maps, but I still recommend one physical map you can brief from that is large enough so that people can assemble around and view it at the same time.

Your EOC should also have enough wall space for status boards, which can be as simple as a reappropriated conference room whiteboard. Its purpose is to group and keep important information visible about a subject. The number of status boards will be determined by the event. A disaster with injuries necessitates a hospital status board. With evacuations ongoing, you will need a shelter status board, etc. Road closures always seem to be a common occurrence and a list of these via a status board is needed. Finally, you should also have a board with the phone numbers for other activated EOCs or organizations that staff will work with to coordinate disaster response activities.

Communications

Because we live in a world of electronics, there will need to be plenty of extension cords and power strips for people to plug into. You will also need power for computers and printers as well as recharging options for cell phones and radios. Ideally, those working in an EOC will bring a laptop for their personal use. Having sufficient Wi-Fi capability is absolutely essential today. Given the dependence on electricity, having a facility that has a generator for emergency power is also very beneficial.

Most EOCs use a mix of landline phones and cell phones. One challenge that can result is that people bring and use their own cell phones during operations. When that phone number is shared for coordination purposes, what happens when the owner of that phone gets off shift and takes their phone home with them? There may be another person replacing them when the EOC is in 24/7 operations, but people are still trying to call the previous number given them from the earlier shift. Cell phone number procedures must be in place and followed by all EOC participants in order to maintain effective coordination between staff as well as with external partners.

Where agency staff are using portable radios, I suggest that they be sure to have an earpiece, otherwise the noise will be deafening.

One fail-safe communications capability that needs to be in place is amateur radio. There will usually be many volunteers in your community. Organizing them into a team can be helpful as back up when there are communication systems failures.

Housekeeping

The EOC needs to have adequate restrooms onsite, and this can be supplemented by portable toilets. Housekeeping duties and facility supplies will also need to be expanded for longer events.

Food and liquid refreshments are also a necessary element of any EOC facility. Staff and space need to be allocated for these basic of human needs. When I was with King County, I told people we could serve 800 cups of legally addictive stimulant  coffee  an hour.

In Summary

All of the above are just the very basics that you will need and can be added to your EOC with time, money, and imagination. The most critical element is that everyone on your team knows where the EOC is located; they have attended trainings and exercises in the facility and know that they should go there immediately when calamity strikes.

MRSC is a private nonprofit organization serving local governments in Washington State. Eligible government agencies in Washington State may use our free, one-on-one Ask MRSC service to get answers to legal, policy, or financial questions.
The Nascent  A huge success View(s):

The third-year second-semester students reading for B.Sc. (honours) in Tourism Management degree programme of the Department of Tourism management, Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka (SUSL) organised a charm and colourful ceremony for the launching of a video series based on the success stories of creative minds into the social media: THE NASCENT, on 5th April 2021 at the premises of Faculty of Management Studies, SUSL.

The proud event was graced by Professor Athula C. Gnanapala, Dean, Faculty of Management Studies as the chief guest of the ceremony, Dr. Sarath Munasinghe, Head Department of Tourism Management, Professor D.G. Dharmarathna, Head Department of Accountancy and Finance, Dr. Rasika Priyankara, Head, Department of Business Management, Professor M.S.M Aslam, Department of Tourism Management, and Mrs. Buddhika Dharmarathna, Subject Lecturer, Department of Business Management.

The leader of the project, Mr. Chandeepa Kasun, extended a heartty welcome to all distinguished invitees on behalf of his team The Nascent. Further addressing the gathering he commented on the efforts behind the screen, how and why they decided to organise a remarkable ceremony, hence THE NASCENT.

THE NASCENT comes to the surface from the uterus of the earth and with no doubt that it creates a greater value to people on earth. But nobody knows the extent to which the nascent has struggled to survive beneath the ground from the conceived. Similarly, in the concept of Entrepreneurship, the outer world sees only their achievements but not the flight corners that they had to experience from their origin to the bliss.

Ms. Malsha Abeyratne and Mr. Yasiru Silva representing their teams stated that, THE NASCENT was an effort taken by the third year second semester students of the B.Sc. (honours) in Tourism Management Degree programme of the Department of Tourism Management as a part of their continuous assessments for the subject; Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management. The project aimed at identifying different types of entrepreneurs and building up a wider awareness among the outer world about them, while providing the young generation with the inspiration, motivation, ideas, tips, experience and networking potentials required to foster entrepreneurship in the community at large.

Another team member, Ms. Shani Fonseka, delivered the students speech and stated that Being exposed to these success stories, as undergraduates we acquired a lot of experience as well as developed a positive mindset about an entrepreneurial career and we are more than grateful to our dearest lecturer for giving us this opportunity.

Senior Lecturer, Mrs. Buddhika Dharmarathna explicated the purpose of THE NASCENT, accounting to her responsibilities as the subject lecturer of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management. She detailed that a subject like Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management was hard to teach online via zoom as it requires a lot of student-centered activity-based teaching to enhance students entrepreneurial skills and mindset. As an attempt to overcome this problem this project was assigned to be completed by students as teams. Further, she stated that the plan was to complete six short videos by six teams, but the project successfully ended up with eight videos. The secret behind the success of the project admits this pandemic was the commitment, dedication and team spirit of the students; she added.

Addressing the gathering, Professor Athula Gnanapala, Dean Faculty of Management Studies emphasised the importance of promoting an entrepreneurial mindset within undergraduates and developing an entrepreneurial culture within universities to produce job creators in place of job seekers from universities. Further, he stated the university curricular must be developed by giving more weight to Entrepreneurship related subjects and components.

Dr Sarath Munasinghe, Head Department of Tourism Management, confirming the ideas of professor Gnanapala remarked that Entrepreneurs and SMEs play a vital role in economic development in many ways. Furthermore, he elaborated on the advantages of being in an entrepreneurial career. Concluding the speech, he thanked all the students of THE NASCENT team and the subject lecturer for bringing the Department of Tourism Management and the Faculty of Management Studies to the notice of the public.

As the most iconic item of the ceremony, the official launch of the video series was honoured by the chief guest of the event Professor Athula C. Gnanapala together with Dr Sarath Munasinghe, Dr Rasika Priyankara and Senior Lecturer Mrs Buddhika Dharmaratne. The official launch of the video series was symbolised by releasing the video of an Entrepreneur, the proprietor of Boocat, Mr Kanishka Asela Widanage.

Entrepreneurs; Ms. Nadee Senanayake the founder of Meuronarz.com, Mr Hareendra Mahakumara, founder of Hela coco, Mr. Indika Siriwardane, founder of the Wild Rabbits Products, Mr. Wasantha Fernando, founder of Cocoshella, Mrs Nalini Kodikara, founder of Coffee Art, Mr Mohamad Ahsan, founder of NAFA Bags & Travelmate, and Mrs Janet Fernando, founder of Belihuloya travels and Belihuloya fuel station, also contributed in the success of the video series, representing Commercial entrepreneurs, green entrepreneurs, mom-preneurs, nonconventional and women entrepreneurs.

Dr, Rasika Priyankara, Dr. Shashi Naotunna and many other academics who graced the occasion praised the team of students for their wonderful effort to make this event such an amazing one. They highlighted the need of assigning more projects like this to give them opportunities to add value to their university career.

Concluding the ceremony Ms Hashini Gamlath, a team member delivered the vote of thanks on behalf of all the members of the team. In her few words she conveyed the gratitude of all the students to key parties; The successful entrepreneurs who accepted the invitation to participate in the video series, all the distinguished guests including the dean, heads, and all academic staff members, all the parties who extended their support in making this project a success.

- Undergraduates of Department of Tourism Management, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka
As more people get vaccinated and states begin to roll back some of the restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic  schools, agencies and workplaces are working on a plan on how to safely return to normal.
DusanManic/Getty Images

Ten acres of sunflowers are taking root in San Antonio for a month-long petal party complete with a maze, flower-picking and photo opportunities.

Traders Village, the massive outdoor market on the South Side, typically hosts themed events to coincide with different seasons. There's a Corny Maze in the fall and a holiday market during December. This spring, acres upon acres of wildflowers will be offered for guests to get lost in, pick and take sunshine-filled photos with.
Two South Korean manufacturers of electric vehicle batteries that are building plants in the United States said on Sunday that they had reached a $1.8 billion settlement in a trade secrets dispute that threatened the domestic battery supply and, with it, the Biden administrations green agenda.

The announcement came on the day of a deadline set by the United States trade representative to decide whether to veto an International Trade Commission ruling in the intellectual property case between LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation. The commissions ruling in favor of LG had threatened SK with a ban on supplying batteries in the country and put its facility under construction in Georgia at risk.

The plant, which is still under construction, will supply batteries for electric vehicles for Ford and Volkswagen, and with the settlement agreement, SK is now also free to seek business from other companies.

The dispute had threatened the domestic supply of batteries for electric vehicles. The settlement prevents delays in the development of American electric vehicles and supplies.
ANALYSIS: The immigration policy that bars some people with disabilities from Canadian immigration is not gone but it is less restrictive.

Canada to relax medical inadmissibility rules ANALYSIS: The immigration policy that bars some people with disabilities from Canadian immigration is not gone but it is less restrictive.

Canada to relax medical inadmissibility rules ANALYSIS: The immigration policy that bars some people with disabilities from Canadian immigration is not gone but it is less restrictive.

Canada to relax medical inadmissibility rules ANALYSIS: The immigration policy that bars some people with disabilities from Canadian immigration is not gone but it is less restrictive. Michael Schwartz Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

Sans Font Size A

A

Canada is making a 2018 pilot into a permanent policy, relaxing the restrictions on certain foreign nationals with disabilities from getting permanent residence.

The federal government announced its plan to permanently change medical inadmissibility rules in the Canada Gazette on March 16.

Under the old rules, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) could deny entry to Canada to someone whose personal care would cost the government more than the Canadian average of about $7,000 per year. Many people felt this rule demeaned people with disabilities and was not in keeping with Canadian values such as inclusion and dignity. Now, Canada has tripled this threshold to about $21,000. In other words, it is more difficult for people who need medical and social supports to be denied for Canadian immigration.

Currently, the Canadian immigration laws define excessive demand as one or both of the following: a person whose medical condition costs public services more than the average annual cost, or if treatment for the condition increases wait times to Canadians.

Find Out if Youre Eligible for Canadian Immigration

The legal definition for excessive demand has thus caused surprise and heartache to several would-be-Canadians. It is very broad, since it covers any conditions that place excessive demand on health and social services. Thus, both physical and mental conditions and disabilities make a person potentially inadmissible. Even if the treatment cost is only slightly higher than that for the average Canadian, a person might be excluded. In some cases, this exclusion even applies to family members who do not have a medical condition. For example, if a principal applicant applying for economic-class immigration has an accompanying dependent found medically inadmissible, that principal applicant is also inadmissible.

One famous example of this occurred in a 2005 Supreme Court case, which involved a wealthy South African family seeking to come to Canada through the investor program.

The Hilewitz family had a son, Gavin, with serious intellectual disabilities. An immigration officer found that the cost for Gavins social services were above average. The officer thus ruled Gavin and his parents inadmissible. The Hilewitz family challenged this decision. They demonstrated that they had always paid from their own pockets for Gavins treatment in South Africa. They had even established, through their own funds, a private school there for him and others with similar challenges. They also demonstrated plans to bear the cost for social services for Gavin in Canada. Justice Abella overturned the officers decision. She then ordered it sent back for redetermination so that IRCC would consider the Hilewitz familys willingness to assist Gavin.

In 2018, the then-immigration minister, Ahmed Hussen, exercised his authority to create a pilot policy that would be experimental and more lenient. Hussen defined excessive demand as three times the average cost of health and social services to a Canadian. Additionally, Minister Hussen removed some of the calculations for determining excessive demand, including several social services for people with disabilities. This removal targeted costs for special education, occupational and behavioural therapy, and personal non-professional support services like meal preparation, bathing, and dressing.

This policy allowed the government to experiment with a less rigid approach while evaluating the results and reception. Provinces and territories, which administer many health and social services, have indicated they find the change a reasonable balance. Advocates for people with disabilities say removing certain treatments from cost calculations eliminates an indignity against such individuals. Moreover, IRCC saves considerable time and money by no longer having to evaluate these factors. Such an assessment has often been a highly complex and costly endeavour in itself.

The public has 30 days from the date the proposal was published in the Gazette to offer comments before it is finalized. Individuals who so desire can submit commentary on the proposed regulatory change until April 15 by emailing IRCC.MHBDGO-BDGDGMS.IRCC@cic.gc.ca.

Find Out if Youre Eligible for Canadian Immigration

 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options.
Robert Price is a journalist for KGET-TV. His column appears here Sundays. Reach him at RobertPrice@KGET.com or via Twitter: @stubblebuzz. The opinions expressed are his own.
The Turkish president on Saturday called for a de-escalation of tension in Ukraine and said that his country desires a peaceful Black Sea, Anadolu agency reports.

Our main goal is that the Black Sea continues to be a sea of peace, tranquility and cooperation, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a joint news conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky.

We do not want an escalation of tension in our common geography in any way, Erdogan added.
Four militants from Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and al-Badr outfits, including those involved in the killing of an off-duty Territorial Army soldier in on Friday, were gunned down on Sunday in two encounters with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

With this, the death toll in the encounters that began on Saturday in and has climbed to five as one militant was killed in the initial exchange of fire.

Towseef Ahmad Bhat and Aamir Hussain Ganie, both from Bijbehara and linked to the LeT, were killed at village Semthan in the Bijbehara area of south Kashmir's district after they refused to surrender and fired indiscriminately on a search party, the police said.

Both of them were wanted in many terror crimes including the killing of an off-duty Territorial Army soldier Mohammad Saleem Akhoon near his home in Goriwan Bijbehara on Friday. They were also wanted in the case of an attack on a CRPF party in which a CRPF jawan was killed, an official said.

The security forces rescued all the civilians trapped in the area and halted the operation for the night, he added. In the wee hours, the operation was resumed and both the militants were eliminated, the official said.

The ultras were also involved in threatening and intimidating the civilian population of the area and enticing young boys to join terror ranks, he said.

According to police records, Bhat was active since 2017 and Ganie had joined the militant ranks in the year 2018.

Terrorists responsible for the killing of Army jawan have been neutralised within two days in Bijbehara encounter, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said.

Arms and ammunition, including two AK series rifles, were recovered from the site.

The IGP said one of the slain militants in the encounter was newly recruited into the militant ranks and security forces made sincere efforts to persuade him to surrender, but the other militants did not allow him.

"Parents also made appeals, but other terrorists didn't let him surrender," Kumar said.

He identified the slain militants as Aasif Ahmad Ganai and Faisal Gulzar Ganai -- both residents of Chitragam Kalan. The identity of the third militant is yet to be ascertained.

Police sources said Faisal was a minor and had recently joined the militant ranks.

Giving details of the operation, the police official said security forces launched the cordon and search operation in the orchards of Reban Bandpawa area after receiving specific input about the presence of militants there.

He said the militants were given an opportunity to surrender. However, they fired indiscriminately upon the search party of the forces.

In the initial retaliatory firing, one militant was killed. But the operation was suspended to give the trapped militants another chance to surrender, the official said.

The forces exercised maximum restraint and facilitated the presence of family members of a holed-up militant Faisal Gulzar to the encounter site to persuade him to surrender, the IGP said.

However, despite repeated appeals by his family members and assurances by the security forces, the other militants did not let him surrender, the official said.

During a fierce gunfight in the early hours, both the trapped militants were killed and the bodies of all three were recovered from the site of the encounter, he said.

As per police records, they were part of groups involved in many terror crime cases and linked with proscribed terror outfit Al-Badr, he said.

Arms and ammunition, including an AK-56 rifle and two pistols, besides other incriminating material, were recovered from the site of the encounter.

(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.)
Mangaluru, April 11 : Karnataka Endowment Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary on Sunday said he had tested positive and is in Mangaluru hospital for treatment.

"As I have tested Covid positive, I have been admitted to a hospital for treatment. I request all those who came in contact with me in the last 2-3 days to take RT-PCR test," said Poojary in a tweet in Kannada.

Poojary, who hails from the state's coastal region, is also the ruling BJP's Leader in the Legislative Council.

According to a party source, Poojary participated at a function in the house of a relative of BJP's state President Nalin Kumar Kateel at a village in Dakshina Kannada district on April 8-9.

In a related development, BJP's candidate Pratapgouda Patil in the ensuing Maski (reserved) assembly by-election in Raichur district has also tested Covid positive.

"I have isolated on the advice of my doctor after testing Covid positive," he said in a tweet in Kannada.

Patil, who defected to the BJP from the Congress, was disqualified under the anti-defection law in July 2019, causing the by-election.

"As I will recover soon, the electorate need not worry, my party leaders and cadre will campaign for me. Please vote for me on April 17," Patil said in another tweet.
On Sunday when 'Tika Utsav',



a special inoculation drive against was launched across the country, at least 900 session sites in Odisha remained shut owing to shortage of COVID-19 vaccines, triggering a blame game between the ruling BJD and the BJP.

Director of Family Welfare Bijay Panigrahi said, while vaccination is underway in only 579 out of over 1,400 centres in the state, the inoculation programme may have to be stopped in many places on Monday, if fresh vaccine stock does not arrive.

While state Labour Minister Sushant Singh accused the Centre of not performing 'Rajdharma' and discriminating against Odisha in the distribution of the vaccines, BJP MLA Mukesh Mahaling said, Eastern India, including the coastal state, is on the priority list of the central government.

"Till Saturday, the state had 2,33,658 doses of Covishield and 77,960 doses of Covaxin vaccines.

"We will know the actual position only after completion of vaccination work in the evening. I think the entire stock will be exhausted by today," Panigrahi said.

The vaccines are being sent to districts that have reported more COVID-19 positive cases, the senior official said.

On the launch of the four-day 'Tika Utsav' from April 11 to April 14, Panigrahi said, the purpose of the vaccination festival is to ensure zero wastage of vaccines and motivate people to get inoculated.

The state had received only 2.5 lakh doses of vaccine against its demand of 25 lakh doses for the 'Tika Utsav'.

So far, the state has received 42,71,870 doses of the Covishield vaccine, of which 40,38,212 doses have been administered to eligible beneficiaries till Saturday, officials said.

Similarly, 2,58,820 doses of Covaxin have been used against the supply of 3,36,780, they said.

Speaking to reporters, the state's labour minister said, "Statistics reveal that BJP-ruled states are being given preference in the distribution of vaccines. Where is Sab Ka Saath, Sab Ka Bikas slogan now? It is duty of the king to treat everyone in equal terms. This is Rajdharma."



With the second wave of COVID-19 sweeping across the country, there should be no discrimination against Odisha, Singh said.

Describing Singh's comment as "irresponsible", BJP MLA Mukesh Mahaling said, "He is a member of the Council of Ministers and his irresponsible statement is not acceptable.

"There has been no discrimination against states on political lines. Odisha will certainly get the required number of vaccines."



Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, during a video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 8, had sought at least 10 days stock of vaccines for the smooth conduct of the vaccination drive.

The chief minister had said that Odisha is at present vaccinating 2.5 lakh persons per day and has the capabitity to increase it further.

Odishas Health and Family Welfare Minister N K Das, and Additional Chief Secretary H&FW P K Mohapatra, in separate letters to the Centre, had demanded adequate supply of vaccines.

(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.)
iKey issues in the May 1 race for the open seat in San Antonio City Council District 5 are post-pandemic economic recovery, affordable housing, education, public safety and infrastructure.

Voters will choose the successor of Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales, who is vacating the office because of the citys eight-year term limit, from among a field of 11 candidates. Early voting begins April 19.

District 5 covers the near West Side, including some of San Antonios poorest inner-city neighborhoods.

Teri Castillo, 29, is a trained educator and substitute teacher in the San Antonio Independent School District.

On ExpressNews.com: Ayala: Proponents of historic district have passion, history on their side

Castillo said shes running a campaign fundamentally grounded in social and economic justice. Although she commends Gonzales for advocating for an equity budget that addresses disparities, she wants to shift away from a downtown-centric model; take steps to guard against gentrification and displacement of the working poor; and better include public input in policy-making and budgeting.

Were building housing that working people of San Antonio and District 5 in particular cannot afford to live in, said Castillo, a member of the Texas Organizing Project and Historic Westside Residents Association.

Were tired of incrementalism. Were tired of platitudes and feel-good language, she said. We have the power to steer District 5 in a way that works for us, and Im ready to do that work.

Courtesy Photo /

Marie Crabb, 34, is a commercial and residential real estate agent. She has worked at the U.S. Department of State in Washington as an equal employment opportunity counselor, and is a board member and animal rescue advocate with Protecting Animals within San Antonio and a board member of the American Indian Movement of Central Texas.

Crabb said she wants to hold the line on property taxes, look for other forms of city revenue and attentively listen to the community.

When youre talking in communities of inequality, being heard and seen is a huge thing, she said. I plan to throw everything I have of myself into it.

Change happens in small steps, Crabb said. And then you get the bigger picture when youre standing in the bigger picture.

Courtesy Photo

Anthony Gres, 47, owns A&A Concepts, a fresh food processing facility. He ran for the District 5 seat in 2019. Gres said he wants to foster a more diverse offering of businesses to meet consumer demand, so residents no longer spend money outside the district, as part of a strategy to stimulate financial and professional opportunities and prevent homelessness.

I know what needs to be done, Gres said. We can actually get District 5 out of poverty for once. I mean, the district has been lacking leadership for decades. And this is why Im still running to try to be the next councilman to push these issues and help the District 5 people.

Courtesy Photo /

Norberto Geremy Landin, 25, is executive director of Con Corazon San Antonio, whose mission is to serving underprivileged communities. The nonprofit secured a $300,000 agreement with Bexar County in December to provide COVID-19 testing in schools, nursing homes and other group settings.

I really have a vision that were able to see District 5 rise to its full potential. And I believe we can get there, Landin said.

Having been homeless as a teenager, Landin said hes got a three-pronged strategy for addressing homelessness through ID recovery, housing and setting a percentage of workforce development funds aside to help homeless people become financially self-sustaining.

Without an ID, its really difficult to begin moving forward and to try and find back those pieces that you need in order to work, he said.

Rudy Lopez is a retired former city employee and San Antonio Police Department ID Section supervisor. It was through his work for four years as president and four years as vice president on the Thompson Neighborhood Association that Lopez said he was inspired to run for council.

Ive learned how to leverage what we need. Ive learned how to work with city departments. Ive learned how to get sidewalks, streets, lighting, public safety, he said.

Lopez said he would work to protect homeowners from increasing living costs and make sure developers provide adequate affordable housing and internet access for families with school-age children.

Basically, we need to protect our legacy homeowners. We need to hold our developers accountable, he said.

Courtesy Photo

Jason Mata, 48, is a community activist who has served on numerous boards of nonprofits, including Haven for Hope and Westside Development Corp. He also is a volunteer director of the Prospect Hill Neighborhood Association.

Mata said he would use a PIE approach  prevention, intervention and enrichment  to address generational poverty, which he called one of the biggest, if not the biggest problems, District 5 has.

We need to make sure our kids are getting their education, that theyre safe, that theyre inspired, and that they move on in life and do something good with themselves, said Mata. He supports a focus on mental health counseling as a tool for helping the homeless.

We have to understand the problem, not just kind of be upset about it, he said.

Contributed /

Ricardo Moreno, 35, is assistant principal at Losoya Middle School in the Southside Independent School District, and a board member since 2015 of the Harlandale Independent School District. He is a member of the Terra Linda Homeowners Association and serves on the COVID-19 Community Response Coalition and the citys Pre-K through 12 Consultation Group.

Moreno said he supports better coordination between the city and school districts and more parental involvement as ways to break patterns of poverty. He said his work as a school board trustee has instilled ideas about jump-starting growth.

I feel Im prepared now to take the baton and go forward and lead the community in District 5, Moreno said.

Courtesy Photo

David Yanez, 54, a practicing immigration law attorney, previously worked for Catholic Charities, providing legal services for individuals, and was a legal assistant for five years for state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte. He ran for the District 5 seat in 2017.

I think its been too long that our infrastructure has been delayed, he said, adding that the city should apply a new formula for sidewalks and drainage  infrastructure with a neighborhood-first approach.

As for homelessness, Yanez said Haven for Hope has not proven successful. He said the city should work more closely with other nonprofits and churches that have direct contact with the homeless and transient community.

On ExpressNews.com: SAHA walks back plan to redevelop Alazan Courts

Jesse Jay Alaniz, 67, is a retired co-owner of a used car business and a former Harlandale Independent School District trustee and board president. Alaniz, a Republican, also has run for other elected offices, including state Senate District 19 in a special election in 2018 and Precinct 1 Bexar County constable in 2016.

Courtesy Photo /

Irma G. Barron, 75, is a flower shop owner, floral designer and community activist who has been involved in education and youth sports.

Ray Garza, a 73-year-old retiree, is a longtime resident of the district and political newcomer.

Alaniz, Barron and Garza didnt participate in the Express-News Editorial Board candidate meetings so their photos and comments were not available.

shuddleston@express-news.net
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 21:34:29|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

KABUL, April 11 (Xinhua) -- War-weary Afghans are calling for cease-fire to be observed in Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which starts on April 13 this year.

In war-battered Afghanistan fighting and violence have been continuing, and in the latest wave, over 50 people including Taliban militants, government security personnel and civilians were killed, according to sources and local media reports.

An explosive device went off in Imam Sahib district of the northern Kunduz province on Sunday afternoon, killing two civilians and injuring another.

District chief Nazikmir Akbari has blamed the Taliban militants for planting the explosive device to terrorize the local residents.

A similar blast claimed the lives of two children in Arghandab district in the southern Kandahar province on Saturday, police spokesperson Jamal Barikzai has said.

According to security officials, 18 militants have been killed in Kandahar and 14 more in the neighboring Uruzgan province since Saturday.

At least 16 more insurgents have recently been killed in the Wardak, Kunduz and Samangan provinces, according to officials.

"The month of Ramadan is the month of peace and brotherhood and therefore I ask the Taliban and the government to observe cease-fire and let the Afghans to live in peace at least in Ramadan," Noorul Haq Khan, a Kabul resident, told Xinhua.

Afghanistan's first Vice President Amrullah Saleh, at a gathering in the Shamali area outside the capital Kabul on Sunday, called on the Taliban outfit to meet the demand by the Afghan people for cease-fire and reconciliation.

Afghanistan's lawmaker Mohiudin Munsif was quoted by the local media as saying, "Taliban should observe ceasefire at least in Ramadan" if they want peace.

According to local media reports, a former Taliban commander, Sayed Akbar Agha, said that "no sign of observing cease-fire from the Taliban" has been seen.

Local media reports said 79 security personnel and 28 civilians have been killed and 106 others including 57 civilians injured over the past seven days in Afghanistan. Enditem
There was a big rally in Columbus Park to make a strong stand against racist and misogynistic violence against Asian women. [Channel 11]

More civilian groups are coming together to protect vulnerable residents in Chinatown and other Asian American enclaves across the city. [The New York Times]

The Chinatown banker, Thomas Sung, says hes not surprised by the rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans: My prediction always has been that this situation is going to get worse before it gets better. [PBS/Frontline]

Police at the 7th Precinct pulled out their guns and tasers after a man walked into the station house and allegedly threatened officers with a kitchen knife. [New York Post]

The city finally releases a mostly unredacted version of a study on East River Park resiliency plans. [AM New York]

The revised plan for a large new tower at 250 Water St. still met with significant opposition from activists at a Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing. [The Architects Newspaper]

The new film about human smuggling, Snakehead, a fictional story based on the Chinatown figure Sister Ping, is hitting the film festival circuit. [Shoot Publicity Wire]

15 restaurants to try out on the Lower East Side from Robert Sietsema, including: Peppas (the jerk chicken spot on Stanton Street), Rebel (a new Haitian restaurant on Clinton Street) and The Bun Hut, which serves Asian-Caribbean food. [Eater]
Today host Karl Stefanovic has revealed he is 'nervous' about receiving the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine after blood clot fears led to the government advising those aged under 50 not to get that particular jab.

Stefanovic, 46, said on Monday he would preference waiting for an alternative vaccine such as Pfizer over being administered doses of the AstraZeneca jab, when speaking to Professor Kristine Macartney.

Professor Macartney, Director of the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, was part of the expert panel who recommended AstraZeneca doses should only be given to those aged over 50, following concerns about blood clots.

'I will admit to you, I am under 50, obviously I don't have to take the AstraZeneca but I would be nervous about taking it,' Stefanovic said.

'I know that the stats are only four in a million. But for me if I can wait for the alternate I am going to wait. I wouldn't be alone in that. That's the difficult thing to battle.'

Today host Karl Stefanovic (pictured) revealed on Monday how he would be nervous about taking the AstraZenca Covid-19 vaccine

Professor Macartney stressed the AstraZeneca jab was still a safe and effective vaccine for those aged over 50.

'We have two very safe vaccines. That is the important thing to stress. AstraZeneca remains a really great choice for many, many people. And we are actively recommending it,' she said.

'I think people view risks and benefits all the time in every thing that they do. We view that as health professionals in making recommendations. We are still positively recommending the AstraZeneca vaccine.'

Professor Macartney said those aged over 50 were in greater need of receiving the Covid-19 vaccine as they were at higher risk of being infected, adding blood clotting associated with the AstraZeneca jab was an 'extremely rare' occurrence.

'People who are older, particularly over 50, more likely to be hospitalised and more likely to die from Covid-19,' she said.

'This extremely rare side effect - and let me emphasise the rare - is probably more rare in older people.'

Professor Macartney said it would 'take some time' to inoculate Australians after Prime Minister Scott Morrison refused to set a date for when every adult will receive their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

The Federal Government initially set an October deadline to inoculate all people in Australia but Mr Morrison said they were no longer in a position to say when the vaccine program will be completed.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured, flanked by Department of Health Secretary Dr Brendan Murphy) said the government will no longer be setting a target date for Australia's Covid-19 vaccination rollout

The government had initially been aiming to have every Australian inoculated by the end of October (pictured, a nurse in Canberra receives her Covid-19 vaccine)

'The government has... not set, nor has any plans to set any new targets for completing first doses,' he said.

'While we would like to see these doses completed before the end of the year, it is not possible to set such targets given the many uncertainties involved.'

'We will just get on with the job of working together to produce, distribute and administer the vaccines as safely and efficiently as possible,' Mr Morrison said.

More than 1.1 million doses have been administered so far, well below the four million target the government had been aiming to achieve by the end of March.

'You can see that 1.16 million doses have now been administered, with over 465,000 given by our GPs. Another 1,000 GPs are expected to join the rollout this week, taking the total number to over 4,000,' Mr Morrison said.

'At the end of this past week, it's also important to note that more than 142,000 doses have been administered to our aged care residents, in more than 1,000 facilities, with over 46,000 of these now being second does in over 500 facilities.'

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese said it was 'beyond belief' that the Morrison government 'seem to have no idea about vaccination timetables'.

'This should have been their main focus given they have handed most responsibility to the states,' he said on Twitter on Sunday night.

The Federal Government was forced to change its Covid-19 vaccine timetable after concerns over the AstraZeneca jab through the rollout into doubt (pictured, a nurse in Tasmania receives her Covid-19 vaccine in February)

Australian health authorities recommended the AstraZeneca vaccine (pictured) should only be given to people above 50 due to the risk of blood clotting. Those aged under 50 should instead get the Pfizer vaccine, authorities recommended

Australians are being urged to consult with their doctors regarding any concerns they have over AstraZeneca vaccinations.

'It is critical for Australia's future that public confidence in the vaccine program is maintained,' Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid said.

He is urging Australians to discuss with their GP which vaccine they should have, noting most younger Australians would not be eligible for the vaccine until later this year anyway.

The government has secured a further 20 million Pfizer vaccines, which are due to be delivered in the final quarter of this year.

Even so, Dr Khorshid said the AstraZeneca vaccine remains very safe and effective, and access to the alternative, preferred Pfizer vaccine is likely to be delayed.

'Our advice for Australians with questions is to make an appointment with their GP for a full discussion about the possible risks and benefits of having the vaccine, or of not having it, taking into account their own specific circumstances,' he said.

He also noted reports that there has been some talk about doctors being concerned about potential litigation from side-effects of any vaccines.

Health Minister Greg Hunt (pictured left while a woman receives her Covid-19 vaccine) said there were now 4000 GP clinics across the nation administering the vaccine

'Please be assured that all registered doctors are fully covered - your GP is more concerned with your health,' he said.

Health Minister Greg Hunt also made the point that vaccine indemnity is already in place.

Mr Hunt insists GPs have 'flocked' to participate in the program in the coming week, and have not been put off by the advice on AstraZeneca jab.

There were now 4000 GP clinics across the nation able to administer the vaccine.

Mr Morrison said Australia's vaccine program is faring well on an international scale.

'The latest data shows that Australia's vaccination program is advancing consistent with comparable countries such as Germany, and ahead of Canada, Sweden, France, NZ, South Korea and Japan at the same stage of their rollouts,' he said.

There were no new Covid-19 community transmission cases reported on Sunday.
"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
There is nothing else like it. The roar of a full chamber of the House of Commons is the noise that democracy makes. Some of the turning points of our history were audible not as words but as sound. I was in the press gallery when Tony Blair told John Major: I lead my party; he follows his. The cheers were the end of that Conservative government.

In the twilight of the Blair years, he was asked a question by a Conservative backbencher about a referendum on Europe. Noting the throaty growl of approval on the Tory side of the house, Blair commented that, if he were David Cameron, he would be worried about that. Cameron hadnt even become prime minister then, yet already his end had been foretold by the noise.

I cant wait to get back to a boisterous and full Commons. Dont give me all those complaints about farmyard-schoolyard noises, I want Punch and Judy politics back. Yes, it can be childish and it can be undignified, but it is also serious and it is always testing. It is a test of character and it is a test of policy.
CNN tonight will broadcast the first two episodes on a four-part original series on an infamous 1981 Mobile lynching and a court battle that bankrupted a national Ku Klux Klan organization.

In March 1981, the body of Michael Donald, a 19-year old Black man, was found hanging in a Midtown lot. Hed been kidnapped by Klansmen, brutalized and killed at another location, then left on display as a sign of Klan power. The case is generally considered the last documented racial lynching in the United States.

Evidence pointed to Klan involvement in Michael Donalds murder, but can they be held accountable in 1980s Alabama? See how one Black mother and her community ensured the truth prevailed in The People v The Klan, premiering Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CNN pic.twitter.com/VEMbfKtrkt  CNN (@CNN) April 10, 2021

The documentary series The People vs. The Klan will premiere tonight at 8 p.m. CST, with the first two episodes being shown back-to-back. According to information provided by CNN, the Blumhouse Television production focuses not on Donald himself, but on the little-known true story of his mother, Beulah Mae Donald, who became the plaintiff in a suit against the United Klans of America.

In that case, also heard in Mobile, attorney Morris Dees won a multimillion-dollar verdict that ruined the Klan organization. In criminal proceedings, one of Donalds killers went to the electric chair, another spent most of his life in prison and an accomplice also served a substantial sentence.

The landmark case has previously been examined multiple times, notably in Laurence Leamers 2016 book The Lynching: The Epic Courtroom Battle that Brought Down the Klan. That book gives a detailed account of the murder and the slow-moving investigation that followed. It also covers the court proceedings in detail, with emphasis on Dees role. Author Ravi Howards novel Like Trees, Walking also was inspired by the case.

Beulah Mae Donalds story is one of the most remarkable displays of strength and courage our country has seen in its fight for racial justice, said Amy Entelis, executive vice president for talent & content development at CNN Worldwide. As cases of white nationalism rise in the US, the importance of sharing her legacy has never felt greater.

Michael Donald was murdered by Ku Klux Klan members on March 20, 1981, and his body was hanged from a tree on Herndon Avenue in Mobile. His two killers were arrested in 1983 and were ultimately convicted, but Mrs. Donald also filed a wrongful death suit against the Klan. She was awarded $7 million, a financial penalty that bankrupted the organization; in lieu of payments, Mrs. Donald was given the deed to the UKA's national headquarters in Tuscaloosa. Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group

Even after years of my own civil rights advocacy, I was emotionally unprepared for this beautiful, powerful, and inspiring story, said Cornell William Brooks, an executive producer on the project. Forty years after Michaels death, with authentic voices, the docuseries reveals not both sides of a modern lynching but multiple dimensions of racism and resilience, and is a story that speaks life, hope and courage over our country.

According to CNN, the first two episodes of the series will air tonight, followed by the final two on April 18. Episodes will be streamed via CNNgo and CNN mobile apps and will be available on demand the day after they air.
West Point cadets listen to Vice President Mike Pence speak during graduation ceremonies at the United States Military Academy, in West Point, N.Y., on May 25, 2019. (Julius Constantine Motal/AP Photo)

Critical Race Theory Being Taught at US Armys West Point, GOP Lawmaker Says

A Republican congressman said he is looking for answers from officials at the U.S. Military Academy about whether critical race theory is part of instruction for West Point cadets.

Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) sent a letter to West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams about information that recently came to his attention from unsettled soldiers, cadets, and families that raises serious concerns about the U.S. Armys introduction of elements of critical race theory into cadet instruction.

While we should always eradicate extremism of all forms from our ranks and never tolerate racism, I am alarmed that this doctrine that focuses our future leaders on race in ways that will be detrimental to unit cohesion, destructive to morale, and strain the readiness of our armed forces, according to the letter.

Waltz told the Washington Examiner that he was able to speak with Williams.

We had a brief phone call, he assured me theyre looking into it and assured me that I will promptly get a more formal response laying out whats being taught and why in more detail, Waltz told the Washington Examiner, adding, Were going to continue to press and get to the bottom of it.

The congressman, in an interview with Fox News Tucker Carlson, said that he got evidence of a West Point lecture, titled Understanding Whiteness and White Rage, adding that some families who spoke to him were disturbed by the content.

This goes way too far: One of the things that has me so disturbed as a member of the Armed Services Committee and a combat veteran is when you come into the United States Army, is  from day one, you are all the same, he told Fox.

Waltz, a former U.S. Army Green Beret, added: You are told the only skin color you should worry about is camouflage.  The enemys bullets dont care about black, white, or brown, or political party or race or religion or any of that. And we shouldnt care about it either as we are teaching the future leaders of the United States Army.

Meanwhile, the congressman said that critical race theory-inspired lectures included at West Point pose trouble in a combat situation. Critical race theory is a branch of Marxist critical theory.

As a Green Beret, I cant imagine being in a situation in combat where I am ordering a soldier to charge a machine gun and he now has the seed planted in his mindam I sending him because he is African American? Should I feel guilty because of white privilege? he asked.
Former first lady Michelle Obama celebrated National Pet Day with a photo of Bo and Sunny on Instagram. (Photo: Pete Souza/White House via Getty Images)

April 11 is National Pet Day, giving pet owners across the country a chance to show off their precious animal pals. Former first lady Michelle Obama took the opportunity to celebrate the occasion by sharing a photo of Bo and Sunny, the Obama family's dogs, on Instagram.

"Happy #NationalPetDay to these two bundles of joy! Thanks for always making my day a little brighter  and for the endless cuddles," she captioned a photo of the Portuguese water dogs.

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

Bo and Sunny have been a part of the Obama family for quite some time. Bo was given to daughters Malia and Sasha as a gift by Senator Ted Kennedy in 2009, shortly after Barack Obama's first inauguration.

"Bo's a handsome little guy," wrote Washington Post's Manuel Roig-Franzia in an official profile of Bo in 2009. "Well suited for formal occasions at the White House, he's got tuxedo-black fur, with a white chest, white paws and a rakish white goatee."

The Obama family went on to adopt Sunny in 2013 and, according to the White House, chose the name because "it fit her cheerful personality."

The former president has repeatedly expressed how much his pets mean to him, describing Bo as "the only reliable friend a politician can have in Washington" in his memoir A Promised Land.

"He also gave me an added excuse to put off my evening paperwork and join my family on meandering after-dinner walks around the South Lawn," he wrote. "It was during those moments  with the light fading into streaks of purple and gold, Michelle smiling and squeezing my hand as Bo bounded in and out of the bushes with the girls giving chase  that I felt normal and whole and as lucky as any man has a right to expect."

The former first lady was far from the only celebrity sharing photos of their pets on National Pet Day. Dolly Parton posted a photo of her and her "favorite god dog" Billy the Kid on Instagram.

Story continues

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

Candace Cameron Bure's dog, Boris, who went viral last year due to being unexpectedly large, got a shoutout on Instagram from the Fuller House star.

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

Rapper Missy Elliott shared videos of her two dogs, Icy and Ms. Fendi Dior, on Twitter, with both getting thousands of likes from her fans.

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

Shania Twain even used the day to introduce her dog Camper to her followers on Instagram, writing that they should "expect A LOT of puppy videos from here on out."

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

Jennifer Garner, meanwhile, represented cat owners with an ode to her favorite feline, Moose.

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

Read more from Yahoo Life:

Want lifestyle and wellness news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Lifes newsletter.
The older sister of a 16-year-old girl who was tortured, murdered and dumped in a barrel has revealed she is plagued by constant fear of being killed.

Larissa Beilby's battered body was discovered shoved inside a barrel on the back of a ute abandoned at a residential complex on the Gold Coast on June 28, 2018.

Her boyfriend Zlatko Sikorsky was charged over her death, but he died in jail on remand before ever facing trial.

Ms Bielby's sister Deanna has broken her silence, revealing she is now 'absolutely f***ing terrified to walk three metres from a car'.

Larissa Bielby's sister Deanna (left) has broken her silence, revealing she is now 'absolutely f***ing terrified to walk three metres from a car'

Larissa Beilby's battered body was discovered shoved inside a barrel on the back of a ute abandoned at a residential complex on the Gold Coast on June 28, 2018

'I did not use my bathroom toilet at night time for five months after my sister was killed because I was scared someone was on the other side of the window and would shoot me in the back of the head,' Ms Beilby wrote on social media.

'I was 20 years old and began to be scared of the dark. I still and always will drive with my doors locked. Why? Because of one monster's gruesome actions.

'One man was all it took for me to be absolutely f***ing terrified to walk three metres from a car door to my front door,' she wrote on Instagram alongside the hashtag #notallmenbutenough.

'Two years, nine months and a new home and I still get scared if my front light isn't on.'

Ms Beilby also revealed that she kept her bedroom windows closed for the first eight months after her sister's death.

'Four years ago my sister woke me up to bake cookies before school. Today I'm trying to help justify to our nation from personal experience that it is not all men but it is enough men,' she wrote.

'One gutless, callous and sadistic murderer was all it took for me to be wary of all men.'

Larissa was first reported missing on June 27, 2018, some four days after police later determined she had died.

Sikorsky was held on charges of murder and torture following the death of the Brisbane teenager.

He was allegedly bashed by another prisoner at Wolston Correctional Centre on November 10 last year.

Sikorsky was allegedly bashed by another prisoner at Wolston Correctional Centre on November 10 last year

The Coroners Court of Queensland confirmed Ms Beilby's death is being investigated.

'The Coroners Courts of Queensland can confirm that the death of Miss Larissa Beilby is currently under investigation by the Deputy State Coroner,' a spokeswoman said.

'The Deputy State Coroner is currently considering the investigation material in order to finalise the matter.

'As this remains an open investigation, further information cannot be provided at this stage.'
She rarely puts a foot wrong when it comes to her head-turning fashion choices.

And Zoe Hardman commanded attention once again as she headed to London's Global Studios to host her Sunday morning show on Heart FM.

The presenter, 38, strutted across the streets of Leicester Square in a colourblock-themed outfit.

Wow-factor: Zoe Hardman commanded attention once again as she headed to London's Global Studios to host her Sunday morning show on Heart FM

Ensuring all eyes were on her, the broadcaster stunned in a pink jumper emblazoned with the words 'Dangerous Creature' by Iggy and Burt, which she styled with red flared trousers.

An edgy leather jacket was draped across her shoulders, while pointed black heels added height to her frame.

With her tresses worn in bouncy curls, the honey-blonde beauty dressed up her look with a quilted handbag and circular-framed shades.

Working it: The presenter, 38, strutted across the streets of Leicester Square in a colourblock-themed outfit

Ensuring all eyes were on her: The broadcaster stunned in a pink jumper emblazoned with the words 'Dangerous Creature' by Iggy and Burt, which she styled with red flared trousers

She's got it! An edgy leather jacket was draped across her shoulders, while pointed black heels added height to her frame

Last year, Zoe spoke candidly about her eating disorder and revealed the turning point was when a doctor told her she was 'going into sort of kidney failure'.

The TV and radio star explained suffering with anorexia made her 'dead for a really long time' and 'a shell of a person' throughout her 20s.

Speaking to Frankie Bridge on her Open Mind podcast, the mother-of-two said she went to the doctor for pain in her lower back, thinking she was doing something wrong in the gym and had pulled a muscle.

WHAT IS ANOREXIA? Anorexia is a serious mental illness where a person restricts their food intake, which often causes them to be severely underweight. Many also exercise excessively. Some sufferers may experience periods of bingeing, followed by purging. Sufferers often have a distorted view of themselves and think they are larger than they really are. Untreated, patients can suffer loss of muscle and bone strength, as well as depression, low libido and menstruation ceasing in women. In severe cases, patients can experience heart problems and organ damage. Behavioural signs of anorexia include people saying they have already eaten or will do later, as well as counting calories, missing meals, hiding food and eating slowly. As well as weight loss, sufferers may experience insomnia, constipation, bloating, feeling cold, hair loss, and swelling of the hands, face and feet. Treatment focuses on therapy and self-help groups to encourage healthy eating and coping mechanisms. Source: Beat Eating Disorders Advertisement

The media personality recalled: 'When I went to see the doctor, she basically told me that I was going into sort of kidney failure. It was my kidneys because I was just lacking in everything.

'I think what happened was that part of my life I could control so I was going to the gym twice a day and writing down everything I was eating.

'It became apparent over the following years that's what it was but obviously in the midst of it you're in denial and you're denying it to everybody else.'

Zoe also revealed she hadn't had a period for five years, but at the time didn't realise it was because she was starving herself.
- By GF Value





The stock of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT, 30-year Financials) gives every indication of being fairly valued, according to GuruFocus Value calculation. GuruFocus Value is GuruFocus' estimate of the fair value at which the stock should be traded. It is calculated based on the historical multiples that the stock has traded at, the past business growth and analyst estimates of future business performance. If the price of a stock is significantly above the GF Value Line, it is overvalued and its future return is likely to be poor. On the other hand, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher. At its current price of $57.5 per share and the market cap of $2.9 billion, California Water Service Group stock appears to be fairly valued. GF Value for California Water Service Group is shown in the chart below.





California Water Service Group Stock Appears To Be Fairly Valued

Because California Water Service Group is fairly valued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to be close to the rate of its business growth, which averaged 4.6% over the past three years and is estimated to grow 4.59% annually over the next three to five years.

Link: These companies may deliever higher future returns at reduced risk.

Companies with poor financial strength offer investors a high risk of permanent capital loss. To avoid permanent capital loss, an investor must do their research and review a company's financial strength before deciding to purchase shares. Both the cash-to-debt ratio and interest coverage of a company are a great way to to understand its financial strength. California Water Service Group has a cash-to-debt ratio of 0.04, which which ranks worse than 84% of the companies in the industry of Utilities - Regulated. The overall financial strength of California Water Service Group is 4 out of 10, which indicates that the financial strength of California Water Service Group is poor. This is the debt and cash of California Water Service Group over the past years:

Story continues

California Water Service Group Stock Appears To Be Fairly Valued

Investing in profitable companies carries less risk, especially in companies that have demonstrated consistent profitability over the long term. Typically, a company with high profit margins offers better performance potential than a company with low profit margins. California Water Service Group has been profitable 10 years over the past 10 years. During the past 12 months, the company had revenues of $794.3 million and earnings of $1.94 a share. Its operating margin of 18.65% in the middle range of the companies in the industry of Utilities - Regulated. Overall, GuruFocus ranks California Water Service Group's profitability as fair. This is the revenue and net income of California Water Service Group over the past years:

California Water Service Group Stock Appears To Be Fairly Valued

One of the most important factors in the valuation of a company is growth. Long-term stock performance is closely correlated with growth according to GuruFocus research. Companies that grow faster create more value for shareholders, especially if that growth is profitable. The average annual revenue growth of California Water Service Group is 4.6%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in the industry of Utilities - Regulated. The 3-year average EBITDA growth is 3.3%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in the industry of Utilities - Regulated.

One can also evaluate a company's profitability by comparing its return on invested capital (ROIC) to its weighted average cost of capital (WACC). Return on invested capital (ROIC) measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. If the return on invested capital exceeds the weighted average cost of capital, the company is likely creating value for its shareholders. During the past 12 months, California Water Service Group's ROIC is 3.85 while its WACC came in at 2.25. The historical ROIC vs WACC comparison of California Water Service Group is shown below:

California Water Service Group Stock Appears To Be Fairly Valued

Overall, the stock of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT, 30-year Financials) appears to be fairly valued. The company's financial condition is poor and its profitability is fair. Its growth ranks in the middle range of the companies in the industry of Utilities - Regulated. To learn more about California Water Service Group stock, you can check out its 30-year Financials here.

To find out the high quality companies that may deliever above average returns, please check out GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


Photo courtesy of GHBA

HomeAid Houston is partnering with Vanguard Builders to construct three duplexes for Angle Reach, a non-profit in the Conroe area. Angel Reach serves homeless youth who have timed out of Foster Care or were released early from foster care programs, who still need GED/HS diplomas, higher education and or life skills training.

Vanguard Builders will work with Eric Maksym with Starter Homes of Texas, to construct the three duplexes that will house four youth. The first phase of the project includes nine duplexes consisting of 18 units and the completed project will eventually total 24 buildings.
New Delhi: The auspicious festival of Gudi Padwa this year will be celebrated on April 13. The joyous occasion is observed on the first day of the month of Chaitra which is the first month in the Hindu calendar. It is majorly celebrated in Maharashtra.

Gudi Padwa is also referred to as Samwatsara by the Konkani community and in parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the festival is celebrated as Ugadi.

According to Drik Panchang, here are the important timings of the festival:

Marathi Shaka Samvata 1943 begins

Gudi Padwa on April 13, Tuesday

Pratipada Tithi Begins - 08:00 AM on Apr 12, 2021

Pratipada Tithi Ends - 10:16 AM on Apr 13, 2021

How is Gudi Padwa celebrated?

On this auspicious day, people decorate their doorsteps with Rangoli. They also use flowers to beautify the house and a toran made of mango leaves is hung across the top of the door.

People don their traditional attires as women drape the Navari saree and the men wear Kurta teamed up with Dhoti or Pyjama. Prayers and flowers are offered to the Gudi after placing it on the window or door. Following this, people perform the aarti and put Akshat on the Gudi.

Families begin their New Year with a special preparation made of neem leaves, jaggery to symbolise the diverse aspects of life. Shrikhand and Puran Poli are also prepared on this day.

What is a Gudi?

First, a wooden stick is covered with a piece of bright red or yellow coloured cloth. After this, a Kalash made of silver, copper or bronze is placed upside down on one end of the stick. A dash of vermillion (kumkum) and turmeric (haldi) is applied on the outer surface of the Kalash. This ensemble is called Gudi and its placed outside the door or the window so that everyone in the vicinity gets to see it.

A garland made of sugar candy (saakhar gaathi) and neem leaves is also hung with the Gudi. This ritual signifies the bittersweet experiences of life.

Spiritual significance of Gudi Padwa

On this day, Lord Ram returned to Ayodhya along with his consort Sita and brother Lakshmana after defeating demon King Ravana in Lanka.
Japan regulator bans nuke plant restart over lax safeguards View Photo

TOKYO (AP)  The operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant that was destroyed in a 2011 disaster said Wednesday it will accept a penalty imposed by regulators over sloppy anti-terrorism measures at another nuclear plant it runs, a step that will prevent its desperately sought restart of the facility for at least a year.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. made the announcement in response to a decision by the Nuclear Regulation Authority in late March to ban it from moving any nuclear materials at the No. 7 reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata prefecture. The measure will suspend all ongoing steps to restart the plant.

Regulators found malfunctioning anti-terrorism equipment and inadequate protection of nuclear materials at multiple locations at the plant from at least 2018. The chairman of the authority, Toyoshi Fuketa, says TEPCO has since restored the safety functions, but the problems were deemed serious and systematic.

The punishment will be officially issued at a regulatory commission meeting next week, he said.

The plant was partially damaged in a 2007 earthquake, causing mistrust among local municipalities. It has been offline since 2012. Of the 54 nuclear reactors Japan used to have, nine have been restarted under tougher post-Fukushima safety standards and four are currently operating.

The authority gave the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plants nuclear security a red rating, meaning its management had deteriorated to levels that could allow intruders. It was the first time a Japanese nuclear operator was given that rating.

I hope TEPCO will make efforts to analyze the problem  and fully cooperate with our inspections, Fuketa said, adding that TEPCOs ability to keep its license to operate the plant depends on the results of upcoming checks.

TEPCOs president, Tomoaki Kobayakawa, apologized for causing safety concerns and said he and three other company executives are taking 30% salary cuts for six months.

We take the problem seriously and will investigate the cause and pursue efforts to make drastic reforms, he told reporters.

The case raised questions about whether TEPCO has fully learned lessons from the 2011 Fukushima disaster, which was triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami but has been largely attributed to the utilitys lack of a safety culture.

Critics say the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant requires higher security because it is located on the coast facing North Korea.

The punishment comes as TEPCO was making final preparations to restart the plant after regulators granted safety approvals for its No. 6 and No. 7 reactors in 2017. Restarting the two reactors is considered crucial for TEPCO to reduce its financial burden in paying for damage caused by the Fukushima disaster.

The penalty does not affect the wrecked Fukushima plant, which is being decommissioned. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he will make a final decision within days on whether to allow the release into the sea of massive amounts of treated but still radioactive water stored at the plant. TEPCO is expected to run out of storage space for the water in the fall of 2022.

Japan Fisheries Cooperatives Chairman Hiroshi Kishi rejected Sugas explanation that the release into the sea is the most realistic option, and demanded the government explain how it will address damage caused to the local fishing industry. TEPCO and government officials say radionuclides can be filtered to allowable safety levels, but some experts say the impact on marine life from long-term, low-dose exposure is still unknown.

TEPCO acknowledged in January that there was an unauthorized use of an identification card by a worker to enter sensitive areas at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant last September, along with other key safety shortcomings.

By MARI YAMAGUCHI

Associated Press
Police are trying to find the mother of a newborn baby who has been found dead on a supermarket car park in England.

West Midlands Police Detective Inspector Jim Edmonds said the truly tragic discovery was made at the Morrisons car park on the Black Country Route in Bilston on Sunday just after 9am.

Officers, who were alerted by a member of the public, are extremely concerned for the welfare of the babys mother and are urgently appealing for her or anyone who knows who she is to come forward.

It is not known when the baby was born or how they came to be in the car park.

In making an urgent call to try to find the mother, Mr Edmonds said: This is a truly tragic discovery, and weve been treating the scene and the baby with the utmost care and dignity today.

While we dont yet know what has happened, what we do know is that there must be a mother out there who is in real need of help  and she is my absolute priority at the moment.

We have been checking CCTV and speaking to hospitals, but it may be that the mother or someone who knows who she is sees this appeal.

I really want to speak to her to make sure shes OK, and to ensure that she can get the help that she urgently needs.

A Morrisons spokesman said the company is helping the police and it would not be releasing any further information about the discovery.

Anyone with information has been asked to get in touch with police by quoting log 842 of April 11.

Officers can be reached via live chat at west-midlands.police.uk, or via Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Members of the public can also dial 999 in an emergency.
404

  

              
Nearly three months into President Joe Biden's first term in office, the southern border continues to experience a surge of migrants seeking entry into the United States as his administration works to undo his predecessor's policies meant to curb illegal immigration.

After taking office, Biden rescinded the national emergency at the border declared by former President Donald Trump, reversed the Migrant Protection Protocol requiring asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their claims were adjudicated, and halted construction of the border wall. These decisions resulted in the massive increase of encounters between border enforcement officials and illegal immigrants, reaching 101,028 in February 2021 and 172,331 in March.

By contrast, in the first four months of fiscal year 2021, the number of encounters hovered between 71,945 and 78,444. In February and March of 2020, the number of encounters was 36,687 and 34,460.

As the border crisis has become what some politicians have described as a humanitarian catastrophe  due to massive overcrowding and alleged abuse at detention facilities  here are four things you need to know about the issue, including the Biden administration's plans to restart construction on parts of the border wall and reports that terrorists have used the crisis as an opportunity to enter the country. 1

2

3

4

5

Next

Source:The Christian Post
On April 1, Dat Ma, a cable-stay bridge in the northern province of Thai Nguyen, was opened to traffic for free after 15 years of toll collection.

The bridge, situated in the middle of nowhere, has a special history and a special operator, an 82-year-old woman named Nguyen Thi Ngai.

The Dat Ma stream in front of Ngais house separated the Giang Tien land area in Phu Luong district and the communes of Phuc Linh, Ha Thuong and Cu Van in Dai Tu district.

People in the mid 2000s had to travel nearly 10 kilometers to reach the districts market to sell vegetables, fowl or eggs.

So Ngai and some local households set up a bamboo bridge spanning the river. They collected VND1,000 from every crossing vehicle, while pedestrians with bamboo frames on their shoulders and students were exempted from the fee.

When forest rains came and river water ran fast, the bamboo bridge swung like a thin leaf amidst the eddy, threatening the lives of people on the bridge.

The commune authority said the unsafe bamboo Bridge had to be removed.

We made the bridge to serve people, not to make money. So we agreed with the local authorities, she said.

On April 1, Dat Ma, a cable-stay bridge in Thai Nguyen, was opened to traffic for free after 15 years of toll collection.

Five years later, in 2005, a state-owned company built a solid cable-stay bridge under a contract with district authorities, capitalized at VND500 million, under the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) mode.

The bridge has two H-shape iron poles at the two ends which hold the cables, while the bridge deck has iron sheets with holes for drainage.

The bridge, 60 meters long and 2.2 meters wide, is capable of holding loads of up to 2.5 tons.

In 2006, when the bridge was put into operation, the investor set up a toll collection station at the end of the bridge.

People had to pay a toll of VND2,500 to VND25,000, depending on the type of vehicle, while pedestrians did not have to pay a fee.

However, many people did not want to pay a fee and they beat toll collectors, attacked the stations door, and stood on the bridge to cause congestion.

Ngai, who lives at the end of Dat Ma Bridge, saw workers being beaten many times and felt sorry for them.

The toll collectors came from other areas to work for wages, so they were beaten and assaulted without resistance. More than 10 years ago, the area where we live was still a remote area with low intellectual standards, she said.

A mining worker one day refused to pay the toll, VND2,000 per motorbike, saying that he was a local man, though he earned several million dong a month.

As a result, the man had a quarrel with the toll collector. He later brought some young men in the locality to the toll collection station and struck the collector.

On other days, he "played dirty". He gave the toll collectors bank notes with the nominal value of VND100,000 to pay the fee, but the collectors had to use a lot of small change.

Many disputes occurred at that time which needed the intervention of the police.

Finally, an investor came to meet Ngai and asked her to help the companys workers collect the fees.

The solution helped the tense situation. Ngai gave all the money she collected to the company, and people no longer protested against the fee payment.

In 2007, the company asked Ngai to work with them. Under the cooperation agreement, Ngai needed to pay VND5 million a month to the company.

So, Ngai, her husband and daughter-in-law became the fee collectors, working a shift from 6 am to 9 pm on sunny and rainy days.

While she was on duty, she worked with a radio, listening to all programs, one after another, to entertain herself.

On April 1, the investor transferred the BOT bridge to the local authority as committed before.

Now Ngai doesnt have to work anymore.

I feel a bit sad as I have to give up my habit of getting up early and coming to the bridge, she said.

Pham Kim Oanh, chair of Giang Tien Town in Phu Luong district, said both travel and trade in the locality have improved considerably since the bridge opened.

Thai Binh
Scott Stafford has been a reporter, photographer, and editor at a variety of publications, including the Dallas Morning News and The Berkshire Eagle. Scott can be reached at sstafford@berkshireeagle.com, or at 413-496-6301 and on Twitter at @BE_SStafford.
Hyderabad, April 11 : Actor Rana Daggubati feels that films from South industry have always been pan-India but the globally renowned film "Baahubali" showed the way to make business the right way in a pan-India arrangement.

Rana played the role of antagonist Bhallaladeva in the two-part film franchise.

Talking to IANS, about the culture of Pan India films spreading and how "Baahubali" started it, the actor reflects on other films in the past, which have also had a huge reach nationally.

"I was an audience before an actor and to me whether I was watching a Hindi film or a Telugu film the sentiment was the same. I live in Hyderabad and for me be it (Amitabh) Bachchan sir's film or a Kamal Haasan film, the vibes were the same. Time and again there were films which broke the barriers.

Like Mani (Ratnam) sir's film 'Roza', that was originally a Tamil film. Nobody in the Hindi belt had a problem with that. They loved it as much as the South Indians loved it. Audience neverA has a problem (with language)," says the actor, who recently released his film "Aranya" in Telugu and "Kadaan" in Tamil.

The Hindi version of the same film is titled "Haathi Mere Saathi" but it had to be postponed due to the rising Covid cases in Maharashtra.

Rana goes on to add: "The only thing that changed with Baahubali is that we learnt how to get the business together and how do we actually come forth and release it. For a fact, this year they have been selling dubbed rights of all Telugu films, people on television are watching it and other languages. They were working on different spaces, they are now also watching it on OTT but now that is changing."
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Overcast with rain showers at times. High near 80F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy during the evening followed by cloudy skies overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
More than 500 people received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Saturday in Limestone County.

The Limestone Ministry Coalition and Athens-Limestone Hospital teamed up to host a clinic in Athens. The president of the coalition, Keith Shoulders, said they want to make sure everyone can have a chance to be vaccinated, especially the underserved communities.

Roderick Hubbard is glad to help pave the way and ease people's minds when it comes to getting vaccinated.

I think seeing people like myself getting the vaccine, and people of other cultures and other communities, I think its a good thing," said Hubbard.

The Limestone Ministry Coalition and Athens-Limestone Hospital previously held a drive-thru registration clinic to make sure there were no technological barriers. Shoulders said it helped so many people.

Were able to not only reach across denominational lines, but ethnic lines, you know, some city lines, you know, some neighborhood lines, and reach across all those lines and help just as many people as possible.

Rylan Pendleton said he's thankful more diverse communities were part of Saturday's vaccine clinic.

Its a blessing that we have this opportunity. I know a lot of African Americans might feel scared to get the shot, and I can understand, but at this time its important that we do," he said.

Pendleton thinks this will start more conversations about getting vaccinated, and encourage more people to get a COVID-19 shot.

Shoulders told WAAY 31 that they may have more vaccine clinics in the future, it just depends on the demand from the community.
Saturday Night Live has ripped embattled congressman Matt Gaetz following news that he is under federal investigation for allegedly trafficking and having sex with an underage girl.

During a 'Weekend Update' segment on the NBC skit show, comedian Colin Jost poked fun at the Florida Rep. for his decision to speak at a Women For America First event amid the scandal.

'Our favorite Florida congressman Matt Gaetz... allegedly sent $900 on Venmo to a sex trafficker who then forwarded that same exact money to three young women in payments labeled 'Tuition and school'. If true, it would make him the only congressman actually helping with student loans,' Jost joked.

He added: 'At least Gaetz is taking the allegations seriously. That's why yesterday he spoke at the Women For America First summit, which is a nice change to see women pay for an hour with Matt Gaetz.'

During the Women For America First event - which was held in Miami on Friday night - Gaetz took to the podium, where he declared he had the support of former President Donald Trump, as well as the backing of Reps. Majorie Taylor Greene and Jim Jordan.

Th mention of those three names amused Jost, who wisecracked on the Weekend Update segment: 'Did he think those were good character references? Who is next on his list? The ghost of Jeffrey Epstein?'

Saturday Night Live has ripped embattled congressman Matt Gaetz following news that he is under federal investigation for allegedly trafficking and having sex with an underage girl

During a 'Weekend Update' segment on the NBC skit show, comedian Colin Jost poked fun at the Florida Rep. for his decision to speak at a Women For America First event amid the scandal. Gaetz is pictured at the event on Friday

Conservative Gaetz was not the only politician targeted during the Weekend Update segment, with Jost also ribbing California's Democrat Senator Gavin Newsom.

He claimed the left-wing politician - who is currently likely set to face a recall election this year - had the same haircut as American Psycho character, Patrick Bateman.

Meanwhile, producers of Saturday Night Live chose to use their cold open to discuss the trial of police officer Derek Chauvin, who is facing charges of murdering black man George Floyd in Minneapolis last May.

In the skit, SNL stars Kate McKinnon, Alex Moffat, Kenan Thompson and Ego Nwodim played local newscasters discussing the trial.

The skit made light of the differing ways black and white Americans may be viewing the ongoing legal proceedings, with McKinnon and Moffat playing politically correct white anchors making tone-deaf comments to their black colleagues.

Conservative Gaetz was not the only politician targeted during the Weekend Update segment, with Jost also ribbing California's Democrat Senator Gavin Newsom

Producers of Saturday Night Live chose to use their cold open to discuss the trial of police officer Derek Chauvin, who is facing charges of murdering black man George Floyd in Minneapolis last May

The skit made light of the differing ways black and white Americans may be viewing the ongoing legal proceedings, with McKinnon and Moffat playing politically correct white anchors making tone-deaf comments to their black colleagues

The white and black newscasters then differed over news that 'royalty' had died

'You can least admit this country has made a lot of progress recently,' Moffat's character stated.

'Look, I want to choose my words carefully here, so to quote Thomas Jefferson...' the character continued before being interrupted by his irate black colleagues.

The white and black newscasters then differed over news that 'royalty' had died.

'You mean DMX!' Thompson's character stated.

'I mean Prince Phillip of England,' McKinnon shot back.

The cast's cold open centered around different ways that black and white people interpreted the Derek Chauvin trial

Carrie Mulligan hosted this week's edition of the show, revealing in her opening monologue that she had spent the past year quarantining in the English countryside with her husband, Mumford and Sons rocker, Marcus Mumford

Meanwhile, Carrie Mulligan hosted this week's edition of the show, revealing in her opening monologue that she had spent the past year quarantining in the English countryside with her husband, Mumford and Sons rocker, Marcus Mumford.

He then stood up in the audience and surprised his wife, later taking to the stage with his guitar.

The actress - who donned a pink pantsuit for her hosting gig - subsequently introduced the episode's actual musical guest, Kid Cudi
Advertisement

Protesters took to the streets of Myanmar's two largest cities on Sunday as the civilian death toll from the military's brutal crackdown on dissent topped more than 700.

The country has been in turmoil since the military removed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup on February 1.

On Sunday morning, a security guard was wounded in a bomb blast outside a military-owned bank in Mandalay.

There was a heavy security presence in the area after the explosion at Myawaddy Bank's biggest branch in the city, local media reported.

The bank is one of scores of military-controlled businesses that have faced boycott pressure since the coup, with many customers demanding to withdraw their savings.

Protesters took to the streets of Myanmar's two largest cities on Sunday as the civilian death toll from the military's brutal crackdown on dissent topped more than 700. Pictured: A protest in Mandalay on Sunday

Pictured: Protests in Mandalay on Sunday flash the three-finger salute from The Hunger Games film franchise, which has become a symbol of defiance adopted pro-democracy protesters across Asia

Demonstrations against the military takeover continue despite a huge civilian death toll, which has only risen in recent days.

On Saturday, a local monitoring group said security forces gunned down and killed 82 anti-coup protesters the previous day in the city of Bago, 65 kilometres (40 miles) northeast of Yangon.

AFP-verified footage shot early on Friday showed protesters hiding behind sandbag barricades wielding homemade rifles, as explosions were heard in the background.

The United Nations office in Myanmar tweeted late on Saturday that it was following the bloodshed in Bago, where it said medical treatment had been denied to the injured.

Overall, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners has verified 701 civilian deaths since February 1.

The military, known as the Tatmadaw, has a much lower number - 248 deaths, according to a spokesman on Friday.

The country has been in turmoil since the military removed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup on February 1. Pictured: A protester with a homemade weapon flashes the three-finger salute during a demonstration in Mandalay on Sunday

University students and their professors marched through the streets of Mandalay and the city of Meiktila on Sunday morning, according to local media. Pictured: Demonstrators in Mandalay on Sunday

Protests continued to rally in parts of the country.

University students and their professors marched through the streets of Mandalay and the city of Meiktila on Sunday morning, according to local media.

Some carried stems of Eugenia flowers - a symbol of victory.

In Yangon, protesters carried a banner that read: 'We will get victory, we will win.'

Protesters there, as well as in the city of Monywa, took to writing political messages on leaves including 'we must win' and calling for UN intervention to prevent further bloodshed.

Unrest also erupted on Saturday in the northwestern town of Tamu, near the Indian border, where protesters fought back when soldiers tried to tear down makeshift barricades erected to block security forces.

Two civilians were killed when soldiers started randomly shooting, a local said, with protesters retaliating by throwing a bomb that exploded and overturned a military truck, killing more than a dozen soldiers.

On Saturday, a local monitoring group said security forces gunned down and killed 82 anti-coup protesters the previous day in the city of Bago, 65 kilometres (40 miles) northeast of Yangon. Pictured: Demonstrators carry flags during an anti-coup protest in Mandalay on Sunday

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners has verified 701 civilian deaths since February 1. The military, known as the Tatmadaw, has a much lower number - 248 deaths, according to a spokesman on Friday. Pictured: Children and others flash the three-finger salute during a protest in Mandalay on Sunday

'Some are in hiding - we are worried that our people will be hurt as a reprisal,' the resident told AFP news agency.

The mounting bloodshed has also angered some of Myanmar's 20 or so armed ethnic groups, who control swathes of territory mostly in border regions.

There were clashes on Saturday in the northern Shan state, as the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), an ethnic rebel group, mounted a pre-dawn attack on a police station, the TNLA's Brigadier General Tar Bhone Kyaw said without giving details.

The mounting bloodshed has also angered some of Myanmar's 20 or so armed ethnic groups, who control swathes of territory mostly in border regions. Pictured: Demonstrators hold a banner emblazoned with the three-finger salute during a protest in Yangon on Sunday

State media reported on Friday that 19 people had been sentenced to death for robbery and murder by a military court, with 17 of them being tried in absentia. Pictured: Demonstrators flash the three-finger salute next to a banner emblazoned with the symbol during a protest in Yangon on Sunday

Local media reported that more than a dozen police officers were killed, while the TNLA said the military had retaliated with air strikes on its troops, killing at least one rebel soldier.

State-run television reported in the evening that 'terrorist armed groups' attacked the police station with heavy weaponry and set it on fire.

Meanwhile, state media reported on Friday that 19 people had been sentenced to death for robbery and murder by a military court, with 17 of them being tried in absentia.

Protesters in Yangon, as well as in the city of Monywa, took to writing political messages on leaves including 'we must win' and calling for UN intervention to prevent further bloodshed

Messages written by protesters as part of a 'Green Day Strike' on Sunday criticise the death sentence and 'crimes against children'

They were arrested in Yangon's North Okkalapa township - one of six areas in the commercial hub currently under martial law, meaning anybody arrested there is tried by a military tribunal.

Myanmar has long had the death penalty, but has not carried out an execution in more than 30 years, said Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division for Human Rights Watch.

'It indicates the military are prepared to go back to a time when Myanmar was executing people,' he said.

JAPAN: Myanmarese people living in Japan demonstrate against the coup in Tokyo on Sunday. Diaspora communities across Asia and elsewhere have held protests for months

JAPAN: Myanmarese people living in Japan demonstrate against the coup in Tokyo on Sunday. Protests were else held in the United States over the weekend
They are one of Hollywood's most loved-up couples, who are never afraid to show some PDA.

And on Sunday, Hugh Jackman shared a heartwarming tribute to his wife Deborra-Lee Furness to celebrate the couple's 25th wedding anniversary.

The 52-year-old actor shared a series of throwback photos from their wedding to Instagram and wrote: 'Being married to you Deb is as natural as breathing.'

'I love you with all my heart!' Hugh Jackman shared a heartwarming tribute to his wife Deborra-Lee Furness to celebrate 25 years of marriage on Sunday

'From nearly the moment we met ... I knew our destiny was to be together. In our 25 years - our love has only grown deeper,' he continued.

He added: 'The fun, excitement and adventure more exhilarating; the learning even greater.'

'I'm forever grateful to share our love, our life - and, our family together. We've only just begun. Deb, I love you with all my heart!'

Gorgeous: The 52-year-old actor shared a series of throwback photos from their wedding to Instagram and wrote: 'Being married to you Deb is as natural as breathing'

Loving: 'From nearly the moment we met ... I knew our destiny was to be together. In our 25 years - our love has only grown deeper,' he continued

Hugh and Deborra-Lee got married on April 11, 1996, just one year after meeting.

The pair met on set of Australian drama Corelli, with Hugh saying he knew he was going to spend the rest of his life with Deborra-Lee after just two weeks.

They have two children: Oscar Maximilian Jackman, 20, and Ava Eliot Jackman, 15.

Last year, Hugh told People that the secret to their happy marriage was 'making time for each other and 'always learning' from one another.

He added: 'The fun, excitement and adventure more exhilarating; the learning even greater'

Meant to be: 'I'm forever grateful to share our love, our life - and, our family together. We've only just begun. Deb, I love you with all my heart!'

He said they consciously 'reset' their marriage from time to time, which means they don't grow apart like many longtime couples do.

'We're always learning and humans change so you have to, even though we've been together 25 years, you gotta reset all the time,' he said.

'I'm always reeling in how funny she is and how amazing she is and how smart she is. The longer it goes on the better it gets.'
Saturday Night Live takes a comical look at the Chauvin murder trial through societys perspectives

As the Derek Chauvin trial continues, Saturday Night Live took on race and the differing points of view on police, justice and riots surrounding the murder case in Minneapolis.

The long-running NBC sketch comedy series used its cold open in Saturdays episode to touch on societys expectations of the trials outcome through the lens of Black Americans, who were portrayed as weary and apprehensive, and white Americans, who were portrayed as optimistic but out of touch.

The sketch features Kenan Thompson, Ego Nwodim, Kate McKinnon and Alex Moffat as news anchors hosting the fictional KBDB midday newscast.

Nwodin brought up the Chauvin trial, in which the former Minneapolis police officer faces three murder and manslaughter charges in the death of George Floyd. Floyd, who is Black, died under the knee of after Chauvin nearly a year ago.

From left to right: Ego Nwodim, Kenan Thompson, Kate McKinnon and Alex Moffat appear in a Saturday Night Live skit Saturday, April 10, 2021. (via YouTube screenshot)

READ MORE: Daniel Kaluuyas SNL monologue rags on racism

Watching this trial brought back so many bad feelings from last summer, Nwodim said.

Thompson replied, I know. I felt myself getting angry all over again.

While all they all agreed with Moffats assessment that the video footage was all that was needed to see the truth, McKinnon chimed in again by saying, Sounds like we all agree that Derek Chauvin doesnt walk away from this.

Comically, Nwodim and Thompson disagreed. They were skeptical of the way the judicial system treats Black people.

When McKinnon and Moffat asked if they believed Chauvins defense team, Thompson said that they didnt, pointing out the defense lawyers attempt to blame Floyds death on his alleged drug use as a clear act of desperation to create doubt where there is none. But when McKinnon suggested that the jury couldnt possibly believe the defense either, Nwodim and Thompson once again sounded skeptical, leading to laughter from the live studio audience.

READ MORE: Saturday Night Live parodies Lil Nas Xs lap dance for Satan

Story continues

Thompson started to make the comment, Yall seem like good people, as a play on their naive, out-of-touch idealism, but he was interrupted by Nwodim, who said, Lets just say weve seen this movie before.

Nwodim mentioned that there are numerous incidents where police officers have gotten away with killing unarmed Black men and women, either by being found innocent in court or escaping criminal charges altogether. Last September, officers involved in the shooting of Breonna Taylor in her Louisville, Kentucky, apartment learned that they would not be charged in her death.

Back in 2014, a grand jury decided not to indict Darren Wilson, the cop who shot and killed18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. In 2020, CNN reported that he would not be charged in Browns death after a reinvestigation.

NBC News reported last year that the United States Department of Justice would not file federal charges against the officers who shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014 while playing with a toy gun in a park in Cleveland. The shooting was captured on camera.

In 2019, a grand jury stated that former New York City police officer Daniel Pantaleo would not be charged in the 2014 choking death of Eric Garner on Staten Island, according to the New York Times. The video of Garners death ignited I cant breathe rallying call that has helped galvanize the Black Lives Matter movement.

In 2017, Minnesota police officer Jeronimo Yanez was acquitted of second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Philando Castile, as reported by CNN.

Have you subscribed to theGrios podcast Dear Culture? Download our newest episodes now!

TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!

The post Weve seen this movie before  SNL hits on Black, white outlook on Derek Chauvin trial appeared first on TheGrio.
As the lunar module separated from the service module of Apollo 13, commander James A. Lovell Jr. got his first look at the damage.

Lovell told NASAs Mission Control, There is one whole side of that spacecraft missing.

Apollo 13 with three astronauts on board lifted off for the moon from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970.

Two days later it became obvious that Apollo 13 would not be landing on the moon but instead fighting just to return to Earth.

Houston, weve had a problem, said commander James A. Lovell Jr.

That problem was an exploded oxygen tank.

On April 14, 1970, the Associated Press reported, Never once, in the greatest crisis of their lives, in a danger that had materialized only in fiction, did the Apollo 13 astronauts lose their cool.

Hey, weve got a problem here!

Even that first cry of alarm, across 202,000 miles of space, was restrained, though urgent.

Theyd finished a television show  such standard fare for a jaded public that none of the television networks made time for. Mission control saw it and congratulated them on it. Now the ground was giving instructions for positioning the spacecraft to look for the comet Bennett.

Hey, weve got a problem here. It was James A. Lovell Jr., the spacecraft commander, the only human to make four trips into space.

This is Houston, say again please.

Houston, weve had a problem. Weve had a main B bus interval.

A power failure! An imbalance in the intricate system that gives oxygen and direction and the fragile voice lifeline to the ground.

In addition to Lovell, the Apollo 13 crew included lunar module pilot Fred W. Haise Jr. and command module pilot John L. Swigert Jr. Swigert was an alternate who ended up on the mission after Ken Mattingly was exposed to the German measles.

According to NASA, on the second day of the mission the crew heard a loud bang and noticed fluctuations in electrical power.

The crew reported a main B bus undervolt, which, according to NASA, indicated an abrupt power loss from one of the command-service modules two primary electrical systems.

Amid the chaos, Lovell noticed oxygen escaping from the spacecraft. The crew moved into survival mode.

At mission control, flight controllers immediately began to come up with a plan to get the astronauts back to Earth.

With the support from contractors and universities, the flight control team demonstrated considerable ingenuity under pressure, overcoming the challenges of low power, limited water and lack of other consumables. It was an example of NASA developing innovative solutions that dramatically improved the agencys capabilities in dealing with the unexpected in years to come, according to NASA.

Engineers determined what hardware was available on board to the crew then came up with a plan using those parts then communicate that plan to the crew.

In the meantime, the crew also had to deal with rationing food and water, a buildup of carbon dioxide, lack of sleep and lack of heat. The temperature inside as 38 degrees. Condensation formed on the walls, ceiling, floor and other parts of the module.

The explosion had happened just after the crew wrapped a report from space that nobody watched. According to an NPR interview with Lovell last year on the 50th anniversary, the broadcast was not even carried by the major networks.

It was in the minutes of conversation between Mission Control and Lovell after the explosion that Lovell was caught on a hot mic saying, Im afraid it is going to be the last moon mission for awhile.

(Apollo 14, with Commander Alan B. Shepard Jr., lunar module pilot Edgar D. Mitchell and command module pilot Stuart A. Roosa launched to the moon on Jan. 31, 1971, and landed Feb. 5, 1971.)

During the NPR interview, Lovell recalled what he saw when the lunar module separated: The side of the spacecraft was blown out. It kind of gave us a shock that this happened on the way out to the moon. It was more or less with the side of the spacecraft missing. "

The crew returned safely on April 17, 1970, splashing down in the south Pacific Ocean four miles from the recovery ship, the USS Iwo Jima.

The next day President Richard Nixon awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the crew and mission operations team.

The cause of the explosion was determined.

After an intensive investigation, the Apollo 13 Accident Review Board identified the cause of the explosion.

In 1965, the CM had undergone many improvements that included raising the permissible voltage to the heaters in the oxygen tanks from 28 to 65 volts DC. Unfortunately, the thermostatic switches on these heaters werent modified to suit the change.

During one final test on the launch pad, the heaters were on for a long period of time. This subjected the wiring in the vicinity of the heaters to very high temperatures (1000 F), which have been subsequently shown to severely degrade teflon insulation.

The thermostatic switches started to open while powered by 65 volts DC and were probably welded shut. Furthermore, other warning signs during testing went unheeded and the tank, damaged from eight hours of overheating, was a potential bomb the next time it was filled with oxygen.

That bomb exploded on April 13, 1970 - 200,000 miles from Earth, according to NASA.
Dont cry Mrs. Lanka, the crowns all yoursfor now View(s):

Technically, Pushpika de Silva, the woman at the centre of last Sundays Mrs. Lanka hullabaloo, is correct in maintaining that she is a married woman as no competent court has yet put asunder what her marital vows had once enjoined.

The filing of divorce papers in court does not change ones marital status, though it may signal ones change of heart. In fact, so scrupulously do the courts view the institution of marriage as sacred that it refuses to accept that a marriage has irretrievably broken down even after formal divorce is given but grants a further six months period of grace for the parties to resolve their irreconcilable differences before final severance of the nuptial knot is ordered.

The filing of divorce papers indicates not the end but the beginning of the end of a marriage; and until the long process finally reaches the end when ties are cut and the spouses revert to their previous single status, the parties may be granted legal separation.

Pushpika de Silva, had filed papers in court to divorce her husband four years ago. The case is expected to be taken up middle of this year, possibly, to grant her uncontested petition to divorce. Until such time it is unequivocally clear that, legally, she remains married, though separated from her spouse.

Thus she is perfectly well within her legal right to insist that she is married and has not breached that one fundamental rule of eligibility the Mrs. World Contest organisers demand all aspirants to uphold: The rule of being married before applying for the contest, during the contest period and, if adjudged the world winner, one year after, which if flouted would render immediate disqualification.

But while being legally separated from her husband for four years and on the verge of being granted the divorce she has for long sought from the courts  who said this week she is proud to be a single mum of one  whether it was correct of her to have expanded the ambit of being married to the extreme, to enter a contest strictly reserved for married woman and held, as the Mrs. World Contest organisers proudly hold, as a pageant celebrating the uniqueness of the married woman, must give pause for solemn reflection on righteousness of conduct in the present arena of action.

Technically, also, ex-Mrs. Lanka but still Mrs. World Caroline Jurie was wrong to have played judge, jury and executioner on public stage last Sunday when shortly after Pushpika had been crowned Mrs. Lanka for Mrs. World, she claimed Pushpika was a divorcee, pronounced her disqualified and proceeded, with the help of backstage sidekick, to de-crown the imposter and topple her from her newly won pedestal.

Clearly, it was not Carolines business to deliver summary justice on Nelum Pokuna stage. Her role on it was to dutifully perform the final rites of her own ending reign as Mrs. Sri Lanka and pass the torch to her new chosen successor and walk off into the sunset.

Its possible that Caroline honestly believed Pushpika had ceased to be married. If she so did, then her private doubts and reservations should have been directly conveyed to the judges before or after the contest. Instead, she thought fit to usurp the judges powers in their absence, and unilaterally act as she did to reduce the level of farce to burlesque.

Her only defence for unbecoming conduct may be to plead mistaken belief in the manner a member of the public can claim after wrongfully executing a citizens arrest under section 72 of the Penal Code, Nothing is an offence which is done by any person who is justified by law, or who by reason of a mistake of fact and not by reason of a mistake of law in good faith believes himself to be justified by law in doing it.

But Caroline, still the reigning Mrs. World, remained defiant to the end despite being arrested on Thursday and later released on police bail over the incident. In a video statement, delivered on Friday night, she said she was ready to hand over her Mrs. World crown.

She said her only intention was to stand up for the injustice caused to the competitors throughout this competition which she alleged was tainted with heavy politicization. She declared: It upsets me greatly when justice doesnt prevail. This is why I stood up for injustice, from the beginning of the event, I stood up for what was wrong, but my efforts were futile until the very last moment, which led me to do what I did.

She said she only stood for what she believed was right and will follow all legal procedures  as a normal Sri Lankan citizen  without influence  while always holding her head up high.

And where does that leave the holder of the Lankan Mrs. World franchise, Chandimal Jayasinghe, a bridal designer better known for hosting extravagant multimillion rupee parties on Bollywood themes at Kingsbury and Shangri-La to celebrate his birthdays.

After Caroline had stolen the thunder on the big night last Sunday, he told the media that, there is no need to take any action against Jurie as the whole country witnessed her behaviour and all are disgusted by her actions. We expect Mrs. World to take action against her. She made a huge blunder. She is responsible for her own actions.

True. But what has he got to say of his own actions? He told the media, all contestants had to provide proof of their marriage and had to fill out the forms accordingly before taking part in the contest.

But did he know that Pushpika  though in the eyes of the law still legally married, had filed for divorce four years ago and was on the threshold of getting her divorce this year, which would have risked disqualification and risked further the Mrs. World concept as a pageant to celebrate the happily married woman and promote the institution of marriage?

Or had he been aware of it and chosen not to use his discretion and reject the application, and viewed this blot on the Mrs. World landscape as a matter of no consequence? How will the parent body of the Mrs. World Organisation react should Mrs. Lankas divorce come through before the grand final of the Mrs. World Contest is held in December?

Does he agree with the re-crowned Pushpikas assertion in her belated tear jerking victory speech that the crown she won was dedicated to all single mums, when the Mrs. Worlds concept dedicates it to all married women?

Sometimes, though a rule itself is not violated but when its spirit is transgressed, the ensuing results can be both damaging and dire. It need not shock, its only to be expected. Its the natural law of cause and effect in operation.

And the message to the twice winner, who since then revealed her plans to enter high politics: Dont cry Mrs. Lanka, the crown is all yours to wear. for now.

Tell Dr. Siddhika: Shell have to go The Director General of the Sri Lanka Standards Institute (SLSI) was plunged into hot water and left to drown this week when a choice remark casually made to a television reporter over the current toxic coconut oil scare, placed the trust, credibility and future usefulness of one of Lankas top consumer watchdogs at stake. An angry public outcry erupted in disbelief and shock when the nation heard SLSI Chief Dr. Siddhika Senaratne reveal to a television interviewer not only of the detection of imported coconut oil with thrice the permitted toxic level but also the widespread availability of poisonous, cancer causing food stuff in the market. In the shocking interview aired last Saturday, the interviewer asks Dr. Siddhika Senaratne: Apart from detecting aflatoxins in chilli consignments, what are the other food stuff found that contained this cancer causing substance? Dr. Siddhikas reply: Its like this. Many of these things I cannot say because after I say it many of the local produces can collapse. So even though the media may think they have a right to ask, we have a responsibility to protect local produces. Instead what we do is we tell the Consumer Authority and together we all engage these businesses in discussion and we encourage them to desist from introducing such poisonous food stuff to the market and mend their ways. The interviewer asks: Do you have any prohibition placed on you not to reveal these to the media? Why cant you tell the public? She replies: No, there is no prohibition of that sort. But if we tell the public these local businesses will totally collapse. So we do not. When the interviewer interrupted and asked: So while they mend their ways, the people have to eat poison? Is that okay Driving the last nail into her own career at SLSI, she replied blithely: Well, its only for a short time. We have to first correct these producers, no, and see that these companies mend their ways and do not have to close down. Her outrageous claim that food containing cancer causing poisonous substances was quite all right for human consumption for a short time since it kept food companies in good business health, naturally provoked an avalanche of protests and led many to bray for her blood. The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) sprang into action on Monday by lodging a complaint against Dr. Siddhika, urging the Inspector General of Police to immediately investigate her claim that she was aware of the fact that certain food items sold in the market contains substances unfit for human consumption. The Government, too, washed its hands of Dr. Siddhikas controversial comments. Cabinet spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the Government does not approve Dr. Siddhikas remarks that exposing local businesses whose products are found to contain toxins could lead to their collapse. The Government has now launched an investigation into her statement. So who is this Dr. Siddhika, supposed to be the guardian deity of the nations food consumption but who has since revealed even divinity errs? Undoubtedly, she is eminently qualified academically for the job, having a PhD in Biochemistry from St Georges Hospital Medical School, London, UK in 2002 followed by two Post-doctoral fellowships at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, USA. Pity, all those qualifications and recognition, but not the foggiest as to what her job as Director General of SLSI entails? The SLSI has been the accepted final arbiter on what is fit for human consumption. Its decisions have been accepted without question or pause. The organisation was established in 1964 to protect the rights of consumers and to protect unethical business trade malpractices. The Director Generals first duty is to the public. In determining whether any food is fit for human consumption or not, it is not her duty to take external factors into consideration. But Dr. Siddhika has, unfortunately, based her decision whether or not to ban food containing cancer causing substances not on how it will affect the health of humans but on how adversely it will affect the pockets of local businesses. She has allowed the unsuspecting public to consume toxic-hit food to give a helping hand to errant businesses peddling poison in the market with the full knowledge of the SLSI. And, as a result the trust and credibility once unquestioningly reposed in the SLSI, now lie shattered and will continue to lie in fragments until the Government axe poised over Dr. Siddhikas job is let to fall. Else, it will be the continuing case of the watchdog not raising the alarm barking when thieves burgle the masters home because it does not wish to disturb the masters peaceful slumber.
Horgans NDP to Bring in Throne Speech in BC, Opposition Wants Coherent Plan

VICTORIABritish Columbias opposition parties acknowledge the COVID19 pandemic has presented huge challenges for Premier John Horgans government, but they say Mondays throne speech must outline a coherent plan for the provinces economic, health, social and environmental future.

The speech is expected to set the governments agenda following one last year that was dominated by COVID19 recovery efforts after the NDPs election win in October.

Finance Minister Selina Robinson is set to table the governments first budget on April 20. Last December in a fiscal update she forecast a budget deficit nearing $14 billion.

Interim Liberal Leader Shirley Bond said the governments economic, social and health programs throughout the pandemic have been unfocused and the Opposition will demand initiatives with straightforward goals.

We expect premier Horgan to lay out a plan that deals with the significant issues that British Columbians care about, Bond said in an interview. It starts with the response to COVID19 and what that looks like moving forward.

The Liberals want more support for small and mediumsized businesses as opposed to complex and slow relief programs, she said.

Its not enough to have oneoff programs being announced all over the province, said Bond. One of the themes that has emerged with this government is a lack of strategic planning.

NDP house leader Mike Farnworth said the throne speech will focus on getting B.C. through and beyond the pandemic.

We want to get the pandemic behind us, he said. We want to build back stronger. We want to invest in people. We want to strengthen communities. We want to make sure that we are able to help businesses grow and hire.

Farnworth said the budget will include details of government investment in communities and infrastructure, but the fight against the pandemic is paramount.

Obviously critical is ensuring we get British Columbians vaccinated, said Farnworth. The next few months are going to be critical in that regard.

Bond said the throne speech needs to present details about the governments plans to create jobs and promote economic recovery in the shortterm and after the pandemic.

It is time for this government to lay out a plan that deals with some of the critical issues we are facing in B.C., Bond said.

Among the serious issues facing the province is the ongoing opioid overdose deaths, she said.

We are in the middle of a crisis when it comes to mental health supports and an opioid crisis and despite a lot of talk we have seen little action thats been effective on that front, said Bond.

The B.C. Coroners Services reported a record number of illicit opioid overdose deaths in 2020, when 1,716 people died.

Adam Olsen, one of two B.C. Greens in the legislature, said the NDP has yet to offer a clear agenda since the fall election, when the party said it needed a majority to offer steady government during the pandemic.

Most governments after they get elected have got a 100day plan, very clearly articulating what their next steps and first steps are for the government, he said. Thats really been missing since November.

Olsen said he recognizes the pandemic has been allencompassing for the government and responses are required, but there are other issues facing the province, including the Site C dam.

Weve got one of the largest projects of any government in the history of this province and in this country, the Site C dam, that is very clearly troubled, said Olsen.

Last month, Horgan said the hydroelectric dam faced significant challenges due to geotechnical issues and COVID19 construction delays that would increase the estimated cost of the project to $16 billion and delay completion by one year to 2025.

The province is also facing environmental concerns about increased greenhouse gas emissions connected to the massive $40 billion LNG Canada project in northern B.C. and the Greens want the government to halt logging in an oldgrowth forest on southern Vancouver Island.

Weve got a government saying theyre addressing all those things, but theres no coherent plan, said Olsen. When you dont have that coherent plan you can look at, its very difficult to evaluate the success.

Olsen said the government hasnt yet been able to present its vision for the future.

I hope that they use this throne speech to lay that vision out for British Columbians, more than just launching a program in response to something, fixing it on the fly and then claiming success.
Im 83 years old. I have voted in every election. I did not vote in this election. I was so sick of the name calling with Pekau and McLaughlin and I kept getting confused of whos running for which party. Also, I hear that early voting was easily accessible, however I couldnt fine a place to park and people were lined up around the block. I hear it was for the secretary of states office and not for early voting. Im so sick of the name calling. I want to know what each candidate is going to do for Orland Park, not how bad the other guy is.
Trump blasts Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson for vetoing bill banning 'chemical castration of children'

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

Former President Donald Trump rebuked Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson for vetoing a bill banning the "chemical castration of children" in his state.

"The lightweight RINO Governor of Arkansas, just vetoed a Bill that banned the CHEMICAL CASTRATION OF CHILDREN. 'Bye-bye Asa,' thats the end of him!" Trump said in a statement released Thursday.

The 45th president went on to praise his former press secretary, whom he has endorsed for the 2022 gubernatorial race, in his statement: "Fortunately for the great state of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders will do a fantastic job as your next Governor."

The Arkansas House voted 75-25 and the Senate 25-8 on Tuesday afternoon to override the governor's veto of House Bill 1570, also known as the "Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act" and its acronym, the SAFE Act.

Arkansas is the first state in the nation to ban the prescribing of puberty blockers, hormonal drugs and the surgical body mutilation of minors suffering from gender dysphoria.

The medicalization of gender has come under increased scrutiny in recent months, particularly in light of a U.K. court ruling in a judicial review against the Tavistock clinic in London. Last year it was decided that youth younger than 16 lack the maturity to understand the risks to such experimental and irreversible procedures and thus cannot give informed consent under the Gillick competency, the U.K.'s legal standard by which youth can consent to medical procedures.

In addition to Arkansas, Alabama and Tennessee are considering similar bills. The proposed measures in the cluster of southern states follow an unsuccessful attempt in South Dakota last year to prohibit the use of puberty-suppressing drugs, cross-sex hormones, and elective cosmetic surgeries, such as a double mastectomy (what's known as "top surgery") or orchiectomy ("bottom surgery"), which is the removal of the testicles.

In an interview with Fox News' Tucker Carlson earlier this week, Hutchinson defended his veto of the bill on the grounds of limited government.

Why do you think its important for conservatives to make certain that children can block their puberty, be chemically castrated? Why is that a conservative value? Carlson inquired of the Arkansas governor.

Hutchinson replied: You have parents involved in very difficult decisions and physicians that are involved in these decisions.

When Hutchinson asserted the medical expertise of various groups in favor of administering the experimental drugs, Carlson pressed him to explain further.

Hutchinson added: The research that I have seen shows that these troubled youth, these ones that have gender dysphoria, that they also have depression, they have suicidal tendencies. Its a higher suicide rate than others. And they go to their parents, the parents go to doctors and they try to deal with this very difficult issue.

Studies have shown that depression or suicidal ideation are not reduced after individuals undergo procedures to change their bodies to look more like the opposite sex.

According to a 2003 study conducted in Sweden, those who underwent body mutilation or were prescribed cross-sex hormones had a higher suicide rate than the general population.

The study, which followed 191 male-to-female gender reassignments and 133 female-to-male gender reassignments from 19732003, found that suicide attempts and in-patient psychiatric treatment actually increased among those who had a sex change.

Other studies have also shown that gender-transition surgery doesn't improve mental health.

To read The Christian Post's six-part series on transgender issues, click here.
There has been a sharp decline in the number of children and adolescents committing rape, although overall crime rates by juvenile offenders are on the rise.

New figures compiled for the Garda Youth Diversion Programme show underage offenders were identified as the assailant in 115 out of 830 incidents of rape reported in 2019  almost 1 in 7 cases.

It represents an annual decrease of 43% in the number of juveniles suspected of rape in 2018 when they accounted for over a quarter of almost 800 rape cases recorded that year.

The latest GYDP figures show juveniles were implicated in two out of 36 murders during 2019  down from four the previous year.

They also reveal that offenders aged 17 and younger accounted for 8% of all crimes reported over the 12-month period.

Figures show the number of children and adolescents referred to the GYDP in 2019 increased by 15% to 9,842.

The number of crimes committed by young offenders in the same year rose by 13% to 18,567.

Dramatic increases

However, some crime categories showed dramatic increases with the number of drug offences involving children up 26% to almost 1,800 incidents, while fraud offences by juveniles more than trebled to 720 cases.

Certain parts of the country also experienced above-average increases in the rate of juvenile crime including Donegal where the number of offences committed by underage criminals rose by 58%.

Other areas with a significant rise in the detection of crimes by juveniles were Sligo/Leitrim (+52%), Dublin West (+48%), Mayo (+36%), Roscommon/Longford (+30%) and Kerry (+25%).

Only six of the 28 Garda divisions recorded a decrease in juvenile crime during 2019  Dublin South Central, Meath, Wexford, Galway, Cork North and Limerick.

Overall juvenile crime levels across Dublin were up 18% to almost 6,500 offences, while there was a 17% increase in the number of offences committed by juveniles in Cork city with just under 1,200 crimes recorded.

Despite almost 1,300 additional juvenile offenders identified during 2019 compared to the previous year, the chairperson of the GYDP monitoring committee, assistant Garda commissioner, Orla McPartlin, said the figure was in line with the average annual over the previous five- year period.

Official statistics also reveal that almost one in 10 of all juveniles referred to the GYDP during 2019 were serial offenders as they had been referred to the programme on at least four occasions that year.

Figures show three out of 10 juvenile offenders identified in 2019 were aged 12-14, while approximately three-quarters of all juvenile offenders were males.

The number of children who received a formal or informal caution was up 22% to 7,661.

Following a steady decline since 2012 when it peaked at over 1,000 cases, the number of restorative cautions, where the victim meets the offender, issued in 2019 rose by 74% to 125.

However, 1,605 children who committed over 6,000 crimes  representing 16% of all juvenile offenders  were deemed unsuitable for admission to the programme in 2019  an annual increase of 29%.

Restorative justice

Ms McPartlin said the GYDP was a vital crime prevention tool complimented by a restorative justice framework that translates into a strategic asset for An Garda Siochana. Since the start of 2019, a newly established Garda Youth Diversion Bureau makes the decision on the suitability of juvenile offenders to enter the GYDP.

Ms McParltin said the programme provided gardai with a unique opportunity to engage with young offenders which was critical in supporting them to address their behaviour and to assist them in making positive choices.
iPhone 12 series smartphones (12, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max) have contributed the maximum in the sales of Apples phones (up to 71 percent) for the month of January, as the tech giant grabbed six places in the global top 10 best-selling smartphones list.

According to Counterpoint Research`s `Market Pulse` report, the Apple iPhone 12 led the list followed by the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.

There was a pent-up demand for 5G upgrades within the iOS base which, along with strong carrier promotions, resulted in robust sales for the iPhone 12 series.

"Besides, Apple launched the new iPhone series later than the usual date, resulting in strong demand for these models spilling over into January," the report said late on Saturday.

Nearly one-third of Apple's sales for the iPhone 12 series came from the US due to strong carrier promotions and 5G demand.

"The iPhone 12 Pro Max was the top-selling model in the US, as consumers preferred the high-end version. Old models iPhone SE 2020 and iPhone 11 also continued to do well," the report mentioned.

The iPhone 12 mini made it to the top 10 list, trailing the other iPhone 12 series models as well as the iPhone 11.

"The iPhone 12 mini, which offers specs similar to that of the iPhone 12 at a lower price, failed to attract buyers because of a smaller display and lower battery capacity".

The sub-$150 devices Redmi 9A and Redmi 9 managed to grab fifth and sixth spots, respectively, in January.

These smartphones together contributed a 25 percent share to Xiaomi`s total sales for the month which is gradually expanding its share in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.

Samsung`s Galaxy A21s managed to maintain its position in the top 10 list.

The Galaxy A31, the other Samsung model in the top 10, entered the list for the first time.

"Samsung is aggressively promoting the Galaxy A series. It comes with a premium design, fresh colours and latest specs at affordable prices," the report noted.

Through the A-series, Samsung is also looking to attract the users of Honor devices.

Live TV

#mute
Aam Aadmi Party's Raghav Chadha has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighting the "urgent need of vaccine universalisation and vaccine nationalism." Chadha alleged that the Centre is neglecting the Fundamental Rights of the Indian citizens as it is not providing the "basic healthcare" and protection from COVID-19.

My letter to the Hon'ble Prime Minister on the urgent need for Vaccine Universalisation and Vaccine Nationalism. pic.twitter.com/FswFVyXV08  Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) April 11, 2021

'Centre indulging in diplomatic adventurism'

In his letter, the AAP leader wrote, "The Government of India is prioritising the international community over Indian citizens in the matter of providing vaccines. While the Government of India has been indulging in diplomatic adventurism by exporting over 64 million doses to 84 countries, it has completely overlooked and neglected the Fundamental Rights of its citizens to basic health care and protection by vaccination against COVID-19."

He noted that several states in the country have vaccine stocks left only for 3 to 5 days. Referring to PM Modi's slogan "Jab tak dawaai nahi, tab tak dhilaai nahi," Chaddha asserted that now when India has begun manufacturing ' dawaai' (vaccine), the government has chosen to export. "While we do not begrudge other countries humanitarian aid, the same cannot be at the cost of Indian citizens, particularly young India, which has been waiting for its turn ever since the vaccine became available."

Vaccine nationalism and vaccine universalisation

He has also urged the government to adopt 'vaccine nationalism'. He alleged that the vaccine centre in the countries are shut because the doses are being flown out of the country. AAP MLA also condemned the central government for exporting "nearly 45 doses to Pakistan" in the coming days. He stated, "One one hand the Government of India said that Pakistan has only exported terrorism to India. On the other hand, we are exporting life-saving vaccines to Pakistan."

Underlining the need for "vaccine universalisation", Chadha said that the Fundamental Right to Health is not reserved for a particular category, it is for all. He affirmed, "Countries like the United States of America have even gone to the extent of banning the export of not just vaccines but also raw materials used to manufacture vaccines. Despite being a manufacturer of the world-class vaccine, we are gleefully exporting it." Referring to PM Modi's address to the Chief Ministers, two days ago, over the "vaccine hesitancy and vaccine wastage" concern, he opined that these issues will be resolved if the Centre adopts "vaccine nationalism and vaccine universalisation."

Picture Credit: PTI
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 04/11/2021



ADVERTISEMENT

[ Spoiler Warning: This report features spoilers revealing the status of Hazel and Tarik's relationship and if they're still together or have split up since their wedding.]

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

So are Tarik and Hazel still together and married or did the couple break up after their wedding?

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

couple Tarik Myers and Hazel Cagalitan got married on Season 8, so what happened after their wedding? Did Tarik and Hazel split up, or what do spoilers reveal about if the couple is still married and together now?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.Hazel and Auri got along great, but problems arose once Hazel discovered a message on Tarik's phone to Minty from Thailand.Tarik had dated Minty when he and Hazel were on a break, and then once Tarik and Hazel got back together, the couple decided to invite Minty into their relationship as a love triangle.After just three days, Hazel dumped Minty because she thought Tarik liked her too much.Tarik promised Hazel that he wouldn't contact Minty again, but Tarik later suggested they should ask Minty for advice on what type of woman they should be looking for as Hazel's American girlfriend.Tarik said Minty could give them good dating advice, but Hazel accused Tarik of looking for an excuse to reach out to Minty again.In May 2020, Hazel agreed to videochat with Minty, but only because she wanted to watch her interact with Tarik."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 became very jealous and angry at Tarik, who was afraid Hazel was going to refuse to marry him.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 -- and other women's numbers -- from his phone in order to please Hazel and avoid future conflict.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."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," Hazel explained.In June 2020, Tarik dressed in his powder-blue suit and tried to make it up to Hazel.Tarik decorated the house with rose petals and candles and 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 later came out as bisexual to her parents in the Philippines and enjoyed her bachelorette party at which Tarik surprised her with a female exotic dancer.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."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.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 she was thrilled to marry the man she loved.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 early April, Tarik posted a funny video of Hazel and himself dancing together."We ARE in the spring vibe tho. Dance like no one's watching is our motto. Envoy the holiday all. #90dayfiance #90daybaresall #90dayfiancepillowtalk #beforethe90days," Tarik captioned his post.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.Earlier that month, 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!
The recovery of the UNP View(s):

April 12 marks the 48th Death Anniversary of Dudley Senanayake. We publish an excerpt from the book Sri Lanka: Come Wind, Come Weather by K M de Silva.

After the decisive defeat the UNP under Sir John Kotelawala had suffered in April 1956, few people in Sri Lankas political elite expected the UNP to make an early recovery. Quite apart from the defeat being a colossal one, the party itself was without a leader. The defeated Prime Minister opted out of politics and within a short time began spending half the year in England where he established himself in a farm, Brogues Wood in Kent. Dudley Senanayake had moved out of the UNP. J R Jayewardene had lost his seat. Nevertheless he (J R Jayewardene) remained a member of the UNP and when the first opportunity occurred for fashioning the recovery of the UNP he decided to seize it. This was with regard to elections to the Colombo Municipal Council, which were due un December 1956. The man who actually initiated the move to contest seats in the Colombo Municipal Council was V A Sugathadasa who convinced J R Jayewardene that the UNP should organize a systematic campaign there. Once Jayewardene agreed to lead the way, the UNP campaign began and led by him, it resulted in a handsome victory, which surprised the Bandaranaike government and its component parties especially from the parties of the Left.

The survival of the UNP after its defeat in April 1956 owed more to J R Jayewardene than to any individual, or indeed group of persons within the party including V A Sugathadasa. He restored its morale by demonstrating its continued viability at the elections to the Colombo Municipal Council in December 1956 which the UNP won handsomely; he revamped its organisation and sought to give it a new image, one which was more attuned to the changed circumstances of the day. The success he achieved, as demonstrated by its imporved position at the three general elections of 1960 compared to its parlous state in 1956, it may have been more substantial if the general elections had come, as they should have, somewhat later. As it was the SLFP came back to power in 1960 under Mrs Bandaranaike for another period of nearly five years. Jayewardene was still the No 2 man in the UNP a position he accepted without demur. He was the master strategist who fashioned the eventual defeat of Mrs Bandaranaikes government in Parliament by a skilful exploitation of the fears of some prominent, and disgruntled SLFPers, of the consequences of a coalition with the Marxist Left which the then Prime Minister, Mrs Bandaranaike had negotiated in 1964.

Dudley Senanayake returned to the UNP and led the party back to power for a very brief period. But his was a minority government on this occasion (early 1960) and when it was defeated on the debate on the throne speech, he called for fresh elections, which took place in July 1960 and in which his party was defeated. Dudley Senanayake now became Leader of the Opposition. When the UNP won the general election of March 1965 he became Prime Minister once more, as the head of a coalition dominated by the UNP. He was Prime Minister, on this occasion for five years.

Dudley Senanayake, like his father, had a passion for traditional agriculture and regarded it as the key to the economic regeneration of the country. The remarkable breakthrough in economic growth that came in the period 1967-70 was the result of the leadership he gave to a Sri Lanka version of the green revolution. In such success as was achieved his personal role in organizing and encouraging the national food drive as crucial. In the end, however, the political advantages anticipated from this very considerable achievement in economic development eluded his government. Nor did he have much greater success in the policies of ethnic and religious reconciliation which he initiated. His failure in these latter stemmed as much from the successful exploitation of the fears of the Sinhalese majority in these matters by opposition political groups as by rumbles of discontent within his own party.

At the general election of 1970 Dudley Senanayake suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the United Front coalition led by Mrs. Bandaranaike and consisting also of the major traditional Marxist parties of the country. His spirit never really recovered from this defeat. It was much like that the party suffered in 1956. After the defeat in 1970, the leadership of the opposition went by default to J.R. Jayewardene as Dudley Senanayakes deputy. In the years 1970-72 Dudley Senanayakes position as leader of the UNP was challenged by the latter, and though Dudley Senanayake eventually prevailed in this, he was compelled to accommodate himself to a virtual duumvirate. But by 1972 the position of the UNP had improved remarkably in the country at large and was at last in a position to mount a serious challenge to the government.

On 13 April 1973 Dudley Senanayake died after a short illness. His death led to unprecedented scenes of spontaneous grief and mourning throughout the country. The cremation of his body on 21 April attracted the largest crowd ever gathered together for any occassion in the islands history, much larger than those for his fathers cremation in 1952 and for Bandaranaikes cremation in 1959, unmistable tribute to a much-loved figure.

The political implications of this huge political gathering were lost on the members of Mrs Bandaranaikes government, in particular the Left-wing parties, the LSSP and the Moscow wing of the CP.
For decades, marijuana flowed in one direction across the U.S.-Mexico border: north.

These days, drug enforcement agents regularly seize specialty strains of retail-quality cannabis grown in the United States being smuggled south.

Widespread legalization in the U.S. is killing Mexicos marijuana business, and cartel leaders know it. They are increasingly abandoning the crop that was once was their bread and butter and looking elsewhere for profits, producing and exporting drugs including heroin and fentanyl and banking on extortion schemes and fuel theft.

So when Mexicos tourism secretary this week boldly declared his hopes that Mexico will legalize marijuana for recreational use in an effort to reduce growing violence across the nation, some balked at the notion that marijuana was driving the bloodshed.

Advertisement

Avocados are a bigger industry than marijuana, said security expert Alejandro Hope. And the number of homicides connected to marijuana are very small.

It is naive to believe that legalizing marijuana will reduce crime rates, tweeted Margarita Zavala, a presidential candidate.

Still, that a Cabinet member was willing to advocate such a policy marks a dramatic shift from a time when Washington dictated a hard-line drug policy across Latin America. Mexican leaders have increasingly been taking more liberal stances on marijuana, in part to stay in step with other countries in the region and in part because they are at a loss about how to stem Mexicos rising violence, much of which is centered around the drug trade.

The legalization debate comes amid Mexicos bloodiest wave of violence yet. There were more than 29,000 homicide victims in 2017, more than in any year since the government began releasing homicide records two decades earlier.

The drug trade generates between $6 billion and $8 billion a year for Mexico, according to the RAND Drug Policy Research Center, which estimates that 15% to 26% of that comes from marijuana. Advocates of legalization say it would allow law enforcement officers to focus on more important work. Few in Mexico have touted legalizing harder drugs.

The tourism secretary, Enrique de la Madrid, told reporters at a tourism conference Thursday that he thinks it is absurd that we have not taken the step toward legalization of cannabis. He said legalization should start first in Quintana Roo and Baja California Sur, states home to the resorts of Cancun and Los Cabos, both of which have seen a dramatic increase in homicides in recent years.

I am convinced that we must discuss it as part of the solution to violence and insecurity in Mexico, De la Madrid said later in a tweet, which also clarified that his views on the subject were his own, and not an official government position.

But De la Madrid, a member of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, is one of a growing number of Mexican leaders who have called for pot legalization.

Advertisement

In 2016, President Enrique Pena Nieto proposed a bill that would allow Mexicans to carry up to an ounce of marijuana, arguing that Mexico and the U.S. should not pursue divergent policies on the drug.

The bill stalled in Congress, but lawmakers did approve another measure that allows the use of medical marijuana in some cases.

Legalization has been the trend across the Americas.

In the U.S., marijuana is legal in some form in a majority of states and will soon be permitted for recreational use in eight. Cannabis is already legally sold for recreational use in Uruguay and will be later this year in Canada. Several Latin American countries, including Chile, Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica and Colombia, have changed laws to make marijuana more available for either medical or recreational use.

Advertisement

Full legalization faces an uphill battle in Mexico, where a majority of voters and the Catholic Church are opposed to the idea. A 2015 poll conducted by the newspaper El Universal found that two-thirds of Mexicans oppose decriminalizing cannabis, although 63% said they backed a debate on the issue.

Amid talk of legalization, all signs suggest Mexicos marijuana market is on the decline.

Seizures of marijuana by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol have been falling for a decade. Last year, 861,231 pounds of marijuana were seized at U.S. ports of entry, down from 2.4 million pounds in 2013 and 4.3 million pounds in 2009.

Advertisement

Mexico has also been eradicating fewer marijuana fields over the last decade. In 2006, federal forces wiped out 74,531 acres of marijuana crops, according to the Mexican government. In 2016, a total of 13,537 acres were destroyed.

Increasingly, growers are moving on to other crops, such as poppies, which can be found flowering across violence-plagued states such as Michoacan and Guerrero. Drug traffickers are also switching to synthetic drugs such as fentanyl, which is easier to traffic than marijuana because it is much more potent, with just a few milligrams amounting to a fatal dose.

In the coastal resort city of Ensenada, 85 miles south of San Diego, Mexican police recently seized a drug shipment that included 100 pounds of fentanyl, 914 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, 88 pounds of cocaine and 18 pounds of heroin. There was no marijuana in the shipment.

Cartels know their ability to compete in the U.S. marijuana market is diminishing, said John M. Walsh, director for drug policy at the think tank Washington Office on Latin America. U.S. consumers have better options.

Advertisement

Marijuanas profitability has been greatly reduced, with farmers receiving much less than they used to for cultivating the plant. At the same time, Mexico remains one of the worlds top producers of the drug, Walsh said.

He said he supports legalization in Mexico. Even if it wouldnt end Mexicos violence, it could put a dent in it, he said.

The role that cannabis plays in terms of contributing to violence is fuzzy, Walsh said. But illegal markets facilitate violence. Every little bit helps.

A key question surrounding the legalization debate is whether Mexico would face opposition from the U.S., which over the last 50 years has invested billions of dollars in anti-drug programs aimed at reducing the flow of drugs from Latin America.

Advertisement

Inside the U.S., there is little consistency on marijuana regulation. While the legal pot trade is now a billion-dollar business and one of the countrys fastest growing industries, the federal government still classifies cannabis as a Schedule I drug, the same classification given heroin.

kate.linthicum@latimes.com

Twitter: @katelinthicum

Cecilia Sanchez in The Times Mexico City bureau contributed to this report.
Fifteen episodes down but unexpected twists remain unstoppable. In the latest "Vincenzo" episode, the mafia lawyer encountered a new hero and a new traitor.

Inzaghi Returns the Favor to Vincenzo Cassano

Vincenzo Cassano (Song Joong Ki) was in the middle of a life and death situation at the rooftop of the Geumga Plaza. His nemesis Paolo sent men to kill him. When one of the men was about to pull the trigger, a familiar noise interrupted the scene. It was Inzaghi, the pigeon that has been pestering Vincenzo in his apartment.

A few seconds later, a flock of birds arrived and attacked the gunmen. This allowed the mafia lawyer to fight back against Paolo's men.

At the art gallery, Jang Han Seok (2PM's Taecyeon), Choi Myung Hee (Kim Yeo Jin), and Jang Han Seo (Kwak Dong Yeon) were furious about the data hacked by Vincenzo's allies. They also learned that their plan of killing Vincenzo was to no avail.

Upon leaving the gallery, Prosecutor Jung In Kuk (Ko Sang Ho) showed an arrest warrant to take the Babel Group CEO.

Prosecutor Jung Showed His True Colors

The residents of Geumga Plaza gathered together to watch Prosecutor Jung's presscon about Babel Group's chairman's misdeeds. To their surprise, the prosecutor made a public apology instead and stated that CEO didn't commit any crime.

Seeing this made Hong Cha Young (Jeon Yeo Bin) furious that she broke the TV screen with her cup. She could't believe that the person they trusted to help them against Babel betrayed them.

Meanwhile, Vincenzo followed her to calm her down and encouraged her to put her emotions in the back seat to think of a retaliation.

Prosecutor Jung got a promotion for what he did. He also asked for enhanced security to protect his family.

However, when he arrived home, all his guards were beaten up. He immediately went inside the house to check his wife and daughter. The traitor saw Vincenzo having dinner with his precious loved ones. Seeing the mafia lawyer inside his house gave him chills and begged Vincenzo to not kill him. But Vincenzo warned the prosecutor he'd surely kill him after the latter gets everything he wants.

Vincenzo's Mother Oh Gyeong Ja Decided for Re-trial

After knowing that Oh Gyeong Ja is Vincenzo's real mother, the duo paid her a visit and brought her a gift that the mafia lawyer personally chose. Cha Young suggested the two should go out of the hospital and spend time visiting some places to relax.

When the two lawyers were about to leave, Oh Gyeong Ja confessed she'd like to file for a retrial of her case.

Jang Han Seo Made a Surprise Visit to the Jipuragi Law Office

Vincenzo confessed that the Guillotine file was with him. Hong Cha Young and Mr. Nam (Yoon Byung Hee) rushed to Vincenzo and they started to read the files contained in the device.

Suddenly, Jang Han Seo appeared in front of them. He wanted to form an alliance with Vincenzo for the second time around.

To prove he is capable as the CEO of Babel, Hong Cha Young and Vincenzo started to quiz their visitor. Unfortunately he failed to get the right answers and the two lawyers kicked him out the office.

Vincenzo Disguised Himself as Shaman

With unanimous decision, Vincenzo was chosen to disguise as the shaman for their next plan. To influence control on Oh Jeong Bae, Hong Cha Young, Vincenzo, and Mr. Nam manipulated the Daechang Daily's director. They exposed the murder that Oh Jeong Bae did years ago. The director freaked out. The Jipuragi squad made up numbers and told him he had only several days left before he dies. To avoid such demise, Vincenzo told him he must sever his ties with the Babel Group.

Jang Han Seok found out Vincenzo was the one behind Oh Jeong Bae's sudden change of heart. Days after cutting ties with the Babel Group, Oh Jeong Bae was killed in the rooftop. When the mafia lawyer went to see his body, a group of cops tried to arrest him and accused him of murder.

After knowing the Guillotine file was in the hands of Vincenzo, Jang Han Seok will now begin to do everything to get it. He already knows about Vincenzo's mother, and he will possibly harm her to retaliate.

What can you say about the latest "Vincenzo" episode? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars.

Kdramastars owns this article.

Written by Shai Collins
New Delhi, April 11 : Amid rising Covid cases and talks of partial and total localised lockdowns, most of the CEOs in India believe that along with the ongoing vaccination drive, stringent implementation of safety norms should be adopted instead of going for restrictions and partial lockdowns, according to a CII survey.

Around 75 per cent of the 710 CEOs polled were of the view that partial lockdown measures could impact the movement of labour as well as movement of goods, which would affect industrial production significantly. About 60 per cent of the CEOs said that their production could be affected if there are restrictions on movement of labour during these partial lockdowns.

Similarly, 56 per cent of the CEOs expressed their concern over loss of production of up to 50 per cent if there were restrictions on the ecosystem which supports movement of goods.

The CEOs polled pertained to both manufacturing and services and 68 per cent of the responding CEOs were from MSMEs.

"Stringent enforcement measures to promote strict adherence to health and safety protocols are essential and any measures to restrict social gatherings should not be extended to regular functioning of industry and commerce" said T.V. Narendran, President Designate of CII.

While the Indian industry is well prepared and equipped for implementation of stricter health and safety protocols as revealed by 96 per cent of the CEOs polled, stringent implementation of safety norms was opined to be better than the option of partial lockdowns by 93 per cent of the CEOs polled.

"Protecting livelihoods along with lives is essential and industry is keen to work with the Government on universal coverage (18 years and above) of vaccination programme and in implementing strict health and safety protocols", said Narendran.

Looking at ways to mitigate the impact of the restrictions, about 67 per cent of the CEOs of those polled expressed their desire to work with the government for mass vaccination of eligible workforce who are 45 years and above.

While 57 per cent of the companies expressed the need to stock raw materials in excess of just-in-time levels to meet any likely shortage of raw materials, about 31 per cent of the industry leaders said that they would accommodate their labour force in the factory in case of movement restrictions due to night curfew.

More than 60 per cent of the CEOs suggested that the government should allow movement of workers in all shifts during night curfews and also free movement of goods along with the required personnel to facilitate the movement of goods. This should be allowed with all workers and industry staff strictly following all health and safety protocols.

"The government handled both lives and livelihoods effectively during the first wave. It could do so again by keeping industrial activities out of the ambit of partial lockdowns aimed at restricting social gatherings. This will help India recover from the economic contraction and stabilize the upward growth trends being currently witnessed in several sectors," said Narendran.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered that mutant KRAS and p53, the most frequently mutated genes in pancreatic cancer, interact through the CREB1 protein to promote metastasis and tumor growth. Blocking CREB1 in preclinical models reversed these effects and reduced metastases, suggesting an important new therapeutic target for the deadly cancer.

The findings were published today in Cancer Discovery and presented at the virtual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2021 by Michael Kim, M.D., assistant professor of Surgical Oncology and Genetics.

"To our knowledge, this is the first study to show how these two major genetic drivers work together to promote tumor growth and metastasis," Kim said. "We learned that signaling downstream of mutant KRAS directly promotes mutant p53 activity. This discovery provides not only a new therapeutic target but unveils a vast transcriptional network that is activated downstream of these mutant proteins."

Mutations in KRAS and TP53, the two most frequently mutated genes in all human cancers, co-occur in roughly 70% of patients with pancreatic cancer. Mutant KRAS, found in 95% of pancreatic cancers, leads to an activated protein that aberrantly triggers many downstream signaling pathways. Mutant TP53 results in the loss of the proteins' tumor suppressor function, leaving the mutant protein capable of fueling additional oncogenic processes, such as metastasis.

Unfortunately, no current therapies are able to block the mutant forms of KRAS or p53 prevalent in pancreatic cancer, so there is a need to identify common, alternative therapeutic targets downstream of these proteins that could lead to more effective treatment regimens for pancreatic cancer, Kim explained.

To learn how mutant KRAS and p53 might be interacting, Kim's team of researchers collaborated with Gigi Lozano, Ph.D., chair of Genetics, to develop a novel mouse model of pancreatic cancer that expresses oncogenic KRAS and mutant p53 specifically in tumor cells, leaving the tumor microenvironment unaltered.

In this model, the team observed more than twice as many metastatic lesions than was seen when p53 was genetically removed, suggesting that the mutant proteins together cause a significant increase in metastatic potential. With further study, the researchers discovered mutant KRAS activates CREB1, a transcription factor that then directly interacts with mutant p53 to promote the aberrant expression of hundreds of genes.

This activation results in the increased expression of FOXA1, which in turns creates a new cascade of events leading to increased activity of the Wnt/-catenin pathway, both of which promote cancer metastasis.

Using an available small-molecule drug to target CREB1 in this model resulted in decreased expression of FOXA1, -catenin and associated target genes, along with a corresponding reduction in metastases. While early, these findings suggest that targeting CREB1 may be a viable strategy to block the metastatic effects of mutant KRAS and p53 in pancreatic cancer.

"The identification of this cooperative node suggests that there should be increased focus on CREB1 as a target that could be therapeutically exploited to improve patient outcomes," Kim said. "With the frequency of KRAS and TP53 mutations in human cancers, the implications of our findings may extend far beyond pancreatic cancer."

Going forward, the researchers hope to discover other important elements working downstream of mutant p53 that may affect the cancer cells or the surrounding tumor microenvironment. A greater understanding of this complex network may point to additional therapeutic targets or combination approaches to better treat pancreatic cancer.

Explore further Scientists uncover mutations that make cancer resistant to therapies targeting KRAS
Online aggregator InsuranceDekho is expected to have garnered Rs 1,200 crore in premium through its platform during the financial year ended March 2021, a top company official said.

It also intends to expand its reach to over 70 locations in the next six months from 35 currently, buoyed by increasing awareness about protection in the country, InsuranceDekho co-founder and CEO Ankit Agrawal told PTI in an interaction.

The company, which mainly caters to motor, health and life segments, had a premium of Rs 600 crore in the preceding fiscal year.

Agrawal said InsuranceDekho is one of the few that expanded even during the COVID-19 times and the pandemic has helped create a lot of awareness in people about importance of insurance.

"Even as the first quarter (April-June 2020) was the washout in terms of motor (insurance) perspective, at the same time health and life insurance saw significant growth. People realised the importance of protection in terms of health and life and they started buying these products more proactively.

"I think that after the first quarter, business started picking up. We exited March (2021) with our lifetime high revenue and premium numbers" Agrawal said.

He added that from the adoption perspective, people realised the importance of technology. "Earlier, people never understood technology, why it is important for insurance, etc. So, we saw more payments getting online, more policies being issued online, the entire shift happened from offline to offline because of the pandemic."



The company is on target of meeting Rs 1,200 crore premium for 2020-21. In the preceding year, the premium collection was of Rs 600 crore, he said.

The direct brokers, such as InsuranceDekho, can earn revenues in the range of 15-22.50 per cent of the premium collection in case of motor insurance, and about 15-25 per cent in the health segment, according to Irdai-mandated guidelines.

Agarwal said what COVID-19 has done for the insurance awareness in the country, no amount of government and industry spending could have done.

Insurance penetration in India is still low as compared to the developed countries. A lot more needs to be done to raise awareness among people despite concerted efforts by the government, the regulator and the industry players, he added.

During the first decade of insurance sector liberalisation in India, the sector reported an increase in insurance penetration from 2.71 per cent in 2001 to 5.20 per cent in 2009, according to the latest data from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai).

Since then, it declined to 3.30 per cent by 2014 and again started increasing from 2015 and in 2019, penetration was 3.76 per cent.

Insurance penetration is measured as the percentage of to GDP of a country.

Agrawal said that as a growing company, InsuranceDekho intends to increase its presence from 35 locations currently to 70 in the next six months.

"We think we would perhaps be one of the few which expanded even during COVID-19 times.

"We added 300 people during COVID-19 on our payrolls and will add couple of hundred more in coming days. Also, in the past four-five weeks, we opened five branch offices," he said.

Agrawal said the momentum of buying insurance on a priority basis will remain there at least for the next one or two quarters.

"When a calamity like this happens, people reset their spending habits and reset the way of their living. I think the same thing is going to happen post-COVID-19 also. The increased awareness about buying insurance will continue," he added.

The aggregator, however, is also of the view that life is slated to increase for certain categories.

"Besides, in health also, we might see some increase happening there," Agrawal said.

On the new kind of products in the sector, he said a lot of interest is being observed in areas such as cyber insurance, bite-size insurance (small size or sachet) as well as home insurance. "We will now start focusing on these segments."



Asked about any plans to hit the capital market, InsuranceDekho said initial public offering (IPO) is not on the radar at least for the next 3-4 years.

Agrawal said the company is sufficiently capitalised as of now and it may raise capital as and when it feels there is a need for money.

In September last year, InsuranceDekho was committed USD 20 million (Rs 147 crore) investment from its parent GirnarSoft.

(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.)
LORAIN, Ohio  Three people were shot early Sunday, with one man suffering critical injuries, inside a Lorain bar, police say.

The shooting happened just after midnight at the Cotton Club, on East 28th Street near Pearl Avenue in South Lorain, police said in a news release. When officers arrived on scene, they found a 19-year-old man inside the bar suffering several gunshot wounds.

The man was taken to a local hospital in critical condition, Lorain police said. His current condition was not provided.

Authorities learned that two other people were also shot inside the bar, but they are not cooperating with the investigators probe, according to the news release.

Lorain police have not identified the suspected shooter, and no arrests have been made.

Anyone with information about the shooting should contact the Lorain Police Detective Bureau at 440-204-2105.

Read more on cleveland.com:

Woman hit, killed on Ohio Route 8 in Akron, police say

Members of Clevelands Grimy Lost Boys gang tied to fatal shooting of 13-year-old boy, carjacking, court records say

Man was beaten to death in Clevelands Kinsman neighborhood, medical examiner rules
The nephew of an Anzac soldier killed in World War I says he was staggered to learn of the existence of a war diary, which was handed to him at Melbournes Shrine of Remembrance on Saturday.

The diary of Morris Milliken was found among the papers of another Gallipoli veteran, John OCallaghan, by Mr OCallaghans great-grandson, who traced Mr Millikens relatives.

Malcolm Milliken holds his uncle Morris Millikens World War I diary. Credit:Eddie Jim

Malcolm Milliken, 81, who travelled from his home in Nelson Bay, NSW, to Melbourne to accept the diary, is keen to find out more about Morris Milliken, the uncle killed at Gallipoli before Malcolm was born.

Morris, who came from a farming family in Tatuanui, in New Zealands north, wrote in neat cursive script, but the diary captures the precarious nature of life at Gallipoli.
Egypts president Abdel Fatah el-Sissi met his Tunisian counterpart Kais Saied in Cairo on Saturday for talks on the crisis in Libya and other issues.

The two leaders held extensive and constructive talks at Cairos Ittihadiya palace, officials said.

During a joint news conference el-Sissi said Egypt and Tunisia would provide all the support necessary to hold general elections in Libya in December.

Libya, which borders Egypt and Tunisia, has been in chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

The two leaders also discussed a massive dam that Ethiopia is building on the Nile Rivers main tributary.

Egypt and Sudan consider the project a major threat if it is filled and operated without a legally binding agreement.

The Tunisian president said his country supports Egypts position on the dispute.

Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia are deadlocked in a dispute over the dam, and the latest round of talks collapsed Tuesday.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
AUTHORITIES are stepping up the ante against graft, after unveiling new measures that will see all public officials  including Cabinet ministers, legislators and senior civil servants  taking an integrity pledge as part of the countrys efforts to fight corruption.

The integrity pledge was adopted last week during a high profile national anti-corruption strategy steering committee meeting of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc), which was held in Harare.

This comes as Zacc has also signed agreements with law enforcement agencies in a number of countries, including some well-known tax heavens around the world, as it bids to recover millions of United States dollars stashed outside the country.

As part of measures to prevent corruption of employees in the private and public sector, members of Parliament and political parties will be required to commit to the principles of integrity and accountability.

After committing, if anyone then engages in unethical conduct Zacc will hold you accountable.

This is part of our corruption prevention strategy and the high-level steering committee will oversee implementation of the strategy and ensure that all necessary statutes are enacted, Zacc spokesperson, John Makamure told the Daily News On Sunday yesterday.

The integrity pledge binds people to practice good governance based on transparency, accountability and fairness.

Some of its underpinning beliefs are that corruption is a major obstacle to the economic, political and social development of the country, and that all stakeholders such as the government, public sector, private sector, political parties and the citizenry have a role to play in combating corruption.

Realising that corruption in political systems fundamentally undermines integrity of political office and democratic political office and democratic political process  political parties and and their members pledge to observe the principles of honesty, integrity, ethical conduct and accountability including not accepting or giving bribes or being involved in any corrupt practices

To observe principles of honesty, integrity, ethical conduct and accountability, to promote awareness in the fight against corruption and promote integrity in key issues, to follow probity and the rule of law and zero tolerance to all forms of corruption, the integrity pledge reads in part.

This comes as graft has been cited as one of the major problems hindering the stability and development of Zimbabwes economy.

In the latest Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2020, Zimbabwe is ranked 157 out of 180 countries.

The CPI gives an overview of how businesspeople and experts perceive corruption in the public sector, and this index usually has a direct bearing on foreign direct investment.

This also comes as Zimbabwes corruption fight has often been hampered by the duplication of roles among crime-fighting agencies mandated to deal with graft.

Recently, Zacc chairperson Loice Matanda-Moyo revealed that friction between her body, the police and the Special Anti-Corruption Unit (Sacu) in President Emmerson Mnangagwas Office was retarding the fight against graft.

In March, police commissioner Erasmus Makodza also told a Harare magistrate court that he was arrested the previous month by Zacc for alleged abuse of office after he declined to withdraw fraud charges against alleged land baron Felix Munyaradzi.

Makodza claimed that Munyaradzi was working with a Zacc investigator and a police officer to nail him and has since lodged a complaint with the police, who are investigating the matter. Daily News
Tourism industry cries foul over new draft Act By Sunimalee Dias View(s): View(s):

Sri Lankas tourism industry on Friday voiced their opposition over the sudden move by the authorities to change the Tourism Act of 2005 and highlighted that the new draft is likely to remove the private sector from the boards.

At a joint media briefing held at the Ramada Hotel in Colombo the Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) and the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) called on authorities to focus on the present burning issues and not a change of the existing Tourism Act that is unlikely to generate any more tourists than the numbers that are already trickling in.

As an industry that is funding the operations of the separate bodies the private sector is required to be engaged.

The unofficial draft of the new Tourism Act received by the Business Times states that the new Act will vest powers for the Authority to facilitate, plan, promote and implement policy relating to the tourism industry; provide regulation and monitoring and provide protocols for the tourism and travel industry; establish the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management and to also repeal the Tourism Act No. 38 of 2005, the Tourist Development Act, No. 14 of 1968 and Part II of the Finance Act No. 25 of 2003. The Authority will consist of the following members appointed by the Minister: The Chairperson, Sri Lanka Tourism; the Director-General; Secretaries to the Ministry of Tourism, Provincial Councils, Cultural Affairs, Environment and Wildlife or a nominee and a representative of the Treasury and Chairman of the Central Cultural Fund. There is no private representation unlike the current practice.

The 2005 Act however, was established with the intention of engaging the private sector participation in the running of the operations of the separate entities of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau (SLCB) and the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM).

The draft also calls to establish an Advisory Committee appointed by the Minister that will be represented by the Information and Communication Technology Agency; an expert in global marketing and promotion; three persons to represent the National Industry Council from associations registered with the SLTDA and three representing the Online Travel Agents with a physical presence in Sri Lanka.

The Authority is to maintain a Fund that will obtain finances as voted by Parliament; as obtained by way of donations, gifts or grants from any source; rates, taxes, fees and charges levied by the Authority; all revenue derived from any property vested in or administered by the Authority; revenues from services provided. Another Tourism Development Fund is to be established for the development and promotion of the tourism industry. This fund will accumulate one third of the embarkation levy, 1 per cent charged as the Tourism Development Levy and other money obtained as taxes and other sums of money as may be required. The draft also allows the Authority to use not more than 50 per cent of the money from the Emergency Fund if there had been no tourism crisis for a 12 month period to achieve the objectives of the Authority.

The draft will establish a National Tourism Industry Council comprising the Minister; representatives of each registered association with a term of office of the members for a period of three years. The board of the SLITHM will allow for the representatives from the different associations.

A Dispute Resolution Centre is being proposed in this draft Act that will be able to adopt, rules of procedure for arbitration, conciliation, mediation, adjudication and such other alternative dispute resolution services. The draft also states that regulation is to be made identifying procedures applicable for the procurement of goods and services.
There was no compromise in the historic battle of the Alamo, but compromise is the hallmark of the new plan to reimagine the Alamo grounds, providing proper reverence, historical context and interpretation to the Cradle of Texas Liberty.

This new plan may not be the sweeping vision of several years ago, but it also lacks ugly glass walls, keeps the plaza open for all  no handrails hidden in renderings!  and will move the site beyond the status quo of carnivallike businesses on hallowed ground. There is much to like in this plan and an invaluable lesson: Compromise can be a source of strength.

Much credit to Assistant City Manager Lori Houston, who has stuck with the Alamo reimagining plan over the span of years and its many iterations, navigating tricky politics and heated emotions from stakeholders.

Meanwhile, District 3 City Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran, recently appointed as a tri-chair of the Alamo Citizens Advisory Committee and as one of the six members of the Alamo Management Committee, has brought a fresh and welcome perspective.

And hats off to Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who made the political changes necessary to revitalize this potentially $450 million project that so many had declared dead.

The new plan deftly navigates a slew of sensitive issues surrounding any Alamo makeover.

Yes, we were proponents of moving the Cenotaph a few hundred feet to the south. But this was a nonstarter for thousands of Texans and the Texas Historical Commission, which denied a permit last year. At that time District 1 City Councilman Roberto Trevino, who had been councils lead on this project, said the decision spells the end of the project, but clearly such a view was far too narrow.

Going forward, the Cenotaph will stay in its place and be restored. As Express-News reporter Scott Huddleston has outlined, the new plan also puts a spotlight on the 1836 battle. This will include a partial representation of the Alamos north wall, wooden palisades by the Alamo church, and a replica of the cannon station and Losoya House.

Pavers and landscaping beds will mark the Alamo footprint, giving a distinct impression of the outer walls of the Mission San Antonio de Valero while also ensuring the public has access to Alamo Plaza at all hours.

The Woolworth building will be spared demolition, ensuring at the very least a civil rights exhibit honoring the desegregation of lunch counters. Our preference is for the state-owned Crockett, Woolworth and Palace buildings to be turned into a world-class museum with significant space dedicated to the civil rights movement in San Antonio and the history of slavery in Texas and at the Alamo.

Alamo Street also will remain open for Fiesta parades. Gone is the concept of lowering the plazas elevation by up to 2 feet, potentially disturbing Indigenous ancestral remains.

We could go on about other important compromises and changes  outreach to the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation to develop protocols for the handling of remains on the Alamo grounds, the hiring of Kate Rogers as the new Alamo executive director  but the point here is there is a way to honor history while preserving traditions.

We recognize there are details to be worked out, but lets not lose sight of the bigger picture. This plan opens the door to a layered and complete story about the last 300 years while also focusing on the 1836 battle  the hook that draws so many to this sacred site.

Sensitive to the concerns of stakeholders, this is a plan that honors the past and present. It deserves the support of the city, state and private sector.
Part one of two

A century ago, Pennsylvania women got the right to vote and something else, too  the right to serve on a jury.

When the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, it also hurried along jury rights for women in several states. Pennsylvania, as well as Arkansas, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Dakota and Wisconsin, all passed laws saying women could serve on juries starting in 1921.

Here in Lackawanna County, a short blurb headlined Courthouse Notes in the Jan. 3, 1921, Scranton Times heralded the change, saying, The appearance of women as jurors next Monday will be their first ... in the history of the county. The item noted the busy upcoming trial schedule.

Anna Evans of Scranton, Esther Bush of Olyphant, Mary Regan of Scranton and Jeannette Bellamy of Carbondale joined 16 men selected as potential jurors for the first case of the session, heard by Judge E.C. Newcomb, The Scranton Times reported on Jan. 10, 1921.

All women excepting Mrs. Bush came to court unaccompanied, the article reported. They were assigned seats in front row of the spectators section on the Adams Avenue side. Mrs. Bush had a seat in the center of the courtroom, with her husband, Harvey Bush, Olyphant druggist, by her side.

Evans was the first woman to enter the courtroom that morning. After being assigned a seat by Tipstaff Daniel James, the 69-year-old reflected on her role in history.

I was never a suffragist, she told The Scranton Times reporter. I never gave much thought to this thing of women being permitted to vote, although I always felt that women who own property should be allowed to vote.

Esther Bush was the first woman selected to be on the 20-person jury pool, and she chatted with Evans during a recess in jury selection that day, the newspaper reported. Newcombs court clerk, Eleazer Jenkins, knew Esther Bush and introduced her to the judge during that same break.

But otherwise, Newcomb took no formal notice of the appearance of women for jury duty today, though Jenkins varied his usual swearing-in of the jurors for the occasion, saying, Ladies and gentlemen, please rise, each of you raise your right hand and be sworn, The Scranton Times reported.

Josephine Loftus, Scranton; Ruth Lewis, Dickson City; and Hannah Wilson, Dunmore, were also called to the courthouse but were not picked as candidates the first day. Another potential juror, Emily Wilcox, who also served as chair of the Democratic Womens county committee, was prevented by illness from showing up for jury duty, the article added.

Its interesting to note that, at the time, 20 members of the jury pool would be drawn for each case. Lawyers for the prosecution and defense would then make challenges to four potential jurors each to reach the requisite 12.

A day later, all 20 of the jurors selected were dismissed around noon by Newcomb, who said the court was very much overworked and asked them to come back the next morning, the newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, Wilcox arrived in court the same day, recovered from her illness. She, Bellamy, Lewis, Wilson and Loftus were selected as part of another 20-person jury, the newspaper reported.

Both Wilcox and Wilson eventually made it through the challenges to hear a case involving building contractors Boland Brothers suing Mrs. Rae Strohl over an unpaid bill for construction of a building along Providence Road. Strohl claimed her husband contracted the job without her authorization, a Jan. 14, 1921, Scranton Times article reported.

The jury, on which Wilcox served as foreman, deliberated only 10 minutes before awarding Boland the full claim, $880.12. The judge, Alonzo T. Searle of Honesdale, who was brought in to preside over the case, told the two female jurors, Your conscience neednt worry you about your verdict.

But it wasnt all smooth sailing for women jurors in Lackawanna County and beyond. Next week, Local History will take a look at how differently women were treated as potential jurors for criminal trials.
Veteran fund manager Hugh Sergeant has rarely been more positive about the UK equity market in a City career spanning more than a quarter of a century than he is now.

Sergeant, head of value and recovery at asset manager River and Mercantile, believes the UK stock market could deliver returns of up to 30 per cent this year.

His view is that corporate profitability will bounce back sharply as the economy reopens and goes into strong recovery mode.

Bounce: Over the last year, in the aftermath of a strong market correction in February and March 2020, the fund has recorded a total return of 61%

Although he doesn't dismiss the possibility of a third wave of coronavirus, he argues that its economic impact  if it happens  would be less destructive because of the Government's successful vaccination programme.

'The animal spirits are fairly good,' he says, using a phrase coined by economist John Maynard Keynes 85 years ago to describe consumer confidence in the economy and stock market. 'There's a lot of cash out there waiting to be spent by consumers  and it will be. That will be good for UK plc.'

He adds: 'The UK stock market is in a sweet spot. Share valuations are still low relative to other equity markets because of the lingering hangover from the Brexit referendum. So they have greater potential to rise.

'Corporate profits are set to recover strongly as the economy reopens, while the market is underpinned by certainties it hasn't had for a while  greater political certainty and more confidence that we can break the grip of coronavirus through the vaccination programme.'

Sergeant's River and Mercantile UK Recovery Fund is set up to maximise returns from this market bounce.

More than 80% of the fund's assets are invested in the UK

More than 80 per cent of the fund's assets are invested in the UK, with holdings ranging in size from FTSE 100 giants BP, Shell and Unilever  through to minnows such as AIM-listed Somero Enterprises, a company that manufactures equipment used in the laying of concrete.

Judging by the fund's performance, the 'bounce' is already in full swing. Over the last year, in the aftermath of a strong market correction in February and March 2020, the fund has recorded a total return of 61 per cent.

But Sergeant is optimistic there is more to come. He believes there are pockets of excellent value in sectors such as energy and banking which should benefit from an economy in growth mode. BP, Shell and banks Lloyds, HSBC and Barclays are all top 10 holdings.

'Energy companies will do well on the back of economic recovery,' says Sergeant. 'As for the banks, the economic environment is the most favourable it has been for ten years and their shares remain attractively valued.'

Unlike most other fund managers, Sergeant does not run a concentrated portfolio. Far from it. The UK Recovery fund is invested in more than 300 companies.

He describes this as a 'Hugh Sergeant idiosyncrasy' and says it has stood the fund's investors in good stead over the years. 'I am constantly looking at new ideas for the fund,' he says.

'It often means I adopt a gradualist approach where I invest a small amount into a share to begin with and build the position as positive news comes out about the company.'

He admits some companies 'blow up'  are stock market flops  although he says his success rate is greater than 90 per cent.

Key overseas holdings include German car-maker Volkswagen  Sergeant believes its investment in electric cars is unrecognised by the rest of the market  and Chinese internet search engine Baidu. The fund's stock market identification code is B614105 and annual charges total 1.14 per cent.

With an income of less than one per cent a year, it is not suitable for income investors.
New Delhi:

As the festive season is around the corner, the automobile industry is all set to encash the best time of the year by offering huge discounts, attractive offers and by launching limited edition variants.

Maruti Suzuki, which holds more than 50% share of the domestic automobile industry is ready to capitalise the festive season as well. For this, the company recently launched 2017 S-Cross and now has introduced Special Edition of Alto 800.

In the newest edition, the Alto 800 Utsav Special Edition undergoes cosmetic changes in which front bumpers gets angular chrome garnish along with circular chrome accents around the fog lamps.

However, no changes have been made in the engine. It is the same 800 cc three-cylinder engine which produces 48 hp of power and 69 Nm of torque with 5-speed manual transmission.

The special edition to also come up with new seat covers, OVRM indicators, door seal guards and reverse parking sensors.

The new Alto Utsav Edition will be available at an option of Rs 20,000 over the Alto 800 Vxi(O) variant. The official price of Alto 800 Utsav Edition is yet to confirmed by the company.

Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 falls in the mini-hatchback segment and is in direct competition with Renault KWID, Datsun Redi-GO and Hyundai Eon.

To compete with these available options in the market, Maruti Suzuki is planning to launch a concept car which was also showcased at a 2012 Geneva Motor Show.
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.
Theyre often in darkened, cavelike spaces, with a stage nestled among patrons tables and chairs. These small clubs, called tablaos, have acted as a springboard for generations of flamenco artists in Spain to launch professional careers, much in the way that many jazz musicians first came to the publics attention in the clubs of cities like New Orleans.

But that intimate setup, designed to pack the audience close to the stage, has left most tablaos unable to reopen even after Spain lifted its most severe pandemic lockdown restrictions last summer. The situation has created an existential struggle for these cherished institutions at the heart of a national art form.

Juan Manuel del Rey, president of the national association of tablaos, said that if the government didnt step in with more financial support, We are now heading for extinction.

You cannot function economically when you have almost more employees and artists than spectators, he said.

While many theaters in Spain have reopened since last summer with reduced audience capacity, social distancing and other rules, that approach has been financially unviable for tablaos. Since the pandemic began, 34 of the national associations 93 tablaos have shut their doors for good, del Rey said.

Read more: Spain's Covid-19 rate jumps, vaccine deliveries speed up

Their disappearance comes just as flamenco was enjoying one of its brightest moments, partly thanks to a tourism boom in Spain in recent years. Before the pandemic, foreign visitors flocked to the tablaos to discover a Spanish tradition that UNESCO celebrates among the worlds intangible cultural heritage. After seven years of growth, the number of foreign visitors to Spain dropped to 19 million people last year, down from almost 84 million in 2019.

Spains government gave a group of tablaos 232,000 euros (about $275,000) last year as part of more than 2 million euros that it put toward supporting the flamenco sector during the pandemic  a move that the culture ministry described in an email as an extraordinary effort. But tablao managers say that the spate of recent closings shows that such support has been too little, too late.

In recent years, tablaos provided work for 95% of Spains flamenco artists, del Rey said. And many artists say that they value the creative benefits of working in the informal venues, where they can test new ideas in front of an audience while working toward a larger production.

Performing in a tablao is something very unique, because it is a place that allows me to reconnect with my inner feelings and share the emotions directly with the public, Jesus Carmona, 35, who last year won Spains prestigious national dance award, said in an interview.

It also feels like coming home, said Carmona, who first performed in a tablao at age 10 and has since brought flamenco to many of the worlds greatest stages. I have somehow grown up performing in tablaos, and I believe that you should never turn your back on the people and the places that have helped you progress.

This month, he danced in front of an audience of just 32 people in the Corral de la Moreria, one of Madrids most famous flamenco clubs. The venues director is del Rey, the national associations president, and the club was founded by his father in the 1950s, when tablaos started to flourish in Madrid and other parts of Spain.

Although he hosted that one-off show for Carmona, he has otherwise kept the establishment closed since March of last year. Del Rey limited the audience size for the performance to a quarter of the 120 people the tablao could fit in before the pandemic, when it also used to hold two performances per night.

At Las Tablas, another Madrid tablao, the venues two managers said they had been able to reopen their venue in February by taking on much of the work previously done by five furloughed employees.

We have also now had to become cleaners and waitresses, said Antonia Moya, one of the managers, who was once a flamenco dancer herself. This situation is simply not sustainable, but I also cannot imagine my life without this tablao and flamenco.

Some overseas visitors have managed to make their way to the struggling tablaos despite pandemic restrictions.

Read more: Daredevil free climber scales one of Europe's tallest skyscrapers

At Las Tablas, Sabina Reiter, a German student, attended her first flamenco performance last week alongside a British friend. I love all kinds of music and dancing, and it feels miraculous not only to be able to enjoy an evening out with my friend in Madrid, but also to discover flamenco up close rather than just on television, Reiter said.

It is that kind of response that make the small venues so vital for the performers art.

Jesus Fernandez, a flamenco dancer who performed this month in a show that he also directed at the Centro Cultural Flamenco tablao in Madrid, said such venues were the best place for a flamenco dancer to try out things and forge an identity, because you can improvise and see how the public reacts in a way that is simply impossible to do within the more rigid format of a theater show.

Yet the reality of the pandemic has been inescapable for many tablaos across Spain, including the famous Palacio del Flamenco of Barcelona, which recently closed its doors permanently.

In Madrid, the century-old Villa Rosa  whose colorful tiled walls were featured in movies by Pedro Almodovar and other Spanish directors  last month held a farewell outdoor performance, coupled with a protest rally, after which attendees placed flowers and candles at its entrance.

Such losses mean that Spain risks losing the university of our flamenco, said Rosana de Aza, a producer of flamenco shows, who has run tablaos in Seville and Madrid. The tablao is really where our artists have been able to put into practice all that they have learned and turn their passion into a profession.

As the remaining tablaos struggle to continue paying rent on their shuttered venues, some managers believe that their survival rests on raising awareness of the importance of flamenco among locals, some of whom have steered clear of tablaos as tourism venues.

Some people, particularly younger ones, were not appreciative of how important flamenco and the tablaos are for our collective identity, and not just for tourists, said Mimo Aguero, the director of the Tablao de Carmen in Barcelona.

Unfortunately, she said, we sometimes only realize the importance of what we can lose once we have actually lost it.
Dubai-based Jetex, a global leader in executive aviation, is inviting residents and visitors to the worlds most exclusive Iftar experience in the skies above the UAE offered during Ramadan.

The once-in-a-lifetime luxury hospitality experience offers breathtaking aerial views of iconic landmarks and natural vistas in the country against the setting sun, apart from an exquisite culinary treat.

The journey commences just before sunset at the Jetex VIP Terminal in Dubai. After being welcomed, the guests are chauffeur-driven to their private jet.

The aircraft will then take-off and follow the sunset towards Abu Dhabi giving travellers magnificent views of some of the UAEs most celebrated destinations from the skies. The crew will choose the most optimal altitude and cruising speed to ensure that passengers enjoy sensational window views throughout the flight.

A delicious iftar will be served once the sun sets midway through the flight. The menu will include traditional Ramadan delicacies prepared with a special Jetex gourmet flair to make the occasion truly memorable. Up in the sky passengers might have to wait about four minutes longer to break their fast as they may spend more time to enjoy the spectacular sunset.

The journey will continue as the aircraft cruises above the rolling dunes of the desert towards Al Ain and onwards to the UAEs mountain range in the East. The spectacular mountain sights will include the countrys highest peak Jebel Jais, located in the Hajjar Mountains, and the Hatta Mountains.

Passengers will get a glimpse of the Indian Ocean and Fujairah before the flight continues towards Ras Al Khaimah and follows the azure Arabian Gulf coastline of Umm Al Quwain, Ajman and Sharjah. Finally, passengers will enjoy Dubais evening skyline, including the majestic Burj Khalifa, as well as the Palm Islands and The World prior to landing back at the Jetex VIP Terminal.

Upon arrival, they will be invited to enjoy the rest of the evening in one of the lounges of the Jetex VIP Terminal with elegant service and amenities at their leisure.

Adel Mardini, Founder & CEO of Jetex, said: Once again, Jetex is taking private jet experience to a next level. Iftar in the Sky will give the millennia-old tradition a truly new dimension relevant to the XXI century while providing support to the charity programmes of Dubai Cares, which is so relevant and important during Ramadan. This is a contribution that we are proud to make on behalf of Jetex and our passengers.

The unforgettable travel experience is priced from AED66,000 onwards for up to six travellers and will be available between April 13 and May 12. Suhour packages are available as well, Jetex said.

In celebration of the spirit of Ramadan, Jetex will donate 10% of all proceeds from Iftar in the Sky to Dubai Cares, part of Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, to support its programmes aimed at empowering underserved children and youth with access to quality education.

Dubai Cares CEO Dr Tariq Al Gurg said: Ramadan represents a time for the community to come together in the spirit of generosity and giving back to those less fortunate. The Iftar in the Sky experience by Jetex, gives UAE residents the opportunity to connect with their loved ones for an unforgettable journey while also contributing towards the greater good by supporting less privileged children and youth. We thank Jetex for this meaningful initiative that will help us elevate the reach of our educational programs worldwide.

To ensure the highest levels of safety and comfort of travelers, the aircraft cabin will be thoroughly sanitised using the signature Jetex bipolar ionization technology before and after each flight. Moreover, all the necessary Covid-19 measures and social distancing rules will be in place at all times, the company said. - TradeArabia News Service
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the catering industry required business owners to reinvent themselves.

For George Pachucy III, co-owner of the Regal Room in Olyphant, that meant starting off-site catering a few years earlier than anticipated.

It kind of forced us to develop a whole new side of our business, he said. Its a great thing, but I would have loved to have done it in a normal year when we could really dedicate money and effort to it. We werent really ready for it, but we had to figure it out.

Now, Pachucy believes the business is well-suited to meet the added demand for catered events throughout the community.

Its only going to get bigger and better, because who knows how long this is going to last, he said. Weve seen about a 60% increase in off-site catering requests since last year and I think the outdoor venues are going to be popular spots. The data shows its much safer outside and I think people who are concerned about the virus are more likely to go to an event if its outside.

As of April 4, Gov. Tom Wolf announced venues hosting indoor events may allow for 25% of maximum occupancy while outdoor events may allow for 50% maximum occupancy, should attendees and workers comply with a 6-foot social distancing requirement.

Pachucy is hopeful the loosening of restrictions will help the business rebound from a difficult past year.

We lost or re-scheduled 80 events and we book close to 200 on a good year, he said. We already had about 100 events booked by March of last year and were on our way to a really good year, so it really stung.

Pachucy said the reopening of the Ideal Restaurant, a staple in the region until 1996, last year provided a spark during bleak times.

It was a way to just stay afloat and the community did an unbelievable job of helping us, he said.

The owners also rented a portion of the ballroom out to a few consignments shops to recoup some lost revenue.

We couldnt use the whole room and were looking for another way to make some money, Pachucy said. Tough times call for drastic measures.

Even though there are promising signs, Pachucy knows it may still take some time before the industry fully recovers.

Were seeing some things start to get re-booked, but people are still afraid to come out to events, especially indoors, he said. It will come back, but probably not as soon as people anticipate.

Eileen Getz, owner of KLs Catering in West Wyoming, expanded the sale of take-out trays and family-style meals to help offset some of the losses from canceled events.

All we do is catering for corporate and private events and the governor rules everything, she said. His decisions run the catering industry, and were at 25% capacity and others are at 75%.

The volatility of the virus and ever-changing rules have created many challenges for the catering industry.

Its been pretty devastating because you cant plan an event or forecast an income, Getz said. When you have an event, its all about the planning and now everything is dependent on whether the governor needs to take action.

Even though KLs Catering has been around for more than 18 years, Getz noted business has suffered recently due the lack of parties and events.

Catering is a word of mouth business, she said. Our industry depends on people having a good experience. Were hoping the virus cases come down because then things will start to open up more, but we have to deal with the hand were dealt.

Getz has been encouraged by an influx of people at least thinking about holding events later in the year.

Weve been getting calls where people want to book tentatively should they be able to have the amount of people they want to invite, she said. Our hope is all those events that are pre-booked can actually happen.

Larry Nicolais, owner of Constantinos Catering and Events in Clarks Summit, is eager to put 2020 behind him.

It was significantly quieter than previous years, he said. Our focus is on 2021 and resuming our regular operations, and our customers are ready to start celebrating again. Our calendar is very full, both at our venue and for off-site catering.

With many events on hold over the past year, Constantinos prepared packaged meals for takeout and catered smaller events for people eating at home with their immediate families around the holidays, Nicolais said.

It kept our name out there and kept our employees working, he said.

While many people are eager to book events at the moment, Nicolais recognizes another spike in cases can change the outlook.

Were saying no to customers every day for future events, but we need people to feel comfortable enough for the events to happen, he said.

Nicolais was grateful to see some restrictions lifted and feels the changes move the business a step closer to normalcy.

Going to 25% allows the majority of events to proceed at our venue, he said. Wed like to see the number go up a little bit higher, but it allows a path forward.
IQALUIT, Nunavut - Russia wants to stretch out imaginary lines on the ocean floor  and below it  and that has one northern security expert worried about consequences for other Arctic countries like Canada.

The midnight sun shines over the ice-covered waters near Resolute Bay as seen from the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent on Saturday, July 12, 2008. Russia wants to draw imaginary lines on the ocean floor, and below it, which has one expert worried about the consequences for other Arctic countries like Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

IQALUIT, Nunavut - Russia wants to stretch out imaginary lines on the ocean floor  and below it  and that has one northern security expert worried about consequences for other Arctic countries like Canada.

Last week, Russia filed a submission to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to extend a claim to the Arctic Ocean seabed.

The UN still has to review the submission but, if it's approved, Russia would have exclusive rights to resources in the seabed and below it, but not in the water.

The new submission would push Russia's claim all the way up to Canada's exclusive economic zone, an area 200 nautical miles from the coastline, in which Canadians have sole rights to fish, drill and pursue other economic activities.

Philip Steinberg, a political geography professor at the University of Durham in the United Kingdom, estimates Russia's submission expands its original claim by about 705,000 square kilometres.

Robert Huebert, a political science professor at the University of Calgary, said Russia's request gets as close to Canada's 200-mile limit as possible.

"This is a maximalist submission. You cannot claim any more," said Huebert, an Arctic security and defence analyst with the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies.

Countries have sovereignty over their zones but can submit scientific evidence to the UN to claim control over the soil and subsoil of the extended continental shelf.

Russia's amended submission overlaps with those from Canada and Denmark, but does not extend into the north of Alaska.

"In effect, theyre claiming the entire Arctic Ocean as their continental shelf in regards to where their Arctic comes up against Canadas and Denmark's." Huebert said.

The claims from Canada, Denmark (on behalf of Greenland), and Russia already overlap at the North Pole, but the amended claim goes beyond that, Huebert said.

"We havent seen a country before thats extended over its neighbours. Heres a situation where theyre claiming the entire Canadian and Danish continental shelf as part of their continental shelf."

Huebert noted there have been recent reports of an increased Russian military presence on the Ukrainian border over the last two weeks.

"If the Russians reinvigorate the conflict with Ukraine, that is going to spill into all of this." he said.

I dont think anyone should assume that Russia will do anything less than pursue its maximum foreign policy interests."

Whitney Lackenbauer, a professor at Trent Universitywho specializes in circumpolar affairs,disagrees.

"Russia is playing by the rules. And for those of us who are concerned about Russias floutingof the rules-based order, I actually take a great deal of comfort in seeing Russia go through the established process in this particular case," Lackenbauer said.

He believes Russia's submission signals eventual talks between the three countries to determine the limits of their continental shelves.

"Setting out to negotiate where the outermost limits would be was something that was always in the cards," Lackenbauer said.

"Im not worried about Russias actions as an Arctic coastal state seeking to determine the outermost limits of its extended continental shelf."

Nor is he concerned about potential conflict, since Russia has submitted the required scientific evidence.

"You cant sit on a continental shelf and claim squatters rights to it."

In a statement, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada said Canada "remains firmly committed to exercising in full its sovereign rights in the Arctic" according to international law.

The statement also said Russia's revised outer limit "does not establish new rights for Russia over the newly created overlap areas."

It said Canada is studying Russias revised claim on its outer limits to prepare an appropriate response.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2021.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- While some colleges across the country have already made coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines mandatory, it appears that more institutions of higher education will be following suit for returning and new students this fall.

According to a report by NPR.com, the list of colleges that will require students to have received the COVID-19 vaccine is rapidly growing.

Rutgers University in New Jersey was the first college to announce coronavirus vaccines would be mandatory for the fall. Now, dozens of top colleges have announced the vaccine will be required this fall. According to the report, they include:

Duke University in North Carolina

University of Notre Dame in Indiana

Two Ivy League schools: Brown in Rhode Island and Cornell in New York

Northeastern University in Massachusetts

Cleveland State University for all all students living on campus

Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York.LBM1948 | Wikimedia Commons

With vaccines in New York now available to people age 16 and older, more colleges across the state will likely require proof of the COVID-19 vaccine. While there are three approved vaccines in New York -- by Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Moderna -- those students under age 18 can only get the Pfizer vaccine, which was approved for people age 16 and older. The other two vaccine brands have been approved for people age 18 and older.

Since the outbreak of the virus, colleges have been struggling to contain COVID-19 spread on campuses. .

REQUIRING VACCINES NOT NEW

Colleges have required vaccinations for all infectious diseases in the past. So mandating students to receive the COVID-19 shot is not surprising. In a survey of about 100 four-year institutions across the U.S., nearly all required at least one vaccine for enrollment, NPR reported. For example, MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, was required at 87.5% of campuses surveyed, the report says.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTER
NEWS

Pentagon transforms Campia Turzii unit into a NATO air hub at the Black Sea A former Soviet airbase in central Romania could become a hub for US Air Force operations in south-eastern Europe, where the Pentagon is seeking to Mai mult

Nuclearelectrica shareholders approved to terminate negotiations with Chinese for building reactors 3 and 4 from Cernavoda Nuclearelectrica's Board of Directors has been mandated to initiate proceedings to terminate negotiations with China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), as well as legal effects Mai mult

Renault holds expansion of its plant in Romania, 15,000 jobs cancelled at global level "Putting capacity growth projects planned in Morocco and Romania on hold" - is one of the measures included in the draft plan of Renault Group Mai mult

Romania is a net importer of electricity in 2020 as well Romania imported an amount of electricity of almost 796 GWh in the first month of this year, by more than 36% above what it exported Mai mult

Shareholders of Galati steel plant promise investments of one billion euros GFG Alliance has committed to invest one billion euros to upgrade Galati steel plant in order to reduce emissions and increase production. Another EUR 1 Mai mult

Top 3 reasons why young people leave Romania Lack of trust in authorities, corruption and low living standards are the main reasons why young people leave Romania. The data is part of a Mai mult

IMM Invest Romania  program implementing rules have been published The Ministry of Public Finance announces that it has issued the methodological norms for the implementation of the Program for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises Mai mult

Pollution import and car park expansion: comparisons with the other EU states Romania is the EU country with the fewest cars in terms of the number of inhabitants, according to data recently published by Eurostat. We appear Mai mult

Laura Codruta Kovesi remains alone in the race for European Chief Prosecutor French Prosecutor Jean-Francois Bohnert will be appointed as head of the European Financial Prosecutor's Office, a position for which he was heard on Thursday, 11 Mai mult
Caron Nazario had his arms raised in fear from the window of his newly-purchased SUV when two police officers held the Army second lieutenant at gunpoint during a traffic stop in Windsor, Va.

Nazario was confused as to why police were yelling for him to exit the car last December for not having a permanent rear license plate, according to a federal lawsuit filed this month.

When Nazario told police on Dec. 5, 2020, that he was "honestly afraid to get out" of the car, the officer replied, "Yeah, you should be!"

From there, body-cam footage shows police pepper-spraying, striking and handcuffing the 27-year-old Army officer, and using a slang term suggesting that he would face execution. The lawsuit claims police also threatened to end Nazario's military career if he spoke out about the incident.

"I'm serving this country, and this is how I'm treated?" said Nazario, who is Black and Latino, according to body-cam video.

Nazario filed a lawsuit this month against Windsor officers Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker over excessive force that the lieutenant claims was due to racial profiling. The federal lawsuit obtained by The Washington Post, which was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia on April 2, is seeking at least $1 million in damages and for the court to rule that Gutierrez and Crocker violated his constitutional rights, specifically the Fourth Amendment.

"Short of people getting murdered, it's the most egregious conduct I've seen on film by police," Jonathan Arthur, Nazario's attorney, said to The Post.

Neither Windsor Police Chief Rodney Riddle nor Mayor Glynn Willis immediately returned requests for comment Saturday. A town manager told the Virginian Pilot that Gutierrez and Crocker still work for the police department.

The lawsuit comes as the nation continues to deal with incidents of excessive force involving police and people of color. In Virginia, the state last year passed a slew of criminal justice reforms last year that addressed policing. New laws took effect last month to limit the use of deadly force by police in Virginia, including a ban on certain dangerous policing tactics that have been a focal point of discussion during the trial of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd.

The body-cam footage of the incident went viral over the weekend, with Nazario's name trending on Twitter into Saturday. "These cameras captured footage of behavior consistent with a disgusting nationwide trend of law enforcement officers, who, believing they can operate with complete impunity, engage in unprofessional, discourteous, racially biased, dangerous and sometimes deadly abuses of authority," the lawsuit said.

According to the complaint, Nazario was still in uniform when he was driving home from work at the U.S. Army Medical Corps on Dec. 5. His Chevrolet Tahoe was so new that the Department of Motor Vehicles hadn't given Nazario new permanent plates, so he had cardboard temporary plates taped to the inside of the vehicle. Body-cam footage of the night shows that the temporary tags were visible on the car.

Crocker initiated a traffic stop on Route 460 at around 6:30 p.m. due to Nazario lacking a rear license plate, not seeing the temporary plate in the car window, the lawsuit claims. He was soon joined by Gutierrez. Not wanting to pull over in the dark on a busy road, Nazario slowed down and pulled into a well-lit BP gas station, which took less than two minutes, Arthur said. By doing this maneuver, one that police later said "happens all the time," Gutierrez told authorities that his training and experience indicated to him that Nazario was "almost certainly" a minority, according to the lawsuit.

But that didn't stop the officers from considering this a "felony traffic stop," causing them to draw their weapons and demanding Nazario "obey" their order to get out of the car. Seeing that the situation had escalated, Nazario hit record on his phone and set it on the dashboard of his car.

"What's going on?" Nazario calmly asked the officers, not answering his question.

"You're fixin' to ride the lightning, son," Gutierrez said, according to Nazario's cellphone video, invoking a colloquial term for execution by electrocution. The line was most famously referenced in the movie "The Green Mile," a film about a Black man facing execution.

Shortly after police refused to say why they had their guns drawn on Nazario, they pepper-sprayed him multiple times, according to video.

"This is f----- up, this is f----- up," Nazario said, adding that he was trying to breathe. "This is really messed up."

When a blinded Nazario struggled to take off his seat belt and exit the car, Gutierrez said to him, "You made this way more difficult than it had to be if you just complied!"

Then, Nazario got out of the car and asked for their supervisor. In response, and out of the video's field of view,Gutierrez delivered "knee strikes" to the Army officer's legs, which knocked him to the ground, the lawsuit claims. Nazario's attorney says the two officers proceeded to hit the lieutenant some more before handcuffing him.

During the encounter, Gutierrez could be heard saying to Nazario on his body-worn camera, "I get it, the media spewing race relations between law enforcement and minorities, I get it."

According to the lawsuit, the officers threatened to destroy his military career if Nazario spoke out about the incident. Nazario was allegedly told by police that if he would "chill and let this go," then the officers would not press baseless charges of their own against him and would release him, records show.

In an incident report from Gutierrez that's included in the lawsuit, the officer claimed that his decision to release Nazario without charges came from how he didn't want the military to "take punitive actions against him."

"Being a military veteran, I did not want to see his career ruined over one erroneous decision," Gutierrez wrote.

In an interview Saturday, Arthur, Nazario's attorney, said that his client seeking at least $1 million in damages is meant "to send message to officers that this type of behavior will not be tolerated." Since the encounter with police, Nazario has had recurring nightmares and gets "freaked out" whenever he sees law enforcement, Arthur said.

"It just blows my mind that two officers thought they could get away with it," Arthur said. "He did everything right."
Advertisement

Joe Biden has stepped out to attend Mass amid news that the U.S. is considering sending cash payments to Central America to stem the record-breaking number of migrants illegally crossing the southern border.

Biden - who is a devout Catholic - was pictured waving to waiting media after the service at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Washington, DC on Saturday.

The President may have been praying for divine intervention as the border crisis deepens, attracting harsh criticism from both Republicans and Democrats alike.

Last month, more than 172,00 migrants were caught coming across the border illegally, including 18,890 unaccompanied minors - the highest number ever recorded.

Amid reports of sexual abuse and unsanitary conditions inside overcrowded border facilities, the Biden Administration is now looking into a conditional cash transfer program to help address economic woes that lead migrants from certain Central American countries to trek north.

The potential program would be targeted at people in the Northern Triangle region of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

The news was revealed by outgoing southern border coordinator Roberta Jacobson on Saturday, but she did not say who exactly would receive cash.

Joe Biden has stepped out to attend Mass amid news that the U.S. is considering sending cash payments to Central America to stem the record-breaking number of migrants illegally crossing the southern border

Biden - who is a devout Catholic - was pictured waving to waiting media after the service at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Washington, DC on Saturday

Last month, more than 172,00 migrants were caught coming across the border illegally, including 18,890 unaccompanied minors - the highest number ever recorded. Migrants are seen arriving in Texas after crossing the Rio Grande with a people smuggler on Friday night

A father carries his child to shore after crossing the Rio Grande in a dinghy operated by a people smuggler on Friday night

Families from Central America are seen arriving in Texas on Friday night. They were detained by border patrol agents and taken to already overcrowded processing facilities

'We're looking at all of the productive options to address both the economic reasons people may be migrating, as well as the protection and security reasons,' Jacobson told Reuters.

'The one thing I can promise you is the U.S. government isn't going to be handing out money or checks to people.

On Friday it was announced that Jacobson will leave the White House at the end of April, after only committing to the role for the first 100 days of the new Administration.

However, in those 100 days, the number of migrants arriving into the U.S. has exploded - and Jacobson has admitted that Biden's softer border policies have fueled the surge.

Biden has lifted the Trump policy that forced migrants to remain in Mexico while going through the legal process to enter the US, narrowed ICE's criteria for arrests and deportations, and stopped the building of Trump's border wall.

The news was revealed by outgoing southern border coordinator Roberta Jacobson on Saturday. On Friday, it was revealed she is resigning after a month in the job

Biden has lifted the Trump policy that forced migrants to remain in Mexico while going through the legal process to enter the US, narrowed ICE's criteria for arrests and deportations, and stopped the building of Trump's border wall

Biden has come under fire from both Democrats and Republicans for his handling of the border crisis

Amid growing criticism, Biden last month tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to lead U.S. efforts with Mexico and Central America to address the number of migrants heading north

Amid growing criticism, Biden last month tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to lead U.S. efforts with Mexico and Central America to address the number of migrants heading north.

She has been blasted for Republicans for failing to visit the border. She instead spent the Easter weekend with her family in her ritzy Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood.

Biden has called for $4 billion in development aid to Central America over four years to address underlying causes of migration. On Friday, the White House requested $861 million from Congress for that effort in Biden's first annual budget proposal. That would be a sharp increase from the roughly $500 million in aid this year.

Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, criticized the idea of cash transfers.

'Its insulting to the millions of Americans who are out of work or facing despair in our country,' he said in a statement Friday evening.

Biden has called for $4 billion in development aid to Central America over four years to address underlying causes of migration

Central American families are seen waiting to be processed after arriving in Texas

Hundreds of young children were among those picked up by CBP agents in Texas on Friday night

A spokesman for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which administers foreign aid, told Reuters in a statement that it is already using cash transfers in programs 'to help people meet their basic needs' in the wake of severe hurricanes in Central America in late 2020. USAID is considering expanding the efforts going forward, the spokesman said.

The United States in the past has used the USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives to fund work-for-cash programs in post-conflict nations such as Colombia.

The news comes as several Republican politicians spoke out about allegations that migrant children were being sexually abused in both overcrowded processing facilities and on their perilous journey to the US.

On Thursday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott revealed that their were 'credible' reports of young female migrants being sexually abused inside a facility in San Antonio.

Meanwhile, Republican House Minority Whip Steve Scalise stated Friday that up to a third of unaccompanied migrant girls are sexually assaulted on their their journey to the US.

Speaking last week, Biden refused to call the situation a crisis, despite human rights lawyers claiming migrant children were going hungry and showering only intermittently. Pictured: Children inside the Donna Migrant Facility in Texas

A photograph taken from inside the overcrowded Donna border facility last week

Late last month, the Biden Administration was criticized for refusing to let journalists into overcrowded migrant facilities to document the conditions.

However, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz shared photos from inside the overcrowded Donna Migrant Facility, after he and 18 other Senators took a tour of the southern border.

Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma and others shared heartbreaking images from inside the facility.

Lankford said that 'pods' designed to hold 80 children are packed with more than 700.

'I know why President Biden doesn't want the media to be here - because we do have an open border,' Lankford stated after his visit to the facility.

'If you were an unaccompanied minor, you were sent over to the Donna facility, which we went over and visited. That facility is designed for 80 people in a pod, and they had 709 people... literally wall to wall in every one of the little plexiglass cells that they have, and people flooding out into the hallway,' Lankford said.
A 16-year-old has been identified as the victim of a fatal shooting late Saturday night, the Baton Rouge Police Department said on Sunday.

Johntrell Cain, 16, was standing in a parking lot in the 6800 block of Florida Boulevard near Alello Drive, when he was shot shortly after 11 p.m., Saturday, by an unidentified male, police said.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Baton Rouge Police Violent Crimes Unit at (225) 389-4869 or Greater Baton Rouge Crime Stoppers at (225) 389-7867.
The five states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala cumulatively account for 70.82 per cent of India's active COVID-19 cases which have breached the 11-lakh mark for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.

India's total active caseload has increased to 11,08,087 and it now comprises 8.29 per cent of the country's total infections.

A net increase of 61,456 cases has been recorded in the total active caseload in a span of 24 hours.

Maharashtra alone accounts for 48.57 per cent of the total active caseload of the country, the ministry said.

Besides, the ten states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have shown a steep rise in the daily new COVID-19 cases accounting for80.92 per cent of the new infections reported in a span of 24 hours, the ministry highlighted.

India's daily new cases continue to rise, the ministry said as1,52,879 new cases of infections were registered in a span of 24 hours, the highest single-day rise so far.

Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 55,411. It is followed by Chhattisgarh with 14,098 while Uttar Pradesh has reported 12,748 new cases.

Sixteen states -- Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Kerala -- are displaying an upward trajectory in daily new cases.

India's cumulative recoveries stand at 1,20,81,443 with90,584 recoveries being registered in a span of 24 hours.

Daily deaths continue to show an upward trend with 839 fatalities being reported in a span of 24 hours.

Ten states account for 86.41 per centof the new deaths, the ministry said. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (309) and Chhattisgarh followed with 123 daily deaths.

Ten states and UTs have not reported any COVID-19 deaths in a span of 24 hours. These are D&D & D&N, Nagaland, Tripura, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Mizoram, Manipur, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Arunachal Pradesh.

Meanwhile, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 10 crore.

Cumulatively, 10,15,95,147 vaccine doses have been administered through15,17,963 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am, the ministry said.

These include 90,04,063 HCWs who have taken the first dose and 55,08,289 HCWs who have taken the second dose, 99,53,615 FLWs who have received the first dose, 47,59,209 FLWs who have taken the second dose.

Besides, 3,96,51,630 and 18,00,206 beneficiaries more than 60 years old have been administered the first and second dose respectively, while 3,02,76,653and 6,41,482 beneficiaries aged 45 to 60 have taken the first and second dose respectively.

Eight states account for 60.27 per cent of the total doses given so far in the country



Over 35 lakh vaccination doses were administered in a span of 24 hours.

As on Day-85 of the vaccination drive (April 10), 35,19,987 vaccine doses were given. Out of which, 31,22,109 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 42,553 sessions for first dose and 3,97,878 beneficiaries received the second dose of the vaccine.

"In terms of the number of daily doses administered globally, India continues to remain at the top with an average of 38,34,574 doses administered per day," the ministry said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Matt Kay spends much of his time focused on a fast-approaching problem: south-eastern Australia is running out of gas.

Its not a matter of if its going to happen, its when, says Kay, the chief executive of oil and gas producer Beach Energy. It consumes my thinking on a daily basis, and it has for the last five years.

Matt Kay is the CEO of Australian oil and gas producer Beach Energy.

For decades, BHP and ExxonMobils enormous gas rigs rising out of the Bass Strait have comfortably supplied nearly half of eastern Australias needs, keeping the fuel flowing reliably and affordably for cooking and heating, as a source of energy or to fuel manufacturing.

But those days now look numbered. The mature gas fields of the south are rapidly drying up. And energy authorities are sounding the alarm: homes and businesses in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia could face winter gas shortfalls sometime between 2023 and 2026 unless more supply is urgently brought to market.
A Defense Department police officer who was arrested on murder charges last week was accused Saturday of assault in a separate case.

The officer, David Dixon, faces charges of first- and second-degree assault and using a firearm while committing a felony or violent crime, police in Takoma Park, Maryland, said in a statement.

The allegations stem from an incident at a condominium complex in Takoma Park, a suburb of Washington, D.C., on May 6, when Dixon is alleged to have assaulted a woman with a long gun, the police department said. It did not identify the woman.

Dixon told police that he pepper-sprayed the woman after she assaulted him, the police department said. Neither Dixon nor the woman mentioned the gun to responding officers, and the police department said there was no evidence at the time that suggested that he displayed the weapon.

No charges were filed at the time, but on Friday investigators obtained a video that they alleged shows Dixon assaulting the woman, the police department said.

A spokeswoman said the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, where Dixon has worked since 2019, would reopen an administrative investigation into the incident, which she said occurred in the lobby of Dixon's condominium building.

The agency will also investigate a second off-duty incident that happened in Washington on July 29. The spokeswoman, Jacqueline Yost, did not provide details. She said Dixon was cleared of wrongdoing in a criminal investigation conducted by Washington police and in an internal inquiry.

It wasn't clear whether Dixon has an attorney. Court records don't list one.

In the case from last week, Dixon faces second-degree murder charges after he fatally shot Dominique Williams, 32, and James Johnson, 38, on Thursday. Dixon is also accused of attempted murder and other crimes after he was alleged to have fired into a car at Michael Thomas, 36, during the same incident, authorities said.

Dixon, who was off-duty at the time, told police that he believed they were breaking into a car, the police department said.

Story continues

Takoma Park Police Chief Antonio DeVaul told reporters Friday that a car break-in was, indeed, occurring before the shooting. But he said, "Our investigation revealed that Mr. Dixon's overview of events was inconsistent with the evidence and facts in the case."

Before he joined the Pentagon police force, Dixon was a federal and military police officer and a combat crewman with the Air Force. A Pentagon police spokeswoman previously said he was current in his use-of-force and firearms qualifications.

CORRECTION (April 12, 2021, 5:40 p.m. ET): A photo caption in a previous version of this article misspelled the city where an assault is alleged to have occurred last year. It is Takoma Park, Maryland, not Tacoma Park.
Chennai, April 11 : Even as the legal validity of Tamil Nadu State Information Commissioner S. Muthuraj's recommendation - to send nine IAS officers on compulsory retirement for dereliction of duty - is questioned, it will surely sound alarm bells ringing in the minds of all public information officials (PIO) who dilly-dally on details sought under the Right to Information Act, said activists.

"The recommendation is appreciated. It is an eye opener as to whether an Information Commissioner can make such a recommendation," Senthil Arumugham, General Secretary, Satta Panchayat Iyyakkam told IANS.

Recently, the Tamil Nadu Information Commission had recommended to the state Chief Secretary to take legal action to compulsorly retire nine IAS officers - Surjith K. Chaudry, Vibhu Nayar, Kakarla Usha, D. Jagannathan, K. Srinivasan, K. Nandakumar, S. Jayandhi, N. Venkatesh and G. Latha- for dereliction of duty while heading the Teachers Recruitment Board as its Chairman between June 2011 and October 2020.

"The order is a warning to all the PIOs and others that if they don't respond to RTI queries properly then there will be disciplinary action," Jayaram Venkatasan, Convenor, Arappor Iyyakam told IANS.

Citing various provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, Muthuraj, the State Information Commissioner had also recommended to the state Chief Secretary to register in the annual confidential reports of the nine IAS officers that they failed in ensuring transparency and accountability during their tenure at the Teachers Recruitment Board.

Candidates who had appeared in the competitive exam held for recruiting the teachers had approached the Commission stating that despite marking the right answers for the questions, they were marked wrong, thereby, they failed to get the job.

In his order Muthuraj said despite various orders issued earlier by the Commission on such complaints the issue of publication of 'Wrong Key' for questions continues which shows that the senior officials of Teachers Recruitment Board had functioned irresponsibly.

The Tamil Nadu Information Commission ordered: (a) appointment of Chairman, Teachers Recruitment Board as the Public Information Officer and provide all details sought by the applicants within 20 days of the order and (b) take action against those who had prepared the questions and the answer key for the competitive exam.

While apprecating the Tamil Nadu Information Commission for its order, Arumugam of Satta Panchayat urged the former to ensure that all public offices voluntarily declare various details on their own as per Section 4 of the RTI Act.

Arumugam also said the Commission should enable people to apply for information online.

"In Tamil Nadu one has to seek information in the traditional mode-by filing a written application," Arumugam said.

According to him, the Commission can start being transparent about its functioning itself by uploading the pending case details and their years of pendency.

Arumugam said it takes couple of years for the Commission to decide on appeals.

"Information delayed is information denied. Many a times, a delayed information turns out to be useless for an applicant. There is no timeline for the Commission to decide on the cases that come to it," Arappor Iyyakam's Venkatesan said.

"Even after the issuance of a show cause notice the Commission does not act fast against the delinquent public information official," Venkatesan said.

Jayaram also said the law makers should deliberate on the annual reports of the Tamil Nadu Information Commission which is laid on the table of the House.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be contacted at v.jagannathan@ians.in)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 18:09:42|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

HERAT, Afghanistan, April 11 (Xinhua) -- More than 9,100 hectares of land have been irrigated as an essential water canal has been reconstructed in Gazara district of western Herat province, said a statement of National Authority for Water Management released on Sunday.

"With the reconstruction of the water canal in Hasan Khil area of Gazara district, a total of 9,183 hectares of lands have been irrigated," the statement added.

Rebuilt at a cost of 54 million afghani (about 700,000 U.S. dollars), the project would also benefit 1,000 families.

The National Authority for Water Management, according to the statement, would do its best to construct and reconstruct more water canals and dams to help farmers to irrigate more farm lands in the country. Enditem
A Bethlehem man is accused of using stolen credit cards from a Wind Creek Casino guest for online gambling.

Police have charges Victor Manuel Mariera, 41, of the 1100 block of Dover Lane.

A Pennsylvania State Police trooper assigned to the Bureau of Gaming Enforcement at Wind Creek Casino in Bethlehem received a theft report on April 7 from the casinos security manager. The manager reported the theft happened at 12:46 a.m. April 7 when a female victim who uses a wheelchair was escorted to her vehicle in the Wind Creek parking garage by an unknown man.

The man, later identified as Mariera, allegedly stole her credit cards and other cards from inside the car, according to police. The victim then discovered a $750 charge on her credit card for an online gambling website, police said.

Surveillance footage obtained by investigators allegedly showed Mariera escorting the woman to her car. A white bag is shown on the chair with Mariera looking through it before placing it in his backpack and leaving the area, according to police.

At 10:30 p.m. April 7, Mariera checked into a hotel room at the Wind Creek Casino, according to court records. Investigators were able to connect Mariera to the crime by his Wind Creek players card, police said.

Mariera in an interview with investigators admitted to escorting the victim to her vehicle, police alleged. He told investigators she asked him to discard trash in the white bag and thats when he found the credit cards.

Mariera allegedly admitted to police attempting to use the credit cards to place online gambling bets for two amounts but stated the transactions didnt go through.

Mariera is charged with access device issued to another who didnt authorize use. He was arraigned April 8 by District Judge Daniel Corpora, who set bail at $15,000 unsecured.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com.
People who picture the reality and look with a clear-head should have realized that there is nothing surprising because about five months have passed since the signing of this disgraceful capitulation, and to this day, the leaders of our two Armenian states are traitorous authorities who handed over the country, and naturally, they would not change the path they have chosen and continue. Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) MP Metakse Hakobyan told this to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

"Now their working style has changed to the extent that the internal tension is getting stronger. First, the plane, which returned [to Yerevan] empty; that is, without any [Armenian] captives [from Azerbaijan], and everyone was saying that the a group would return. (). And the Armenian government showed the whole world that we have leaders who flee from their own people by helicopter, by all possible means; that is, our army, military leadership is weak; that is, with this they showed something else to their masters," Hakobyan added in particular.

According to the lawmaker, the respective reaction of Rustam Muradovcommander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent that is stationed in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone to monitor the ceasefire therewas very normal, and there were even notes of anger in his voice. "This was the first case that he made a political analysis, although he never interferes in the political life of Artsakh, too. With that one sentence of his, he made it clear that the [Armenian] authorities were very well informed [that there were no POWs on board the aforesaid plane] and once again misled the nation," she said.

According to Hakobyan, all this means that the Armenian authorities are engaged in dealings with the Azerbaijani side. "In order for the captives to return without any conditions, these very conditions were posited by our authorities before our nation, as this time they definitely showed more clearly that they are collaborating with the enemy, showing the nation that the enemy wants something: the road to Karmir Shuka [village of Artsakh], Meghri [town of Armenia]. "

The Artsakh lawmaker added that the Armenian authorities keep silent about these reports, but the President of Artsakh [Arayik Harutyunyan] has become his spokesman and the slanders of the adversary are voiced through his lips. "Naturally, these calls are not addressed to the people of Artsakh because the people of Artsakh live here and, naturally, see the reality. He tells these lies for those living outside Artsakh and he does it as an order, too. Everything now depends on how the issue of the traitorous authorities will be resolved," Metakse Hakobyan stressed.
EDWARDSVILLE  A proposed expansion and change to Madison Countys Southwestern Madison County Enterprise Zone has led to sharp disagreement over whether to include residential development.

The Madison County Boards Grants Committee last week discussed several proposed changes, including adding territory, extending tax abatement time periods to 10 from four years and including residential development.

Enterprise zones offer incentives to developers, primarily in the form of property and sales tax incentives, investment tax credit, machinery and equipment sales tax exemptions and a utility tax exemption.

Madison County has four enterprise zones: Riverbend, Gateway, Southwestern and Discovery.

The Southwestern Madison County Enterprise Zone extends from just south of Interstate 270 to Gateway Motorsports Park.

The committee is considering adding commercial property on Nameoki Road from Pontoon Road to St. Clair Avenue to aid the redevelopment of commercial properties, and about 56 acres in Venice for a new train yard for the Terminal Railroad Association.

The possibility of adding residential development in Granite City to the mix, and granting tax abatements for improvements in those areas, generated almost all of the discussion.

In general, Illinois counties use enterprise zones to encourage economic development and municipalities use tax increment financing districts. In some cases, those overlap. TIF districts are rarely used for residential development; according to Madison County Community Development Administrator Dave Tanzyus, enterprise zones have never been used for residential development and adding them into the mix would be breaking new ground.

Committee Chairman Eric Foster said the idea is to try to attract development and stabilize some of that citys troubled residential areas.

Madison County Board Member Bill Meyer, R-Worden, objected.

I think youre opening a real can of worms when you go residential, he said.

The chief impediment to using either development tool is tax abatements or TIF financing, which pools increases in tax revenues for developers and municipalitys use, is the negative impacts other taxing districts, especially school districts that rely heavily on property tax revenue.

Officials said the Granite City School District is willing to agree to the proposal.

Right now the school district is receiving next to nothing, Foster said.

Madison County Board Member Chris Hankins, D-Pontoon Beach  who was not a committee member but sat in on the discussion  said it was a unique situation and could serve as a good pilot program because of high poverty rates in Granite City.

This area is struggling so much, he said. Houses are going for $20,000 apiece but nobody wants to buy them.

Meyer said he was concerned it might lead to the development of a whole subdivision that provides no property taxes for schools for up to a decade.

However, Foster said it would most likely be used for larger home improvements rather than new homes.

Tanzyus also noted that putting on a new roof will not be enough to trigger (tax) abatements.

Board members Erica Harriss, R-Glen Carbon, and Heather Mueller-Jones, R-Maryville, questioned the proposal.

This isnt the only place in Madison County that needs help, Mueller-Jones said. Youre going to be having municipalities coming out of the woodwork because people want this.

No action was taken, but the issue is expected to come up at the next Grants Committee meeting. The agenda had noted a possible vote, but it was determined participating municipalities must approve the proposals first.
Essential commodity prices skyrocket; sweetmeats tradition contaminated by import of cancer-causing coconut oil

Rupee crashes to lowest value, adding to economic woes and further increasing the cost of living

With little evidence, Public Security Minister Weeraskera identifies Naufer as mastermind of Easter attacks; but questions over whether it is linked to Cardinals deadline

PC polls unlikely this year as Speaker appoints select committee to work out election process; dissent within ruling alliance as 11 party leaders hold separate meeting with former president Sirisena The national New Year dawns in just two days, the second under a COVID-19 pandemic, and the Sri Lanka Nidahas Podujana Sandanaya (SLPNS) government, now 17 months in office, is plunging catastrophically from one crisis to another.

At first, it was not entirely the Governments fault. The economy received a devastating blow from COVID-19. Businesses, both big and small, were hit triggering large scale unemployment. The bigger ones received relief packages and not the others. Many hotels and restaurants still remain closed. However, as the weeks and months went by, it was an entirely different story.

The distribution of vaccines to fight the pandemic was mishandled. Other than the frontline workers, those who qualified most were as powerful as the deadly virus  ones with political influence. They arrived at the vaccination centres in Pajeros, Prados and other luxury vehicles. A few had VIP lists on hand. There are a large number of those unfortunate who have missed the vaccine and live-in fear.

Now, with official figures of COVID-19 victims well into three-digits, one wonders whether the deadly coronavirus is only affecting a lesser number of victims. Or in the alternative, is it the result of a lower number of PCR tests being conducted? Either way, the low figures, rightly or wrongly, have fuelled public confidence. It could be judged by the large turnouts at shops and marketplaces. Many who missed the festivities last year want to make good this time.

Yet, other issues are weighing heavily on Sri Lankans. The prices of essential consumer items have skyrocketed to outer space. Different varieties of rice have shot up in price by about 10 to 30 percent in recent weeks. As revealed last week, a kilo of red chillies has reached a record high of Rs 1,000. The price of Moong Dhal, widely used for sweetmeats during the avurudhu and puththandu season, stood at between Rs 240 and Rs 250, but the price has shot up to Rs 725 a kilo. Turmeric, the import of which was banned, is now Rs 6,500 a kilo. Consumers are buying it in packs of 100 grams for Rs 650.

Like the well-known adage of being gored by a bull after a fall from a tree, the frying of Kavun, Kokis, Aasmi and other traditional sweetmeats for the avurudhu has become virtually impossible. The recent stocks of imported coconut oil, it has now been confirmed, contained dangerous cancer-causing properties. Street vendors have shut down their business of selling Vadey and Samosa. Mothers complained they could not give their children food fried in contaminated coconut oil.

In the immediate aftermath of the discovery of contaminated coconut oil, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa placed a total ban on the import of palm oil. His order also covered stocks that were awaiting clearance at the Colombo Port. Bakers complained they would find it difficult to produce bread or cakes. It took a cool three days for Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena to declare that bakers (and even biscuit manufacturers) would be given special permits to import palm oil. At least two biscuit manufacturers have been compelled to halve their production capacity.

As for the non-availability of rice and other commodities at old prices, his answer was for consumers to purchase a budget pack from the

Co-operative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) branches or Co-operative Societies. Ironic enough, good varieties of samba rice, the price of which had shot up by 30 percent, were not available there. This, too, after a bumper Maha harvest. A fundamental question anyone would raise is why the Trade Ministry did not plan for the Avurudhu and Puththandu season. Media statements, repeated ad nauseum of stock availability and lower prices, have only embarrassed the ruling alliance leaders. Poultry breeders said they would raise the price of a kilo of chicken to Rs 800. Minister Gunawardenas answer was that they have not obtained permission so far. Those remarks only mean stocks would simply disappear from the freezers and fridges of outlets to be sold in the black market. Gunawardena also said three kilos of rice would be sufficient for a family for two weeks. When it generated a controversy, he ate his words. He declared what he meant was for only one person and not a family. Sadly, there is no corrective action to restore public confidence in the government by such lapses.

Exacerbating this situation is the depreciation of the rupee in relation to the US dollar. For the first time since independence, the rupee equivalent to a US dollar dropped to Rs 203.50. Months earlier, the Government banned the import of a variety of what it called non-essential items to conserve the countrys foreign reserves. Yet, there are essentials needed for the life of the community  such as food and fuel imports. The prices of those products cannot be retained at present levels. Inevitably, the depreciation of the rupee will lead to increased costs earlier than later.

Foreign relations

This naturally turns the focus on the conduct of Sri Lankas foreign relations. Like shooting oneself in the foot, the government has antagonised almost all western countries. How, the Foreign Ministry in Colombo and the countrys own Permanent Representative at the UN in Geneva handled the resolution on Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council is a historic example. These countries are now taking unprecedented steps to deal with military officials, bureaucrats, and politicians, who are allegedly responsible for violation of human rights and international humanitarian law. From different capitals due anytime now is a travel ban on a number of persons.

That Sri Lankas strategy in Geneva was not based on a cohesive strategy is now well known. It was only a failed media campaign which helped the egos of a few. After all the name calling on Western nations  including Foreign Secretary Jayanath Colombages advice urging US President Joe Biden to mind his own business, how could Sri Lanka now turn to them for economic assistance? How could it promote foreign investment in Sri Lanka from those countries? The trust deficit is a widening gulf.

It is the same case with neighbouring India which feels let down. Despite confident claims by the Foreign Secretary that New Delhi would vote in favour of Sri Lanka at the UNHRC, it abstained. He denies now that he said it. The Human Rights Council will meet in Geneva in September this year to examine the progress made by Sri Lanka on the implementation of the Resolution adopted last month. Sadly, there have been no corrective measures over the blunders, action against a nation and its people being let down, nor a strategy for the next sessions. Simply saying we are victims of the big powers, that we have rejected the Resolution and that the Resolution is illegal is of no help. It is yet to dawn on the alliance leaders, who have been badly embarrassed, that such devastating developments impact on their own reputation. When such countries look down upon them, the damage is colossal. That it is caused by their own men and women is lost on them. It is only now that the Foreign Ministry wants to enlist 40 young recruits to the foreign service. This is the highest number since 24 were recruited in 1998. Whether the present enlistment is too high and both the Minister and his Secretary want to be remembered for this remains a big question.

The issues highlighted above, in essence, encapsulate the dilemma of the people of Sri Lanka. For the ruling alliance and their leaders, the issues arising from those highlighted are only a part of the problem. There are even bigger ones, like for example a depletion of the foreign reserves that portend an economic catastrophe. This is notwithstanding proud boasts by less than a handful of politicians who are disproving all established economic theories to claim everything is rosy and prosperity is just round the road. Ostentation is at a higher level with funds spent to mark events that occurred decades ago and celebrated with a lot of fanfare.

Cardinals warning

Added to them are a plethora of other issues. One is over how to deal with the findings of the Commission of Inquiry that probed the Easter Sunday massacres that left at least 268 men, women, and children dead. Colombos Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith has publicly warned that the Catholic community would take to the streets if no tangible action was seen by April 21. During his Easter Sunday sermon, he was less than polite when he queried whether former President Maithripala Sirisena wore his clothes when he declared plans to re-contest elections. The prelate urged him, rather uncharitably, to remain at home. The Commission has ruled that criminal proceedings should be brought against Sirisena.

Yet, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjiths warnings cannot be dismissed pronto. The Catholic church is well connected not only in Sri Lanka but internationally. The worst calamity the community has suffered during Easter due to acts of terrorism by Muslim extremists is known the world over. It falls very much within the ambit of the recently adopted Resolution on Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council. A case could easily be made before the new Secretariat now taking shape to probe fresh complaints on grounds of alleged accountability and violation of human rights. This aspect seems to be lost on alliance leaders.

In this backdrop, one is not sure whether it was wise strategy on the part of Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekera to have officially identified Naufer Moulavi as the mastermind behind the attacks. He claimed that it was this person who had brainwashed Zaharan Hashim to carry out the string of attacks. Minister Weerasekera is the only one to say it.

Firstly, if indeed Naufer Moulavi was the mastermind, why was he not summoned to testify before the Commission of Inquiry? Secondly, has the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) any evidence to confirm this belated claim? More importantly, why should Minister Weerasekera make such an official announcement? Should it not have come from the investigators? His remarks have already prompted some sections to believe it is linked to Malcolm Cardinal Ranjiths threat to launch protests. They argue there was no requirement otherwise to name a leader without any basis, seal off avenues of further investigations and seemingly close the case. Any accusations of attempting to hide the truth could boomerang on the Government. There is also another aspect. Internal Security Minister Chamal Rajapaksa has won the Presidents approval to obtain the services of retired senior Police officers, particularly those associated with the CID, to monitor whether the CID investigations are on the right track. The present Director, SSP Nishantha Soysa, has now been replaced. He is succeeded by SSP Rohan Premaratne.

There is not a word in the conclusion of the Commission report (or in any other part) on Naufer giving leadership. It has concluded that according to evidence available, Zahran, Rilwan, Shaini, Ilham, Inshaf, Jameel, Hasthun, Muath, Azad, Mubarak, Naufer, Milhan, Sadeeq and others as persons who are directly connected with the terrorist acts referred in the mandate.

On Chapter 16 of the report, the Commission gives Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed Naufers profile. This is what it says: He was known as Abu Shaid in Zahrans group. He was born on November 30, 1978 in Kattankudy. His father is Mohammadu Musthapha Mohammadu Ibrahim and the mother Ibrahim Nichmattu Nachchi.

He had his early education at Meera Balika School, Kattankudy, Central College, Kattankudy and Jamiyah Falahi School, Kattankudy, up to ordinary level examination. Then he went to Islhiya Arabic College, Madampe, which is operated by the SLJI (Sri Lanka Jamaat-E-Islami) organisation and studied up to Advanced Level examination. At the same time, he followed a course there to become a Moulavi.

It is at Islhiya Arabic College, Madampe, that Naufer was exposed to Islamic extremism. He was taught about the establishment of an Islamic State and was shown videos depicting the problems faced by the Muslims in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechniya. He was taught weapons training are mandatory. Every year, the students were taken to the jungle and given training in camps. He was appointed as a publicity officer of the SLJI. The time period of this activity is most probably in the 1990s. From 2000 to 2004, he learnt Arabic culture at the South Eastern University.

According to one witness, Naufer turned towards Thowheed due to the influence of Ehiyas Llmi, who was a Salafi follower. Salafis are fundamentalists who believe in a return to the original political and moral practices of Islam. According to the same source Naufer was the first Sri Lankan to start posting on Facebook about the ISIS ideology. He married Mohamed Sithy Hajira in 2003. She was a sister of the mother of Hadiya, wife of Zahran. Naufer met Zahran probably around 2004 when Zahran was attending Jamayathul Salaf Madrasa in Kattankudy to learn Islam. Naufer began to influence Zahran towards Wahabism.

Around 2005/2006 Zahran started an organisation named Daarul Adhar ad Daiyyah in Kattankudy which is Wahabist. Zahran and Naufer together with Nashmal Moulavi, Ashfar Moulavi, Rauff and Thowfeek were at Daarul Adhar ad Daiyyah. According to Hadiya, Naufer and Zahran fell out before Naufer proceeded to Qatar in 2008. In 2006 Naufer proceeded to Qatar and returned in six months time. He then started working as a teacher at Amana International School and went back to Qatar in 2008 and worked there until 2016 when he returned to Sri Lanka. During his stay in Qatar, he used to come to Sri Lanka generally around once a year. He worked as a translator in a law office.

He came in contact with Milhan and Hasim Ahamed through the Facebook. He met Milhan in Qatar on a few occasions and discussed IS activities with him. Naufer returned to Sri Lanka in July 2016 and became friends with Zahran again. Later around October 2016, Naufer gave a pen drive to Zahran containing IS videos of beheading. This evidence given by Hadiya fits with the timing Zahran began posting IS material on Facebook. Naufer took part in the first training camp held at Rambewa, Medawachchiya, in November 2017 where around 14 persons including Zahran, Naufer, Anzar, Rizwie, Rizwan, Abdeen, Ramiz, Milhan, Hasthun and Rilwan took part.

Members of the JMI came and met Naufer at his home and informed that some members of the group have attended lectures by Nilam, and that Umair has gone to Syria and returned. They wanted all to join hands rather than acting separately. Naufer was informed that they had previously met Zahran. Naufer took part in all the training camps organised by Zahran and lectured on IS ideology and its activities. In January 2019, Zahran gave Naufer money to be given to the families of the suspect arrested in relation to the attack on Buddha statues in Mawanella. Zahran was given this money by Ilham. Naufer went to Puttalam with his wife and gave money to the family of Mufeed who was in custody. He recovered the laptop of Zahrans from Mufeeds wife and handed it back to Zahran.

The evidence is that Naufer was appointed as the second in command of the group by Zahran. However, the role played by Naufer is more closely connected to the theoretician of the group. Zahran has instructed Naufer to stay at a different place to where Zahran and the others were staying for the safety of the organisation. He was given a 9 mm pistol at the safe house in Enderamulla by Zahran. He is presently in custody.

There are two key aspects that emerge from the profile of Naufer documented by the Commission. The Commission has not identified him as the leader, leave alone suggesting in any way that he was at the apex. Moreover, he has remained in custody when the Commission sittings were in progress. That naturally raises the issue of how Minister Weerasekera concluded that he was the leader. If indeed there is evidence, he should place it before the public to confirm his assertions. Another more important aspect, is confirmation that the Muslim extremist group did have IS connection. Why then did the Senior DIG in charge of the CID then, Ravi Seneviratne, continue to insist that they had no IS connections? Did he come under political pressure by those in the yahapalana government? This is at a time when US intelligence and investigators who were in Colombo were able to conclude that there were IS links.

It is unfortunate that some of the remarks made by Minister Weerasekera, a retired Rear Admiral of the Sri Lanka Navy and once served as Director (Operations), have caused considerable damage to the country. Just ahead of the Human Rights Council vote on the Resolution on Sri Lanka, he called for a ban on the Burqa and Niqab. Pakistan, which was campaigning for Sri Lanka, lodged a strong protest with Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena but failed to persuade members of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) to support Sri Lanka. This influential and wealthy group is livid over what it perceives as state discrimination of Muslims. Sadly, in this instance, one is not sure whether or not Minister Weerasekera has been advised to use restraint over controversial remarks he continues to make. It does not seem so.

Believe it or not, a government envoy is now doing the rounds exploring the prospects of financial aid from some OIC members.

Internal crises

Another mounting issue for the Government is the rapid pace of deforestation. Interestingly, it became incumbent on Attorney General Dappula de Livera to summon government officials dealing with forest conservation. He reminded them of the provisions under the existing law to deal with encroachers. In many cases, they still have a problem. Since such illegal activity is carried out by activists supporting ruling party politicians, the Police are hesitant to deal with them. Ideally, the Government should have established a Task Force with wide powers and dealt with the violators effectively. Sadly, the issue has become a selective exercise though Environment Minister Mahinda Ameraweera concedes there is encroachment of state lands.

If the people are resilient, the greater question is how both the Government and the opposition are reacting to these issues. On the Government side, discontent is growing though members have been cautiously avoiding public responses.

Some ruling alliance partners, who are at variance with the leadership, seem to believe expression of displeasure from within without embarrassing the leadership was the answer. Towards this end, they are now getting together with likeminded groups to make themselves a strong force so their demands would be heeded and their voices heard. The tragic irony in this situation  the key issues for the Government have been caused by their own people and the displeasure is also coming from within the ranks.

Former President Maithripala Sirisena chaired a meeting on Thursday afternoon at the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) headquarters in Darley Road. The focus was on two main aspects  the mode of voting at Provincial Council elections and a joint May Day rally. The latter meant the parties that took part do not wish to take part in the main alliance rally in a move that will express their displeasure. However, a decision on the issue now hinges on a meeting they propose to have with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on April 19. There, they propose to raise the issues which they want the government leaders to address.

Provincial polls

As reported earlier, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had earlier proposed to conduct Provincial Council elections by late June. Towards this end, he had a meeting with members of the Election Commission, and they were gearing themselves for it. To facilitate this, he had sought to expedite legislation setting out the new system of voting for PC polls. In fact, Minister Janaka Bandara Tennekoon had forwarded proposals to the Cabinet of Ministers. One was to follow the hitherto adopted process of proportional representation (PR). In the alternative, he had recommended 70 percent to be elected by the first-past-the-post (FPP) system and the remaining 30 precent under the PR system. The meeting attended by 11 political parties of the alliance decided to support the latter proposal. However, they are opposed to giving two bonus seats from each district.

The enthusiasm for the conduct of the PC polls waned in the wake of the voting at Human Rights Council where India abstained. President Rajapaksa, the Chennai based Hindu newspaper of March 28 reported, that Sri Lanka will not allow other countries to achieve their geopolitical needs by introducing separatism under the guise of power devolution in the island nation. The government does not wish to be associated with the power struggles in the Indian Ocean region by the global giants, Mr. Rajapaksa said, adding that the sovereignty of Sri Lanka would not be betrayed, a front-page report in the state-run Daily News said on Monday.

Among those taking part in Thursdays meeting at the SLFP headquarters were Dayasiri Jayasekera (SLFP), Wimal Weerawansa (National Freedom Front), D.E.W. Gunasekara (Communist Party), Dr Weerasumana Weerasinghe (Communist Party), Prof Tissa Vitharana L(anka Sama Samaja Party  LSSP), Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera (Our Power of People Party), Tiran Alles (United Peoples Party), Vasudewa Nanayakkara (Democratic Left Front), Udaya Gammanpila (Pivituru Hela Urumaya), Gewindu Kumaratunga (Yuthukama) and A.L.M Athaulla, National Congress.

For former President Sirisena, through chairing the meeting, he has seized an important opportunity to become politically assertive. In more than one sense, within the alliance he is giving leadership to a likeminded parties which have their own grievances. Another aspect is the consolidation of Sirisenas base if he is to face action on the Easter Sunday incidents. This is akin to sitting on the edge of a sword. If the Government is bold enough to act against him on the basis of the Commission report, Sirisenas bid to give leadership to a new group could wither away and make the participants destitute. On the other hand, at least to some extent, the group could voice their support for him. Whichever the case would be, there is a threat to a two thirds majority for a new Constitution.

In the light of the current developments, a Provincial Council election is not on the cards this year. Even the accord reached by constituent parties of the alliance last Thursday would eventually have to be placed before the Parliamentary Select Committee which will be named by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, to study all polls laws  presidential, parliamentary, local government and Provincial Councils.

Last Tuesday, the Parliament adopted a motion to appoint a Select Committee to identify appropriate reforms of the election laws and the electoral system and to recommend amendments, (a) identify appropriate changes in the election laws and the electoral system; and (b) recommend necessary amendments. (a) That the Chair and Members of the Committee shall be appointed by the Speaker; (b) that notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 101 of Parliament, the Committee shall consist of fifteen (15) Members; and (c) that the Committee shall report to Parliament within six months of its first sitting or such extended period as Parliament may grant.

That the Committee shall have the power to 

(b) summon any person to appear before it, to require any person to procure any document or record, to procure and receive all such evidence, written or oral, as the Committee may think it necessary for the fullest consideration of the matters referred to.

(c) obtain the services of specialists and experts in the relevant fields to assist the Committee; and

(d) make interim reports from time to time and sit notwithstanding any adjournment of Parliament.

The PSC will only be named at a future sitting of Parliament. Thereafter, government sources said, sittings may last a few months since varied viewpoints will be heard by the PSC. Thereafter, legislation based on the recommendations would take more time, these sources said.

The biggest advantage to the ruling alliance in all these developments is the absence of a robust opposition. The United National Party (UNP) has no representation in Parliament and its grassroots level organisations are mostly in shambles. The Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB), now the main opposition, has been found wanting in many areas. On most issues it does not even issue a formal statement and keeps pussy footing. Its own key members confess, privately of course, that the leadership is reluctant for reasons unknown. An interesting aspect of this serious discontent has been the cordial relations some SJB members maintain with the UNP leadership. The subject has centred often on issues related to the leadership.

With no PC polls in the foreseeable future to become a litmus test for the Government, it finds itself sitting pretty. That is with a climate provided for by a lame duck main opposition. Yet, a prolonged delay to take corrective action on issues affecting the people and the country will have its own repercussions it cannot afford. More so since most issues have been created by those within on whom the alliance leaders placed trust. They have let these leaders down. This is why they should act or forsake their own standing.
Chris Christie has accused President Joe Biden of 'lying' about the contents of a massive infrastructure spending proposal -- but quickly faced questions about his own credentials on infrastructure from critics who recalled his infamous 'Bridgegate' scandal.

'You cannot call a $400 billion plan, to force unionization in states, to say that taking care of increasing Medicaid payments in states is infrastructure,' Christie said Sunday on ABC News' This Week.

'This is the care economy. This is care infrastructure. It's baloney,' he added. 'Lying is not popular. It's not infrastructure.'

Host George Stephanopoulos pressed his guest, asking, 'Do you really want to use the word lie there?'

Chris Christie has accused President Joe Biden of 'lying' about the contents of a massive infrastructure spending proposal

Biden plans to meet with a bipartisan group of U.S. House and Senate lawmakers Monday on his proposed $2.3 trillion infrastructure and jobs plan

'Let's just be fair here. If Donald Trump had come out and called a dog a cat, which is what Joe Biden's doing, we would be outraged by the fact that he's lying. But with Joe Biden, somehow it's like, oh well, come on, it's Joe,' Christie fired back.

Lawmakers in Congress are currently are debating the $2 trillion jobs and infrastructure bill Biden unveiled last week, which includes funding for physical infrastructure such as roads and bridges, as well as telecommunications, power grid, and water management.

Christie doubled down in his criticism in a tweet later on Sunday, writing: 'President Biden needs to level with the American people about the fact that his 'infrastructure' package is a $2.25 trillion liberal wish list with only about 25% being spent on traditional infrastructure like roads, bridges, tunnels and rails. Be honest with us Mr. President.'

But the Republican former governor of New Jersey came in for criticism of his own, with many recalling the infamous 2013 'Bridgegate' scandal.

The term refers to a week of ruinous lane closures on the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan, allegedly in political retaliation against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, where traffic ground to a halt.

Critics of Christie said his infamous Bridgegate scandal made him unqualified to comment on infratructure. Pictured, traffic backs up at the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee

The incident resulted in a criminal investigation and convictions of Christie aides, but Christie himself was never charged.

'Highly unpopular former governor Chris Christie should take a long hard look in the mirror and think about one thing: Bridgegate' one Twitter user wrote.

'Under Chris Christie New Jersey ranked 49th out of 50 states in private sector job growth, endured the Bridgegate closure scandal and all of a sudden Donald Trump's casinos $30 million in taxes owed disappeared. I don't think Chris Christie has room to talk about anything,' another added.

'Chris Christie, an authority on bridges and the politics around them, weighs in on Biden's infrastructure package,' one wrote.

'Let's hear from Chris Christie, the criminal behind #Bridgegate, on what he thinks of infrastructure. Stop putting this heel on TV,' another retorted.

Biden plans to meet with a bipartisan group of U.S. House and Senate lawmakers Monday on his proposed $2.3 trillion infrastructure and jobs plan, sources briefed on the matter told Reuters on Friday.

Senator Deb Fischer, the senior Republican on the Commerce Committee's subcommittee that oversees surface transportation and other issues, was invited to attend the meeting, a spokeswoman said.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Wednesday that Biden would 'welcome members of both parties here when they return next week.' The White House declined to comment Friday.
South Korean and US intelligence suspect that has completed the assembly of a 3,000-tonne and is ready to launch it when the time is right, media reported on Sunday.

"Both South Korea and US intelligence authorities made the assessment that has already finished building the 3,000-tonne unveiled in July 2019," sources told the state Yonhap News Agency.

According to the agency, the news comes from a US think tank that said had moved a submersible missile test barge to a new position, likely hinting at an upcoming submarine-launched (SLBM) test to take place.

"The authorities assess that North Korea is reviewing the right timing to roll out the for a strategic effect, including maximizing pressure against the United States," said a source, as quoted by Yonhap.

According to the US think tank, this would be North Korea's first true submarine.

During an annual military parade late last year, Pyongyang showcased a beefed-up nuclear-capable missiles arsenal, with upgraded SLBMs as the main addition.

(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.)
London: Prince Philip wanted a recognition of his links to Australia to be included in a radically slimmed-down funeral at Windsor Castle on Saturday.

The service, which will follow a national minutes silence at 3pm, will be staged inside the historic St Georges Chapel and attended by just 30 royal family members in accordance with strict coronavirus restrictions in the United Kingdom, Buckingham Palace said.

The Duke of Edinburgh died on Friday morning with the Queen by his side. The decorated naval officer-turned longest-serving consort in British history was two months short of his 100th birthday.

Philip had many years ago demanded a no fuss farewell and did not want a state funeral or to lie in state. However Operation Forth Bridge, the codename for the send-off plans, still would have seen up to 800 people attend a service before the pandemic hit.
OTTAWA - Some Canadian soldiers supported a major military offensive last month that U.S. and Iraqi officials say killed dozens of fighters loyal to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, according to the commander of the country's military elite special forces.

Incoming commander of CANSOFCOM Major-General Peter Dawe speaks at a Canadian Special Operations Forces Command change of command ceremony in Ottawa on Wednesday, April 25, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle

OTTAWA - Some Canadian soldiers supported a major military offensive last month that U.S. and Iraqi officials say killed dozens of fighters loyal to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, according to the commander of the country's military elite special forces.

In an exclusive interview with The Canadian Press, Maj.-Gen. Peter Dawe said his troops helped plan the two-week operation codenamed Ready Lion, which involved using airstrikes and Iraqi snipers to root ISIL forces from mountain hideouts.

The Canadians also provided surveillance and assistance with resupplying local forces as the assault in the Makhmur Mountains was underway, Dawe added, and were on standby with helicopters to provide medical evacuations.

"I can say we were part of the coalition effort to support it," he said. "Our aviation detachment was providing medevac support, was on standby for that. Helping with a little bit of surveillance, as well."

The revelations about Canadas involvement in Operation Ready Lion represent the first real update in more than a year about what the roughly 200 Canadian special forces soldiers currently in Iraq are doing as part of Canadas ongoing fight against ISIL.

They also coincided with the federal governments recent decision to extend the entire mission, which also involves hundreds of non-special forces troops scattered in Iraq and the surrounding region, until next March.

Canada has had special forces in Iraq since September 2014, when the international community first scrambled to stop ISIL from taking over large swaths of Iraq and Syria. While Canadas anti-ISIL mission has evolved several times, it has continued to include special forces.

A Canadian Forces door gunner keeps watch on February 20, 2017 in northern Iraq. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Dawe confirmed Canadas special forces are continuing to operate out of a military base near the city of Irbil, in Iraqs northern Kurdistan region. That base has come under attack from rockets several times over the past year, but Dawe said no Canadians have been hurt.

Operation Ready Lion was launched on March 9 and, over the course of the next two weeks, saw Iraqi and coalition aircraft pound a series of ISIL tunnels and bunkers with 312 airstrikes. ISIL fighters who tried to flee were captured or killed by Iraqi snipers.

U.S. and Iraqi officials say 120 hideouts were destroyed and at least 27 ISIL fighters killed, though its unknown how many may have been buried in the cave complex, which sits in an area of the country that is difficult to police.

While the operation has been hailed as a success, Dawe said Canadas support is the exception to the trend when it comes to what his troops have been doing in Iraq.

Dawe would not get into specifics, but suggested the training and assistance that Canadian troops have been providing to their Iraqi counterparts has shifted from working alongside them on the battlefield to more behind-the-scenes planning.

That reflects the Iraqis having started to develop their own skills and experience as they hunt down ISIL cells and sympathizers, Dawe said, though he confirmed Canadian troops do sometimes accompany their charges into the field.

Its a progression, he said. Were still on occasion tactically advising and assisting. And historically, on occasion, weve found ourselves proximate to hostile actors. And on occasion, weve had to defend ourselves and our partners.

Dawe again wouldnt provide details, but said Canadian troops have fired in self-defence on at least one occasion in the last couple years.

The military and federal government faced questions earlier in the mission about whether Canadian special forces were in combat, even though officials insisted they only fired in self defence and were not engaged in offensive combat operations.

Sgt. Andrew Doiron is the only Canadian to have been killed during the ISIL mission, but died from so-called friendly fire in March 2015. The governments decision to extend the anti-ISIL mission comes amid uncertainty about exactly what form Canadas presence in Iraq and the surrounding region will take in the coming months.

That includes a NATO training mission that previously involved 250 Canadian troops and was led by a Canadian, Maj.-Gen. Jennie Carignan, until command was transferred to Denmark in November. Canada now has only 17 trainers involved in the mission.

Brig.-Gen. Mike Wright, who as commander of Joint Task Force Impact oversees those parts of Canadas anti-ISIL mission that dont involve the special forces, says NATO is now working with Iraq to determine the best approach to the training effort.

We remain plugged in, we being the Canadian Armed Forces at NATO, because those discussions about the future of the (Iraq training) mission happen in Brussels, he said, suggesting the results of those discussions will determine Canadas future contribution to the effort.

Canada also has a headquarters unit, two CC-130 Hercules transport planes and support staff in Kuwait involved in the anti-ISIL mission, along with teams of military trainers in nearby Jordan and Lebanon.

All told, there are about 500 Canadian troops in the region, though the federal government has authorized up to 850.

There has been growing concern about the threat posed by Iran and Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq, even as the number of ISIL fighters believed to be in Iraq and Syria has shrunk from between 14,000 and 18,000 to between 8,000 and 16,000.

While that has led to analysts arguing the purpose of the mission has shifted from dealing with ISIL to checking Iran, Dawe and Wright were both adamant that their focus remains on ISIL, which is also known as Daesh.

Our mandate is the defeat of Daesh, Wright said. So that's what we remain focused on. ... Obviously, we pay attention to other threats within the region for situational awareness and force protection.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2021.
Thousands of families across San Francisco waved goodbye to their little ones Monday morning, sending them to school for the first time in more than a year and less than eight weeks before the end of the school year, many expressing the same sentiment: Finally.

They had watched dozens of private schools and neighboring public districts reopen months ago, even as their children continued to attend school online, battling frustration, boredom and anxiety.

The district was among the last large school systems in the country to bring students back, reopening part time at 22 elementary schools as well as 14 preschool and county sites Monday. Another 71 campuses are expected to open for in-person learning by the end of April, with about 22,000 of the districts 52,000 students in classrooms.

The reopening followed months of political bickering, labor negotiations and a lawsuit.

This is amazing, said Mayor London Breed as she watched students file into Bret Harte Elementary School in the Bayview just before 8:30 a.m. It took a lot of work, and honestly a lot of people putting aside the drama.

There were some tears as parents nudged kindergartners inside, while first- and second-graders stood in line, their shirts and skirts pressed, new sneakers on little feet and hair combed into place with gel.

The first wave of students, preschool through second-graders, came back to schools on Monday. The second and third waves of students, including older elementary students and those with high needs, will return on April 19 and April 26.

Families have the option of remaining in distance learning, with teachers online with those students in the afternoons.

The district now faces a potential teacher shortage, with 290 teachers qualifying for a medical exemption, allowing them to remain at home rather than return for in-person instruction. That means the district must cover those classrooms with substitutes for the remainder of the school year.

As of last week, the district was short at least 50 substitutes.

Administrators are recruiting temporary teachers and contracting with an outside agency to ensure there are enough qualified instructors in classrooms when additional students return in the coming weeks.

At Bret Harte, about 80% of the schools 220 students opted to return, and all classrooms were staffed Monday.

Outside the school, families started lining up more than 30 minutes early, all of them masked, their childrens eyes betraying some nerves.

Cassandra Mancilla stood next to her son, Brayden, a shy kindergartner, who wasnt quite sure what would happen during the day. He thought he might do some reading.

I think they need school, his mom said. Hes been having a hard time staying focused. Its been really tough for him.

The reopening followed months of pressure from the city attorney, parents and teachers in the form of a lawsuit, protests and a recall petition for three board members.

The district initially planned to reopen in January, but failed to reach an agreement with the teachers union until early March.

The school board continues to face backlash for failing to bring back the overwhelming majority of middle and high school students, and for strict daily schedules that leave teachers little time to prepare for class.

Parent Taihua Zhang, who spoke through an interpreter, said he was relieved his 4-year-old son, James, can go back to preschool. The family has been hoping for this day for a while, the father said.

On Monday morning, however, James was less excited for his first day at Jefferson Early Education School in the Sunset. His three older brothers arent returning to classrooms this week, Zhang said, so James doesnt understand why he has to go.

Zhang, parenting four boys alone while his wife is training for the military, is grateful to manage only three children at home instead of four.

I can only do so much at home to teach them, he said.

With the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes, some Asian families are choosing to keep their children home if they can, but Zhang said he feels its safe.

I think its going to be OK, he said. I believe in the government.

Bay Area schools open since fall have seen little to no transmission of the virus.

Buena Vista Horace Mann teacher Laura Crahan is excited for reopening, but also a bit uncertain.

So much will be different, said the special education teacher, adding she expects seven of her students to return to her classroom this week.

District officials said they hope to bring back an additional grade in middle or high school before mid-May, which would mean the San Francisco schools could qualify for additional state funding. But it was unlikely that all secondary students would return before fall.

The goal is to bring back as many students as possible before summer, said school board member Jenny Lam.

Weve been through so much as a community, Lam said. We can do it, we know how to do it.

Not all families, however, were ready to return.

According to a January survey, over half of eligible students were planning on returning to in-person instruction. White families were the most likely to go back, at just over 80%, and Asian families were the least likely to return, at 36%. Around 60% of both African American and Latino families were planning to attend in person.

Jonathan Sanchez, whose son, Necalli, is in kindergarten at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in the Mission, feels strongly about sending Necalli back.

As a Latino person, as a proactive progressive Latino father, Im here to say I want to go back, Sanchez said, adding he plans to take Necalli for ice cream after school, a rare treat. Kids need to feel this excitement of going back to school right now, he said.

On Tuesday, the school board pledged to invite students back to schools for in-person instruction full time, five days a week in the fall. Remote learning will still be an option for students who choose not to return for medical, social or academic reasons.

We want students back, said Superintendent Vince Matthews. We believe this is how we do education best.

Emma Talley and Jill Tucker are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: emma.talley@sfchronicle.com, jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @emmat332, @jilltucker
Sport Bay of Plenty are advising more adults and encourage their children to play and engage with activities themselves.

Steph Reichardt, play expert, at Sport Bay of Plenty, who wants to see more Bay of Plenty children experience the freedom to play and more local parents understand their role as enablers of play.

In doing so, Steph says children are better able to develop emotionally, physically, socially and mentally.

Its also where they develop and practice life skills, Steph says.

Steph came to Sport Bay of Plenty in November and in that time has been supporting a number of play initiatives through the Tu Manawa funding stream, working with various organisations to help them find ways of incorporating play in their work stream and encouraging the community to learn about the benefits of play.

One of the ways she has been helping the community to understand the importance of play is through free community workshops throughout all areas of the Bay of Plenty. So far, workshops have been held in Whakatane, Rotorua and Tauranga and Steph says they have been well-received, with attendees eager to learn more.

The next Lets Talk Play workshop is being held at Sport Bay of Plentys Tauranga office on Monday, April 12 and Steph says it is a great opportunity to learn why Sport New Zealand has identified play as essential to the future of our tamariki.

We talk about the barriers and how we, in our work, can help reduce some of the barriers and we talk about how the future of play can look in Bay of Plenty, says Steph.

The workshops provide an opportunity to shape and articulate our approach to play. It is an opportunity for organisations to connect and helps to raise play awareness and confidence in having play conversations.

Sport Bay of Plenty is a not-for-profit organisation that works to get more people more active, more often - and play is just one of the many ways to encourage just that.

In the lead up school holidays, which start at the end of next week, Steph is encouraging parents, grandparents and caregivers to allow their children to play and to get involved.

There is definitely no age restriction on play. In fact, intergenerational play can be the most memorable, having grandad play in the sandpit, or nan teach knucklebones would be a great experience for all kids, Steph states. As we age, play tends to get more structured and more rule-bound, lets let the kids make the rules and be open to having fun.

We, as adults, are the enablers of play. If we say yes a little more often, and actually take time to listen to the kids then Im positive more play will be enabled.

With two adventurous sons, the Te Puke-born mum knows first-hand how important it is for children to actively explore, be creative and experience fun, joy and laughter through play and tries to incorporate as much play time in their everyday lives as possible.

I had a great childhood, outdoors, with friends, climbing up trees or exploring the neighbourhood on our bikes, says Steph. My kids are also very playful and love getting dirty, being outdoors and using their imagination to create games. Play is that freedom to explore, to discover and to use your imagination.

My lounge is currently a Lego airport. As a family we love to do double bounce competitions on the trampoline, dig trenches at the beach or play a big game of spotlight with the neighbours.

Steph grew up in the Bay of Plenty, attending schools in Rotorua before moving to Wellington and spending her working life undertaking roles that have included an active familys advisor, community recreation advisor and personal training. She is excited to be back in her home region with her children and closer to her whanau.

The Ngati Raukawa descendant is also looking forward to creating normalcy around play across the generations and seeing Bay of Plenty residents, young and old, embrace it.

Play provides a great opportunity for kids to take risks and to learn to communicate how they are feeling, says Steph. It is a wonderful way to distract from the pressures of work and school and it's something we can do individually or with others.

It is important in building childrens resilience and fundamental movement skills.
Wyoming police and prosecutors were repeatedly at odds over the sexual abuse investigation into retired bishop Joseph Hart, police and prosecutor documents say, with police claiming that prosecutors hadn't read basic case documents and prosecutors complaining about media attention and their problems with the investigation.
This training could help the department be better equipped to accurately determine the cause of a fire in the future.

Video Transcript

JASON OLIVEIRA: Whenever a fire rips through a building causing damage and claiming lives, it's the job of fire officials to determine what happened. Well a first of its kind academy is taking place in Fresno to help firefighters from across the state become arson investigators. Firefighters from across California are in Fresno learning what it takes to become a fire investigator.

SHANE BROWN: They put all this training that's required to become certified altogether. So you wouldn't have to travel all over the state or potentially the nation to chase down one certification here or there. It's all here.

JASON OLIVEIRA: With fires on the rise, officials say the demand for fire investigators has jumped exponentially. Fresno, for instance, has seen a staggering 1,800 fires since January 1 but operates with just a handful of investigators. This training could help the department be better equipped to accurately determine the cause of a fire in the future.

SHANE BROWN: Fresno is a fairly decent sized fire department with 20 fire stations. We only have six fire investigators. And of those six, we have three of them that are on duty during the week in a staff position working 40 hours, and we only have one that's responding on a 24-hour unit.

JASON OLIVEIRA: The four-week academy covers everything from basic introduction to fire to how to fill out origin-and-cause reports. But what happens in the field is only part of the training. Firefighters also go through a mock trial, where they must present and defend their findings under cross-examination from real courtroom attorneys. The idea is to provide more experience and better prepare them for what they might find while on duty.

SHANE BROWN: The benefit, it can't be expressed enough, that the individuals participating are going to go back to their public agencies and bring back invaluable training.

JASON OLIVEIRA: Now the four-week academy wraps up next week with the final segment of the course dedicated to investigating wildland fires.
The coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa can "break through" Pfizer/BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine to some extent, a real-world data study in Israel found, though its prevalence in the country is low and the research has not been peer reviewed.

The study, released on Saturday, compared almost 400 people who had tested positive for Covid-19, 14 days or more after they received one or two doses of the vaccine, against the same number of unvaccinated patients with the disease. It matched age and gender, among other characteristics.

The South African variant, B.1.351, was found to make up about 1% of all the Covid-19 cases across all the people studied, according to the study by Tel Aviv University and Israel's largest healthcare provider, Clalit.

But among patients who had received two doses of the vaccine, the variant's prevalence rate was eight times higher than those unvaccinated - 5.4% versus 0.7%.

This suggests the vaccine is less effective against the South African variant, compared with the original coronavirus and a variant first identified in Britain that has come to comprise nearly all Covid-19 cases in Israel, the researchers said.

"We found a disproportionately higher rate of the South African variant among people vaccinated with a second dose, compared to the unvaccinated group. This means that the South African variant is able, to some extent, to break through the vaccine's protection," said Tel Aviv University's Adi Stern.

The researchers cautioned, though, that the study only had a small sample size of people infected with the South African variant because of its rarity in Israel.

They also said the research was not intended to deduce overall vaccine effectiveness against any variant, since it only looked at people who had already tested positive for Covid-19, not at overall infection rates.

Pfizer and BioNTech could not be immediately reached for comment outside business hours.

The companies said on April 1 that their vaccine was around 91% effective at preventing Covid-19, citing updated trial data that included participants inoculated for up to six months.

In respect to the South African variant, they said that among a group of 800 study volunteers in South Africa, where B.1.351 is widespread, there were nine cases of Covid-19, all of which occurred among participants who got the placebo. Of those nine cases, six were among individuals infected with the South African variant.

Some previous studies have indicated that the Pfizer/BioNTech shot was less potent against the B.1.351 variant than against other variants of the coronavirus, but still offered a robust defence.

While the results of the study may cause concern, the low prevalence of the South African strain was encouraging, according to Stern.

"Even if the South African variant does break through the vaccine's protection, it has not spread widely through the population," said Stern, adding that the British variant may be "blocking" the spread of the South African strain.

Almost 53% of Israel's 9.3 million population has received both Pfizer doses. Israel has largely reopened its economy in recent weeks while the pandemic appears to be receding, with infection rates, severe illness and hospitalizations dropping sharply. About a third of Israelis are below the age of 16, which means they are still not eligible for the shot.

Also Read: 56% support fast-track approvals for Pfizer, Moderna COVID vaccines: LocalCircles survey
Theyre Here for Freedom: Australian Councillor Praises Falun Dafa Practitioners for Their Courage

A Victorian councillor in the city of Bendigo believes Australians should support those who speak up against oppressive regimessuch as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under which millions of Chinese people dont enjoy freedom of expression.

At a rally held in the centre of Bendigo on April 10, Councillor Vaughan Williams said that Falun Dafa practitioners efforts to raise awareness about the widespread human rights abuses in communist China were important for Australians to take note of, especially in his town of Bendigo where a vibrant Chinese community abounds.

Im not a big fan of the CCP, and thats why Im here todayto lend my support to the Chinese people living in Australia, Williams told The Epoch Times.

Everybody should have freedoms. Freedom of religion, freedom to practice, free speech. Thats why theyre heretheyre here for freedom, he said of the Falun Gong practitioners who were visiting from Melbourne to let locals know about the dangers posed by communist China to the free world as Australia grapples with the question of how to proceed in its foreign relations with Beijing.

Bendigo Councillor Vaughan Williams (R) speaks with Falun Dafa practitioners (L) giving out lotus flowers in Bendigo, Victoria, on April 10, 2021. (The Epoch Times)

Some of the car mounted signage read: The CCP does not represent the Chinese people, Over 80 million unnatural death under Chinese Communist reign, Stop the persecution of Uyghurs, Christians, Falun Gong and the faith groups in China, and The CCP uses threats, tariffs & bully tactics against Australian & Australian businesses.

Car mounted banner that says Stop the persecution of Uyghurs, Christians, Falun Gong and other faith groups in China, in Bendigo, Victoria, on April 10, 2021. (The Epoch Times)

Speaking at the event, Andrew Bush, former senior member of the Liberal Party and current vice president of Better Hearing Australia, said that while communist China today continues to extend its influence globally, the regime was still persecuting its own people back home.

People of Australia need to recognise the fact that [the CCP] is based on violence, Bush said.

Andrew Bush, former senior member of the Liberal Party and now Vice President of Better Hearing Australia, speaks at a rally in Bendigo, Victoria, on April 10, 2021. (The Epoch Times)

He said that the forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience, as well as the oppression of Uyghur minorities in China, were recent examples of the CCPs violent history.

It is now time that the world community says to the Chinese Communist Party, we are holding you [the CCP] accountable for the evil and the wrong that you are doing, especially to your own citizens.

Awareness Raising Continues

With the CCPs persecution of Falun Dafa still happening after 21 years, efforts by practitioners to raise awareness of the communist regimes attempts to eradicate their belief in the tenets of truth, compassion and forbearance continue.

Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is an ancient Chinese spiritual practice that consist of gentle meditation exercises, and moral teachings for self improvement. First spread in China, it grew in popularity during the 1990s to 70 million to 100 million adherents in China alone by the end of the decade, according to official estimates at the time.

Barbara Schafer, an artist and a Falun Dafa practitioner, spoke of how her injury from an accident 18 years ago improved significantly after she started practicing Falun Dafa.

Host Armstrong Lazenby (L) and Falun Gong practitioner Barbara Schafer (R) speak at a Falun Dafa rally in Bendigo, Victoria, on April 10, 2021. (The Epoch Times)

When told by doctors that her hopes for recovery were low after sustaining a head injury from a fall, Barbara decided to give Falun Gong a try.

After doing the exercises, I could feel the amazing power of Falun Gong, Schafer said. Falun Dafa brought me wisdom, and enlightenmentenlightenment through many things I could never possibly get it through any other way.

She said the practice does require perseverance, strong will, and determination, but noted that, If you experience Falun Gong, the benefits are far greater than you could ever imagine.

Angel, a 44-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from China, also spoke of how the practice has helped her learn to be more considerate of others.

Despite being imprisoned in China in 2004 for handing out information on Falun Dafa, she still held strong to her faith.

Falun Gong practitioner Angel at a rally in Bendigo, Victoria, on April 10, 2021. She was imprisoned in China in 2004 for sharing information about Falun Dafa. (The Epoch Times)

Like many other practitioners, I keep telling the Chinese people how I benefit from practicing Falun Gong and the truth behind the CCPs slander campaign, so they will not be deceived by the CCPs lies and propaganda, she said.

The rally also included Falun Dafa exercise demonstrations, as well as traditional Chinese instrument performances.

People demonstrate the five sets of Falun Gongs qigong exercises at a rally in Bendigo, Victoria, on April 10, 2021. (The Epoch Times)

Since July 20, 1999, Falun Dafa practitioners have been appealing to various levels of governments, both inside and outside of China, to end the regimes attempt to wipe out the group, which has resulted in waves of practitioners being imprisoned, tortured, and even killed for their faith.

Falun Gong practitioner Marc Bateman speaks at a Falun Dafa rally in Bendigo, Victoria, in Australia on April 10, 2021. (The Epoch Times)

At any given time, 450,000 to 1 million adherents are incarcerated in China, according to estimates by the Falun Dafa Information Centre.

Epoch Times reporter Rita Li contributed to this report.
In November 2020, the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace co-produced a report that warned that the global financial system was increasingly vulnerable to cyber attacks. Advisors to the group that produced the report included representatives from the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the International Monetary Fund, Wall Street giants likes JP Morgan Chase and Silicon Valley behemoths like Amazon.

The ominous report was published just months after the World Economic Forum had conducted a simulation of that very event  a cyber attack that brings the global financial system to its knees  in partnership with Russias largest bank, which is due to jumpstart that countrys economic digital transformation with the launch of its own central bank-backed cryptocurrency.

More recently, last Tuesday, the largest information sharing organization of the financial industry, whose known members include Bank of America, Wells Fargo and CitiGroup, have again warned that nation-state hackers and cybercriminals were poised to work together to attack the global financial system in the short term. The CEO of this organization, known as the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), had previously advised the WEF-Carnegie report that had warned much the same.

Such coordinated simulations and warnings from those who dominate the current, ailing financial system are obvious cause for concern, particularly given that the World Economic Forum is well-known for its Event 201 simulation about a global coronavirus pandemic that took place just months prior to the COVID-19 crisis.

The COVID-19 crisis has since been cited as the main justification for accelerating the digital transformation of the financial and other sectors that the Forum and its partners have promoted for years. Their latest prediction of a doomsday event, a cyber attack that stops the current financial system in its tracks and instigates its systemic collapse, would offer the final yet necessary step for the Forums desired outcome of this widespread shift to digital currency and increased global governance of the international economy.

Given that experts have been warning since the last global financial crisis that the collapse of the entire system was inevitable due to central bank mismanagement and rampant Wall Street corruption, a cyber attack would also provide the perfect scenario for dismantling the current, failing system as it would absolve central banks and corrupt financial institutions of any responsibility. It would also provide a justification for incredibly troubling policies promoted by the WEF-Carnegie report, such as a greater fusion of intelligence agencies and banks in order to better protect critical financial infrastructure.

Considering the precedent of the WEFs past simulations and reports with the COVID-19 crisis, it is well worth examining the simulations, warnings and the policies promoted by these powerful organizations. The remainder of this report will examine the WEF-Carnegie report from November 2020, while a follow-up report will focus on the more recent FS-ISAC report published last week. The WEF simulation of a cyber attack on the global financial system, Cyber Polygon 2020, was covered in detail by Unlimited Hangout in a previous report.

The WEF-Carnegie Cyber Policy Initiative

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, is one of the most influential foreign policy think tanks in the United States, with close and persistent ties to the US State Department, former Presidents, corporate America and American oligarch clans like the Pritzkers of Hyatt hotels. Current trustees of the endowment include executives from Bank of America and CitiGroup as well as other influential financial institutions.

In 2019, the same year as Event 201, the Endowment launched its Cyber Policy Initiative with the goal of producing an International Strategy for Cybersecurity and the Global Financial System 2021-2024. That strategy was released just months ago, in November 2020 and, according to the Endowment, was authored by leading experts in governments, central banks, industry and the technical community in order to provide a longer-term international cybersecurity strategy specifically fo the financial system.

The initiative is an outgrowth of past efforts of the Carnegie Endowment to promote the fusion of financial authorities, the financial industry, law enforcement and national security agencies, which is both a major recommendation of the November 2020 report and a conclusion of a 2019 high-level roundtable between the Endowment, the IMF and central bank governors. The Endowment had also partnered with the IMF, SWIFT, Standard Chartered and FS-ISAC to create a cyber resilience capacity-building tool box for financial institutions in 2019. That same year, the Endowment also began tracking the evolution of the cyber threat landscape and incidents involving financial institutions in collaboration with BAE Systems, the UKs largest weapons manufacturer. Per the Endowment, this collaboration continues into the present.

In January 2020, representatives of the Carnegie Endowment presented their Cyber Policy Initiative at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, after which the Forum officially partnered with the Endowment on the initiative.

Advisors to the now joint WEF-Carnegie project include representatives of central banks like the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank; some of Wall Streets most infamous banks like Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase; law enforcement organizations such as INTERPOL and the US Secret Service; corporate giants like Amazon and Accenture; and global financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and SWIFT. Other notable advisors include the managing director and head of the WEFs Centre for Cybersecurity, Jeremy Jurgens, who was also a key player in the Cyber Polygon simulation, and Steve Silberstein, the CEO of the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC).

Not a Question of If but When

The Cyber Policy Initiatives November 2020 report is officially titled International Strategy to Better Protect the Financial System. It begins by noting that the global financial system, like many other systems, are going through unprecedented digital transformation, which is being accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic.

It then warns that:

Malicious actors are taking advantage of this digital transformation and pose a growing threat to the global financial system, financial stability, and confidence in the integrity of the financial system. Malign actors are using cyber capabilities to steal from, disrupt, or otherwise threaten financial institutions, investors and the public. These actors include not only increasingly daring criminals, but also states and state-sponsored attackers.

Followed by this warning of malign actors, the report notes that increasingly concerned, key voices are sounding the alarm. It notes that Christine Lagarde of the European Central Bank and formerly of the IMF warned in February 2020 that a cyber attack could trigger a serious financial crisis. A year prior, at the WEFs annual meeting, the head of Japans central bank predicted that cybersecurity could become the financial systems most serious risk in the near future. It also notes that in 2019, Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase similarly labeled cyber attacks as possibly the biggest threat to the US financial system.

Not long after Lagardes warning, in April 2020, the Financial Stability Board asserted that cyber incidents pose a threat to the stability of the global financial system and that a major cyber incident, if not properly contained, could seriously disrupt financial systems, including critical financial infrastructure, leading to broader financial stability implications.

The WEF-Carnegie report authors add to these concerns that the exploitation of cyber vulnerabilities could cause losses to investors and the general public and lead to significant damage to public trust and confidence in the current financial system. It also notes, aside from affecting the general public in a significant way, this threat would impact both high-income countries and low to lower-middle income countries, meaning its impact on the masses will be global in scope.

The report then ominously concludes that one thing is clear: it is not a question of if a major incident will happen, but when.

Ensuring control of the narrative

Another section of the report details recommendations for controlling the narrative in the event such a crippling cyber attack takes place. The report specifically recommends that financial authorities and industry should ensure they are properly prepared for influence operations and hybrid attacks that combine influence operations with malicious hacking activity and that they apply lessons learned from influence operations targeting electoral processes to potential attacks on financial institutions.

It goes on to recommend that major financial services firms, central banks and other financial supervisory authorities, representatives of which advised the WEF-Carnegie report, identify a single point of contact within each organisation to engage social media platforms for crisis management.

The reports authors argue that, in the event of a crisis, such as a devastating cyber attack on the global banking system, social media companies should swiftly amplify communications by central banks so that central banks may debunk fake information and calm the markets. It also states that financial authorities, financial services firms and tech companies [presumably including social media companies] should develop a clear communications and response plan focused on being able to react swiftly. Notably, both Facebook and Twitter are listed in the reports appendix as industry stakeholders that have engaged with the WEF-Carnegie initiative.

The report also asserts that premeditated coordination for such a crisis between banks and social media companies needs to take place so that both parties may determine what severity of crisis would necessitate amplified communication. The report also calls for social media companies to work with central banks to develop escalation paths similar to those developed in the wake of the past election interference, as seen in the United States and Europe.

Of course, those escalation paths involved wide-ranging social media censorship. The report seems to acknowledge this, when it adds that quick coordination with social media platforms is necessary to organise content takedowns. Thus, the report is calling for central banks to collude with social media platforms to plan out censorship efforts that would be enacted if a sufficiently severe crisis occurs in financial markets.

As far as influence operations go, the report divides these into two categories; those that target individual firms and those that target markets overall. Regarding the first category, the report states that organised actors will spread fraudulent rumours to manipulate stock prices and generate profit based on how much the price of the stock was artificially moved. It then adds that, in these influence operations, firms and lobbyists use astroturfing campaigns, which create a false appearance of grassroots support, to tarnish the value of a competing brand or attempt to sway policymaking decisions by abusing calls for online public comments. The similarities between this latter statement and the Wall Street Bets phenomenon of January 2021 are obvious.

Regarding the second category of influence operations, the report defines these operations as likely to be carried out by a politically motivated actor like a terrorist group or even a nation-state. It adds that this type of influence operation may directly target the financial system to manipulate markets, for example, by spreading rumours about market-moving decisions by central banks as well as spreading false information that does not directly reference financial markets but that causes financial markets to react.

Given that the report states that the first category of influence operation poses little systemic risk while the second may pose systemic risk, it seems more likely that the event being predicted by the WEF-Carnegie report would involve claims of the latter by a terrorist group or potentially a nation-state. Notably, the report mentions North Korea as a likely nation-state offender on several occasions. It also dwells on the likelihood that synthetic media or deep fakes would be part of this system-devastating event in emerging economies and/or in high-income countries experiencing a financial crisis.

A separate June 2020 report from the WEF-Carnegie initiative was published specifically on deepfakes and the financial system, noting that such attacks would likely transpire during a larger financial crisis to amplify damaging narratives or simulate grassroots consumer backlash against a targeted brand. It adds that companies, financial institutions and government regulators facing public relations crises are especially vulnerable to deepfakes and synthetic media.

In light of these statements, it is worth pointing out that bad actors within the current system could exploit these scenarios and theories to paint actual grassroots backlash against a bank or corporation as being a synthetic influence operation perpetrated by cybercriminals or a nation-state. Considering that the WEF-Carnegie report references a scenario analogous to the Wall Street Bets situation in January 2021, a banker-led effort to falsely label a future grassroots backlash as instead being synthetic and the fault of a terrorist group or nation-state should not be ruled out.

Reducing Fragmentation: Merging Banks with their Regulators and Intelligence Agencies

Given the inevitability of this destructive event predicted by the reports authors, it is important to focus in on the solutions proposed in the WEF-Carnegie report as they will become immediately relevant if this event, as predicted by the WEF and Carnegie Endowment, does come to pass.

Some of the solutions proposed are to be expected from a WEF-linked policy document, such as the calls for increased public-private partnerships and greater coordination among regional and international organizations as well as increased coordination between national governments.

However, the main solution at the heart of this report, and also at the heart of the WEF-Carnegie initiatives other endeavors, is a call to fuse corporate banks, the financial authorities that essentially oversee them, tech companies and the national security state.

The reports authors first argue that the main vulnerability of the global financial system at present is the current fragmentation among stakeholders and initiatives and that mitigating this threat to global system lies in reducing that fragmentation. The report argues that the way to resolve the issue requires massive re-organization of all stakeholders via increased global coordination. The report notes that the disconnect between the finance, the national security and the diplomatic communities is particularly pronounced and calls for much closer interaction between the three.

It then states that:

This requires countries not only to better organize themselves domestically but also to strengthen international cooperation to defend against, investigate, prosecute and ideally prevent future attacks. This implies that the financial sector and financial authorities must regularly interact with law enforcement and other national security agencies in unprecedented ways, both domestically and internationally.

Some examples of these unprecedented interactions between banks and the national security state are included in the reports recommendations. For instance, it argues that governments should use the unique capabilities of their national security communities to help protect FMIs [financial market infrastructures] and critical trading systems. It also calls for national security agencies [to] consult critical cloud service providers [like WEF-Carnegie initiative partner Amazon Web Services] to determine how intelligence collection could be used to help identify and monitor potential significant threat actors and develop a mechanism to share information about imminent threats with tech companies.

The report also states that the financial industry should throw its weight behind efforts to tackle cyber crime more effectively, for example by increasing its participation in law enforcement efforts.

On that last point, there are indications this has already begun. For instance, Bank of America, the second largest bank in the US and part of the WEF-Carnegie Initiative and FS-ISAC, was reported to have actively but secretly engaged with US law enforcement agencies in the hunt for political extremists following the January 6th events at Capitol Hill. In doing so, Bank of America shared private information with the federal government without the knowledge or consent of its customers, leading critics to accuse the bank of effectively acting as an intelligence agency.

Yet, arguably the most troubling part of the report is its call to unite the national security apparatus and the finance industry first, and then use that as a model to do the same with other sectors of the economy. It states that protecting the international financial system can be a model for other sectors, adding that focusing on the financial sector provides a starting point and could pave the way to better protect other sectors in the future.

Were all the sectors of the economy to also fuse with the national security state, it would inevitably create a reality where there is no part of daily human life that is not ultimately controlled by these two already very powerful entities. This is a clear recipe for techno-fascism on a global scale. As this WEF-Carnegie report makes clear, the roadmap regarding how to cook up such a nightmare has already been charted out in coordination with the very institutions, banks and governments that currently control the global financial system.

Not only that, but  as pointed out in Unlimited Hangouts article on Cyber Polygon  the World Economic Forum and many of its partners have a vested interest in the systemic collapse of the current financial system. In addition, many central banks have recently backed new digital currency systems that can only achieve rapid, mass adoption if the existing system collapses.

Given that these systems are set to be integrated with biometric IDs and so-called vaccine passports through the WEF and Big Tech-backed Vaccine Credential initiative, it is worth considering the timing of the expected launch of such systems in determining when this predicted and allegedly inevitable event is likely to occur.

With this new financial system so deeply inter-connected to these credential efforts, this cyber attack on the financial sector would likely take place at a time when it would best facilitate the adoption of the new economic system and its integration into credential systems currently being promoted as a way out of COVID-19-related restrictions.
Indian Army chief Gen MM Naravane on Sunday urged the United Nations to enhance the budget for its peacekeeping missions and emphasised the need to provide appropriate logistics and improved technological support for the blue helmet missions in view of the emerging challenges.

Gen Naravane, who is here on a five-day official tour, delivered a keynote address on Changing Nature of Global Conflicts: Role of UN Peacekeepers during the Army Chiefs Conclave hosted by his Bangladeshi counterpart General Aziz Ahmed, the Indian Armys Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADG PI) tweeted.

Gen Naravane laid emphasis on enhanced budget for UN peacekeeping activities, Bangladesh Defence Ministrys Inter Service Public Relations directorate quoted him as saying at the conclave.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen was the chief guest at the event.

The Indian Army chief also called for providing appropriate logistics and improved technological support for the UN blue helmet missions, pointing out their emerging challenges.

He said the UN peacekeeping missions should run on a participatory basis.

The Bangladesh Army hosted the conclave coinciding with the celebrations of the birth centenary of the countrys Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of its 1971 independence.

Force commander of UN multidimensional integrated stabilisation mission in Mali Lieutenant General Dennis Gyllensporree, force commander of UN multidimensional integrated stabilisation mission in the Central African region Lieutenant General Sidki Daniel Traore and Bhutan armys deputy chief of operation Brigadier General Darji Rinchen, among others attended the conclave.

Senior diplomats, security strategists and police officers also attended the seminar.

Momen told the conclave that the nature of peacekeeping operations in recent periods transformed both in terms of scale and scope for what peacekeeping missions today are more than truce supervising operation.

The changing situation further expanded the missions responsibility taking into account other dimensions of peace, such as establishing rule of law, protection of human rights, protection of women and children, support to political process, managing elections, reintegration and socio-economic development, he said.

The conclave was held as part of a multilateral UN-mandated counter-terrorism exercise, Frontrunners of Peace that commenced on April 4.

An Indian Army contingent of 30 personnel is participating along with the Royal Bhutan Army, Sri Lankan Army and Bangladesh Army in the exercise that will conclude on Monday.

Military observers from the US, UK, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Singapore are also attending the exercise.

The aim of the exercise is to strengthen the procedures and enhance interoperability amongst neighbourhood countries to ensure robust peacekeeping operations in the region.

The armies of all the participating nations shared their valuable experiences and refined their drills and procedures in peacekeeping operations.

The visit of Gen Naravane, who is here at the invitation of his Bangladeshi counterpart Gen Aziz Ahmed, comes less than two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to the neighbouring country and met the top leadership here to strengthen the strategic ties.
The action this morning against the Natanz enrichment site shows the defeat of those who oppose our countrys nuclear and political development and the significant gains of our nuclear industry, Mr. Salehi said, according to the Iranian news media. The incident shows the failure of those who oppose Iran negotiating for sanctions relief.

Israel, which considers Iran a dire adversary, has sabotaged Irans nuclear work before, with tactics ranging from cyberattacks to outright assassinations. Israel is believed to have orchestrated the killings of several Iranian nuclear scientists in recent years, including an ambush on a key developer of its nuclear program last November.

Israel, as a matter of policy, neither confirms nor denies such actions.

The explosion at Natanz struck barely a week after the United States and Iran, in their first significant diplomacy under the Biden administration, participated in the new talks in Vienna aimed at reviving the nuclear agreement abandoned by Mr. Trump, who described it as the worst deal and a giveaway to Iran.

The talks to salvage the accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or J.C.P.O.A., are set to resume this week.

It was not immediately clear how the incident at Natanz might affect that. But Iran now faces a complicated calculation on how to respond, especially if it concludes that Israel was responsible.

Tehran faces an extremely tricky balance, said Henry Rome, an Iran analyst at the Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy. It will feel compelled to retaliate in order to signal to Israel that attacks are not cost-free.
Thanks for visiting !

The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy.

We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here.

Thank you for your support!
Increasing demand of robotic pets in consumer markets has led the manufacturers to focus more on pet robots rather than robotic toys which are at a verge of decline. Reduction in price of the robots leads to the increase in adoption of these robots, which are viewed as a key factor impacting the growth of the global programmable robot market positively. According to Trends Market Research, the programmable robot market will register growth at a healthy pace during the forecast period 2021 - 2028.

Market Dynamics

Growth of theglobal programmable robot market is expected to be fuelled by several macro-economic and micro-economic factors. Incessant innovations in artificial intelligence and the advent of deep learning method is the key factor responsible for growth in the global programmable robot market. Another key factor driving the growth and demand of the programmable robot is continuous decrease in the price of the robot components.

Get Sample PDF Pages now with Some Benefits!! https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/13473

In the foreseeable future, limited support by governments in developed country can hinder the growth of the market. But, continuous increase in adoption of the robotic system in the field of military, educational institution and farming industry had spread more know-how about the robotic system and its usage in different industry.

Segmentation analysis

The global market is segmented on the basis of the product type and their usage in the region, as well as their distribution channels. North America holds the leading share in the market, whereas Asia Pacific is likely to emerge as the second leading market for the programmable robotic market in terms of growth and environment friendly market. The developed region in the growing market will continue to remain dominant in the global market over the forecast period. Keeping in mind the usage of application in spacecraft, mobile robotic and industrial controlling will lead to increase in demand of the product.

You can Buy This Report from Here @ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/13473/Single

The global market is segmented on the basis of their product type and their usage in the region and their distribution channels. Japan having the highest population which comprises of elderly people and this can lead to the high scope of this segment. Increasing population of China will drive the demand of the healthcare product, which will have direct impact on the growth of Incontinence market. The developed region in this market will continue to dominate in the global market during the forecast period. Surge in the population that prefers spending high for the enhanced services further fuels demand for the global incontinence product market. Increase in the initiatives taken by the government and surge in the contract manufacturing process is expected to encourage the healthcare products by providing various incentives in countries such as China and Saudi Arabia. With this derived factor, the global market is expected to rev up during the forecast period.

Key Market player

Key market players include Orbotix Inc., RobotShop Inc., Yujin Robot Co. Ltd., WowWee Group Limited, RoboBOrbotix Inc.,uilder Co. Ltd., and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. Major market players are mainly aiming towards the robot pet, which are being used in the educational institution or for the academic curriculums. Also, the significant investment in development for producing innovative robot will give the market player a competitive edge in the global market. However, the programmable robotic market is expected to witness growth during the forecast period.

Get Discount on This Report: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/13473
ALBANY  County Republican organizations around the state have filed lawsuits trying to remove Democrats from the state Working Families Party line ahead of the June primaries.

The move comes as local Republicans in at least three counties have also tried to co-opt the WFP line - a move they made after other minor parties they relied on to boost their voting totals in elections were booted from the ballot under new state election thresholds.

Lawsuits in state Supreme Court have been filed in Albany, Onondaga, Monroe, Niagara, Rensselaer, Saratoga, and Schenectady counties, according to court records and media reports. The lawsuits allege that the Working Families Partys executive committee did not properly authenticate petitions from Democrats seeking to run on the WFP line.

The lawsuit filed in Albany County is asking Albany County Supreme Court Judge L. Michael Mackey to invalidate the petitions filed by more than 40 Albany County Democrats.

A hearing on the lawsuit is set for 1 p.m. on April 20.

Randy Bashwinger, the Albany County GOP chairman, said the WFP appeared to have copied and pasted the signatures authorizing the petitions, rather than have original handwritten signatures, for most counties in the state.

"They did it all the way through," he said. "Hopefully the ruling causes the candidates to lose the WFP line. If the shoe was on the other foot, I guarantee we'd lose our endorsements."

A state WFP spokeswoman previously told the Times Union they are confident that their process was legal under an executive order Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed last year that allows for electronic notarization during the coronavirus pandemic.

"No county Board of Elections and no politically motivated Republican commissioner acting alone has the authority to override state law, and no court will find that a BOE or Republican commissioner can do so. There is no question that any challenge to our legally valid documents will fail," the spokesperson said in a statement.

Anita Thayer, the WFP's secretary, said she believed the party's authorizations were property filed.

"What I think is that Republicans can't win the battle of ideas and are looking for shortcuts," she said.

As news of the lawsuits trickled out, local Democratic organizations expressed outrage - trying to compare the electoral maneuvering to voter suppression and the new voting rules passed in Georgia.

Its so sad to see the voter suppression tactics of Georgia come to our community. Local Republicans are suing Bethlehems Democratic candidates to push us off the ballot for accepting the Working Families Party endorsement, Bethlehem Supervisor David VanLuven wrote on Facebook.

Albany County Democratic Chairman Jake Crawford said Democratic candidates will move forward despite the lawsuit.

"I won't comment on a pending legal fight between the minor parties in Albany County but our endorsed Democratic candidates are going to have the resources and support they need from the party to successfully win the election on Row A in November," he said in a statement.

Local GOP organizations in Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties have been trying to enroll more of their members in the WFP since the Independence Party was removed from the ballot after not receiving enough votes in the 2020 presidential election, although each county push has a slightly different local wrinkle.

In Rensselaer County, the Times Union reported last month that the GOP is attempting to register supporters in the WFP to seize the ballot line to challenge the Working Families' endorsed candidate for county executive, Democrat Gwen Wright. Since November, the WFP in Rensselaer County has more than doubled in size to roughly 2,000 enrollees.

Schenectady and Saratoga counties saw similar migrations, as Independence Party members have migrated to the WFP. In Schenectady County, many of the Independence Party members were Schenectady firefighters, who are at the end of their current contract.
Advertisement

Flowers and tributes to Prince Philip have continued to be placed outside the gates of both Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, two days after his death.

Britain continues to observe eight days of mourning for Prince Philip whose death was announced on April 9.

The Duke of Edinburgh spent his final days at Windsor Castle with the Queen after a 28-night stay in hospital having been admitted in mid-February for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition.

Her Majesty announced her husband's death at midday as the Union Flag was lowered to half-mast outside Buckingham Palace, in Downing Street and on public buildings across the UK and Commonwealth.

Flowers and tributes to Prince Philip have continued to be placed outside the gates of both Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, two days after his death

A woman outside of Windsor Castle this morning is seen shedding a tear as she pays her respects to Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II

A note has been left tied to this cap outside Windsor Castle and alongside floral tributes. The note says that the Duke of Edinburgh was 'an example to us all'

'Rest in peace sir': Mourners also visited the gates of Buckingham Palace this morning in order to leave flowers and personal notes

People observe flowers outside Windsor castle, after Britain's Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth, died at the age of 99, in Windsor, near London

Children from the Sandhu and Chhina family from Reading have their pictures taken by their parents before leaving their floral tributes to Prince Philip, Duke Of Edinburgh who died at age 99 outside of Windsor Castle on April 11

Members of the public leave floral tributes to Prince Philip, Duke Of Edinburgh who died at age 99 outside of Windsor Castle on April 11

The Queen announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on April 9th

A man bows his head in respect outside of Windsor Castle this morning as he pays tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, who died on April 9

On top of flowers, stuffed toys were also placed outside of royal residences this morning. This one was placed down alongside a personal note

A mourner holds her hands together in prayer as she stands outside the gates of Windsor Castle this morning paying her respects to Prince Philip

Adding to the huge number of flowers lining the gates of Windsor Castle this morning, a young boy is seen gently tossing his own bunch onto the pile

A huge number of flowers and tributes lie on the ground in front of Windsor Castle today as people continue to pay their respects to Prince Philip after his death

A large crowd of well-wishers gathered outside of Windsor Castle earlier today to pay their respects to the Duke of Edinburgh who died on Friday

Following news of the Duke's death, crowds of mourners formed outside Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle to express their grief.

Britons were warned to stay at home and avoid joining the mass crowds of mourners to prevent spreading coronavirus.

Palace security had even put up signs urging people not to congregate, but waves of mourners continue to arriving to pay their respects to Her Majesty's devoted husband, who dedicated his life to public service and supporting her.

More people have arrived in the capital today to place down fresh flowers in tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh.

Additionally, a member of the royal household staff was spotted laying flowers inside a courtyard at Windsor Castle.

Pictures taken outside the royal residences this morning show people of all ages placing down bunches of flowers as well as written messages and even stuffed animals.

A teddy bear sat on floral tributes where a card said: 'Philip, you were such a big part of our lives, you will be missed.'

One woman was even seen shedding a tear as she stood outside Windsor Castle.

People on the Long Walk outside Windsor Castle, Berkshire, following the announcement of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh at the age of 99

A woman holding a dog in her arms is seen walking past a row of flowers outside of Windsor Castle this morning

Veterans of the Household Division stand outside Windsor Castle with a wreath of flowers following the death of Prince Philip

Standing together in a line, members of the Household Division Veterans Riders Club deliver a wreath of flowers outside Windsor Castle to pay their respects to the Duke of Edinburgh

Forming two uniform rows, the Household Division veterans pose outside Windsor Castle after having arrived to deliver flowers

The wreath of flowers brought to Windsor Castle is placed on the floor by one of the Household Division veterans earlier today

A young girl joins the mourners outside Windsor Castle this morning as she places a bunch of flowers down on the ground

The Long Walk at Windsor Castle this morning is flooded with people. Britons had been warned not to visit the royal residences to prevent spreading coronavirus

Two bunches of red flowers are placed at the gates of Windsor Castle this morning as people continue to ignore Government advice to pay their respects to Prince Philip at the gates of both the castle and Buckingham Palace

People stop to look at floral tributes and messages of condolence outside Windsor Castle in Windsor, west of London

Floral tributes and messages of condolence are seen outside Windsor Castle in Windsor, west of London, on April 11

People look at flowers placed outside Windsor Castle, Berkshire, April 11. Prince Philip, was the longest-serving consort in British history

Pictured: Huge numbers of people are seen strolling along The Long Walk outside Windsor Castle this morning as Britain enters day three of its eight days of mourning for Prince Philip

A well-wisher reads a note outside of Windsor Castle this morning as she holds a bunch of flowers in her hands

A small number of flowers were propped up against a fence at Buckingham Palace. Pinned to one bunch was the message: 'Dear Philip Rest in peace. You were one of us.'

Americans Todd and Brittney Provino, who are living in Battersea, south London, were prompted by their three young children to stop by because daughter Hadley, nine, wanted to 'leave some flowers because the Queen will be sad'.

Hadley had made red paper poppies and laid them in front of the palace.

Mrs Provino, 41, said: 'Hadley said she wanted to make poppies because she knew they were flowers of remembrance and they have a military link.

'We wanted the kids to be part of this. It is something that goes down in history.

'They asked about Philip and we told them that he dedicated his life to this country. We wanted to show respect. It felt like the right thing to do.

Two women are seen laying out an array of flowers which have been left by members of the public, outside of St George's Chapel yesterday

The two women both carry large crates of flowers, with all the floral tributes having been left by well-wishers and members of the public as marks of respect for Prince Philip who died on Friday

Members of the public stand outside the gates of Windsor Castle observing the notes and flowers left by well-wishers in tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh

A young boy is helped as he places down a bunch of flowers in memory of the Duke of Edinburgh this morning

A young boy is seen close to tears as he reads notes and looks at the flowers left by other mourners in tribute to Prince Philip

'It has also been a good lesson. We have been telling the children about what it means to be really committed to something and to have a life of service and duty - and also the fact that he and the Queen had been married that long.'

Neil Loughton, founder of the Penny Farthing Club, rode his antique bicycle to the palace gates to pay his respects.

He said: 'We play bicycle polo and the duke used to play the sport as well. We wanted to come and pay our respects.

'I think that there are some things that are just important and need to be done - 99 years of life and more than 70 years of service deserves some recognition.'

The scenes this morning mirror those witnessed over the past two days as well-wishers, all respecting social distancing and wearing masks, laid their tributes and briefly stood to pay their respects, with some wiping away tears or quietly singing hymns before returning home.

In an attempt to persuade people not to gather in large crowds, an online book of condolence in memory of Prince Philip has been set up for those who wish to send personal messages that will be passed on to the Royal Family.

Well-wishers add their flowers to the existing tributes outside of Buckingham Palace this morning. Barricades have been set up outside the palace

Two young well-wishers arrive outside of Buckingham Palace this morning to leave a bunch of flowers and to pay their respects to the Duke of Edinburgh who died earlier this week

'Thank you HRH Prince Philip': A note has been left among the floral tributes outside of Windsor Castle this morning

A woman places flowers outside Windsor Castle in Windsor, England Sunday, April 11

Flowers and messages attached to the fence outside Buckingham Palace to pay tribute to Prince Philip, Duke Of Edinburgh, April 11

A woman takes a photo of flowers laid by members of the public outside Buckingham Palace to pay tribute to Prince Philip

A man riding a Penny Farthing tips his hat as he passes Buckingham Palace were members of the public have been laying flowers to pay tribute to Prince Philip, April 11

Flowers laid outside Buckingham Palace by members of the public to pay tribute to Prince Philip, April 11

Flowers laid by members of the public outside Buckingham Palace to pay tribute to Prince Philip

The royal family's Twitter account said that the book of condolence is available on the royal website and that a selection of messages will be passed onto individual royals and may be held in the Royal Archives for posterity.

But the account also said that physical books will not be available for the public to sign due to Covid-19 restrictions, and instead urged people to donate to charity instead of leaving floral tributes.

It added: 'An Online Book of Condolence is now available on the Royal website for those who wish to send a personal message of condolence. During the current public health situation, Books of Condolence will not be available for the public to sign. The Royal Family ask that members of the public consider making a donation to a charity instead of leaving floral tributes in memory of The Duke.'

The online book of condolence is available at www.royal.uk/condolence.

Philip's son, the Prince of Wales, said on Saturday that his 'dear Papa' had devoted himself to the Queen, his family and the country for 70 years.

The UK is officially in a period of national mourning for the next week, up to and including the funeral on Saturday 17.
Hyderabad, April 11 : Depression and anxiety could be the symptoms leading to Parkinson's disease, says doctors on the occasion of World Parkinson's Day on Sunday.

Parkinson's disease is a progressive nervous system disorder that affects the movement of the human body. Symptoms start gradually, sometimes starting with a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand. Tremors are common but the disorder also commonly causes stiffness or slowing of movement.

While proper diagnosis of Parkinson's disease is difficult, particularly in the early stages, it may take years before the ailment is accurately diagnosed. The fact that symptoms and progression of symptoms vary between individuals adds to the complexity of diagnosing Parkinson's disease.

"Though Parkinson's disease causes slowing of overall body movements, mental health issues are quite common (70-80 per cent) in such patients. Not often the disease manifests with mental disorders (anxiety, depression) rather than physical slowing. These mental disorders have a greater impact on the overall quality of life than the physical disability. Depression is the commonest mental disorder presenting as reduced interest and motivation along with fear of socialising among Parkinson's disease victims," said Abhinay M. Huchche, Consultant Neuro-Physician, Sree Lakshmi Gayatri (SLG) Hospitals.

According to him, various types of sleep disturbances, visual hallucinations, thoughts filled with paranoia are also noticed in the patients.

Screening for mental health issues in the first visit to the neurologist is a must. In the busy clinics, the caretaker must proactively bring up issues pertaining to mental health so that they could be addressed. Usually a multidisciplinary approach is needed to tackle mental health issues.

"An exercise programme for victims of Parkinson's disease helps boost their motivation and support groups help them overcome the depression. Appropriate medicines are added as per the need. Psychosis (hallucinations and delusions) wherein Parkinson's disease individuals lose touch with reality has to be dealt with sensitively. Caregivers and society need to be told that it is their faulty mind and not the original person that is behaving abnormally. Psychology, therapy and drugs form the core of therapy," added Abhinay Huchche.

Commenting on the ailment's frequency, Kailas Mirche, Consultant Neurologist, Continental Hospitals, pointed Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's disease. The ailment is witnessed more commonly in men than in women.

"The prevalence of Parkinson's increases with age and only 4 per cent of Parkinson's cases are diagnosed before the age of 50. While approximately 1 per cent of the population above 60 years suffers from Parkinson's, its instance increases to 5 per cent among those above 86 years." "Parkinson's disease is already the fastest-growing neurological disorder in the world; and some international studies suggest that the number of people with Parkinson's has increased by over 35 per cent in the last 10 years. Although Parkinson's disease can't be cured, it is important its victims know about the condition at an early stage which could be managed using medications. Occasionally, doctors may suggest surgery to regulate certain regions of brain to improve the symptoms," Ketan Chaturvedi, Senior Consultant, Neurology, Wockhardt Hospital at Nagpur.

"Mental health issues are underrated, stigmatised and unaddressed in our society; and such conditions could be linked to more serious complications like Parkinson's disease. It is important we take a sympathetic approach to the victims of Parkinson's disease, and the social circle around such individuals promptly identifies these symptoms and provides help in improving the overall quality of life of these individuals," added Praveen Changala, Consultant -- Neuro Physician, Aware Gleneagles Global Hospital, LB Nagar.
Donald Trump tore into his former allies in an hour-long expletive-laden rant at an invitation-only dinner for Republican Party donors, according to reports.

The former president is also said to have dismissed Joe Bidens election victory as bull****, called Senate leader Mitch McConnell a dumb son of a b**** and expressed his disappointment with his vice president Mike Pence for lacking the courage to block Electoral College votes in a candid hour-long speech.

Hundreds of GOP donors gathered at Mr Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida this weekend for closed-door discussions about the partys future. The Four Seasons Hotel in Palm Beach had been booked out for Republican National Committee (RNC) events, but Mr Trump reportedly refused to give a speech unless his private business financially benefitted.

During his speech, Mr Trump bragged about his handling of the pandemic, praised Republican governors who have kept businesses open in their states and described his one-time chief medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci as full of crap, attendees told The Washington Post.

Mr Trump also strongly disparaged Mr Pence and Mr McConnell for allowing his election defeat to be certified on 6th January. If that were [Democrat senate majority leader Chuck Schumer] instead of this dumb son of a b**** Mitch McConnell they would never allow it to happen. They would have fought it, he said, according to the Post. He also reportedly called his former ally a stone cold loser.

He went on to mock Mr McConnells wife, Elaine Chao, who served as Mr Trumps transport secretary and resigned following the Capitol riot. I hired his wife. Did he ever say thank you? he reportedly said, sarcastically adding she suffered so greatly.

On his former vice president, Mr Trump is reported to have said: I wish that Mike Pence had the courage to send it back to the legislatures  I like him so much. I was so disappointed. Mr Trump is said to have tried to to pressure Mr Pence into rejecting Electoral College votes and overturning the election result in January, despite the fact he did not have the power to do this.

Mr Trump reportedly went on to repeat false claims about his having won Georgia and Pennsylvania and derided the election result as bull****. He reportedly added that most Democrats believe he won, but wont admit it.

He also repeated a comment for which he was strongly criticised in 2016, that immigrants are murderers, rapists and drug dealers.

Theyre coming in from the Middle East. Theyre not sending their best people. You have murderers, you have rapists, you have drug dealers, he said, according to the Post.

Mr Trump did not discuss his future plans at length during his speech, instead focussing on his years in office. He reportedly expressed confidence that a Republican will win the presidency in 2024, but did not say whether or not he will run himself.

Mr Trump has previously told Fox News that he will save such a decision until after the 2022 midterm elections.
The last-known movement of missing British woman Sarm Heslop who vanished in the US Virgin Islands last month were not caught on a bar's CCTV because of a power failure.

Heslop, 41, from Southampton, Hampshire, vanished without a trace on March 7 after she and Ryan Bane, 44, had drinks at the 420 in Center dive bar in Frank's Bay, St. John.

Bane told investigators they had returned to his catamaran that night and he awoke in the early hours to find his girlfriend gone.

A huge manhunt was launched and is yet to turn up any clues as to Heslop's whereabouts while Bane has refused to let investigators search his boat Siren Song.

In the search for answers, police were reported late last month to be trawling through CCTV from the island to trace Ms Heslop's movements that night to verify his story.

But the search may have been hampered after the owner of the 420 to Center Ryan Sharkey told The Mirror the cameras at the bar have only just been replaced since the power outage.

Sarm Heslop, (pictured) 41, from Southampton, Hampshire, vanished without a trace on March 7 after she and Ryan Bane, 44, had drinks in Frank's Bay, St. John.

The owner of the 420 to Center dive bar (pictured) Ryan Sharkey said the cameras at the bar have only just been replaced since the power outage

He said: 'She and Ryan were at the edge of the bar, no arguing, no trouble, not that we know about. They were talking, that was it.

'It was about 6pm or 7pm when they came in. I think he had three beers and Sarm no more than two. They were here for about an hour-and-a-half.'

The owner of the Connections Cyber Cafe on the island said Bane had visited to pick up a parcel from a PO Box but she was unaware of what was inside.

At the beginning of the month it was revealed police hunting for clues in the disappearance of missing Briton Sarm Heslop in the U.S. Virgin Islands had narrowed their search to a series of uninhabited islands and coves.

Officers have also shifted their focus further inland, suggesting they no longer expect to find Sarm, 41, washed up at the water's edge.

'At this point the possibility of finding a body washed up on shore is considered highly unlikely. That window of possibility is gone,' said a well-placed source.

The areas being searched include Steven Cay, a scrub-covered, rocky island about half a mile west of St. John, where Sarm was living with boyfriend Ryan Bane on his catamaran before she vanished March 8.

Nobody lives on the low-lying strip of land but it's a popular tourist destination for scuba diving, kayaking and snorkeling.

Bane (pictured) told investigators they had returned to his catamaran that night and he awoke in the early hours to find his girlfriend gone

The search for former flight attendant Sarm Heslop continues but, to the frustration of her family back in Southampton, England, is still being treated as a missing person case rather than a criminal inquiry

Cops are also searching the north side of St. John, from Salomon Beach to Watermelon Cay, another tiny island, both of which can only be reached via a small boat or by hiking through the Virgin Islands National Park.

Aside from the three main islands of St. John, St. Thomas and St. Croix, the U.S. Virgin Islands is made up of 50 other surrounding islands and cays - much of which are uninhabited.

'Many of the areas they are searching are not accessible by land at all. There are very few people over there, just the park rangers' homes and a few small tiki-type bars,' the source added.

The search for former flight attendant Sarm is ongoing but, to the frustration of her family back in Southampton, England, is still being treated as a missing person case rather than a criminal inquiry.

And despite refusing to speak with detectives or let them search his 47-ft yacht, Siren Song, police have not declared Bane, 44, a suspect or a person or interest.

Police searching for Sarm Heslop have narrowed their search to a series of uninhabited islands and coves, DailyMail.com can reveal. The areas being searched include Steven Cay, Salomon Beach and Watermelon Cay

Heslop, from Southampton, England, met boyfriend Ryan Bane on Tinder eight months ago. She disappeared from Siren Song, which was moored 120ft from Frank Bay on the extreme western end of St. John on March 8. The couple are pictured together

With no legal restrictions on his movements he sailed away from Frank Bay, St. John last Wednesday evening, hours after refusing to answer questions put to him by a DailyMail.com reporter.

Sources say the Michigan native is still in the US Virgin Islands but is hopping from island to island while he looks for a marina with a vacant boat slip.

Bane claims girlfriend Sarm vanished without trace from his catamaran while it was anchored overnight in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Investigators from the Virgin Islands Police Department would need a warrant to search Siren Song but are yet to obtain one because they have no evidence of foul play.

Sarm met Bane on Tinder eight months ago and traveled to the Caribbean to work as a cook on his $500,000 vessel, which he charters out for more than $2,000 a day.

The couple went out for dinner on March 7 and were last seen by a barman in Cruz Bay, the main tourism hub in St. John.

Bane rang 911 at 2:30am saying he woke up 30 minutes earlier to find that Sarm was gone but her belongings were still on board.

Police said they took an initial account of the evening's events and urged him to call the US Coast Guard.

The call was not made until 11:46am, however - more than nine hours later - and a massive sea and land search failed to find any trace of Sarm.

Coast Guards boarded Siren Song twice but by the time detectives asked to conduct a full fingertip search Bane had lawyered up, invoked his right to silence and refused access.

Ryan Bane refused to discuss his girlfriend Sarm Heslop's disappearance last week as DailyMail.com confronted him on a secluded beach in the US Virgin Islands. He's pictured on Wednesday on shore

Bane was last seen on Wednesday afternoon taking a dinghy to the shore before returning to his 47-ft catamaran with a plastic bag, sneakers and towels and then sailed away and has not been seen since

Bane's boat is no longer sat in Frank Bay on Saint John in the US Virgin Islands as of early morning on Thursday

A DailyMail.com investigation confirmed the couple dined at 420 to Center, a bustling dive bar, where friends say they were celebrating a successful charter.

In his initial account, Bane told officers they went back to the boat at 10pm, watched a movie then fell asleep.

Ryan Bane is seen in his mugshot after he was arrested in 2011 for attacking his ex-wife

Detectives supported by an FBI Task Force Agent based in nearby St. Thomas have obtained 'hours of CCTV' but have not found anything yet to verify Bane's claim that he and Sarm went back to Siren Song together.

A close friend insisted last week that the rugged yacht skipper was not in hiding but was refusing to speak to the island's police officers because he didn't trust them.

'My suggestion to him was that he makes some sort of statement and is as cooperative as possible,' the friend said. 'But I think he's scared, I think he's totally spun out. He is definitely bereaved. He had finally found a girl he was in love with.

'I think that his concern is that the VIPD is not real well known for conducting any sort of investigation with clarity.

'He's concerned that something could go wrong or be spun the wrong way, or that they're going to be looking for something to implicate him as opposed to the other way around.'

Corie Stevenson was married to fellow American Bane, 44, for six years and came forward to say her ex 'went to jail for kicking my a**'

It was also revealed last week that Bane served 21 days in jail in 2011 for attacking his ex-wife, Corie Stevenson, as they drove home from a wedding in Lake Orion, Michigan.

According to a police complaint he flew into a rage and dragged her out of the truck before smashing her head into the dining room floor, chipping one of her teeth.

'Corie's front right tooth had a chip out of it that appeared to be fresh,' wrote Officer Vincent Lichok. 'Her right ear lobe was bloody and scratched. Her right shoulder and the right side of her neck showed red scratches. Her right eyelid was scratched and red.'

In the UK, Sarm's anguished friends and family have been pushing for answers in her disappearance, questioning Bane's timeline and saying they find it 'incredibly difficult to believe' she fell off the boat.

'We would like assurance that the authorities in the Virgin Islands are doing everything possible to find her and that the investigation into our beautiful and cherished daughter's disappearance includes a comprehensive fingertip search of the boat,' said her parents, Peter Heslop and Brenda Street.
 Flash

Iran celebrated its National Day of Nuclear Technology on Saturday with an event held simultaneously in Tehran and in nuclear sites in different Iranian cities, in which advanced IR-6 centrifuges started operating, and more than 100 other nuclear industry innovations were unveiled.

During the event, 164 IR-6 semi-industrial centrifuges were injected with gas and became fully operational at Iran's uranium enrichment plant in Natanz, and 30 IR-6S centrifuges entered the first phase of gas injection at the same plant, official news agency IRNA reported.

As broadcasted by state TV, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gave the order from Tehran to introduce uranium hexafluoride gas to the cascades in Natanz, and made a short speech to defend the accomplishments of Iran's nuclear program under his administration.

Rouhani said that the United States, European countries and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are "in debt" with Iran, since the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons obliges nuclear states and the IAEA to "help" signatories in their peaceful nuclear activities.

Apart from the launching of the IR-6 centrifuges in Natanz, other innovations unveiled in the exhibition included the manufacturing and assembly of the first prototype of IR-9S and IR-9-1B centrifuges, currently under mechanical testing, according to official information releases.

"Today, we have reached the IR-9 centrifuge with the capacity of 50 SWU in terms of technology, and they provide us products 50 to 60 times more than those of the old centrifuges," Ali-Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, was quoted as saying at the event by Press TV.

Under the 2015 nuclear agreement, formally known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran is restricted to use only a number of uranium enrichment centrifuges of first generation (IR-1) until year 2025.

One year after the United States unilaterally abandoned the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran, Tehran started reducing its compliance with its JCPOA obligations.

The current U.S. administration has pledged to return to JCPOA, but demands Iran to fully comply with its commitments first, while Tehran demands Washington to lift all sanctions on Iran before it returns to full compliance.

The JCPOA Joint Commission resumed talks in Austria's capital to revive the deal this week, with the lifting of sanctions on Iran and nuclear implementation measures topping the agenda.
Sandra Hammerling notes the date of Charles Kellys passing  March 16, 2021, six weeks after his diagnosis with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

Shes reminded of the biblical passage, John 3:16  God so loved the world that he gave his only son ... so that others shall live.

Thats perfect for Charles, she said as she gathered to reminisce and plan a memorial service with his niece Holly Russell and adopted son Jonah Kelly.

Hammerling met Charles Kelly at age 15 and quickly became one of the regulars crowding The Copa night upon night.

We never missed a beat, she said. You couldnt wait to get there.

Kelly bought The Copa in 1985, a year after working for original owners Gene Howell and Lynn Gainey.

The pair had Copa locations in major cities across the state before opening one in Beaumont at the site of the former Farmhouse  also a gay bar  on Orleans Street.

When Kelly took over, he inherited a hard-core customer base of the disenfranchised, queer and those otherwise in need of a supportive community.

It was right up his alley.

Charles didnt mind anybody doing their own thing, Hammerling said. He embraced it and gave it a home.

Everyone was welcome, as long as you respected people, nephew Clay Hutchison said. It was known as a gay bar, but Charles almost refused to call it that, because it was more than that, and also because of the stigma that brought with it. He wanted it to be available to all, just to experience their life the way they wanted to experience it.

Goths, punks, gays, lesbians, trans, drag queens  everyone had a safe house, and the club was a haven for those dubbed misfits in the world of Southeast Texas.

Back then, youd still get beat up, said Russell. Her cousin Hutchison added: There were bullet holes on one of the side doors from a drive-by shooting.

Kelly hired security, who would accompany clubgoers to their cars at closing  just in case.

Everyone just wants a place to go and belong, and Charles gave that to them. He was ahead of his time, Russell said.

For the LGBTQ community of the 1980s, Kelly was a kind of savior, a man who put life into their lives.

It was always a safe haven, said Scott Massey, who started clubbing there at the age of 19.

As a young, gay man, he said, We couldnt go anywhere but there, so for us it was always like an extended family.

It is where Massey felt relief from the bullying of those calling him sissy, queer, female my whole life.  I finally had friends in my own environment, he said.

You didnt want to miss it  it was so wild and crazy, but I loved the dancing. That was my escape from all the bullies, he said.

At The Copa, Massey would dance the night away, nearly every night.

A decade later, Massey was given his first opportunity to perform as drag queen Olivia Gardner.

Masseys Gardner persona wasnt well received by all in drag circles.

Youre too butch to be a drag queen, youre too cute as a boy, youre too old, Massey recalls hearing.

But Kelly encouraged him.

The crowd likes you, and youre good for business, Kelly told him.

He gave Massey a regular Tuesday night show, eventually adding him to the main Sunday night drag performance roster.

Gardners shows prospered, and shes been a staple at community drag performances since.

Charles was a champion for me, Massey said. That has brought much joy and success to my life, and I credit Charles Kelly with that.

Kelly had a mind for business. Though he worked for decades as an engineer at Ameripol Synpol, a masters degree in business found use in his personal ventures  always with an eye to growth, making money and advancing prospects like The Copa, which enjoyed a quarter-century run reaching from the 1980s to the first decade of the new millennium.

As a businessman, he was ruthless, Hutchison said. He was meticulous with record keeping, but had he not (been), hed have been out of business a long time ago.

He was constantly thinking of new things, like lighting, the New York mural in black light paint. He was open to all kinds of things, to attract clubgoers, said son Jonah Kelly. He wanted people to have fun.

But Charles kept us all in line, Hammerling recalled. He ran a good ship, but it was a tight ship,

He had zero tolerance for drugs in the club.

Raids happened back in the day, Hutchison said.

Hutchison came out just before joining his cousin Russell working at the bar in 2000.

Like many, he soon found a home at The Copa. He made friends, moved beyond his shyness and found a means to be comfortable in his own skin.

I dont know that I really understood the impact [The Copa] had on the community till I came out and started working there, and then I knew  this is where I am supposed to be. And the impact Charles had became apparent, he said.

Though he was business savvy, the true success of The Copa was that Kelly poured himself into people, Jonah Kelly said. He had a balance of business sense and just the spirit of doing it for the community. He was about the people, even if it cost him money. He never got himself in a bad spot [financially], but he would pour a lot of money into people.

He helped build people, Russell added, noting the proclivity to better those he loved started with his family.

Kelly returned from a three-year stint overseas with the Army and subsequent world travels with a sense of culture he hoped to impart to his family.

As the eldest son of 10 children, he wanted to be the dutiful family leader, especially in his parents elder years and passing.

He didnt want us to be typical Southeast Texas and only know what was around us. He was very cultured, Russell said.

Kelly sent two of his sisters to etiquette school, even making them walk around the house with books on their heads, Russell recalled.

He wanted them to be more refined, she said.

He wanted everyone to be refined, Hammerling added.

There are so many layers to him, and with his passing, its coming out more with so many people telling their stories about how he helped them, Russell said. He had a way of knowing when people needed him.

Even where there was 99% bad [in someone], hed see the 1% good, she said.

Weeks since his passing, Hutchison still gets messages from people Charles helped, such as a man in Houston who reached out to tell him: Charles saved my life. I was in a bad place, and hed know exactly what to say to me to do the right thing.

On holidays, The Copa remained open so that those whod been cut off by family could have that holiday experience with their Copa family, Hutchison recalled.

I cant put a number on how much hes tried to improve peoples lives and give them a hand, Jonah Kelly said.

Nobody knows that better than Jonah himself.

He was 17 and a drifter whose parents in Louisiana emancipated him at age 15.

Kelly found him asleep on a bench outside The Copa after closing.

He woke me, saying, Youre going to freeze out here, Kelly recalled.

It was like Kelly to frame his concern in practicality.

Kelly offered him a job  working at the club and later doing work on the rental properties he owned.

Then, Kelly made another offer  to adopt Jonah and officially make him part of the family, a trusted worker who could take over his business when the time came.

He made it sound practical, but really, he just wanted to adopt me, Jonah said.

Charles wanted to give him that sense of family, Russell said.

Russell was Jonahs age at the time of his adoption, and remembers their family thought it was the craziest thing Charles had ever done, but now we all think its the best decision hes ever made.

It was brilliant, Hutchison echoed.

In Charles Kellys final weeks, son Jonah was his caregiver, with him to the end.

The only other person to see Kelly in his final hours was Hammerling.

She remembers propping him up in his bed on a visit roughly 30 hours before he passed, offering him a beer as the pair visited.

We talked about nothing really, we just chatted, she said, like normal, just smiling and laughing with each other. I wasnt trying to make him talk much, because he was having a hard time.

But he took a big swig out of that beer, Hammerling said, and his eyes opened wide. I shook my finger at him and said, Im gonna see you again. And he said, yes, you will.

kbrent@beaumontenterprise.com
Las Vegas is hoping to reduce the city's water consumption by banning ornamental grass that is not used either for the public to walk on or as part of housing developments and office parks.

Officials estimate that this 'nonfunctional turf' in the desert city requires four times as much water as drought-tolerant landscaping like cactus and other succulents.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority believes that there are almost eight square miles of this greenery in the metro area and by ripping it out the region can reduce annual water consumption by roughly 15 per cent and save about 14 gallons per person per day.

Las Vegas might be known for excess and over-indulgence, but officials say residents of bedroom communities and sprawling suburbs embrace conservation measures, including aggressive monitoring of sprinklers and leaky irrigation systems.

Sprinklers water grass near a street corner in the Summerlin neighborhood of northwest Las Vegas. Officials say residents of bedroom communities and sprawling suburbs embrace conservation measures, including aggressive monitoring of sprinklers

They have spent two decades trying to get people to replace thirsty greenery with desert plants, and now they're asking the Nevada Legislature to outlaw roughly 40 per cent of the turf that's left.

'The public perception outside of Las Vegas is certainly much different - and has been for a long time - than the water conservation ethic within the community,' said Colby Pellegrino, Southern Nevada Water Authority water resources director.

California imposed a temporary ban on watering ornamental grass during last decade's drought, but no state or major city has tried to phase out certain categories of grass permanently.

'The scale of this is pretty unprecedented in terms of a full ban on this nonfunctional turf,' said John Berggren, a water policy analyst at Western Resource Advocates.

The proposal is part of a turf war waged since at least 2003, when the water authority banned developers from planting green front yards in new subdivisions. It also offers owners of older properties the region's most generous rebate policies to tear out sod - up to $3 per square foot.

Those efforts are slowing. The agency says the number of acres converted under its rebate program fell last year to six times less than what it was in 2008. Meanwhile, water consumption in southern Nevada has increased nine per cent since 2019.

Last year was among the driest in the region's history, when Las Vegas went a record 240 days without measurable rainfall. In addition, the future flow of the Colorado River, which accounts for 90 per cent of southern Nevada's water, is in question.

The waterway supplies Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming and Mexico. As drought and climate change decrease what the river provides, the amount allocated to Arizona, California and Nevada is projected to be cut further.

Las Vegas might be known for excess and over-indulgence, but officials say residents are keen to enact embrace conservation measures to and reduce water consumption

Justin Jones, a Clark County commissioner who serves on the water authority's board, doesn't think ripping out ornamental turf will upend people's lives.

'To be clear, we are not coming after your average homeowner's backyard,' he said, before pointing out that grass in the middle of a parkway is 'dumb.'

'The only people that ever set foot on grass that's in the middle of a roadway system are people cutting the grass,' Jones added.

The agency has different regulations for yards and public parks. Based on satellite imaging, it believes banning ornamental grass will primarily affect common areas maintained by homeowner associations and commercial property owners.

Jones said the proposal has drawn resistance in some master-planned communities, but water officials say years of drought-awareness campaigns and policies like the rebates have cultivated a cultural change.

Traffic passes grassy landscape on Green Valley Parkway in suburban Henderson in Las Vegas. Officials spent have two decades trying to get people to replace greenery with desert plants, and now they're asking Nevada to outlaw roughly 40 per cent of the turf that's left

Southern Nevada Homebuilders' Association lobbyist Matt Walker said consumer preferences have reached the point that potential homebuyers from wetter regions aren't turned off from neighborhoods that have parks but no ornamental grass.

Conservation frees water, reduces per capita consumption and strengthens builders' arguments that the desert can accommodate more growth, Walker said. 'And the benefits are the ability to keep doing what we do, which is building homes.'

'We've really gotten a comfort level that buyers are very much willing to go along with responsible development practices when it comes to water use,' he added.

Other desert cities aren't so sure. Salt Lake City has an ordinance that requires a certain amount of yard and median greenery. Phoenix, where some neighborhoods remain lush from flood irrigation, has never offered grass removal rebates.

Water officials elsewhere are loath to compare their policies to southern Nevada. Particularly in cities where water consumption per person is high, they say there's no one-size-fits-all approach for a drier future.

A bathtub ring of light minerals delineates the high water mark on Lake Mead at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, near Boulder City, Nevada. This drought-stricken Colorado River reservoir behind Hoover Dam is the primary water source for Las Vegas

Las Vegas, for example, mostly ignores toilets, showers and dishwashers because the water authority is able to treat and recycle indoor wastewater and let it flow through a natural wash into Lake Mead - the Colorado River reservoir behind Hoover Dam. It is filtered again for reuse.

A draconian anti-grass policy might not work in downtown Phoenix, said Cynthia Campbell, water resources adviser for the nation's fifth-largest city. Trees and grass blunt public health dangers of ' urban heat islands ' - areas lacking green landscaping to offset heat through evaporative cooling.

Regional water officials understand future consumption will have to be reduced but fear the preparation and perception could backfire if the community doesn't buy in.

'There comes a point when people's demands start to harden,' Campbell said. 'They'll say: "This is the point of no return for me." For some people, it's a pool. For some people, it's grass.'

The Southern Nevada Water Authority isn't sure the idea of banning grass will spread to other cities. But Pellegrino, the water resources chief, said other places will have to make changes.

'Particularly every community that relies on Colorado River water,' he added.
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, April 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Erdene Resource Development Corporation (TSX:ERD | MSE:ERDN) (Erdene or the Company) is pleased to provide an update on exploration at the new Dark Horse gold prospect as well as announcing the launch of an Employment Orientation program and advise on the current COVID-19 situation in Mongolia.

Highlights1(See the attached maps and images for reference):

Drilled nine scout holes totalling 1,900 metres in February 2021 to define the extent of the delineation program at the main Dark Horse Prospect Holes AAD-65 to AAD-67, in the northern half of the target, intersected broad zones of alteration, establishing continuity and supporting further drilling: AAD-65 returned 7 metres of 1.15 g/t gold beginning 113 metres downhole AAD-66 returned 14 metres of 1.31 g/t gold beginning 53 metres downhole, as well as 20 metres of 1.74 g/t gold, beginning 112 metres downhole AAD-67 returned 6 metres of 0.32 g/t gold beginning 110 metres downhole Holes AAD-68 to AAD-73, testing areas peripheral to the north-south structure intersected gold and/or pathfinder elements: AAD-68 returned 2 metres of 1.41 g/t gold beginning 192 metres downhole AAD-70 returned 2 metres of 4.24 g/t gold beginning 64 metres downhole

Commenced 3,000 metre delineation drilling program in late March Delineation drilling will utilize 100-metre fence spacing along the main trend Approximately 600 metres will target the southern extension of the trend (including the area around AAD-58, which intersected 45m of 6 g/t gold) Results are pending for ~1,100 metres of core, currently at the lab

Completed geophysical modelling, surface sampling, spectral analysis and other work over a 4 by 3 kilometre area in advance of further exploration Studies continue to improve Erdenes understanding of the mineralization in the greater Dark Horse area

Launched an Employment Orientation program at the Bayan Khundii Project camp for local community members Two cohorts of 36 received training from Erdenes HSEC team Further 140 residents are registered for upcoming sessions

Bayankhongor province registered its first COVID-19 infection on March 24 Provincial government has introduced precautionary measures in response Erdene provided relief funding to the Provincial Emergency Commission Dark Horse drilling continues with appropriate COVID safeguards



1 Reported intervals in this release are downhole apparent widths. Continued exploration is required to confirm anisotropy of mineralization and true thicknesses.

Quotes from the Company:

Following the announcement of the exciting Dark Horse gold discovery in January 2021, our technical team completed a staged exploration plan over the past quarter, said Peter Akerley, Erdenes President and CEO. This Q1 program confirmed continuity of a gold mineralized system along a 1.2 km north-south trending structure and improved our understanding of the discovery and its setting relative to the Bayan Khundii Deposit and the large Ulaan-Khundii alteration system, which we believe hosts a much more significant gold mineralizing event and hydrothermal alteration system than previously recognized.

In late March we commenced a 3,000 metre shallow delineation drilling program on the main Dark Horse discovery area, continued Mr. Akerley. Although focused on the 1.2km northern portion of the Dark Horse structure, testing will cover a 2.5km strike length. The first batch of core is currently in the lab with results expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Although we have been able to continue fieldwork with minimal disruption, Mongolia has seen increasing spread of COVID-19, including the first reported cases in our host province of Bayankhongor, concluded Mr. Akerley. We are taking all precautions to maintain a safe work environment. Furthermore, we recently provided funding to the local provincial emergency commission to ensure the safety of local residents. We are closely monitoring the COVID situation in the country and its impact on the start of construction of our Bayan Khundii Gold Project.

Q1 2021 Dark Horse Exploration Program Overview

Erdene carried out the following exploration at the Dark Horse prospect during Q1 2021:

Completed a nine-hole, 1,900 metre drill program, carried out by Falcon Drilling, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia;

Completed detailed surface mapping and sampling, conducted by Erdenes Mongolian technical team;

Completed geophysical modelling and interpretation with the assistance of Wave Geophysics, Denver Colorado;

Completed surface and downhole spectral alteration mineral analysis and interpretation with Plus Minerals LLC, Ulaanbaatar;

Commenced mineralogic and petrographic analysis and interpretation using APSAR Geoscience, New Zealand;

Commenced preliminary metallurgical testing using ALS Laboratories, Ulaanbaatar; and

Continued consultation with Dr. Jeffrey Hedenquist, Ottawa, on the style and characteristics of the mineralized system at Dark Horse and within the larger Khundii alteration system.

These studies and analyses continue to improve Erdenes understanding of the Dark Horse Discovery and its geologic setting relative to the nearby Bayan Khundii epithermal gold deposit, as well as the greater Ulaan-Khundii quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration footprint. Exploration results show evidence of a widespread mineralizing hydrothermal system consistent with many of the worlds major epithermal gold deposits. Evidence suggests that Dark Horse shares a structural relationship with the Bayan Khundii gold deposit through a 4-kilometres long N-S trending dilation zone connecting the two project areas.

Drill Results  Q1 2021

The Q1-2021 drill program was designed to collect geologic information for the surrounding area and define the area of interest for more detailed drilling. The majority of targets were cross-cutting or parallel structures with limited testing of the northern portion of the Dark Horse target area.

In February 2021, the company drilled nine holes at the Dark Horse prospect, totalling 1,900 metres. Three holes, AAD-65 through AAD-67, were drilled along the northern portion of the 1.2 km Dark Horse target area. The remaining holes were drilled in areas peripheral to the trend with one hole, AAD-71, testing the main structure 1km south of the nearest drilling (AAD-58).

Table 1 below, includes highlights from the program.

Table 1 - Dark Horse Scout Drilling Highlights

Hole From To Interval (1) g/t Au (2) Along N-S Structure AAD-65 113 120 7 1.15 and 128 142 14 0.51 and 196 205 9 0.69 AAD-66 53 67 14 1.31 and 112 132 20 1.74 and 137 139 2 0.96 AAD-67 110 116 6 0.32 Peripheral Areas AAD-68 192 194 2 1.41 and 250 252 2 0.47 AAD-70 52 53 1 0.66 and 64 66 2 4.24 and 110 116 6 0.33

1 Reported intervals are apparent thicknesses (i.e. downhole widths). Insufficient drilling has been completed at Dark Horse to determine orientation of the mineralized zones and therefore true widths cannot be determined at this time. Exploration drill holes are typically oriented normal to (at a right angle to) the trend of potential mineralized targets and holes dips range from 45 to 75 degrees.

2 Reported grades for intervals are weighted averages based on length of sampling intervals, typically 1 to 2 metres. No top cut has been applied; however, intervals greater than 10 g/t gold are reported separately for clarity.

Note: Exploration holes AAD-69, AAD-71, AAD-72 and AAD-73 intersected anomalous gold and/or zones anomalous in pathfinder elements (arsenic, molybdenum and antimony) but no significant intervals greater than 0.3 g/t gold.

Three holes (AAD-65, AAD-66 and AAD-67) were drilled across the northern portion of the Dark Horse prospect. AAD-65 and 66 were collared 290 metres and 160 metres, respectively, north-northeast of previously reported hole AAD-61 (130 metres of 0.5 g/t gold). Both holes intersected multiple gold-bearing zones, including intersections of 14 metres of 1.3 g/t gold and 20 metres of 1.7 g/t gold in AAD-66 and up to 59 g/t silver over 1 metre in AAD-65. Mineralization in both holes is hosted within pervasively clay altered and brecciated volcanoclastic rocks with varying degrees of oxidation in the form of hematite, limonite and goethite. AAD-67 was drilled 260 metres south of AAD-61 and returned relatively narrow anomalous gold zones within thick intervals of pervasively clay altered and hydrothermally brecciated volcanic sequences. These three holes have successfully demonstrated continuity of mineralization along the north-south strike, indicating the Dark Horse structure as a preferred fluid conduit with an interpreted pinch and swell pattern common to many structurally controlled epithermal systems.

Ten widely spaced holes have now been drilled along a 1.2-kilometre portion of the N-S structure. The holes have an average spacing of 160 metres apart (ranging from 42 to 255 metres) with an average vertical depth of 155 metres with the deepest hole (AAD-57) drilling to a depth of 242 metres vertically and exhibiting strong gold mineralization over the lower 100 metres of the hole. Drilling in early Q1-2021 focused on the northern portion (north of AAD-57) of the Dark Horse structure, recognizing that the southern portion of the Dark Horse structure hosting previously reported discovery holes AAD-58 (45m of 6 g/t gold) and AAD-57 (45m of 1.2 g/t gold) will be subject to close-spaced drilling during the next round of drilling, now underway.

Scout drilling outside the main N-S Dark Horse structure (holes AAD-68 to AAD-70, and AAD-72 to ADD-73) focused on testing geophysical and geochemical soil anomalism within the general Dark Horse prospect area. These holes confirmed widespread and pervasive hydrothermal alteration, brecciation and mineralization within the wider Dark Horse prospect area. Zones of anomalous gold mineralization in conjunction with key indicator element anomalism, hydrothermal alteration, silicification and prospective volcanoclastic-brecciated geology suggest the Dark Horse prospect is located in an environment capable of hosting a major mineralizing event. These concepts will be followed up in future drilling.

Drill Program  Q2-2021 Exploration

Core from the first 1,110 metres of drilling has been transported to SGS Laboratories, Ulaanbaatar for analysis. Assay results are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Geophysical Modelling and Interpretation

The Dark Hose areas 2D and 3D geophysical modelling serves as an important targeting tool and structural lineation mapping tool. Magnetics appear to support a relationship between magnetic low signatures and zones of magnetite destructive clay alteration, which have been shown to host anomalous gold mineralization. Induced polarization (IP) also serves as an important targeting tool at Dark Horse as high concentrations of disseminated sulphide minerals have been locally observed in drill core coincident with intervals of elevated gold.

Geophysical modelling, interpretation and targeting are ongoing as we continue to understand the larger Dark Horse system and its relationship to the Bayan Khundii system to the south. Further geophysical surveys are planned for the 2021 field season to aid in exploration success.

Clay Alteration and Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) analysis

The presence of low-temperature argillic clay assemblages at Dark Horse suggests formation within the upper stratigraphic levels (less than 150 metres) of an epithermal system. Similar to Bayan Khundii, Dark Horse is dominated by illite clay alteration. However, the presence of both smectite and kaolinite at Dark Horse indicates a lower temperature environment consistent with the near-surface regions of an epithermal system. These clay minerals are absent at Bayan Khundii, which has been interpreted to have formed at greater than 150 metres depth. If Dark Horse represents the upper part of a hydrothermal system, then the potential for zones of high-grade mineralization exists at depth. This theory is further supported by the presence of vuggy/residual silica bodies near AAD-57 and AAD-58, which may represent remnant near-surface lithocap zones.

Fault Hosted Epithermal Model

The North-South structural feature at Dark Horse is best defined on the magnetic survey map (see plan maps below), as are numerous zones of intersection between northeast and northwest-trending cross structures and splays. Structural interpretations suggest that the N-S trending structure is associated with dilation zones formed during tectonic compression from the south-southwest (Kloppenburg 2017). The resulting dilation zones produced conduits for hydrothermal fluid channelling and subsequent alteration and mineralization. Continued understanding of the prospects structural framework will be key in further identifying zones of mineralization at Dark Horse and within the Khundii tenements.

Bayan Khundii Gold Project Employment Orientation Program

In late 2020, Erdene began developing a series of training and community outreach programs as part of the Bayan Khundii Gold Projects construction readiness. These programs include the companys employment orientation, internship, and vocational training opportunities, initially targeting local residents in the sub-province and province. In March 2021, Erdene launched its employment orientation program with local residents at its Bayan Khundii Gold Project site. Led by Erdenes Mongolian management and HSEC team, the five-day orientation covered the key topics of mine development, community health and safety, environmental management, and local stakeholder engagement through a combination of individual and team-based methods. To date, 36 people attended the orientation as a result of which all of whom identified a personal development plan linked to the proposed mine operation. Given the strong interest and active participation in the program, the company plans to re-start the program as soon as COVID-19 restrictions allow.

Erdene expects the Project to provide direct employment for approximately 500 individuals during construction and as many as 400 during peak operation. The Bayan Khundii Gold Project is expected to become the largest employer in Bayankhongor Province and to generate over US$100 million in profit tax and royalty for the Government of Mongolia over the life of mine.

Mongolia COVID-19 Update

With the confirmation of the first community transmission of COVID-19 in November 2020, the Government of Mongolia implemented a series of restrictions on the movement of people and delivery of goods and services. While restrictions were temporarily eased in mid-Q1 2021, preventive measures prohibiting certain business and public activities remain in place in Ulaanbaatar, the countrys capital, and much of the countrys territory, where there has been a recent increase in the number of reported cases. Additionally, in March 2021, Bayankhongor Province, where Erdenes Projects are located, reported its first confirmed case of community transmission of COVID-19, imposing restrictions on the movement of people within and to/from the province. In response, Erdene provided emergency funding assistance to the Bayankhongor Emergency Commission to support its efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 within the province.

Since mid-2020, Erdene has implemented operational changes to ensure the safety and productivity of its people. In the field, daily health and safety briefings, body temperature checks, enhanced hygiene protocols, rapid testing, and additional personal protective equipment have been instituted. The company maintains a dedicated, registered nurse at site with the capability to administer COVID-19 testing. With these measures, our team safely and successfully completed the Q1 2021 Dark Horse Scout drilling program and launched a follow up exploration program in late March 2021. The Companys corporate and administrative teams continue to work modified schedules and have adopted enhanced hygiene measures that allow operations to continue without significant disruption.

Though the impact of COVID-19 on the Companys operations has been modest to date, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve. The Company will monitor the impact of COVID-19 on its operations in 2021, particularly potential disruptions to the Bayan Khundii Gold Project schedule or budget, prior to reaching a construction decision, which is expected in mid-2021.

The Company extends its appreciation to all medical, public safety, and essential workers for their efforts to safeguard public health and help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Mongolia and Canada.

Khundii Gold District

Erdenes deposits are located in the Edren Terrane, within the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, host to some of the worlds largest gold and copper-gold deposits. The Company has been the leader in exploration in southwest Mongolia over the past decade and is responsible for the discovery of the Khundii Gold District comprised of multiple high-grade gold and gold/base metal prospects, two of which are being considered for development: the 100%-owned Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar projects. Together, these deposits comprise the Khundii Gold Project.

The Bayan Khundii Gold Resource1 includes 521,000 ounces of 3.16 g/t gold Measured and Indicated (M&I) and 103,000 ounces of Inferred resources at 3.68 g/t gold. Within the M&I resource, a proven and probable open-pit reserve totals 409,000 ounces at 3.7 g/t (see the full press release here), providing significant potential growth of reserves with the development of the remaining M&I and Inferred resources2.

In July 2020, Erdene announced the results of an independent Feasibility Study for the Bayan Khundii Gold Project (press release here). The Feasibility Study results include an after-tax Net Present Value at a 5% discount rate and a US$1,400/oz gold price of US$100 million and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 42%. The Feasibility Study envisions an open-pit mine at Bayan Khundii, producing an average of 63,500 oz gold per year, for seven years, at a head grade of 3.71 g/t gold, utilizing a conventional carbon in pulp processing plant. Production is expected to commence in early 2022 based on the current project schedule.

Erdene Resource Development Corp. is a Canada-based resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious and base metals in underexplored and highly prospective Mongolia. The Company has interests in three mining licenses and two exploration licenses in Southwest Mongolia, where exploration success has led to the discovery and definition of the Khundii Gold District. Erdene Resource Development Corp. is listed on the Toronto and the Mongolian stock exchanges. Further information is available at www.erdene.com. Important information may be disseminated exclusively via the website; investors should consult the site to access this information.

1 For details of the Mineral Resources see Khundii Gold Project NI 43-101 Technical Report, Tetra Tech December 4, 2019  SEDAR

2 M&I: 171,000 ounces of 3.77 g/t gold Measured, and 349,700 ounces of 2.93 g/t gold Indicated

Qualified Person and Sample Protocol

Peter Dalton, P.Geo. (Nova Scotia), Senior Geologist for Erdene, is the Qualified Person as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. All samples have been assayed at SGS Laboratory in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. In addition to internal checks by SGS Laboratory, the Company incorporates a QA/QC sample protocol utilizing prepared standards and blanks. All samples undergo standard fire assay analysis for gold and ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy) analysis for 33 additional elements. For samples that initially return a grade greater than 5 g/t gold, additional screen-metallic gold analysis is carried out which provides a weighted average gold grade from fire assay analysis of the entire +75 micron fraction and three 30-gram samples of the -75 micron fraction from a 500 gram sample.

Erdenes drill core sampling protocol consisted of collection of samples over 1 or 2 metre intervals (depending on the lithology and style of mineralization) over the entire length of the drill hole, excluding minor post-mineral lithologies and un-mineralized granitoids. Sample intervals were based on meterage, not geological controls or mineralization. All drill core was cut in half with a diamond saw, with half of the core placed in sample bags and the remaining half securely retained in core boxes at Erdenes Bayan Khundii exploration camp. All samples were organized into batches of 30 including a commercially prepared standard, blank and either a field duplicate, consisting of two quarter-core intervals, or a laboratory duplicate. Sample batches were periodically shipped directly to SGS in Ulaanbaatar via Erdenes logistical contractor, Monrud Co. Ltd.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information regarding Erdene contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance or other statements that are not statements of fact. Although Erdene believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Erdene cautions that actual performance will be affected by a number of factors, most of which are beyond its control, and that future events and results may vary substantially from what Erdene currently foresees. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the ability to obtain required third party approvals, market prices, exploitation and exploration results, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. The forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The information contained herein is stated as of the current date and is subject to change after that date. The Company does not assume the obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THE CONTENTS OF THIS RELEASE

Erdene Contact Information

Peter C. Akerley, President and CEO, or Robert Jenkins, CFO

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ae20a477-2157-4119-8db0-5b66bbc47ee1

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/21c1a53d-f79a-4dfa-b854-526b8058d5ca

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d815955f-0cb7-46a4-ad59-6189df8dfaa5

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a44d9348-f4e3-4f5e-984a-22d24c2e3297

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/55b13219-0b82-4d3a-bed6-34beee999bf9

Khundii Gold District Three Priority Areas for Growth on 100% owned 17,000 ha License Holdings New Dark Horse Gold Prospect Mineralized Structural Corridor Dark Horse Discovery 2021 Q1-Q2 Planned and Completed Drilling Dark Horse Long Section Looking West (Gold in Drill Intersections on 3D Magnetics) Dark Horse Discovery Sections Looking North (each section 250m wide)

Source: Erdene Resource Development Corporation
Over 7 Million in East Africa on brink of starvation amid pandemic, violence and infestation

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

Over 7 million people across six East African countries are at the cusp of starvation as communities have faced existential threats from violence, flooding, the pandemic and locust infestation, the evangelical humanitarian organization World Vision has warned.

According to the charity, which operates in nearly 100 countries, thousands of children could face death or long-term health consequences if the international community does not respond quickly to East Africa's worsening crisis.

Debebe Dawit, program manager for World Visions humanitarian emergency affairs team, recently visited Ethiopia and saw firsthand the effects of poverty in the East African country. He said the situation is severe.

The situation is very severe in East Africa, and particularly Ethiopia. Over 2 million people are in need of food assistance, Dawit told The Christian Post in a Thursday interview. Among conflict, COVID-19, flooding, locust infestation, all these are adding [an] additional burden to the community.

Before the pandemic began, several countries in East Africa faced a widespread desert locust infestation that impacted hundreds of thousands of hectares and damaged croplands and pastures.

Later in 2020, large-scale floods destroyed crops that were ready to harvest, which impacted the food supply for 4 million people in the region, World Vision reports.

Matters have also been complicated by military conflicts  most recently the Tigray conflict  and the rise of Islamic extremism.

To address the starvation and poverty crisis in East Africa, World Vision launched a multi-country emergency response for Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Kenya and Uganda. The goal is to reach 2.4 million people, which includes 490,000 children.

Lack of funding is the key element that prevents a faster response.

At the end of the day, it will come [down] to resources, Dawit acknowledged.

World Visions intervention is primarily focused on the immediate needs of the children, he said.

The long-term effect of malnutrition especially hinders a childs development and ability to reach their God-given potential, World Vision CEO and President Edgar Sandoval Sr. said in a statement.

Its heart-breaking that the lives of millions of children in East Africa are at risk due to a perfect storm of conflict, changing or unpredictable weather patterns, and the aftershocks of COVID-19.

Dawit said the situation in East Africa, riddled with conflict, drought, flooding and natural disasters, is ever-changing.

Its like a pendulum. , he explained. Because of the droughts or flooding or COVID-19, these people are going deeper into poverty. Its a very complex situation in East Africa.

The program manager said many have already succumbed to starvation or poverty. He believes the approach to the crisis must be proactive rather than reactive.

One of the critical elements in this one is when famine or drought is happening, we always act after the fact.  Usually, we respond after people have died, Dawit shared. We need to be proactive in responding and providing funding to avoid the [deterioration] of the situation. The key thing here is people are dying before the famine of the drought is declared. So that needs to be looked at, and we need to act immediately and prevent further suffering.

The pandemic has made the situation more difficult for East Africans because of the blow to their already weakened economies.

The pandemic just brought additional burden, Dawit continued. The condition is getting worse  People are living [on less than a dollar a day]. So the country has been locked up. The economy has been affected. So many people are in hunger because they couldnt go out and make that dollar a day to survive. So the [economic] impact of COVID is [devastating] across Africa and particularly in East Africa.

An estimated 108,000 people in East Africa live under catastrophic famine conditions, and the number is expected to increase with excessive rainy seasons and conflict plaguing the region.

World Vision estimates that another 26 million are a step away from famine if urgent action cannot prevent them from sliding into the same situation.

Women and girls face the greatest risk due to gender-based violence, abuse and sexual exploitation.

In the face of unprecedented global demands for humanitarian funding, crises in East Africa are receiving limited international attention, despite urgent and life-threatening needs, Joseph Kamara, World Visions regional humanitarian and emergency affairs director for East Africa, said in a statement. We appeal to national governments, regional institutions, humanitarian actors and donors to urgently address the hunger crisis in East Africa and more forcefully communicate its breadth and severity.

The organization is seeking $60 million to extend and mobilize this response to the East African hunger crisis. Dawit encourages the donor community to donate to help meet this urgent need.

In an interview with The Christian Post last year, World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley warned that 2021 might see famines of biblical proportions since economic struggles could hamper global responses to food shortages.

The former South Carolina governor said that the pandemic's fiscal realities could lead to a decrease in funding when as many as 270 million people globally could be pushed to the brink of starvation.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 19:45:53|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

MOGADISHU, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Somalia and the UN on Sunday called for urgent action to mitigate the impact of worsening drought, saying more than 116,000 people have already been displaced by extreme water shortages since October 2020.

In a joint statement issued in Mogadishu, the government and the humanitarian community warned that high levels of population displacement are expected in the coming weeks and months.

"Compounding the effects of the various crises in this country, support to people in Somalia this year is needed now more than ever before. I am appealing to donors to give generously and to give now, to fund a rapid drought mitigation response," Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Khadija Diriye said.

Diriye said Somalia is facing widespread food insecurity, malnutrition, population displacement and disease.

"We need funding now to save lives, alleviate suffering and get assistance out before the situation becomes a complete catastrophe," she added.

Several parts of the Horn of African nation are facing critical water shortages, with more than 50 districts facing moderate to severe drought conditions, the UN said.

The situation is particularly concerning as forecasts indicate a second consecutive season of below-average rainfall during the April to June Gu season.

Current forecasts indicate little to no rainfall for most parts of Somalia through the third week of April.

Adam Abdelmoula, UN humanitarian coordinator for Somalia said the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) is currently only 4.1 percent funded and expressed concern Somalia is faced with increasing needs with diminishing resources.

"We can mitigate the impact of drought, but urgent and immediate action is needed now as experience has taught us from the response to the 2016/17 severe drought," said Abdelmoula.

According to the UN, drought conditions add an additional layer of complexity to already unprecedented needs, driving communities to use unsafe coping mechanisms, at a time when communities are already struggling with the impact of COVID-19, continued desert locust infestation, armed conflict, political instability and widespread food insecurity.

The cumulative impact is dire, with the cost of water skyrocketing by 54 percent in some areas, further exacerbating the vulnerability of women and children who now must walk further distances to collect water, the UN said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 17:45:31|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Afghan security force members take part in a military operation in Imam Sahib district of Kunduz province, northern Afghanistan, April 10, 2021. A Taliban militants' attempt to gain ground outside Kunduz city, the capital of northern Kunduz province, has been foiled, provincial government spokesman Esmatullah Muradi said. (Photo by Ajmal Kakar/Xinhua)

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, April 11 (Xinhua) -- A Taliban militants' attempt to gain ground outside Kunduz city, the capital of northern Kunduz province, has been foiled, provincial government spokesman Esmatullah Muradi said.

A group of Taliban militants, according to the official, stormed police checkpoints in Ibrahim Khil area outside Kunduz city Sunday morning, triggering a gun battle which lasted for a couple of hours, and the militants fled away after leaving three bodied behind.

Two policemen were also killed in the fighting, the official confirmed.

Four policemen and five militants were also injured in the gun battle, Muradi further said.

Provincial police spokesman Inamudin Rahmani also confirmed the fighting, saying both sides suffered casualties. Enditem
The pandemic-driven recession has caused financial hardship for many, for more than a year, and countless renters have fallen behind on their bills.

Unpaid rent, and utility bills, have put many families at risk. And those unpaid rents have also caused pain for landlords, who still have mortgages, taxes and insurance policies to pay.

Census estimates suggest that between 14 percent and 19 percent of South Carolina renters are behind on their rent. Nationwide, an estimated 10 million are in that situation.

Now, South Carolina has received more than $346 million in federal funds to help get tenants caught up on their rent and utility bills. The money will go to the landlords and utility companies, and will help tenants avoid eviction or utility shut-offs.

South Carolina's seven largest counties  the only ones large enough to receive direct funding, with populations above 200,000  have been rolling out their county-specific assistance programs.

For renters who are residents of the state's remaining 39 counties, the state has $271.8 million available. Lawmakers have decided the S.C. State Housing Finance and Development Authority, known as SC Housing, will handle that money.

This is a huge amount of assistance, and it can help renters pay back-rent all the way to mid-March 2020. Under federal guidelines, renter households are eligible if at least one person living there meets all of these criteria:

Qualifies for unemployment or has experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced a financial hardship due to COVID-19. Documentation, such as a 2020 federal income tax return, would demonstrate the hardship.

Demonstrates a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability. Example: A past-due rent notice, eviction filing, or utility shut-off warning.

Has a household income at or below 80 percent of the area median. Median income varies by county and by family size. For example, a single person could earn up to $46,000 in Charleston County and qualify, but only $29,350 in Bamberg County.

Statewide, 80 percent of median income for a single person ranges from $29,350 to $46,800, and for a family of four ranges from $41,900 to $66,800.

The federal rules also limit the rents that the assistance will pay, but they are generous limits, based on fair-market rents determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Sign up for our new business newsletter We're starting a weekly newsletter about the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina. Get ahead with us - it's free. Email

Sign Up!

So, how does one get the help?

In the seven largest counties, contact the county government directly. Those counties are Anderson, Berkeley, Charleston, Greenville, Horry, Richland, and Spartanburg.

Don't get left out. While the state and some counties have not started accepting applications, deadlines are approaching in others. For example, Charleston County won't start accepting applications until April 12, but Berkeley County started earlier and the deadline to apply there is April 19.

Residents of the remaining 39 counties will almost certainly apply through SC Housing, although as of April 8 the state was still finalizing legislation to put SC Housing in charge of that funding.

So, what people should do is go to SC Housing's website  schousing.com  click the "sign up for emails" button, and sign up to receive email alerts about the Emergency Rental Assistance Program.

Landlords and utility companies can help spread the word, and they likely will because the assistance money goes directly to them.

Under federal guidelines, "eligible households that include an individual who has been unemployed for the 90 days prior to application for assistance and households with income at or below 50 percent of the area median are to be prioritized for assistance."

This initiative is the largest of several efforts to help those who suffered financially due to the pandemic. Previous efforts included help for homeowners with past-due mortgages, and more assistance for homeowners will be coming.
David Camerons embarrassment over lobbying Ministers for a private finance firm has been stoked by aides of Michael Gove, the former Prime Ministers allies claimed yesterday.

They also suspect former top civil servants Bob Kerslake and Nick Macpherson of having played a part in revelations over Mr Camerons intervention on behalf of Greensill Capital.

Mr Cameron has suffered mounting scrutiny over his efforts to get the company access to Covid loans  efforts which involved lobbying Chancellor Rishi Sunak and two other Treasury Ministers.

As Prime Minister, Mr Cameron brought Lex Greensill, the Australian who ran the company, into No10 as an unpaid adviser on supply chain finance and went to work for his firm after leaving office.

David Cameron's allies claim embarrassment over lobbying for a private finance firm has been stoked by the aides of Michael Gove (pictured)

Greensill Capital has now filed for insolvency although Mr Sunak faced claims yesterday his officials tried to redesign one of the main pandemic support schemes to accommodate the firm.

It also emerged that Mr Cameron lobbied a fourth Minister, taking Mr Greensill to a private drink with Health Secretary Matt Hancock in October 2019 to discuss an NHS payment system.

The Sunday Times also claimed the ex-PM emailed Boris Johnsons senior special adviser last year to say the Treasury was nuts to exclude Mr Greensills company from a Covid loan scheme.

Allies of the former PM  cleared of breaking lobbying rules  claim he has been caught in a pincer movement between No10 aides loyal to Mr Gove and former mandarins Lord Macpherson and Lord Kerslake, now crossbench peers.

They are suspicious about the roles played by Simone Finn, Downing Streets Deputy Chief of Staff, and Henry Newman, senior adviser, who both worked for Francis Maude when Paymaster General in the Cameron government, before joining Mr Goves leadership campaign.

Baroness Finn was also romantically involved with Mr Gove after they left Oxford University.

It had been reported that a proposal from Mr Greensill, while he worked in No10, for NHS-affiliated pharmacies to be paid using private finance was handed directly to Mr Cameron, who signed it off... bypassing Francis Maude entirely.

One of the Cameron friends said: It has been noted how Maude has come out of all this smelling of roses. It has also helped to put Rishi back in his box a bit, and distracted from stories about the cost of renovations to Downing Street.

The former Prime Minister (pictured) has suffered mounting scrutiny over his efforts to intervene on behalf of Greensill Capital to get the company access to Covid loans

Both ex-civil servants dismissed the allegations, while a No10 source also categorically denied Ms Finn and Mr Newman were involved.

Lord Kerslake was head of the Civil Service during Mr Camerons premiership, and at the time Mr Greensill joined the Number 10 team in 2012.

After stepping down in 2014, Lord Kerslake was commissioned by Jeremy Corbyn to help prepare Labour for power. Cameron allies suspect he fed information over the affair to the media through Labour contacts.

Senior sources also suggest Lord Macpherson, Treasury permanent secretary under Mr Cameron, could have briefed against him and the late Lord Heywood  now post-humously embroiled in the row  after losing out to Heywood for the plum Cabinet Secretary job.

Lord Macpherson has denied the claims saying: I have never met Greensill and never saw anything relating to him while at HM Treasury. He also insisted he had never had access to inside information or documents relating to Greensill.

Lord Kerslake dismissed any suggestion he had briefed against Mr Cameron as complete nonsense.

Allies of Mr Hancock insisted he had behaved entirely correctly and informed officials of the meeting. Sources close to the ex-PM said last night Mr Cameron himself was not casting blame on anyone.
She shot to fame on Netflix hit Too Hot To Handle last year.

And Nicole O'Brien proved she's taken to her glamorous new lifestyle on Saturday, when she stepped out in a glitzy jumpsuit that showcased her ample assets.

The Irish reality star, 25, sizzled in the plunging sheer number, which she teamed with towering open-toe heels.

Wow: Nicole O'Brien, 25, proved she's taken to her glamorous new lifestyle like a natural on Saturday, when she stepped out in a glitzy jumpsuit that showcased her ample assets

Nicole made sure to put her sun-kissed legs on full display and contrasted her sparkly get-up with edgy jet black nail varnish.

Joining friends in Chigwell, Essex, the reality star wore her blonde hair loose, and made sure to smile for photographers as she made her way to the event.

Wearing a full face of glam, the TV personality accessorised with a gold chain necklace and carried a luxury padded chain purse on her arm.

Nicole appeared on the Netflix dating show Too Hot To Handle, where a string of attractive contestants learned they'd win $100,000 if they had no sexual contact for four weeks. Each infraction took money off the total prize fund.

While she did not find love on the show, she went on to date her co-star Bryce Hirschberg after the show wrapped, making their relationship public in April.

Stunning: The Irish reality star sizzled in the plunging sheer number, which she teamed with towering open-toe heels

They called it quits later in the year due to the travel restrictions posed by COVID-19, as Bryce lives in Marina Del Rey, California, and Nicole calls the UK home.

A representative for Bryce, 30, told People at the time: 'I can confirm that Bryce and Nicole decided mutually to split early last week after months of trying to make a long-distance relationship work.'

Bryce also made a statement: 'After the many failed attempts to reunite due to quarantine and border restrictions, we decided that moving on and remaining friends would be our best option for the time being.

Gorgeous: Nicole made sure to put her sun-kissed legs on full display and contrasted her sparkly get-up with edgy jet black nail varnish

'Nicole is so lovely and if under less unusual circumstances I'm sure that we could've had an amazing relationship! I wish her the best because she deserves it.'

Nicole said: 'He wasn't really my cuppa tea at the start. But getting to know him more and more, we formed a proper bond and connection.'

'Looking forward to (hopefully) seeing you soon,' she captioned a photo of them, to which he responded, 'One day.'

She recently put on a cozy display with fellow co-star David Birtwistle as they enjoyed a day at the park.

Night out: Joining friends in Chigwell, the star wore her blonde hair loose, and made sure to smile for photographers as she made her way to the event

Another source told People that Bryce 'was spotted flirting with other women at his recent 30th birthday party last week in Los Angeles.'

Meanwhile, Nicole is busy working on her music career, and often shares clips of herself singing on her social media channels.

Last month, the Irish beauty released her first single, which shot to number one in the iTunes charts in Ireland.

Speaking about her love for music, Nicole told OK! In March: 'I have written music for years and years. It's so funny because I have written down when I was about 16 or 17, in a diary back home I wrote down my 10-year plan, which was to do a show, get a platform and start releasing music.

'So, my mum sent me a photo of it the other day, saying how mad is this.'
Burma Myanmar Regime Hunts Down Prominent Critics

Clockwise from top left: actor Pyay Ti Oo, actress Eaindra Kyaw Zin, actor Ye Tike, Ma Su Zarli Shein, women rights defender Daw Thin Thin Aung and monk Yaypu Sayadaw.

Some of Myanmars prominent actors, artists, activists, media personalities, doctors and Buddhist monks are among those recently detained, charged and sentenced by the military regime.

The junta issues a daily list of arrest warrants against its critics.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which tracks detentions, the regime had detained more than 3,000 people by April 10 and issued arrest warrants for 656 people.

On Friday, actor Pyay Ti Oo and actress Eaindra Kyaw Zin, a celebrity couple, were arrested. Both academy award winners face incitement charges for opposing the regime. The couple publicly supported the civil disobedience movement against the junta.

Actors Lu Min, Ye Tike and Paing Takhon, renowned comedian Zaganar and beauty blogger Win Min Than were earlier detained.

Women rights defender Daw Thin Thin Aung, co-founder of the Mizzima News Agency and Womens League of Burma (WLB), was abducted by the regimes forces on Thursday.

The WLB said in a statement that she was arrested in the evening of April 8 and taken to the notorious Yay Kyi Eaing Investigation Center.

We are extremely concerned about the life and safety of Thin Thin Aung, the group said, calling for her release.

A former member of Mizzima Media, ethnic Chin James Pu Thoure, was detained with her without facing any charges. Mizzima Media released a statement saying both had resigned from the organization after the February coup.

Mizzima fears for the lives of both its former members and appeals for their early release, it stated.

Friends said there is no news about them. More than 30 journalists are in detention.

In Hpa-an of Karen State, pediatrician Dr. Ohn Ohn Yi was abducted after she refused to treat a police officers child, Myanmar Now reported. The police sued the doctor under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code.

The 57-year-old, who retired from a government hospital but still runs a small clinic, posted that she had joined the civil disobedience movement and would not treat the children of soldiers and police who are killing unarmed civilians.

Doctors and clinics aiding those wounded by the regimes forces are also being targeted. On Sunday morning, Dr. Wai Yan Myo Lwin, a physician providing free treatment at a charity clinic in Bago Region was detained, news outlets in Bago reported.

The clinic was jointly run by Dr. Nay Myo, who was detained on April 2.

On Saturday, Yaypu Sayadaw, a senior Buddhist monk in the ruby hub Mogoke in Mandalay Region, was sentenced to three years in prison along with around 25 laymen. They were detained during a violent crackdown on anti-regime protests in the town.

Yaypu Sayadaw was seized while trying to stop police brutality against protesters and forced to disrobe while in detention.

On Thursday the regimes forces raided the Pan Pyo Iatt monastery in Bago Region, which has a well-known philanthropic school for orphans and impoverished children.

The Bago media reported that soldiers and police forced monastery guests to kneel and five of them were taken away.

The monastery confirmed the raid, saying the monasterys abbot, Asin Pyin Nyaw Bha Tha, fled to India after the raid.

The school is in good condition, except for facing financial problems for the monks alms as the key to the safe was confiscated, the Friday statement said. The Irrawaddy could not contact the monastery for an update.

To evade arrest, many activists, protest leaders and striking government staff are in hiding.

The regime is increasingly detaining the relatives and friends of those in hiding.

On Tuesday, the girlfriend and two friends of Kyaw Ko Ko, a former All Burma Federation of Student Unions chair, were arrested at a checkpoint near Naypyitaw, as the activist went into hiding to evade arrest.

Ma Su Zarli Shein, Ko Myo Myint Tun and Ko Ngwar Ja were traveling from Yangon to Kayah State for work reasons.

You may also like these stories:

Wounded Mandalay Volunteer Burned Alive by Myanmar Regime

Myanmars Striking Civil Servants Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

US and UK Sanction Myanmar Military-Owned Conglomerates
HARTFORD  As detectives continued to search Sunday for suspects in the killing of a 3-year-old city boy and 16-year-old from New Britain, city officials are pressing witnesses to come forward and help.

In at least one of the shootings, police officials said they knew a number of witnesses were in the area and pleaded they come provide information to investigators.

Police have yet to publicly identify suspects in either shooting, and could not offer a motive late Saturday.

These crimes tear families apart and they wound a whole community, said Mayor Luke Bronin. And we have to stand together not just to help our police solve these crimes but to do everything we can to solve this kind of senseless violence.

As the investigations continued, police identified the 16-year-old victim Sunday as JaMari Preston of New Britain. They said Preston was shot multiple times on the 100 block of Magnolia St. He was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police officials initially said that the victim was 17 years old.

Officers rushed to the area around 4:46 p.m. after the citys ShotSpotter system picked up gunfire. They found Preston with numerous gunshot wounds.

Preston was a student at Capitol Region Education Council school district.

CREC is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our student JaMari Preston. During his time at CREC, he endeared himself to many staff and students who are devastated by his sudden and tragic death. said Greg Florio, CRECs executive director, in a statement.

Florio said the district has organized virtual grief counseling and support starting Sunday for the school community and the family.

At the time of the shooting on Magnolia Street, a number of officers and detectives were about a mile away on Nelson Street investigating a drive-by shooting that killed 3-year-old Rondell Jones.

Officers first responded to Nelson Street around 2:25 p.m. for a separate ShotSpotter system report of gunfire in the area. While there, officers were notified by a nearby hospital that a 3-year-old victim had arrived by private vehicle with gunshot wounds, according to police.

The child, later identified as Rondell, was initially listed in critical condition, but later died at the hospital, police said.

Thus far, police officials said it does not appear that the shootings were connected, but cautioned late Saturday that it was too early to say for certain.

The shooting on Nelson Street was caught on surveillance camera. Police said the passenger of a black Honda Accord opened fire on another vehicle before fleeing down Nelson Street.

Members of an auto theft task force later found the car, stolen from Windsor Locks, unoccupied. Police declined to say where the stolen vehicle was located.

Officials said that the victims mother, along with two other children, ages 4 and 5, were in the car that was fired on, but were uninjured.

Another individual in that vehicle, believed to be the intended victim of the drive-by shooting, fled and police have yet to locate him.

Our whole citys heart breaks for this child and for his family, Bronin said during a press conference that evening. This is a crime that wounds a community, and we are grieving with the family of this little boy.

Both Bronin and police Chief Jason Thody committed the citys law enforcement resources to finding the who killed Rondell.

One thing we know is that there were several witnesses out there, so we are encouraging and pleading anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact the police department, Thody said.

Police have yet to make an arrest in either case, and did not say what may have motivated the shootings.

Ahead of the shootings, Thody said the department had already launched initiatives to decrease violent crime in the city.

We initiated our efforts early this year. There are a tremendous amount of police officers out there from both plainclothes and uniformed officers, Thody said.

On Saturday, the department already had planned details including state police and staff from the Department of Motor Vehicles, who were assisting city police officers.

We are continuing to patrol the streets and working to solve both of these crimes, Thody said.

Mothers United Against Violence, a community group active in the city, has planned a prayer vigil for Rondell on Monday night at the nearby intersection of Garden and Capen streets.

For Hartford, this is the 7th gun-violence death in Hartford in 2021. For this family, the death of little Rondell is not just a number or statistic but a loss of a life dear beyond measure, the group said in a Facebook post.

Police said anyone with information regarding the cases can call the departments tip line at 860-722-8477.
America is on trial.

Or at least, that is the conviction of many observers as Derek Chauvin, a white former Minneapolis police officer, faces judge and jury in the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man. America on trial: its a headline in Time, the Toronto Star and Agence Marocaine De Presse, a news agency in Morocco. Its the considered opinion of CNNs Don Lemon, the Rev. Al Sharpton and of a group of Black barbers in Washington, D.C., interviewed by NPR.

It is also the view of Philonise Floyd.

America is on trial, says the brother of Floyd, who died last year lying handcuffed in the street for nine and a half excruciating minutes, unresisting and crying out for his mother as Chauvin pressed a knee into his neck. If you cant get justice for this as a Black man in America, what can you get justice for?

It is not difficult to understand why many of us believe that what happens in that courtroom will render a verdict not just on Chauvin, but on the nation, on our self-appraised land of truths held self-evident, equality under the law, liberty and justice for all. Is any of that real? Does any of it mean anything? Many of us are looking to that Minneapolis courtroom for answers.

America is on trial, they say. Well, maybe it is. But here is a contrarian view: This trial cannot vindicate America.

Lets assume for a moment Chauvin is acquitted. What message does that send? The answer is obvious. It sends the same message that has been sent for four centuries: that for African Americans, justice remains elusive, nearly impossible, especially in cases of police wrongdoing.

Maybe you think the message changes if Chauvin is convicted. But does it, really?

Consider what that conviction will have required. The killing took place in broad daylight, seen by a crowd of onlookers whose cellphone video turned us all into eyewitnesses. We all heard Floyds moaning pleas; all saw the chilling nonchalance in Chauvins face. Cities around the world convulsed in outrage.

If it takes that excess of evidence and that level of public pressure for Chauvin to be convicted, would that really attest to the integrity of American justice? Or would it not ultimately say pretty much the same thing an acquittal would: that for us, justice is harder, the bar higher, the road steeper, especially where allegations against the police are concerned.

Unequal justice is not justice at all. Yet thats precisely what we have so often seen, unarmed Black women, children and men killed, and cops, time after time, excused.

Dont misunderstand. The view from this corner is that Chauvin very much deserves conviction and incarceration. The hope is that he receives both. But lets not fool ourselves into thinking that would say something about American justice that it simply would not.

All it would say is that in a crime committed before the entire world and with the entire world watching, America  or at least, a jury of 12 Americans  could not bring itself to deny a self-evident truth. Thats no inspiring affirmation of national values. Rather, its the bare minimum common humanity demands. And again: Its entirely possible the court will do even less than the minimum and acquit Chauvin, an outcome that experience tells us is hardly inconceivable.

So no, America is not on trial here. Chauvin is, and we await the verdict. But as to America?

That verdict is already in.

Pitts is a columnist for the Miami Herald.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 15:12:54|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, April 10 (Xinhua) -- A recent string of mass shootings in the United States have once again proved that the country, always proclaiming itself a defender of human rights, is indeed a hypocrite, as deadly gun violence rate keeps ballooning while gun proliferation remains rampant.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday depicted gun violence in the country as "an epidemic" and "an international embarrassment," highlighting a chronic human rights crisis that has reached epidemic proportions and long blighted the United States.

Over the last few weeks, the country witnessed mass shootings occur nearly back-to-back in Orange, California, Boulder, Colorado, the Atlanta area in Georgia and Central Texas.

As of April 7, 11,535 Americans were killed by gun violence this year, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive. Last year, the number of gun violence death topped 435,000, including nearly 300 children, more than any other year in at least two decades.

Although Washington has largely rejected being held accountable for the ravaging crisis, its failure to protect its citizens from gun violence has been constantly reviewed and bombarded by international human rights bodies including the United Nations Human Rights Committee.

The "right to life, liberty and security of person" is codified in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. "Life" also comes before "liberty and the pursuit of happiness" among the three unalienable rights enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.

However, for decades, Washington has failed to live up to the legal promises made to its people. The right to bear arms too often trumps the right to life as a result of powerful lobbying by interest groups such as the National Rifle Association, erecting a major barricade to gun control legislation.

Multiple complex legal, political and cultural factors lead to the high rate of gun violence in the United States.

The most conspicuous one is that guns are unreasonably easy to get in the country. Gun control advocates even lamented that it's "easier to buy a gun than to register to vote" in the United States, which bills itself as a champion of freedom and human rights.

As a consequence, gun proliferation has been appalling. With less than 5 percent of the world's population, the United States owns 46 percent of the global civilian-owned guns, according to a report by the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey.

In 2020, industry data and firearms background checks show that nearly 23 million guns were purchased in the country, up by 65 percent from the previous year, according to U.S. consulting firm Small Arms Analytics.

A more underlying reason for the deteriorating gun violence in the United States is that the government makes little effort to address the root causes -- racism, poverty and lack of access to education.

Specifically, eight people were shot dead at three massage parlors in the Atlanta area in March, of whom six were Asians, stoking fears over rising hate crimes against Asian-Americans.

Meanwhile, the country's public divide on gun control has revealed the cavernous gap between rural and urban Americans. Many of the supporters for gun ownership take hunting and fishing as a way of life in states with large rural populations, while for many in coastal cities, owning guns is unacceptable.

Unfortunately, gun control legislations are extremely hard to get through the U.S. Congress due to partisan politics and the influence of interests groups.

The hot-button issue has for decades been a major point of contention between Democrats and Republicans. The GOP favors gun-owners' rights, arguing that gun laws will not keep people safe, but rather take away the rights of law-abiding citizens.

In contrast, Democrats contend that gun laws will make a difference, saving people's lives and preventing firearms from getting into the hands of the wrong people.

Last month, the House of Representatives approved a pair of bills aimed at expanding and strengthening background checks for gun buyers. Though widely popular with voters, the measures were expected to face strong GOP opposition in the Senate.

Biden, who campaigned on the issue of curtailing gun violence, is expected to proceed with piecemeal regulations through executive orders or tucking them into the massive infrastructure bill that is now taking shape in Washington.

Yet gun control advocates maintained that Washington's measures on gun control are far from enough. Without the right to life, it is impossible to enjoy other rights. The U.S. government has clear and urgent obligations to tackle gun violence.

Effective gun control is more about whether Washington has adequate political will and moral courage to take all measures necessary to protect people from gun violence. As Biden has said, "Enough prayers. Time for some action." And for real action. Enditem
Australia and the Philippines limited use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, while the African Union dropped plans to buy the shot, dealing further blows to the company's hopes to deliver a vaccine for the world.
Gandhinagar, April 11 : Taking a serious note of the worsening coronavirus situation, especially on the healthcare system and infrastructure, the Gujarat High Court on Sunday observed that the state was heading towards a health emergency.

Taking suo moto cognizance, it filed a fresh PIL regarding the situation, with the state and Central governments made respondents, and will hold a hearing on Monday.

The high court had recently advised the Gujarat government to impose a three-four day lockdown, and take appropriate measures to check Covid-19 cases.

"But it has been five days since. Newspapers and channels are flooded with harrowing tales, unfortunate and unimaginable difficulties, unmanageable conditions of infrastructure, the shortfall and deficit of not only testing facilities, but availability of beds, ICUs, supply of oxygen and basic medicines like remdesivir," Chief Justice Vikram Nath said in his order on Sunday.

"A perusal of some news would indicate that the state is heading towards a health emergency of sorts. Accordingly, I direct the HC registry to register this as a suo moto fresh PIL titled 'Uncontrolled upsurge and serious management issues in Covid control' by impleading the Gujarat government through the Chief Secretary, the Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, and the Central Government through the Department of Home and the Health Ministry," he ordered.

The Chief Justice said a bench comprising of him and Justice Bhargav D. Karia should be constituted to hear this PIL at 11 a.m. on Monday.

He also ordered a copy of his order to be forwarded to Advocate General Kamal Trivedi, government pleader Manisha LuvKumar, and Additional Solicitor General Devang Vyas. The proceedings of the court will be live streamed.

Gujarat on Sunday saw a new high of 5,469 cases, taking its tally to 3,47,495, while the death toll rose to 4,800 with 54 fresh fatalities.

In April so far, the state has added 39,797 cases at an average of 3,618 daily, while in March, it had seen 37,809 cases, with an average of 1,220 per day.
With 10s of millions more red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico than previously thought, federal fisheries managers are going to . . . lower the allowable catch for Alabama and other Gulf states?

This seemingly illogical conclusion is being leaned toward and probably will be confirmed at a Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council meeting this week. According to federal fishery managers, since Gulf anglers exceeded the harvest they had set for 2019 by a slim marginin large part because of the amazing number of fish available--the allotted number of fishing days and/or limits might be reduced.

While that has been pretty much S.O.P. for federal management for many years, always erring on the side of caution to assure theres never a collapse of managed species, this time around the feds appear to be ignoring some very important new data.

The Council now has available to it a $10 million study put together by over 20 of the top fisheries scientists in the nation, with a funding boost from Alabama senior Senator Richard Shelby, that shows there are three to four times more 2-year-old and older red snapper in the Gulf than the federal agencies had previously estimated and based their rules on.

The study was designed to look objectively at the red snapper abundance in the Gulf, said Scott Bannon, director of the Alabama Marine Resources Division. It counted fish that are two years and older. The scientists developed a plan that utilized cameras, acoustic arrays and a robust tagging program. They actually identify fish. They see them, count them and get size estimates with lasers on the camera equipment.

The scientists surveyed natural bottom, artificial reefs and uncharacterized bottom. The uncharacterized bottom had no structures or vertical relief. Surprisingly, the surveys found far more snapper on uncharacterized bottom than expected. Anglers rarely target these areas because the fish are concentrated on hard structure, but apparently there are millions of the snapper on the continental shelf that extends out up to 100 miles from shore in much of the Gulf.

The count they study came up with was 110 million fish. The count that NOAA Fisheries had been operating on was 36 million fish. Both cant be right, but unfortunately for fishermen and those who make their living from selling red snapper in markets and restaurants, the feds have the say-so. A reduction in limits also has an impact on motels and other businesses on the Gulf Coast because many families time their annual vacations to coincide with the red snapper season.

Federal fishery managers are also talking about a calibration process that would merge their population estimate into the new population estimate. The merging is sure to result in a reduced final estimate, which could very well result in an undesirable result for fishermen, at least short term.

Our goal is to avoid calibration, Bannon said. With calibration, Alabama and Mississippi allocations would be cut in half.

Under calibration alternatives, Alabamas quota for red snapper could go from 1.12 million pounds in 2020 to 547,298 pounds in 2021.

Naturally we didnt agree with that, Bannon said. NOAA Fisheries said that was going to be required because the fishery may have met the overfishing limit in 2019. The catch for 2019 barely exceeded the 15.5 million-pound limit by 150,000 pounds. That is Gulf-wide in all sectors, including private anglers, for-hire and commercial, but with the new Great Red Snapper Count data, whether there was overfishing at all in 2019 is in question.

Our goal at the upcoming Gulf Council meeting is to postpone any calibration until the Great Red Snapper Count is fully integrated into the stock assessment so that Alabama and Mississippi would fish at the same level weve fished for the previous couple of years under the EFP (Exempted Fishing Permit) and state management, which is around a million pounds.

The MRIP surveys have considerably overestimated red snapper catches compared to Alabamas Red Snapper Reporting System, known as Snapper Check.

We say we landed about a million pounds, but the MRIP survey says we landed about 2.5 million pounds, Bannon said. We have a monitoring program that we feel is accurate, and we are harvesting at a sustainable level.

Bannon also reminds anglers or concerned citizens that the Gulf Council meetings always allocate a time for public comment on Wednesdays, which will be from 1-4:30 p.m. on April 14 for the next meeting.

See details of the meeting here: https://gulfcouncil.org/press/2021/gulf-council-to-meet-by-webinar-april-12-15-2021.

(Thanks to Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources writer David Rainer for the information used in this report.)
At a news conference on Sunday, Prime Minister Florin Citu spoke about resignations after the scandal of moving patients from the Foisor Hospital, adding that "let's see if there is still honour in Romania."

After attending a meeting of the National Intervention Management and Coordination Centre (CNCCI) on Sunday, the prime minister was asked by journalists who should take a step back after the scandal at the Foisor Hospital.

The prime minister did not indicate who should resign, saying only: "Let's see if there is still honour in Romania."

Asked who he was referring to, the prime minister replied: "I also said it at the CNCCI meeting and I tell you, because it is not normal after a decision is made for the prime minister to step in to talk to the mayor of Bucharest, to talk to the manager of the Public Health Directorate to apply a decision ".

AGERPRES
Click here to read the full article.

Mainland China youth drama The Day is Over was named the best Chinese-language film in the Firebird Young Cinema competition at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. The already celebrated Iranian film The Wasteland, directed by Ahmad Bahrami won the equivalent award in the overseas section.

The 45th edition of the festival kicked off on April 1 and will complete its run on Monday.

The Day is Over, directed by Qi Rui, tells a tale of mounting tragedies for a young girl who is humiliated by her classmates and ultimately hides out in a pond. The jury praised it for aptly portraying contemporary societys lack of care for the young generation and the subsequent impact on the development of their personal values.

In the same section, Summer Blur garnered two awards: best director for Han Shuai for his impressive ability in portraying the characters psyche and best actress for Huang Tian. The best actor award went to Huang Xuan, who brilliantly exhibits the anguish and torment experienced by a man on the brink of crisis in Wuhai.

The Wasteland previously won the Orrizonti Prize for best film at the Venice festival in September last year. In Hong Kong, it added best film and best actor for Ali Bagheri.

In the same section, Looking for Venera also earned two prizes: best director for Norika Sefa and best actress for Kosovare Kraniqi.

With a unanimous decision, the jury gave the festivals best documentary prize to maria Speths Mr. Bachmann and His Class. Kurdish filmmaker Hogir Hirori took the Jury Prize for Sabaya, a powerful documentary that illustrates a brutal world of war, extremism, and gender oppression.

This years FIPRESCI Prize went to Chong Keat-auns The Story of Southern Islet a magical-realist tale of a man who believes himself to be struck by a neighbors curse. The film hails from Malaysia and is presented in Mandarin and Malay, it previously earned Chong the best new director prize at the Golden Horse Awards. The film received a commendation from the FIPRESCI jury in Hong Kong for its creative portrayal of spirituality in an increasingly ungodly world.

Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Srinagar: A group of terrorists on Sunday (April 11) shot dead a civilian in the Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

The terrorists fired on Nasir Khan near his residence in Buchipora in the Magam area of the central Kashmir district this afternoon, a police official said. He said Khan was rushed to a hospital, where he succumbed to the injuries.

The area has been cordoned off and a manhunt has been launched to nab the attackers, the official said.

Live TV

Further details are awaited.
Phnom Penh: Cambodia called on US media group Vice to withdraw an article featuring newly colourised photos of the Khmer Rouge killing fields victims, saying the images were an insult to the dead because some mugshots had been altered to add smiles.

The article is no longer available on the VICE.com website.

In the article published on Friday (US time), artist Matt Loughrey said his project to colourise images from the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, or S-21, aimed to humanise the 14,000 Cambodians executed and tortured there.

However, the article caused a backlash on social media after comparisons with the original black-and-white photos showed that some subjects were smiling only in Loughreys colour images. The Vice article did not contain the original images.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 10:39:57|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

SANTIAGO, April 10 (Xinhua) -- A new batch of CoronaVac vaccine from China's Sinovac arrived in Chile on Saturday to become part of the country's vaccination campaign against the COVID-19.

The shipment was received at Santiago Airport by Chilean Health Minister Enrique Paris and Deputy Health Minister Paula Daza.

"We are receiving a new shipment of vaccines from China. Therefore, we will continue with our mass vaccination campaign," Paris said.

Daza said the vaccination program would continue until herd immunity was hopefully reached by June 30, with the vaccination of 80 percent of the susceptible population.

To date, Chile has vaccinated 7,354,826 people, of which 4,643,082 have already received both doses.

Up to 2,942,898 people aged 60 and above have been immunized, contributing to fewer hospitalizations and lower mortality in the age group.

The Sinovac vaccine was approved for emergency use in Chile on Jan. 20.

Chile's mass vaccination program began on Feb. 3 with the aim of immunizing 15 million of the 19 million people in the country during the first half of 2021. Enditem
Patna, April 11 : A day after a senior Bihar police official was allegedly lynched by a mob in West Bengal's North Dinajpur district, a video of local goons attacking a police team in Katihar district, went viral on Sunday.

SHO of Barsoi police station, Sunil Kumar, has said that the gruesome incident took place on April 7 and two people were arrested in connection with the case, that had left four cops injured.

"Acting on a tip off that some drunk men had been hiding at Raghunathpur village, a police team headed by ASI Sanjay Kumar went there to conduct a raid. On reaching the area, a group of local goons, apparently liquor mafias, pounced on the team and brutally assaulted four police personnel including Kumar and three other women constables," police said.

Some of the police personnel managed to fled the spot but Sanjay and three other women constables were injured in the attack.

The victims are under treatment at Sadar hospital in Katihar and their conditions are said to be stable.

"An FIR is being registered against 17 persons out of which 15 are yet to be identified," Kumar said.
Problems in producing Johnson & Johnsons one-dose coronavirus vaccine will result in an 88% reduction in the amount sent to Oregon this week, similar to the blow dealt to all 49 other states.

Oregon last week received a record 61,400 doses, but this week the federal government will ship only 7,300 doses, according to figures provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outlook is even worse as April proceeds, with Oregons top state public health official expecting just 2,000 doses next week.

Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen told state legislators the shortages of Johnson & Johnsons vaccine could exacerbate struggles in rural Oregon to get all people 16 and older vaccinated. Allen said lagging inoculation rates in some rural counties is due to people whove decided against vaccination. But others, he said, are holding out until the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is available.

Medical experts say the vaccine has proven to be the go-to option among people who dislike needles or want to make only one trip to a vaccination clinic, because it only requires one jab rather two like with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Some people whove received Johnson & Johnsons vaccine have posted giddy and celebratory Tweets under the popular hashtag #OneandDone.

Gov. Kate Brown received a Johnson & Johnson dose in early March.

The one-dose vaccine also has been a valuable resource for states eager to immunize hard-to-reach or mobile populations, such as individuals who are homeless, jail inmates, migrant workers or college students.

Overall, the hit to Oregons Johnson & Johnson allocation will result in an overall 20% reduction in total vaccines received -- from 258,190 last week to 205,830 this week -- because shipments of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are staying relatively consistent and Johnson & Johnson allocations have been comparatively small, according to numbers from the state.

Those numbers, however, dont include doses sent to pharmacies through the federal retail pharmacy program. The number of doses sent to the program werent yet available, as of Friday.

Allen said he predicts the Johnson & Johnson production problems will amount to only a slight delay to Oregons goal of inoculating 70% of residents 16 and older by the end of May with at least one dose of one of the three available vaccines.

That may shift a week or two based on what were currently beginning to see, but not by months or months or anything like that, Allen said.

The amount of Johnson & Johnson vaccine shipped to Oregon and other states since the federal government granted emergency use authorization in February has see-sawed from week to week because of production challenges overseas, where all doses of the vaccine are currently manufactured.

Johnson & Johnson has been working to get federal approval to distribute its vaccine produced at a Maryland production plant for use in the United States. However, that became more difficult after a foul-up last month resulted in the plant contaminating 15 million doses and rendering them useless. Officials are unsure if tens of millions more doses also might need to be discarded.

Two weeks ago, the federal government sent nearly 2 million Johnson & Johnson doses to states. Last week, it was nearly 5 million. This week, its just 700,000.

Washington is seeing its allocation drop from 109,000 to 12,900. Californias is going from 572,700 to 67,600.

Although Allen said the reduction might delay Oregons overall vaccination efforts by a week or two, the timing of Johnson & Johnsons production difficulties is unfortunate. New COVID-19 cases are up 44% and hospitalizations 46% over the past two weeks, as the state battles a fourth surge that started several weeks ago. Nationwide, new known cases are up 13% and hospitalizations up 7% over the same time period.

Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter

-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee
Thiruvananthapuram, April 11 : Moopen Institute for Local Empowerment - MILES is a community organization developed by Padmasri Dr Azad Moopen established in 2010 and is now into wholesome development of his home village Kalpakanchery Panchayath in Kerala's Malappuram district.

Dr Azad Moopen, an alumini of the prestigious Calicut Medical College has established several hospitals within and outside the country and alongside his professional commitments as a medical doctor is engaged in total and comprehensive development of his home village, Kalpakanchery.

The organization has been working in areas of Education, Employment, Human Resources Development, Community Health, Women Empowerment and Environmental studies since it was established in 2010. The study conducted by MILES in association with Kalpakanchery grama panchayath has found that almost all sections of the civil society has benefitted from the involvement and intervention of MILES in issues that the panchayath was not able to handle on its own.

MILES is now conducting a comprehensive study in Kalpakanchery panchayath in collaboration with IRDP (Initiative for Development Research and Practice) and panchayath. The study mainly focusses on Youth, women, children and general public.

Kamarudhin, Administrative Officer of MILES who manages the institution while speaking to IANS said, "The program is being organized with the support of Kalpakanchery Panchayath and elected ward members are totally in support of our project and in each ward elected members lead our program." The organization conducts Village walk which is an effective tool to touch the rural life and to know more on it for further studies and research before intervention in the specific issues pointed out during the walk. Specific data will be collected through questionnaires from youths and general public.

Focused Group Discussions(FGD) will be conducted with a maximum of eight participants drawn from the sections of the ward which include ward member (Current member, Past member (optional), Social activists (2), Youth representatives (1 male, 1 female), Professionals 2 (Preferably from social sector), Anganwadi Teacher (1) and Kudumbasree members (2). This group will conduct a one hour focused group discussion and implement the projects which are in the priority following these discussions.

The organization uses Participatory learning and Action (PLA) and Participatory Rural Apprisal (PRA) in the study and brings out solutions and executes the necessary requirements.

Khadeeja, (61) who lives in Kalpakanchery grama panchayath, 2 ward while speaking to IANS said, "MILES has now become a household name in this area and we are all benefited by the intervention of the organization. The young team of MILES comes to our homes regularly, ask questions and if we need anything including issues like drinking water, environmental pollution, education of children, health issues and electricity problems, they intervene and either bring to the notice of the panchayath or they directly provide the solution. Slowly but surely there is a major positive impact since MILES was launched here." With the support from Dr Azad Moopen and his family trust, the organization is managing a good team of professionals who are highly educated in social sciences and who know the requirements of the village.

Dr Azad Moopen while speaking to IANS said, "It is largely true that India lives in villages as told by Gandhiji a century back. Our panchayaths are powerhouses of human potential with over a billion people, which is yet to be unleashed for our nation building. Our efforts through establishing MILES, has been to make Kalpkanachery a model panchayath and uplift the people through various initiatives and enablers. We undertake many programmes in education, career development, women's empowerment, environmental protection, health and wellness etc at the grass root level, in association with local bodies." MILES is being curated as a Proof of Concept that can be replicated across other panchayaths in India which would pave the way for overall development of our country as vast majority of our people still live in villages."
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 04:57:35|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

QUITO, April 10 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people died and 20 others were injured in a traffic accident that occurred on Saturday on the Pifo-Papallacta Highway in eastern Pichincha province, authorities reported.

The Quito Fire Department wrote on Twitter that the accident occurred during the early morning when "a public bus lost control and flipped" on the highway, which connects the Sierra mountainous region with the Amazon.

The department added that it had arrived on the scene with a total of 40 personnel, five ambulances, and other units, supported by the Ministry of Public Health, the National Police, and other entities.

Agents from the National Directorate of Traffic Control and Road Safety began investigations to determine the causes of the accident.

The Integrated Security Service, the main emergency center in the country, stated on Twitter that the road has been partially reopened while the bus is being removed with heavy machinery. Enditem
Joanna Lumley has paid tribute to the sharp wit and kindness of the Duke of Edinburgh.

The life of Prince Philip has been celebrated at church services across Britain today - the third of eight days of national mourning.

The Duke of Edinburgh, died at Windsor Castle on Friday. He was 99.

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show today, actress and activist Joanna Lumley recounted times when she had the 'great pleasure' to have met Philip.

'He was very kind, you know, I think that's quite often overlooked,' she said. 'He was very funny and very sharp, but very kind.'

She added: 'I think he liked vigour, he liked get-up-and-go. He didn't like whingers and moaners, he liked people who challenged themselves.

'And then for the very humble and the very frail and very nervous, I think he was kind.

The Duke of Edinburgh talks with Joanna Lumley during a Gala Evening marking the 60th anniversary of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award at Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, 2016

A 'pity' Prince Philip will be remembered for his gaffes, former Archbishop says Dr John Sentamu has said it is a 'pity' the Duke of Edinburgh will be remembered for his gaffes, saying 'behind those gaffes was an expectation of a comeback'. The former Archbishop of York said Philip was always looking for robust debate and for someone to challenge him, and that he always walked away from conversations with the duke feeling 'energised'. Speaking to BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Dr Sentamu said people had sometimes been 'too deferential to Philip' because of his status. 'I am sure he regretted some of those phrases, but in the end it is a pity that people saw him simply as somebody who makes gaffes,' he said. 'Behind those gaffes was an expectation of a comeback but nobody came back and the gaffe unfortunately stayed.' Dr Sentamu went on: 'He would make an off-colour remark but if somebody challenged him you would enter into an amazing conversation. 'The trouble was that, because he was the Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of the Queen, people had this deference.' Dr Sentamu recalled an incident when he himself had made a joke about racism, and the duke had approached him and demanded: 'Do you think that's fair?' He said the challenge had led to an in-depth discussion about what Philip was trying to achieve with the Duke of Edinburgh Award. 'It was an eye-opener,' Dr Sentamu said. '(The award) was in every country he had been to, and when he met young people - whether they were black, whether they were white, whether they were Asian - actually it didn't make the slightest bit of difference, as long as they were given the opportunity to get on in life.' Dr Sentamu said Philip believed the majority of people who felt downtrodden had not been given real opportunity in life, and the award was intended to create a level playing field. He said that with the duke 'there were no conversations that were off limits' and that Philip had also closely followed the inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence. 'Whenever I met him we would get into a conversation - (about) something that he had been thinking about - and then he would also give a very robust reply,' Dr Sentamu said. Referring to the Lawrence inquiry, he said: '(Philip) came and ask me about how it all was and he said 'You must have had a very tough time listening to evidence - it really was appalling'. 'Then we had a conversation of about three or four minutes.' He added: 'There were areas we disagreed about but he loves a very good conversation and he doesn't want you to let him off or for you to be let off.' Dr Sentamu said the duke had also been very open and accepting of the fact that we live in an ever-changing world, and was wary of the word 'reform'. He recounted a conversation in which Philip told him: 'Please look around you, everything is changing, nothing is static, and the only thing that is stable - the Earth - is still revolving around.' Dr Sentamu said the duke believed the important thing was 'to make sure that you are there to make a better change than a terrible one'. He continued: '(Philip) would go for 'change' rather than 'reform' because he would say 'I don't know what that means, because the powerful are the ones that want reform, and who do they want to reform? The weaker people. But if we talk about change, all of us are involved in it.' Advertisement

'The whole of the Duke of Edinburgh awards is to make people better, to make people see the best in themselves, and I think he did that when talking to people as well.'

Lumley had been involved in presenting Duke of Edinburgh awards to young people and recalled the 'proud parents who saw their children blossoming'.

She said: 'I think his legacy will be how he changed the minds of young people and made them believe in themselves.

'That's a very rare and difficult thing to do and he did it in spades.'

She revealed that on one occasion when she was sat beside him at a function, another guest was discussing hunting, fishing and shooting. The duke then noticed Ms Lumley's vegetarian meal, and politely changed the subject to include her.

She also spoke of Philip's passion for the environment, adding: 'When you think how far ahead he was in realising this perfect world we live in can only be ruined by human beings... he was always interested in those sorts of things, he was invigorating company.

'Sometimes there could be a snap remark, but it was only out of interest and impatience.'

Buckingham Palace said on Saturday that the duke's funeral would be held on Saturday April 17, with long-established plans redrawn and scaled down because of COVID-19 restrictions.

The prince will be given a ceremonial royal funeral rather than a state funeral. There will be no public processions, and it will be held entirely within the grounds of Windsor Castle and limited to 30 mourners.

John Major, who was British prime minister from 1990 to 1997, said he hoped the queen would be given the time she needs to grieve after she lost her husband and companion of 73 years.

'I do hope she's given a little space, and a little time, and a little freedom to grieve in the way anybody else would wish to do so after having lost their spouse,' he told the BBC's Andrew Marr.

'He was the person who was there,' he said of Philip. 'He was the person to whom she could unburden herself.'

Former archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu said: '[Philip] would make an off-colour remark but if somebody challenged him you would enter into an amazing conversation - the trouble was that because he was the Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of the Queen, people had this deference.'

He said the Duke of Edinburgh never wanted 'to be let off' in difficult discussions.

Dr Sentamu, who once described Philip as his 'sparring partner', told The Andrew Marr Show 'there were no conversations that were off limits'.

'Whenever I met him we would get into a conversation - (about) something that he had been thinking about - and then he would also give a very robust reply,' Dr Sentamu said.

He recalled meeting Philip at the conclusion of the inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence.

'I met him at Buckingham Palace and he comes and ask me about how it all was and he said, ''you must have had a very tough time listening to evidence was really was appalling', and then we had a conversation of about three or four minutes,'' Dr Sentamu said.

'There were areas we disagreed about but he loves a very good conversation and he doesn't want you to let him off or for you to be let off.'

And former Irish president Mary McAleese said Prince Philip travelled to the country in 2011 'on a mission to heal history'.

Belfast-born Mrs McAleese was president of the Republic during the historic visit of Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, the first by a British monarch to the country in 100 years.

'You can understand that security was very high, concerns were high. So he was there, as she has described in the past as her rock, but he was also there as a character in his own right.

'A man who had come on a mission, as she had come, both of them had come on this mission in their own right to try and heal history, to ensure that for the future these two neighbouring islands would be characterised by good neighbourliness.

'He wasn't just there as her company, if you like, her inevitable company, he was also there making a statement.'

She said that although the pair subsequently met, Philip would have been willing to meet former IRA man Martin McGuinness on that visit, had Sinn Fein not objected.

She added: 'He was willing even then to meet people who have been so closely associated with the murder of a man who had meant so much to him, Lord Mountbatten.'

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show today, actress and activist Joanna Lumley recounted times when she had the 'great pleasure' to have met Philip

'Sometimes there could be a snap remark, but it was only out of interest and impatience,' Joanna Lumley said of the Duke of Edinburgh

DUKE OF EDINBURGH VISITED IRELAND ON 'A MISSION TO HEAL HISTORY' The Duke of Edinburgh travelled to Ireland in 2011 'on a mission to heal history', former president Mary McAleese has said (both pictured in 2011) The Duke of Edinburgh travelled to Ireland in 2011 'on a mission to heal history', former president Mary McAleese has said. Belfast-born Mrs McAleese was president of the Republic when Philip accompanied Queen Elizabeth on the historic visit, the first by a British monarch to the country in 100 years. It was seen as a momentous step on the path to reconciliation after the Good Friday Agreement. Ms McAleese said the duke was not just there to support the Queen, but to further the cause of peace between the two islands. She said: 'You can understand that security was very high, concerns were high. So he was there, as she has described in the past as her rock, but he was also there as a character in his own right. 'A man who had come on a mission, as she had come, both of them had come on this mission in their own right to try and heal history, to ensure that for the future these two neighbouring islands would be characterised by good neighbourliness. 'He wasn't just there as her company, if you like, her inevitable company, he was also there making a statement.' Plans had been made for a meeting with Martin McGuinness, the former IRA man who became deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, but this was opposed by his party, Sinn Fein. Although the pair subsequently met the following year, Ms McAleese said Philip would have been perfectly happy to do so during the State Visit, despite the murder of his beloved uncle, Lord Mountbatten, by the IRA during the Troubles. She said: 'He was willing even then to meet people who have been so closely associated with the murder of a man who had meant so much to him, Lord Mountbatten.' The royal couple felt a 'duty' to bring about reconciliation between Britain and Ireland, she said. Queen Elizabeth II and Irish President Mary McAleese arrive for a State Dinner at Dublin Castle, on May 18, 2011 in Dublin, Ireland Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show on the BBC, the former Irish president said: 'I was lucky to have an insight into the desire of both Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip for precisely that reconciliation. 'They both gave me to understand that they really wanted to visit Ireland, they wanted it to be part of a process of reconciliation. 'They saw themselves as people who had a duty to do whatever they could, by way of bringing about that reconciliation between neighbours. 'And so, when they came in 2011, it was at the end of a long process. We had the Good Friday Agreement and that was a long, long, political journey to get to the point where we could offer that visit to Her Majesty the Queen. 'And, of course, when they both came they were greeted very warmly. Why? Because people recognised in them, in every gesture and everything they did, in the speech that the Queen gave, they recognised people who weren't just there as state visitors but in some ways were on a kind of pilgrimage of reconciliation.' Asked about the recent unrest in Northern Ireland, the former president said young people in the region are still being 'taught to hate'. Reflecting on recent violence, she said: 'It's very familiar territory. Regrettably, it arises because they're in a vacuum, and there is undoubtedly a vacuum of the leadership. 'There is bound to be the consequences of Brexit, which, if we go back to Brexit, we realise how little consideration was given in the planning of Brexit and the referendum, of the impact that would have in Northern Ireland. There's all of that. 'You're also dealing with young people, regrettably, who are still being taught to hate and who are bringing that hatred and expressing it out on the streets. 'They are 13 and 14 years of age. What experience do they have of life? 'When I think of the Duke of Edinburgh, and how he could see how important it was to galvanise the curiosity and the wonder and the energy of youth, and to give it a focus, as was done for the Duke of Edinburgh Award. 'These are young people, I guarantee you, none of them will ever have done a Duke of Edinburgh Award, unfortunately.' Advertisement

Sir John Major says the Queen must be given 'time and space' to grieve after death of Prince Philip as the ex-PM hopes the funeral will help heal royal family rift caused by Megxit because friction is 'better ended as speedily as possible'

Sir John Major said the Queen must be 'given some time and space' to grieve

Ex-PM said the death of Prince Philip means there will be an 'enormous hole'

Sir John said the Duke of Edinburgh was an 'astonishing support' to the Queen

By Jack Maidment, Deputy Political Editor for MailOnline

Sir John Major today said the Queen must be given 'time and space' to grieve following the death of Prince Philip.

The former prime minister said the Duke of Edinburgh had been an 'astonishing support' to the monarch and his passing will leave an 'enormous hole' in her life.

He also said he hopes the Duke's funeral will help to heal a royal family rift caused by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's exit.

Sir John said that 'the friction that we are told has arisen is a friction better ended as speedily as possible'.

The former Tory leader told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that 'at times of difficulty' Prince Philip was the person to whom the Queen could 'unburden herself'.

The former prime minister said the Duke of Edinburgh had been an 'astonishing support' to the Queen and his passing will leave an 'enormous hole' in her life

He said: 'When you are facing a sea of problems, as she so often was, and sometimes when you are overwhelmed by what has to be done, someone who understands that, someone who can take part of the burden, someone who can share the decision making, someone who can metaphorically, or in the case of Prince Philip I think probably literally, put their arms around you and say it is not as bad as you think, this is what we have to do, this is how we can do it, this is what I think.

'I think when you talk of him being a great support that was it... in every way I think he was an astonishing support.'

Asked how the Queen will manage without her husband, Sir John replied: 'Well, it will be difficult. There are no doubt millions of people watching this programme who have lost a partner, a spouse, and it is a very lonely time.

'The Queen and Prince Philip had 73 years of marriage together, that is extraordinary, I can think of no one else who has had a marriage of that length in my experience.

'So it will be an enormous hole in her life that suddenly Prince Philip isn't there. How will the Queen manage? I think there are several things to say about that.

'Firstly, I hope she will be given some time and space. I know she is the monarch, I know she has responsibilities but she has earned the right to have a period of privacy in which to grieve with her family.

'After that I think there are two things effectively to say. Firstly, Prince Philip may physically have gone but he will be in the Queen's mind as clearly as if she was sitting opposite him.

'She will hear his voice, metaphorically, in her ear, she will know what he will say in certain circumstances, he will still be there in her memory. The echo will be there and it always will be, it is with very close relationships.

'I think after that the Queen is both a stoic and a remarkable public servant. She will return to her work but I do hope she is given a little space and a little time and a little freedom to grieve in the way anybody else would wish to do so after having lost their spouse.'

Prince Harry is due to fly back to the UK from the US to attend Prince Philip's funeral next Saturday.

Prince Harry is due to fly back to the UK from the US to attend Prince Philip's funeral next Saturday

He will reunite with Prince William as they are expected to stand shoulder to shoulder as they form part of the royal procession at the service for the Duke of Edinburgh in Windsor.

It will be the first time the pair will be seen together since Harry's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey - in which he claimed his older brother was 'trapped' inside the Monarchy.

However, the Duchess of Sussex, who is pregnant with the couple's second child at home in California, will not be attending following medical advice.

Asked about suggestions that funerals can help families to mend broken relationships, Sir John said: 'The friction that we are told has arisen is a friction better ended as speedily as possible and the shared emotion, the shared grief at the present time because of the death of their father, of their grandfather, I think is an ideal opportunity.

'I hope very much that it is possible to mend any rifts that may exist.'
Kovil rituals that see in the Hindu New Year By Udumbara Udugama View(s): View(s):

Puthandu or Pathuvarusham, the Tamil New Year is celebrated on April 14, according to the solar system as the first day of the Hindu calendar. It is the first day of the Tamil month named Chittirai.

Seeing a ceremonial tray prepared at home with fruits, flowers,betel leaves, money and other religious objects early morning on New Years day, is considered auspicious.

The Swamy at the Sri Selva Vinayager temple in Kandy the Pillayer or Ganadevi Kovil, explained the activities on the 14th and how the NewYear is celebrated. It is on the same day as the Sinhala Aluth Avurudda and according to the Hindu calendar dawns at 1.29 a.m. and is known as pilavevarsham  a name is given every year.

He continued, At 4 a.m., the kovil gives the aushada an oil mixed with medicinal ingredients. On the previous day too, they distribute this oil. Devotees take it home, apply it on the head with certain leaves placed above the head and under the feet, take a bath and visit the kovil dressed in new clothes. This year the colours are blue and green.

The Shiva-Parvathi abhshek pooja at the kovil will be performed by bathing the idols in milk, saffron water, thambili and repeating stanzas in worship.

In preparation for the New Year, people clean their homes the previous day, sprinkle saffron water and display a specific number of mango leaves over the front door. Now, they also decorate with gokkola. They make kolam designs on the floor with coloured rice flour at the entrance to their home.

When they return home they worship at their shrine rooms and begin the celebrations. The ashir kai vishesham is a practice where children pay their respects to the elders and in return they are blessed and gifted with money.

Milkrice and sweetmeats are prepared. A special new year dish and a vegetarian meal is served, he explained. After the last New Year being in lockdown, people are, no doubt, eagerly awaiting the festivities.
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.
Former President Donald Trump rebuked Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson for vetoing a bill banning the "chemical castration of children" in his state.

"The lightweight RINO Governor of Arkansas, just vetoed a Bill that banned the CHEMICAL CASTRATION OF CHILDREN. 'Bye-bye Asa,' thats the end of him!" Trump said in a statement released Thursday.

The 45th president went on to praise his former press secretary, whom he has endorsed for the 2022 gubernatorial race, in his statement: "Fortunately for the great state of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders will do a fantastic job as your next Governor."

The Arkansas House voted 75-25 and the Senate 25-8 on Tuesday afternoon to override the governor's veto of House Bill 1570, also known as the "Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act" and its acronym, the SAFE Act.

Source:The Christian Post
They've been lapping up the joys of parenthood for more than a year, following the birth of their daughter Maven back in December 2019.

And Rachel Riley, 35, and her husband Pasha Kovalev, 41, were the picture of a happy family when they were stepped out for a train journey with their tot on Sunday.

The couple, who tied the knot in Las Vegas in June 2019, both stepped out in brightly coloured thick coats as they arrived at London's busy Euston Station.

Family day out: Rachel Riley and her husband Pasha Kovalev were spotted arriving at London's Euston Station with their 16-month-old daughter Maven

Countdown star Rachel caught the eye in a bold pink padded coat, which she teamed with black skinny jeans and a pair of matching running shoes.

With her brunette locks styled in a sleek bun, the TV personality donned a pair of oversized circular sunglasses, while a clear visor shielded her face for the journey.

Meanwhile, Strictly Come Dancing star Pasha stepped out in a bright red Nike tracksuit, teamed with a black quilted gilet and matching running shoes.

Sporting a patterned face mask, the Russian hunk wheeled long two large suitcases, while Rachel carefully guided little Maven as she rode along on her seated scooter.

Catching the eye: Countdown star Rachel caught the eye in a bold pink padded coat, which she teamed with black skinny jeans and a pair of matching running shoes

Ride: The TV personality carefully guided little Maven as she rode along on her seated scooter

Ensemble: With her brunette locks styled in a sleek bun, Rachel donned a pair of oversized circular sunglasses, while a clear visor shielded her face for the journey

Adorable Maven effortlessly stole the show as she rode along wearing a fluffy champagne coat with blue jeans and silver shoes.

Mathematician Rachel regularly shoots for long-running quiz show Countdown in Salford, at the Dock10 television facility.

Late last month, Rachel displayed the highs and lows of having a toddler on as she showed an unsightly wet patch on her crotch after Maven spilled her water over her.

Taking to Instagram following her day filming at Countdown, Rachel was seen displaying the spill on her jeans while looking on at her daughter, who stared innocently at the camera.

Sport: Meanwhile, Strictly Come Dancing star Pasha stepped out in a bright red Nike tracksuit, teamed with a black quilted gilet and matching running shoes

Sweet: Adorable Maven effortlessly stole the show as she rode along wearing a fluffy champagne coat with blue jeans and silver shoes

Captioning her snap, she penned: 'Baby was kindly sharing her water when she stopped to give me a kiss! Water carried on pouring... now I look like Ive peed myself. Thanks baby #mumlife.'

Her post garnered many comments from her fans, with many relating to her predicament, while others joked she was blaming her 'little accident' on the baby.

Rachel saw the funny side as she smiled sweetly at the tot as she stood at a train station, while little Maven sat on her scooter none the wiser.

Last month, Rachel spoke about her hopes of having another baby with her former Strictly star husband Pasha.

Parenthood: Rachel and Pasha have been lapping up the joys of parenthood for more than a year, following the birth of their daughter Maven back in December 2019

Handling the baggage: Pasha appeared to have his hands full as he handled all of the baggage

In an interview with Hello Magazine, she talked about her desires to add to the family, parenting in lockdown and how their daughter Maven 'loves dancing'.

Rachel said: 'I think we'd like another one... Some of my friends had twins by accident and a few of them have got three little ones and everyone seemed to have them straight after. No one regrets it though, do they?'

The TV star also spoke about raising their daughter Maven throughout lockdown and expressed her sadness that she hasn't been able to go to any baby clubs.

Rachel explained: 'She's very happy, she loves dancing. She's done her first couple of tantrums last week, which at 14 months I'm like ok...it's kind of funny.'

Whoops! Late last month, Rachel displayed the highs and lows of having a toddler on as she showed an unsightly wet patch on her crotch after Maven spilled her water over her

The television presenter added Maven is sleeping well through the nights, but has missed out on interacting with other children.

She said: 'Maven was three months old when we went into lockdown, so she's not socialised with other children, she's not used to going out to a cafe and sitting and behaving herself or anything so it's going to be a bit of a challenge, but parenting is a challenge isn't it and kids are adaptable, hopefully!'

Rachel recently shared her hopes of Maven being bilingual as husband Pasha talks to her 'solely in Russian'.

Rachel said on Good Morning Britain: 'Pasha is speaking to her solely in Russian and I'm speaking to her in English so we're hoping she'll be bilingual.'
A man on Delores Drive called police about a possible auto theft. However, when police arrived and spoke with the man and a woman, they found that the man had been sleeping and the woman took the car and went to the store to get drinks and cigarettes, then she came back home. No theft occurred, only a misunderstanding due to the woman not wishing to wake the man up when she went to the store. A man on Auburndale Avenue called police and said he last saw his vehicle around 4 p.m. the day before, parked at home.

He said the vehicle stayed there overnight and that morning he discovered that the inside of the vehicle had been rummaged through, but nothing was stolen. He said there was no damage to the vehicle and it had been left unlocked overnight.* * *A woman on Maple Street Court told police that she lost some money and she thought her roommate took it, but could not confirm that they took it. The woman then said that she might have just lost her cash.* * *A man on Glass Street told police that he had been to Sandy's Mini Mart between 1:30 p.m. and 2:15 p.m., and either there or somewhere in between, he lost his wallet. He said that he drove from the store to home and has checked all through his vehicle and it was not in it.* * *Another man on Glass Street told police that his handgun was stolen from his vehicle between the hours of 8-10 p.m. He said that he left his vehicle unlocked with his Taurus G2 handgun in the center console. He said along with the handgun were a black IWB holster and one loaded magazine. The man said he did not have the serial number for the firearm, but will call back once he has that information.* * *A property manager on E. 12th Street told officers he wanted them to trespass homeless individuals from his property. Police met with the two homeless men who were there. Police asked them to clean their belongings and leave. They said that was fair and started cleaning their belongings to depart.* * *Police were called to a disorder at a residence on Museum Street where a woman said that a man had begun yelling at her about money. The man said that he had given her $10 earlier for gambling and wanted his money back. She claimed that she did not owe him any money and wanted him to leave her home. Police could not determine that any of this took place as both of them were intoxicated. Police asked the man to leave and he did.* * *An alarm was reported at Advanced Auto Parts, 5540 153 Hwy. When police arrived, they found a woman outside the business and conducted an interview, finding she was a member of the cleaning crew.* * *Police were dispatched to 100 W. 21st Street in regards to a man wearing a black coat who appeared to be begging for money on the corner of the street. Police spoke with the man, who was holding a cardboard sign in hand. The man said he was homeless. Police informed him that he could not be there and needed to go some place else. The man left the area without incident.* * *A woman on N. Marks Avenue told police that she and her husband had been arguing all night and she would like him to leave. After speaking with the couple, police determined neither of them was willing to leave the property. The husband said he would stay away from the wife. Neither of them were aggressive while police were on scene.

* * *



A woman on Standifer Gap Road told police that she was cooking dinner on her new smart stove when the stove started smoking really bad. She got everyone out of the house and called 9-1-1. When police arrived, the garage door was open and black smoke was pouring out. Fire responded to the scene and put the fire out. No one reported any injuries.
Located some 20 kilometers away from Hanois center, the Tram Mountain is a unique stone plateau in Hanoi outskirts, housing the aged-old ritual sites and marvelous beautiful landscapes.

The Tram relic complex is situated in Tram Mountain in Long Chau Village, Phung Chau Commune, Chuong My District, southwest Hanoi, consisting three ritual sites of Tram Pagoda, Hang Pagoda and Vo Vi Pagoda.

Tram mountain in Long Chau Village, Phung Chau Commune, Chuong My District, 24 kilometer southwest Hanoi.

The lesser-known tourist destination is considered as a rocky plateau in Hanoi, evoking wildness and magnificent poetry with a peaceful world of rock, grass and trees, of familiar nature. The great limestone karst is made up of many small peaks, bizarre rocks and mysterious caves that make visitors feel as if they are in the rocky plateau of Ha Giang Province.

The history of Tram pagoda (or so-called Tram Son Tu) dates back some centuries ago. Tram Son Tu was built by feudal general Tran Van Tang (unknown the dates of birth and death) in 1515.

From the main entrance of the relic site, visitors have to walk through a spacious courtyard to visit Tram Son Tu which is located on the left-side with its back against the mountain.

The pagoda is surrounded by many old trees, bringing freshness and coolness all year round to the holy space. There is also a breathtaking view from the pagoda courtyard with a small trail embracing the whole relic site and the peaceful Day River on the foot of the Tram Mountain.

Tram Mountain has a moderate height that is suitable for hiking and camping. For an adventurous trekking, visitors can climb up Trams cliffs. Setting a campsite on the top of Tram mountain after a long day trekking around would be a good choice for those who want to stay overnight within the nature. Travelers can admire the miracle sunset in a summer afternoon, then, spend a memorable night under the starring stars.

The wonderful landscape of Tram relic complex.

The ancient Tram Pagoda is nestled on the side of Tram Mountain.

Tram relic complex is also an important historical site as it used to be the head office of VOV (Voice of Vietnam Radio) during anti-French war (December 19, 1946 - August 1, 1954). Right in this relic complex, President Ho Chi Minh called for a Nationwide resistance on December 20 in 1946. Once year later, at the same place, President Ho Chi Minh read a poem as the Lunar New Year wishes to his people on January 22, 1947.

The beautiful Hang Pagoda is located inside Long Tien Cave.

Tram relic site is surrounded by many old trees, turning the place to be a lush green oasis.

The gorgeous scenery of the magnificent Tram Mountain next to the romantic Day River is an ideal destination for visitors to Hanoi.

A stone statute of Nghe - a sacred animal (son of a lion and a dog) is placed in front of Tram Pagoda.

The beautiful traces of time in Tram Pagoda.

From Tram Pagoda, the trail below looks like a tiny thread embracing Tram Mountain.

Setting a campsite on the top of Tram Mountain after a long day trekking around would be a good choice for those who want to stay overnight within the nature.

A photo of President Ho Chi Minh on his visit to Hang Pagoda is on display at the pagoda.

Hanoitimes

The beauty of Tram Pagoda Tram Pagoda was built in the 16th century, with many old trees radiating shade, bringing freshness and coolness all year round to the holy space.
The Queen will return to business as usual in her public life following the funeral of her husband Prince Philip next week, a royal expert has predicted.

The monarch, who will turn 95 later this month, is facing a future without her life-long companion following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh on Friday, but she is expected to remain committed to her role as the UKs head of state.

Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, said he believed the Queen would return to her public duties once the two-week period of royal mourning is over.

I think when you get to a certain age you become accustomed to people close to you dying and it certainly isnt a surprise, although its terribly upsetting, its just part of lifes rich tapestry, Mr Little said.

I suppose one way of looking at it was she was very fortunate to have the duke for so long. But I think as far as shes concerned as monarch it will be very much business as usual after this brief period of mourning.

The monarch pledged her life to the Commonwealth in a radio address from Cape Town, South Africa, on her 21st birthday, when she was only a princess, in 1947.

She said: I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.

Although there have been reports over the years suggesting that the Queen could consider allowing Prince Charles to become a stand-in sovereign following her 95th birthday, it is not expected that she will give up her public duties in the near future.

I think the fact the palace announced a while ago what the intention was for the Platinum Jubilee [the Queens 70th year as monarch], next year, suggests shes very much intending to be in the hot seat, at least until then, Mr Little added.

The royal expert also noted that the lack of regular public events, due to the coronavirus pandemic, could give her time to mourn the loss of her husband in private - something that she might not have had in normal times.

Additional reporting by PA
Right now angel Candice and her body of work for an iconic brand inspire this peek at pop culture, community news and top headlines.

Central Question Emerges

White Sox vs. Royals prediction: Go with Kansas City Both the White Sox and the Royals are looking to get to the top of the AL Central, and the Royals will look to offseason acquisition Mike Minor to get a win on Sunday. Minor had a rough start to be...

Dog Bites Dude

OP Police are looking for owner and dog in dog biting incident OVERLAND PARK, KS (KCTV) -- The Overland Park Police Department is asking for the public's assistance with locating a dog involved in a bite that occurred this evening at approximately 7:00 p.m. Saturday night. A jogger was bitten by a dog near 131st and Antioch rd.

Kansas City Traffic Trouble

Car crashes into pole near 31st and Southwest Trafficway KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Emergency crews are on the scene after a car struck a pole Sunday morning. The crash was reported just before 9 a.m. at the corner of 31st Street and Southwest Trafficway, near the FOX4 studios. Injuries are unknown at this time. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

FORMER PREZ CURSES REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP!!!

'Dumb son of a bitch': Trump attacks McConnell in Republican donors speech Donald Trump devoted part of a speech to Republican donors on Saturday night to insulting the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell. According to multiple reports of the $400,000-a-ticket, closed-press event, the former president called the Kentucky senator "a dumb son of a bitch".

Police Confront Lt.

Army officer sues Virginia police over violent traffic stop Police in the small town of Windsor, Virginia, found themselves in the national spotlight after being hit with a lawsuit from an Army officer, who is Black and Latino, after a traffic stop last December.

Tragic Sunday Racial Fight Threatens Nation

'White Lives Matter' events expected Sunday have police, communities on edge: reports Police and local leaders in several cities across the U.S. were bracing for "White Lives Matter" events that were reportedly planned for Sunday, according to reports. The expected events raised the possibility of clashes between event participants and groups who oppose them, as well as between the groups and law enforcement, Forbes reported.

Supreme Filling

NY Times beclowns itself by normalizing court-packing 'to balance the conservative majority' "Breaking News: will create a panel to study expanding the Supreme Court in an effort to balance the conservative majority created by Donald Trump." Breaking News: President Biden will create a panel to study expanding the Supreme Court in an effort to balance the conservative majority created by Donald Trump.

Stimmy Jobs Stay Losing

Chris Wallace grills Buttigieg on false jobs claim: 'Why mislead people?' " Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace on Sunday grilled Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for exaggerating the number of jobs that would be created by President Biden's $2 trillion-plus spending proposal. Wallace noted that Buttigieg and other Biden administration officials overstated the number of jobs that would be created by Biden's "American Jobs Plan" last Sunday and then asked, "Why mislead people?"

Crisis Of Faith

'How Many of Us Will Be Left?' Catholic Nuns Face Loss, Pain GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) - The nuns' daily email update was overtaken by news of infections. Ambulances blared into the driveways of their convents. Prayers for the sick went unanswered, prayers for the dead grew monotonous and, their cloistered world suddenly caving in, some of the sisters' thoughts were halting.

Democracy Fades In Peru

'People don't want any of them': Peru election sees unpredictable contest An ultra-conservative millionaire who admits to scourging himself daily to repress sexual desire is just one of an assortment of low-polling candidates who all have a shot at becoming Peru 's next president.

The Queen Grieves

Andrew: Philip's death has left 'huge void' in queen's life LONDON (AP) - The death of Prince Philip has left a "huge void" in Queen Elizabeth II's life, their son Prince Andrew said Sunday, as well-wishers continued to leave floral tributes outside the gates of royal residences in memory of the monarch's husband.

COVID Vaxx In The Dotte

Kansas City, Kan. clinic seeks to persuade Latinos to get vaccinated KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Minority communities are becoming the focus of more vaccination clinics, as public health campaigns seek to get the immunizations to as many people as possible. Wyandotte County said it has struggled to increase its vaccination rate, and that may be tied to its large Spanish-speaking population.

Katie Sunday Forecast

SUNNY AND 75: Gorgeous Sunday in store Hide Transcript Show Transcript IT IS GOING TO BE A GORGEOUS DAY. COLD THIS MORNING. FROSTY IN SOME AREAS. THIS AFTERNOON, BY 11:00, WE'RE APPROACHING 60. BETWEEN 3:00 AND 5:00, MAYBE EVEN 6:00, WE ARE GOING TO BE IN THE LOW TO MIDDLE 70'S. IT IS REALLY GOING TO BE PLEASANT AND NOT TERRIBLY WINDY.

Chicago - You're the Inspiration is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now.
Egypts president met Saturday his Tunisian counterpart in Cairo, where they discussed neighboring Libya, and a massive dam Ethiopia is building over the Nile Rivers main tributary.

Tunisian President Kais Saied arrived in Cairo on Friday for a three-day visit. He was received at the airport by President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.

The two leaders held extensive and constructive talks Saturday at Cairos Ittihadiya palace, which serves as the Egyptian president's office, Saied said.

We hope that Libya goes down the correct path... Theres no way of dividing Libya," he told a joint news conference with el-Sissi. Libya is a neighbor to Egypt and Tunisia. The country plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 toppled longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi.

The two leaders also discussed a massive dam Ethiopia is building on the Nile Rivers main tributary. Egypt and Sudan consider the project a major threat if it is filled and operated without a legally binding agreement.

The Tunisian president said his country supports Egypts position in the yearslong dispute. He said any damage to Egypts water security is unacceptable.

We are looking for just solutions, but Egypts national security is ours, and Egypts position... will be ours.

Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia are deadlocked in a dispute over the dam, and the latest round of talks collapsed Tuesday.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
BRIDGEPORT  When Christina Smith sent out a text blast to see if anyone in the city would be interested in a walking club, she expected about 25 to 50 replies.

As of Wednesday, Smith, president and CEO of Groundwork Bridgeport, had heard from nearly 400 people who were interested in taking part in such a club.

Its become something much more than we expected, Smith said. I think people are looking to get out and connect with each other. After a year of COVID and quarantine, its an opportunity to do something simple.

Groundwork Bridgeport is a nonprofit group focused on community revitalization. The idea for the walking club came to Smith while doing a walking audit of Bridgeport as part of a project the group is doing with the Trust for Public Land. The trust is working with Groundwork Bridgeport and other groups on a project aimed at increasing access to the waterfront.

Smith said as part of the project, she and others regularly walk around areas of the city to see where the waterfront access might need improvement. It was during one of these strolls, in January, that a brainstorm hit her, she said.

I thought, We should start a walking club,  Smith said. I like to walk, but I know I dont like to walk by myself. And its a social activity that you can do outside, which is safer, with COVID still out there.

Plus, she said, people had been locked in their homes for so long they might be eager for some fresh air, physical activity and safe social interaction.

Smith said she decided to reach out to city residents using a blanket text message informing them about the walking club and asking them to respond if interested.

When Bridgeport resident Sandy Jenkins, 66, first saw the text, she thought it might be spam, but she responded, because the idea of a walking club piqued her interest, she said.

Ive always loved walking, especially in Seaside Park, said Jenkins, who was actually walking in the park when reached by phone. I was walking before it was popular. Walking is when I commune with God. I am a walker for life.

Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media

Jenkins said she thought the walking club was an excellent idea, particularly in light of the ongoing pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

Weve been confined for a year or more, she said. I just thought the idea of getting out there in the weather sounded great.

Another person who quickly signed up for the club was Miladys Vargas. The Bridgeport Public Library employee said, like Jenkins, shes always loved to walk, and even participated in another walking club in the city a few years ago.

Its a great opportunity to get up and exercise your body, she said. We could all use a little exercise at this point.

Smith said that though shes pleased the walking club struck such a chord with people, the sheer volume of responses does pose a challenge, particularly since COVID-19 and social distancing are still a concern.

She said her original plan was to have club meetings on the first and third Saturday of each month. But, given how many people want to participate, she plans to circle back to people who have expressed interest and see if people would be willing to somehow connect with each other to meet up at different times.

Although there are still kinks that need to be worked out, Smith said she hopes to have the first club gathering some time this month. The idea would be to focus walking meet-ups in areas near Bridgeports waterfront, such as Seaside Park.

Though its overwhelming, Smith said the rapid, enthusiastic response to the walking club has been gratifying.

I think people are eager for family friendly simple things they can do, she said. Its not a big fancy thing that were expecting people to do. Its simply a walk.

For more information on the walking club and on Groundwork Bridgeport, visit www.groundworkbridgeport.org/initiatives.
ICON Business School produces ACCA World Prize Winner View(s):

ICON Business School, a professional educational service provider in the fields of Accounting, Finance and Business Management, is a leading ACCA tuition provider in Sri Lanka, currently holding the record of producing the highest number of ACCA Sri Lankan prize winners, which comprises 2 world prize winners, 38 prize winners and 79 ACCA affiliates. These achievements have been attributed to ICONs unique study plans and methodology provided through an experienced lecture panel that holds a reputation for producing some of the highest pass rates in the country.

This has resulted in ICON holding the ACCA Gold Approved Learning Partner (ALP) status, a formal recognition that ACCA awards to leading tuition providers for providing high quality tuition and support to ACCA students as well as achieving pass rates.

One of their most recent successes was in producing an ACCA world prize winner for December 2020 session namely Mohamed Fahim Farhan Ahamed , for the subject Financial Management .

Outlining the manthra behind their success are the main promoters of Icon Business School that comprise of Dilshad Jiffry , Rakitha Jayatunga ,Dasun Mendis and Farheen Salahudeen .They stated Whilst were always very proud of our high pass rates at ICON, its particularly pleasing to see our students awarded the top honours by ACCA on a continuous basis, every year. Obviously, it partly comes down to having some excellent students joining our institute but I also really think that it can be attributed to some excellent tutors at ICON who work hard to really understand the exams they teach and nail how to pass. We create a very friendly and engaging teaching environment that aids learning and development and encourage students to start thinking towards their exams early and doing mocks, followed by lots of question practice in the revision phase. During the tuition phase we concentrate on making sure that they grasp the basics, then on the revision phase we ensure that we expose students to exam-style questions and a lot of exam technique. In addition to their thorough up-to-date knowledge of each area of the exams, the lecturers also utilize effective teaching techniques, highlighting to students the important areas to concentrate on and the key exam techniques such as time allocation, prioritization, problem solving..

Excited about his award, prize winner Farhan endorsed these statements by commenting when I started ACCA, I didnt have any idea about the journey I was about to embark on, but now I can see a bright future ahead with new opportunities, thanks to ACCA and of course ICON. The support and guidance provided by ICON Business School was a great contributor in me winning this award, especially as this particular exam was quite challenging. I was thrilled to have passed with 95%, which also incidentally was the highest mark globally.

With a journey of challenges that has also been one that has resulted in a journey of successors, ICON looks forward to continuing their quest of helping students maximize their learning and training experience by providing competent tutors, comprehensive material and an organized programme with full educational and administrative support and in equipping students with all the necessary knowledge, skills and the appropriate exam techniques to facilitate learning that will result in exceptional exam success.
Is it realistic that the BJP will get 60 per cent of the 70 per cent Hindu votes in West Bengal? It would appear, as yet, difficult. (Photo: PTI)

An eight-phase Assembly election, even for West Bengal where violence is intrinsic to the process and every government has been accused of rigging the outcome, seemed excessive when the Election Commission announced the dates. On second thoughts, it is just what the BJP needed to build up a wave in its favour, however hard that may be.

After four phases and 135 constituencies that have already made their choices, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and BJP president J.P. Nadda are still hard at it, because another four phases and 159 constituencies have yet to decide. The BJPs top brass is doing some heavy lifting with Mr Modi in the lead to get that wave going. The process seems as fraught and dependent on a force of nature, meaning the wave, as were the tense days before the mega container ship blocking the Suez Canal, Ever Given, finally budged. The difference is the wave was not the only push that the container needed; there were dredgers and tugs pulling at the hulk to get it to move.

The staggered polling dates give the BJP the time it needs to campaign for its conquest of West Bengal. If it needs so much time to campaign when the elections are underway to build voter support, the question that must be asked is, what was the party doing between 2019 when it zoomed to winning 18 Lok Sabha seats and 40.64 per cent of the votes from a mere 10.16 per cent votes in 2016? One conclusion would be that as the West Bengal election grew closer, the BJP realised it needed time to deploy its mightiest weapon, Mr Modi, in multiple locations to drum up the support and swing undecided voters to the saffron side.

The need for a saturation campaign by Mr Modi is one way of acknowledging that Mamata Banerjee is a far stronger opponent than the BJP anticipated. It also means that the Trinamul Congress is not on its deathbed as a party and organisation, despite 30-odd recent defections, including the BJPs star acquisition Suvendu Adhikari, who seems to have dropped out of sight after the Nandigram voting.

A list of what makes the TMC and Ms Banerjee a far tougher challenge for the challenger, meaning BJP, is perhaps necessary to assess why the party is deploying Mr Modi in key constituencies to drum up the momentum it needs to get to the point where it can unseat the incumbent. In other words, the BJP has not as yet reached the tipping point.

Quite apart from usual comparisons, Ms Banerjees popularity vis-a-vis Mr Modis popularity, anti-incumbency at the state level, the attraction of the BJP as a new untested party in West Bengal, what will matter most is which party is best at holding the middle ground, meaning which party is most appealing to the median voter, the average woman/man in rural, urban and peri-urban West Bengal.

The BJP has shifted so far to the right, especially in terms of its Hindutva politics, and economic and divisive social engineering policies, that it is entirely dependent on the Hindu majority to give it the percentage of votes it needs to win an election, especially in West Bengal. It boils down to being confident of getting at least 60 per cent of the total 70 per cent Hindu votes in the state, given that the overwhelming majority of 27 per cent Muslim voters are unlikely to choose the lotus symbol on EVM machines. Its leaders are quite candid that the party has no expectations of attracting Muslim votes; state party chief Dilip Ghosh, as well as Amit Shah, are on record about this.

Is it realistic that the BJP will get 60 per cent of the 70 per cent Hindu votes in West Bengal? It would appear, as yet, difficult. Bengalis are split between conservatives, who uphold religious and social orthodoxy, and Bengalis who reject it and embrace socially progressive values. Till this election is over, there is no knowing how the Bengali voter will react to state-sponsored religious orthodoxy that is divisive in its intent and destabilising of the uneasy equilibrium between the Hindu and Muslim communities.

It is instructive to note that in 2019, the BJPs surge to 40.64 per cent of votes was a switch that hitherto Left voters made, sending its voteshare plummeting to 6.34 per cent in 2019 from 19.75 per cent in 2016. Congress votes declined by over 50 per cent in 2019 to 5.6 per cent; the Trinamul Congress suffered a marginal erosion of votes in 2019 compared to 2016, even though it lost in 12 seats to the BJP.

The Trinamul Congress, with over 43 per cent votes in 2019, obviously enjoys the support of a substantial section of Hindu voters. It is only if significant numbers of these voters shift away from Ms Banerjee that the BJP can muster the numbers it needs to oust Indias only woman chief minister.

While the BJP campaign has focused almost exclusively on the evils of the Mamata Banerjee government, focusing on polarising the vote on religious identity lines by putting Muslim appeasement at the cost of the Hindu majority at the top of the list, it has ignored the quieter revival of the Left, led by the CPI(M), and the Samyukta Morcha as a new political combination that was created for this election. The Samyukta Morcha is contesting in all 294 seats; the Left is contesting in 177 seats, the Congress in 91 and the Indian Secular Front in 26 seats. The Left is fighting for its very survival, and in this election it is working to achieve a revival. Its pitch as the alternative is politically necessary but unrealistic. Any increase in the Left and Congress voteshare will take off votes that the BJP has been counting on to reach the tipping point. This can be offset if the Trinamul Congress loses its voters and loses the elections.

Whichever party makes it across the finishing line needs to occupy the middle ground in West Bengal in social and religious identity terms.

The BJPs promise to deliver better development and integrate West Bengal with the mainstream, which it believes it controls, comes with a promise to polarise the state on communal lines. Will that appeal to the run of the mill Bengali, who as poet Shakti Chattopadhyay famously said, are into religion and into giraffes?
Iran has described a blackout at its Natanz nuclear site as an act of "nuclear terrorism," without specifying what country or entity might be behind the alleged sabotage.

Tehran had earlier said an "accident" on April 11 had caused a power failure at Natanz, one of the country's most secured underground sites.

Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, urged the international community to "confront this act of nuclear terrorism."

Salehi, in a statement carried by state TV, said the attack was staged by "opponents of the country's industrial and political progress who aim to prevent development of a thriving nuclear industry."

The blackout occurred a day after Tehran launched new advanced centrifuges that more quickly enrich uranium.

Last year, a fire broke out at the Natanz nuclear facility that the government said was an attempt to sabotage its nuclear program.

The Natanz site is key to Iran's uranium enrichment program and monitored by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog.

Israel, Iran's regional archenemy, is suspected of carrying out sabotage against Iran in the past, including cyberattacks and assassinations of nuclear scientists.

Iran also blamed Israel for the killing of a scientist who began the country's military nuclear program decades earlier. Israel has not claimed any of the attacks, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly described Iran as the major threat faced by his country in recent weeks.

The incident at Natanz comes amid negotiations over the possible return of the United States to the 2015 nuclear deal between world powers and Tehran.

In 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the agreement, which lifted international sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear program.

In reaction, Iran breached many restrictions imposed by the accord. Tehran has abandoned all the limits of its uranium stockpile. It now enriches up to 20 percent purity, a technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 percent.

Earlier this week, talks began in Vienna aimed at bringing the United States and Iran back into full compliance with the deal.

On April 10, Iran announced it had launched a chain of 164 IR-6 centrifuges at Natanz, injecting them with the uranium gas and beginning their rapid spinning.

Officials also began testing the IR-9 centrifuge, which they say will enrich uranium 50 times faster than Iran's first-generation centrifuges, the IR-1. The nuclear deal limits Iran to only using IR-1s for enrichment.

Iran maintains its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 21:40:07|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Members of the Chinese medical aid team and local medical workers pose for a group photo at the launching ceremony of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Moroni, Comoros, April 10, 2021. Comoros President Azali Assoumani received on Saturday an injection of coronavirus vaccine produced by China's Sinopharm, which marked the start of the vaccination campaign in the African nation. (Photo by Qin Lixiu/Xinhua)

MORONI, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Comoros President Azali Assoumani received on Saturday an injection of coronavirus vaccine produced by China's Sinopharm, which marked the start of the vaccination campaign in the African nation.

"By launching the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in our country today, we are taking a new step in our strategy to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. To set an example, I made a decision to be the first to take the vaccine," said Assoumani, during the launch of the vaccination in the capital Moroni.

Assoumani also expressed his gratitude to China and South Africa which provided vaccines to Comoros. "I would like to salute these gestures of humanity, solidarity and generosity which we fully appreciate and which constitute an opportunity for our country," he added.

According to the president of Comoros, the vaccines will be offered primarily to medical personnel, teachers, military and paramilitary forces, the elderly and those with comorbidity.

A batch of COVID-19 vaccines and medical supplies provided to Comoros by the Chinese government arrived in Moroni on March 15 with a Chinese medical aid team. Enditem
New Delhi: In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to give COVID-19 vaccine jabs to maximum eligible people, a 'Tika Utsav' will begin across the country from Sunday (April 11, 2021).

During his interaction with chief ministers to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the country, PM Modi had called for a vaccination festival between April 11 and April 14 on the occasion of the birth anniversaries of Jyotiba Phule and Baba Saheb Ambedkar.

"We should vaccinate as many eligible people through a special campaign and decide on zero wastage. If there is zero wastage in four days during Tika Utsav, it will also increase our vaccination capacity," PM had said.

"We should make optimum utilization of vaccination capacity. And for this, if we have to increase the number of vaccination centres, we should do it. Let's see how we can mobilize things from April 11 to 14 and there will be satisfaction of achievement. It will greatly help in changing the situation. I have also told the Indian government to provide as many vaccine doses as possible. This should be our endeavour to vaccinate maximum eligible people during the 'Tika Utsav'," the Prime Minister had told the chief ministers.

The vaccination festival will begin a day after the Prime Minister's Office announced that India is the fastest country in the world to administer 100 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

India, notably, achieved the feat in 85 days as compared to the United States (89 days) and China (102 days).

Strengthening the efforts to ensure a healthy and COVID-19 free India. pic.twitter.com/A2cQ22pxEf  PMO India (@PMOIndia) April 10, 2021

As per the provisional report at 08:00 pm on Saturday, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed that the cumulative number of coronavirus vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 10,12,84,282.

The 10.12 crore figure achieved across 15,17,260 sessions includes 90,03,060 Healthcare Workers (HCWs) who have taken the 1st dose and 55,06,717 HCWs who have taken the 2nd dose, 99,39,321 Frontline Workers (FLWs) (1st dose), 47,28,966 FLWs (2nd dose), 3,01,14,957 for over 45 years old to 59 years old (1st Dose), 6,37,768 for over 45 years old to 59 years old (2nd dose), 3,95,64,741 for above 60 years (1st Dose) and 17,88,752 for above 60 years (2nd Dose).

The world's largest COVID-19 vaccination drive had kicked off in India on January 16, 2021.



Live TV
The kid wanted to be Dr. Ben Carson.

Back then, Carson was a nationally renowned neurosurgeon in Baltimore who was most heralded for leading a historic 70-member surgical team that successfully separated infant twins conjoined at the head in 1987.

David Hicks wanted to do that. He was nine years old.

When other children asked for video games for their birthday, the kid growing up in a crowded, multi-generational home in Willingboro, New Jerseya mostly Black township just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia with an intriguing racial historypleaded for a chemistry set.

I was the weird kid watching medical shows and science stuff, he recalls now. Everybody else was watching cartoons.

The kid eventually became a doctor, though not in the vein of his childhood model. Dr. David Hicks is the Deputy Health Officer at the Jefferson County of Public Health, a position at the forefront of the areas battle against COVID-19, the deep historical health inequities it exposed, and an initial lack of access to testing and a vaccine for disproportionately affected Black and low-income residents, which only fueled frustrations and misgivings.

As public health and medical professionals, we know what the community needs, and when you cant provide it, thats painful, he says. The community was demanding access and we didnt have the resources to proceed. Thats not acceptable to someone who says, Im a taxpayer and I cant get this?

Ever so slightly, the wind is finally shifting. Shifting after vaccine centers emerged in locations more accessible to Black residents west and north of Birminghams downtown core and in Hoover. Of the more than 288,000 shots administered in Jefferson County 29.35 percent were given to African Americans, according to the Alabama Department of Health. Thats still short of the 43 percent of the countys population that is Black, though slightly ahead of the states 27 percent Black population.

Statewide, just 18.39 percent of those receiving the vaccine identified themselves as Black, compared with 55.47 percent who identified as White, according to the ADPH. (One in five vaccine recipients did not report their race.) On March 1, 13.2 percent of persons receiving the vaccine were Black. (27 percent did not report.)

In January, Christopher Mosley, director of marketing, outreach, and public affairs for the Alabama Regional Medical Services clinic in north Birmingham, was incensed at the dearth of vaccines made available to the center or anywhere accessible to residents north and west. In the last month, he says the state has distributed 5,000 vaccines to the clinic. It put 1,200 shots in arms during a recent 7-day span, including 360 on a day when it was raining cats and dogs, Mosley said with a laugh.

Theres a notion [Black] people dont want the vaccine, Im not seeing that, he said. People who were relatively reluctant in January when it was not readily available, theyre now seeking vaccines. I have a group of friends; we call ourselves the Homeboys. When they started calling me, saying, Hey, can I come over to your spot and get a shot?, I said, Absolutely. They dont call me for prostate exams. These are Black men. I want them to have access to [testing and the vaccine].

Were in a really good place now, says Hicks. People can get access to an appointment within a day or two. We just have to keep stressing that getting vaccinated is the only way out of the pandemic.

Hicks doesnt know where his passion to become a doctor stems from. He was the first in his family to attend college (the University of Pittsburgh). One of my grandparents barely got through third grade.

James and Marie Hicks were reared in the deep South. In Georgia. They were people of strong faith and eyewitnesses to the turmoil and tensions of the civil rights movement. They didnt let that change how they dealt with humanity, Hicks recalls. Skin color or financial situation didnt matter, they always expressed love for people. I saw that in real-time.

Eight people, including Hickss grandmother, lived in their New Jersey home. In the late 1950s, successful real estate developer Levitt & Sons built a huge community of homes in the area, an all-white community it was slated to be. W.R. James, an African American army officer stationed at nearby Fort Dix, wanted to buy a Levittown home. He was refusedthough discrimination in federally subsidized housing was illegal in New Jersey. (The development received mortgage insurance from the Federal Housing Administration.)

James won his suit, which rose all the way to the New Jersey Supreme Court and was among the Blacks to move to Willingboro. In 1964, 50 Black families are reported to have lived in the city; by 1970, African Americans were 11 percent of the population. Today, Willingboro is 70.1 percent Black.

James Hicks left home most mornings around 4 a.m., Hicks recalls, worked double shifts at a healthcare facility, and returned home around 7 p.m. He was also a part-time pastor. With that ethic embedded in his genes, the kid began working at 11 years old. I delivered newspapers, worked for a butcher, sold womens shoes, did telemarketing, cut grass, shoveled snow, he recalls. Just working.

Though he still aspired to be a neurosurgeon after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, Hicks needed a break before diving into medical school. Not a break-break but pursuing a Masters in Public Health at Pitt, emphasizing behavioral and community health. That completely changed the type of doctor I wanted to be, he says. I didnt want to be a surgeon anymore. I wanted to do primary care, with a focus on prevention.

LaToya was a first-year student at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey School of Osteopathic Medicine (now Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine). She was an Alabama native, reared in rural Macon County, just outside of Tuskegee. She found herself at a fund-raiser for a campus service organizationa date auction. Suddenly, on the stage, was an officer of the group, a second-year student. She bid. And bid. And bid.

It was a cash-only auction. She only had a debit card, so had to borrow some bills to close the deal. All for a good cause.

Hicks knew on the spot that he was the true winner, though it took him a couple of years to propose. He eventually did and they purchased a home in New Jersey and completed their residency at a ChristianaCare Health Systems Hospital.

LaToya always told Hicks Alabama was a great place to raise a family. His perception of the state was steeled by a visit to Tuskegee University while applying to colleges out of high school and after visiting LaToyas family in Macon. I told her Id never live in Alabama, he recalls. It was based on limited perceptions. I grew up in an urban, suburban area. What Id seen [of Alabama] was not for me.

Love changes things, of course. As her residency ended, LaToya interviewed for a job at Birmingham Healthcare (its now, ironically, Alabama Regional Medical Services). She told them her husband was a physician, too. Both received offers and worked together for two-plus years before Hicks joined the Jefferson County Health Department. (Now a family physician, Latoya founded My Neighborhood Doc, which provides primary and acute care in the home.)

David once told LaToya, an Alabama native, the state wasn't for him. Now, he's passionate about elevating the health of Jefferson County residents.

Over the last year, Hickss role pivoted from overseeing the flow of the departments far-flung operations. It was a nine-to-five day job with about five percent involving the pandemic, he says. Now, ninety-five percent of my job is COVID-19 related.

Hes seen some things along the way, through the four states in which hes lived, and is still intrigued at why his new home state remains obstinate in areas that simply have not worked for the health of a preponderance of Alabamians.

I was shocked at how limited our Medicaid program is relative to other states, he says. A diabetic patient might need to see a podiatrist, but, in Alabama, podiatry is not covered under Medicaid. That is a choice Alabama has made.

The bigger perspective for the state is this: We are poorer, may have more people with chronic medical conditions and people from under-represented, marginalized groups. Alabamians are hard-working people. We get our hands dirty, but you can work as hard as you want and still be living in poverty. We choose to say we do not expand [Medicaid] for these people, while other states say we chose to do so.

Were closer to the bottom on so many things when it comes to health. Are we comfortable with that? If not, if we want to move to the top tier, what are we willing to invest in to move the needle?

Hicks is as passionate about the root causes of health disparities as he was about being a doctor as a kid. He talks of robust public transportation and built environments and job as being significant social determinants of health. If where you live doesnt have employment opportunities and you have to get to those jobs without access to public transportation like in cities like New York and others, it can impact your bottom linethe school system you may enroll your kids in, the pollution in your neighborhood, your wallet. Its all interconnected.

When I talk about root causes, Im talking about connecting all communities to the grid, so they all have access. Broadband access. Why is that still an issue in 2021?

Hicks and Mosely, despite their relief that vaccine distribution is trending closer to equitability, remained concernednow that the state expanded vaccine eligibility this week to those 16 and older. So pretty much everyone.

Young people need to take advantage of this opportunity aggressively, Mosely says. But its only one of the things we need to continue to dowash your hand, ear masks, and practice social distancing. Do all that and well get where we need to be. Now, weve got a long way to go.

Weve got to keep the momentum going, Hicks adds. There are still inherent inequities in the overall system, in society. Health equity principles must guide all of our decisions. Weve got to get to herd immunity. Its easier when anybody and everybody can [access testing and vaccine], but we must still ensure equity, so people arent still left out unintentionally.

A voice for whats right and wrong in Birmingham, Alabama (and beyond), Roys column appears in The Birmingham News and AL.com, as well as in the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register. Reach him at rjohnson@al.com and follow him at twitter.com/roysj
Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha President Kodihalli Chandrashekar, who had come to Belagavi city to meet farmer leaders and leaders of Road Transport Corporation employees, was detained by Police from the hotel where he was staying on Saturday.

Chandrashekhar had arrived in the city on Saturday morning and was scheduled to meet farmers and RTC employees leaders.

Police on getting information of his arrival came to the hotel room and detained him. He did not have permission for the meetings, the police said.

Read more: Private bus operators up against KSRTC in Mysuru

Meanwhile, fissures seem to have opened among sections of the state-owned transport corporation bus employees' federation as the strike over their salary related issues entered the fourth day on Saturday.

The Karnataka government on Friday banned with immediate effect the indefinite strike by employees of the road transport corporations, which affected bus services across the State. Citing inconvenience caused to the public and that the strike was against provisions of the industrial disputes act, the Labour department issued the ban orders. The dispute has been referred to the industrial tribunal, Bengaluru for adjudication, it added.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa appealed to the employees to resume work, even as he made it clear that it was not possible to meet their demand for wages as per the 6th Pay Commission. With the government reiterating its stand on wages as per the 6th Pay Commission, RTC employees decided to continue with the strike on Saturday as well.

Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, honorary president of the Karnataka State Road Transport Employees League, said the strike is on and will continue for the fourth day on Saturday. On Saturday a few union leaders expressed their displeasure over the way Chandrashekhar handled the issue.

Read more: Karnataka bus strike: Govt invites retired drivers, conductors to join work

The Karnataka Transport Employees Federation has chosen Chandrashekhar as their honorary president to lead their agitation and negotiate with the government for the implementation of the sixth pay commission.

"The strike is continuing, but we are caught in a problem due to the impractical demand. Now we cannot move forward, return backward," the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation union leader K Prakash said.

Chandrashekhar should not have put forth just one demand, which will fizzle out because it cannot be fulfilled in view of the present situation, another union leader said requesting anonymity. Chandrashekhar was not available for his comment.

There are four state-owned transport corporations and all of them have gone on strike demanding salaries on par with the state government employees. The stalemate has caused inconvenience to the commuters, many of whom alleged that private transporters overcharged for the trips.

The government has sacked trainee and probationary employees of various corporations, including 216 Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation in the past two days for taking part in the agitation. The government also managed to run 652 buses till 10 am. Yet, it was way too short of the demand. The Railways too are operating nine special trains on Saturday.

(With inputs from PTI)
On Saturday, Mamata's party landed in the dock after its workers shot dead a first-time voter, Ananda Burman (18), in the same district.  AP file photo

Kolkata: The fourth phase of Assembly elections in West Bengal witnessed unprecedented bloodbath on Saturday when the Central paramilitary forces gunned down four Trinamul Congress workers during an attack on a polling booth while ruling party workers allegedly shot dead a first-time voter outside a booth during a clash. Both incidents took place in Cooch Behar of North Bengal, the BJPs stronghold.

The Election Commission said that the CISF had to fire in order to save lives of voters who came to vote, put in place certain restrictions, including extending the "silence period" from 48 hours to 72 hours for the fifth phase of polling West Bengal. It also barred the entry of politicians in Cooch Behar district for the next 72 hours to prevent any possible law and order flare-up.

The shocking incident took place at around 10.30 am when a group of TMC workers stormed a polling booth (No. 126) at Amtali Madhyamik Shiksha Kendra in Shitalkuchi Assembly constituency. Facing their attack, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) troopers, who were guarding the booth, fired on the mob and shot dead four persons  Hamidul Haque, Monirul Haque, Samiul Mian and Amjad Hossain  while injuring three others.

According to the CISF, the mob of around 150 first manhandled the polling staff at the booth. Sources said they were not armed, but some were carrying bamboo sticks.

"The CISF booth commander tried to pacify the miscreants but the mob entered the polling booth and beat up the other polling staff on duty. Few miscreants tried to snatch the weapons of CISF personnel deployed there. As a result, CISF personnel fired two rounds in the air but the mob did not pay any heed to the warning.

In the meantime, a quick response team of the CISF and police also reached the spot. The mob further started advancing aggressively towards CISF personnel. Therefore, sensing imminent danger to their life, they fired seven more rounds towards the advancing mob of miscreants. While the above incident was going on, more police parties also arrived at the booth. It is reported that in self-defence they have also fired a few rounds," the CISF said.

Polling was stopped immediately by the EC.

The CISF's justification of "self-defence" was supported by the district police and administration in its preliminary report to the EC which, issuing the CISF a clean chit later, said, "Recourse to open fire by CISF personnel became absolutely necessary in order to save lives of voters lined up at the polling booth, those of other polling personnel and their own lives as mob had attempted to snatch their weapons."

The TMC, however, described the shooting as cold-blooded murder" of its workers in its complaint to Chief Electoral Officer West Bengal Ariz Aftab. Spewing venom against the Central forces and Union home minister Amit Shah, an angry chief minister flew to Siliguri and announced that the Criminal Investigation Department would probe the killings.

The TMC chief is likely to visit the kin of the deceased on Sunday though the EC has banned the entry of any politician of any level in Shitalkuchi.

The tragic incident follows party supremo and chief minister Mamata Banerjee's recent statements that the Central forces were acting in a biased manner at the behest of the BJP and asking voters to gherao them.

On Saturday, her party landed in the dock after its workers shot dead a first-time voter, Ananda Burman (18), in the same district. The teenaged boy was standing in a queue outside a polling booth (No. 285) at Pathantuli Shalbari area when a scuffle broke out between TMC and BJP workers. Another person, close to him, also suffered bullet injuries.

Despite the poll-violence, the 44 seats spread across five districts of West Bengal recorded a voters' turnout of 76.16 per cent on average till 5 pm. While Cooch Behar saw 79.73 per cent polling in nine seats, the figure stood at 73.65 per cent in five of Alipurduar seats, 75.49 per cent in 11 seats of South 24 Parganas, 75.03 per cent in nine seats in Howrah and 76.02 per cent in 10 Hooghly seats.

Updated data is expected from the Election Commission on Sunday. Among the 11 seats in South 24 Parganas, five -- Jadavpur, Kasba, Tollygunge, Behala East and Behala West -- are actually located in Kolkata.

The Election Commissions order said that in Cooch Behar, comprising nine Assembly constituencies where voting got over on Saturday, no political leader from any national, state or other party should be allowed to enter the geographical boundaries of the district for the next 72 hours.

"The Election Commission of India further directs that the silence period for phase 5 (i.e. for polls scheduled on April 17) shall be extended to 72 hours and no campaigning shall be permitted during 72 hours before the close of the poll in order to ensure the conduct of free, fair and peaceful elections," an EC order said. The silence period is generally for 48 hours.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Istanbul on Saturday to meet with Turkeys president.

A statement from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans office said the two leaders would discuss bilateral relations, characterizing them at a strategic partnership level.

Zelenskyys visit to Turkey comes amid renewed tensions in eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists have been fighting since 2014. In a visit to troops there this week, Zelenskyy said breaches of a July truce were increasing. Separatists authorities have also accused Ukrainian forces of violating the cease-fire.

Russia has reinforced its troops along the border and warned Ukraine against trying to retake control of the separatist-controlled territory. Kyiv rejects that it is preparing for an offensive. The Russian military buildup has raised concerns in the United States and Europe.

The Turkish and Russian presidents spoke on the phone Friday. Among the issues discussed was Ukraine. The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin expressed concern that Ukraine recently resumed dangerous provocations on the contact line.

Turkey is a NATO member. But Erdogan and Putin have forged a close personal relationship, sealing energy and trade deals. They have also negotiated for opposing sides in conflicts, including Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Erdogans office also said he would discuss with Zelenskyy the living conditions of Crimean Tatars, who have ethnic links to Turks. Moscow annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Two Northeast Ohio establishments were cited early Sunday for violating health orders put in place to try and curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Citations were given to Three Kings, a bar and lounge on Emery Road in Warrensville Heights, and The DSTRKT Hybrid Lounge, a nightclub near the intersection of East 21st Street and St. Clair Avenue in Cleveland, a news release from the Ohio Investigative Unit says.

Three Kings received a citation to its liquor permit stemming from an April 4 Warrensville Heights police case, the release says. OIU agents went into the bar about 1 a.m. and saw patrons standing shoulder-to-shoulder, with no social distancing measures in place and few masks worn. The bar was about 75 people above capacity.

The DSTRKT was cited after agents went into the club just before 1 a.m. and saw patrons gathering closely around the bar and DJ booth with little social distancing, the news release says.

Two local businesses - one in Bedford Heights and another in Maple Heights - were cited by the OIU overnight Friday.

The administrative citation cases will be heard by the Ohio Liquor Control Commission for potential penalties, including fines or the suspension or revocation of liquor licenses.

Read more on cleveland.com:

What Ohio could have learned about the coronavirus  if the state had the data

Teenagers and the coronavirus vaccine: What parents are asking

Ohio coronavirus order modified to clarify mask mandate, other requirements: Read the latest version
PARKE COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) - With the warm weather and sunshine the Wabash Valley has experienced, wildflowers are getting to full bloom.

Turkey Run State Park will be hosting a Spring Wildflower Stroll on Saturdays and Sundays. Guests will have the chance to join a Naturalist to learn more about the wildflowers that grow within the park.

Youll see flowers like bluebells, spring beauties, as well as different types of violets.

News 10 spoke with the Interpretive Naturalist at Turkey Run, Aaron Douglass, and he explains that this is his favorite time of year. But the most exciting part is happening soon. He gives us a little insight of where the best places to look for wildflowers within the park.

"The suspension bridge, which you can see behind me, and then over on trail 5 where you are down on the flood plain of Sugar Creek. Those are just two fantastic places. There's just not much that looks better than the carpet of bluebells moving a little bit in the wind!"

Guests are urged to sign up online. But walk-ups are welcome. Douglass mentions, however, that if you plan to visit on the weekend expect more wait times and a busier park.

For more information on upcoming events at Turkey Run State Park, visit www.in.gov/dnr.

Or you can visit their Facebook page at, www.facebook.com/TurkeyRunandShades/.
Carla Zampatti's grieving daughter Bianca Spender has paid an emotional tribute to the fashion designer following her tragic death aged 78.

The 44-year-old shared a photo alongside her mother to Instagram and thanked fans for their heartfelt condolences.

'Thank you. Thank you to my incredible family, who are holding each other close right now. To my team and Carla Zampatti's loyal staff for their strength and commitment,' she wrote on Instagram.

'She touched the lives of so many people': Carla Zampatti's grieving daughter Bianca Spender paid an emotional tribute to the fashion designer ahead of her state funeral

She continued: 'And a huge thank you to you all for the heartfelt condolences. Your response has overwhelmed us all.'

'The outpouring of sympathy reflects what a singular force Mum was. Her passion, energy and style was unparalleled, and it is heartwarming to see that she touched the lives of so many people.'

Carla died on April 3, days after a fall at an outdoor opera performance.

She wrote on Instagram: 'The outpouring of sympathy reflects what a singular force Mum was. Her passion, energy and style was unparalleled, and it is heartwarming to see that she touched the lives of so many people'

The trailblazing fashion designer will be farewelled in a state funeral at Sydney's St Mary's Cathedral on Thursday.

The public is welcome to join the 10.30am service, which will also be livestreamed, inside the Catholic cathedral on April 15.

The mother-of-three and grandmother of nine had spent a week in hospital after the accident.

Fashion icon: Carla, 78, died on April 3, days after a fall at an outdoor opera performance. 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 Gladys Berejiklian

Born in Italy in 1942, Carla migrated to Australia with her parents in 1950 at age nine, and set 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 Gladys Berejiklian.

Carla 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.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 06:33:05|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

HOUSTON, April 10 (Xinhua) -- At least two were killed and several people injured in the U.S. state of Louisiana following severe weather over Friday night and Saturday morning.

Authorities confirmed that one person was killed and seven injured after at least one tornado touched down early Saturday morning in St. Landry Parish of Louisiana. Separately, in Shreveport, a man was killed when a tree fell on his mobile home due to strong winds.

The National Weather Service confirmed the severe weather rolled across the state. Media reported that the same storm system caused significant damage 650 kilometers to the east in the state of Florida. Pictures from internet showed the remains of a store with its roof and walls largely gone.

According to PowerOutage.us, a website that tracks the power outage in the country, there are over 70,000 customers without power in the southern states of Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi and Arkansas as of Saturday afternoon. Enditem
A forty-one-gun salute was certainly the noisiest tribute Prince Philip will get in these pandemic times. This is how the military says goodbye.

Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, dead at 99

But the Duke of Edinburgh's legacy is far broader than the time he spent in the service.

There is no job definition for Royal Consort. And if there were, Prince Philip  naval officer, man of action, First Gentleman with matinee idol looks  might never have seemed the type to live a life in his wife's shadow  especially as he was actually more royal than she is.

"Yes. Prince Philip was actually twice as royal as the Queen," Gyles Brandreth, who was a friend and used to run one of Philip's charities," told correspondent Mark Phillips. "The Queen is royal on her father's side, while Prince Philip was of royal blood on both sides of his family, descended from Queen Victoria, but also descended literally from every king, kaiser, czar you can think of."

But when the Fates  and, it's rumored, a few royal family members -- conspired to have Philip and the then-Princess Elizabeth meet, a life as a supporting actor was his destiny. But it was a role he would make his own.

Philip was an outsider, considered unreliable, even unsuitable, by some in royal circles; he was a banished prince from the exiled Greek royal family who was shipped off to school in Britain.

A distinguished naval career followed, including citations for heroism during the Second World War.

He was, as the Queen's cousin, Margaret Rhodes, told Phillips before she died a few years ago, "a catch."

"Prince Philip was the most utterly good-looking Viking god," she said.

A Viking god? "Well, he really was so good-looking," said Rhodes.

He knew his public place -- roughly two paces behind her -- but, behind the scenes, he kept the royal business ("The Firm," he famously called it) running.

Story continues

Phillips said, "It's almost like he was her manager as well as her husband."

"Well, in a curious way, I think he was," Brandreth replied. "She wore the crown, but he wore the trousers. I asked him what he was like when he found out that he was going to be the consort of the queen, 1952. I said, 'Were there people there telling you what to do?' He said, No. There were people telling me what not to do.'"

But he had his own ideas anyway. The royal family he was joining, he thought, had to change. So, it was Philip who convinced the Queen that they should let TV cameras in to see that royals were people, too. The show was a hit; the Queen reportedly hated it.

Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, at a banquet in honor of West German President Gustav Heinemann, October 1972, in London. / Credit: Heinrich Sanden/picture alliance via Getty Images

But the royal family was getting a bit too modern in other ways, particularly in the way the children's marriages were falling apart: Princess Anne and the other Mark Phillips, Prince Andrew and Sarah Fergusson, and, of course, Charles and Diana.

In the case of Diana and Charles, said Brandreth, "He got them together, and he actually said to her, 'Make a list of all the things you like about him in the marriage, and make a list of all things you don't like. And let's try and reduce the number of things on the list you don't like, and increase  let's do this in a practical way.'"

"Acting as a kind of marriage counsellor?" asked Phillips.

"Yes, actively doing so."

On his golden wedding anniversary, Philip did what a lot of people do: he took stock: "Like all families, we went through the full range of pleasures and tribulations of bringing up children. I am naturally somewhat biased, but I think our children have done rather well under very difficult and demanding circumstances."

As for the latest demanding circumstance  the estrangement from the family of Harry and Meghan, Brandreth said, "I'm sure he understood Harry's desire for freedom and independence and doing things his own way. I'm not sure he would have recommended giving a no-holds-barred interview to Oprah."

There were times when Philip might have been better advised to keep his own mouth shut. He was famously gaffe-prone  once causing a diplomatic tiff in China by telling British students they might get "slitty eyes" if they stayed too long. Closer to home, he once asked Scottish driving instructors how they kept their students "off the sauce." He seemed simply not wired for political correctness.

For his part, Philip seemed to adopt the motto of that other famous sailor, Popeye: "I am what I am."

"I can't suddenly change my whole way of doing things," he said. "I can't change my interests, I can't change the way in which I react to things."

In other ways, though, Philip was ahead of his time. He was the first president of the World Wildlife Fund trying to save endangered species. He championed environmental causes.

But he freely admitted what Job One was: Supporting one's wife and Queen.

On Saturday, speaking at Buckingham Palace, Prince Charles said, "My dear papa was a very special person who I think above all else would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that have been said about him, and from that point of view we are, my family, deeply grateful for all that. It will sustain us in this particular loss, and at this particularly sad time."

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921-2021). / Credit: CBS News

For more info:

royal.uk (Official site)

Story produced by Jane Whitfield. Editor: Mark Ludlow.

John Boehner on how the rise of ideologues harms America

Jamie Foxx on playing (and being) an embarrassing dad

Camping out: One boy's year under the stars
There had been multiple serious contenders for party tickets to contest the bypoll, especially from the ruling TRS and the BJP. (Photo: PTI)

HYDERABAD: Political parties are deeply worried about saboteurs ahead of polling in the Nagarjunasagar Assembly byelection on April 17.

All parties are keeping a close watch on movements of disgruntled leaders, suspecting them of resorting to covert activities and sabotaging their party's prospects in the bypoll.

Earlier, the respective party leaderships had made all efforts to convince these disgruntled leaders into withdrawing from race in favour of the party's official candidates by offering them different posts. Still, there are fears that they may resort to covert activities and help rival parties.

While the ruling party has engaged the services of the intelligence department sleuths to keep a tab on such leaders, the opposition parties are relying on their close aides to track the saboteurs and submit daily reports on their activities.

There had been multiple serious contenders for party tickets to contest the bypoll, especially from the ruling TRS and the BJP. Though there were no contenders in Congress other than K. Jana Reddy, the Congress too is wary of coverts, as the ruling party has lured several prominent Congress leaders from village to district level into its fold over the past three months in presence of ministers, TRS MLAs, MLCs and so on.

The Congress is worried that several of such leaders, though continuing to remain in the party, have been in touch with TRS leaders and sabotaging party's prospects by leaking the party's strategy.

Congress suspects that seizure of liquor worth nearly RS 40 lakh on Friday from the residence of a local party leader known to be the close aide of Jana Reddy in Nagarjunasagar is handiwork of coverts. Congress leaders argue that though all parties are distributing cash and liquor in the bypoll, a few coverts had leaked information to ruling party leaders, who ordered police raids and seized stocks.

The Congress has now demanded that police raid residences of key leaders belonging to all parties if they are really sincere in curbing distribution of cash and liquor.

TRS leadership is worried that a few leaders from the Reddy community in the constituency are angry with the party for giving ticket to Yadava community. Thus, they are silently working for Jana Reddy on caste grounds, besides keeping away from campaigning for the party to register their dissent.

In the BJP, too, there had been many aspirants from the Reddy and BC communities. The party gave ticket to an ST candidate, leading to resentment among other communities. The party too is thus tracking movements of its disgruntled leaders.
Meerut : , April 11 (IANS) The Meerut police have arrested a youth for allegedly announcing a reward for killing a controversial priest of a temple in Ghaziabad's Dasna area.

The man, Danish Ali, a resident of Meerut, had uploaded a video on a social media platform saying that anyone who beheads the controversial priest, will get a reward of Rs 51 lakh.

The priest, Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, recently made a controversial statement against the Prophet, for which the Delhi Police booked him for hurting religious sentiments.

The statements were made at a press conference at Delhi Press Club.

Danish is heard in the video purportedly saying, "I will sell my property, jewellery, everything I have and will arrange Rs 51 lakh." Though Danish did not name Saraswati, he referred to him as the 'priest of the Dasna temple in Ghaziabad'.

Meerut's Superintendent of Police (SP) Vineet Bhatnagar said, "We have arrested Danish Ali. We have also seized the mobile phone through which he had made the controversial announcement." Meanwhile, the priest said, "I have already said that I am ready for my assassination. But I stick to my stand. These people have always used terror to silence criticism because they do not have anything substantial to debate." The priest's comments drew sharp reactions from various quarters.

Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind's general secretary Maulana Mehmood A. Madani has appealed to the Prime Minister to punish him for using 'the filthiest and the most abusive epithets to insult the Prophet'.
Press Release

April 11, 2021 De Lima calls for more nuanced approach to children's education Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has joined the calls for more aggressive efforts to ensure that children continue their learning through all possible ways amid the educational challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. In her message for the Salinlahi Alliance for Children's Concern event today (April 11), De Lima said it takes a unified and sustained effort from all the education stakeholder involved to ensure that the children will grow to be effective members of society despite the challenges of the pandemic. "We must realize that the pandemic has affected different areas in the Philippines differently. Some areas have maintained a low to zero infection rate for months already. The internet and technology access is also uneven with teachers and children in less urban communities struggling to send emails, much less stream lessons online," she said. "These disparate situations call for a more nuanced approach to education with programs being tailor fit to the opportunities available and requirements needed in the various communities," she added. De Lima stressed, however, that crisis surrounding the education of Filipino children was evident even before the pandemic, citing the country's 2018 ranking in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). According to PISA, the Philippines ranked last in 79 countries in reading comprehension among 15-year-old students and ranked second last in both mathematics and science. As such, De Lima said it is important to realize that children are just as, if not more, affected than adults amid the pandemic and that it is "ought to be acknowledged in order to properly and fully respond to their needs." "Some experts are calling today's children as the 'Pandemic Generation.' As the prevailing discourse and focus surrounding COVID-19 pandemic has primarily centered on its impact on adults, even less attention and regard is being given to children's mental health and overall well-being amid the pandemic," she said. "Sadly, even the initial debates about school reopening are often framed around adults and the threat of transmission among carrier asymptomatic children instead of their emerging needs as affected learners in the face of this pandemic," she added. Stressing that children also suffer the adverse effect of the pandemic, De Lima asked: "When the country was placed under lockdown, weren't they also forced to stay in their homes for extended periods, away from friends and classmates?" She added, "When we were told to practice physical or social distancing, weren't they also taught to keep distance from their families and other relatives? Weren't they also deprived of the critical structure of having to prepare and go to school everyday?" De Lima, who chairs the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, filed Senate Bill No. 1872 in October 2020 proposing to exempt educational applications, gadgets, computers and e-books from value-added tax (VAT) for the principal use of teachers and students in online and distant learning.
ADVERTISEMENT

Facebook Inc has said that it is converting a part of its Menlo Park headquarters into a vaccination site.

Reuters reports that the company would be joining the government effort to speed up the vaccination drive in the United States.

To drive the initiative, the company said it is teaming up with Ravenswood Family Health Centre.

According to its Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, the move will support vaccination efforts in four of Californias hardest hit regions.

Were also teaming up with the State of California and local nonprofits to support mobile vaccination clinics in four of the states hardest hit regions, Sandberg wrote in a post Friday.

Earlier this year, the social media company decided to launch a tool to give people in the United States information about where to get COVID-19 vaccines.

It also added a COVID-19 information area to its photo-sharing site, Instagram.
Rock climbers have been left 'traumatised' after watching on in horror as a teenager fell to his death at a popular mountain range.

The 18-year-old man fell while climbing Mt Ngungun, the sixth-tallest peak in the Glass House Mountains in Queensland's Sunshine Coast hinterland, on Saturday.

The Queensland Ambulance Service said he suffered critical injuries after plunging 40 metres about midday.

An 18-year-old has died after falling 40metres at Mt Ngungun in in Queensland's Sunshine Coast hinterland on Saturday (pictured, the recue operation)

Sunshine Coast Senior Sergeant Jimmy Driver said it was a 'harrowing' incident witnessed by others.

He said the coordinator of a nearby rock climbing group provided first aid to the man before paramedics arrived.

'The mountain this afternoon was extremely busy. It was a harrowing event,' the officer told The Courier Mail.

'People were shaken and traumatised by the incident which occurred well in view of multiple people.'

Martin Worth, who has been climbing for more than three decades and was at Mount Ngungun on Saturday morning, said while he did not witness the incident, the teenager was an experienced climber.

Mt Ngungun was closed for the afternoon while emergency services worked to recover the teenager's body.
India has become the fastest country to administer over 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in record 85 days, announced Health Ministry on April 10. The US took 89 days to cross the 10 crore-mark, while China took 102 days to do the same, it said.

The achievement is also a testimony of the whole of society approach where individuals turned a deaf ear to rumors and propaganda of vested interests, shunned their vaccine hesitancy, and strengthened the hand of the administration in curbing COVID-19. The vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from COVID-19 continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level, read the Union health ministrys statement.

The statement further added that India has taken pro-active, collaborative and coordinated steps in vaccinating people.

Indias Covid-19 vaccine drive

On January 16, the government initiated the mega vaccine drive by vaccinating healthcare workers, followed by vaccinations for frontline workers from February 2 workers. From March 1, vaccination drive started for people above 60 years and those above 45 years started getting jabs from April 1.

Indias maximum (60.62%) vaccine inoculation record comes from eight states that include Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Kerala. The ministry also mentioned that India continues to be the top nation in vaccinating people with an average of 38,93,288 doses administered per day.

Recently, the Prime Minister's Office also tweeted a chart showing India as the fastest country to reach this vaccination milestone.

Strengthening the efforts to ensure a healthy and COVID-19 free India. pic.twitter.com/A2cQ22pxEf  PMO India (@PMOIndia) April 10, 2021

Tika Utsav underway

Tika Utsav or vaccine festival, at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is all set to begin in the country from today. To be observed between April 11-14, the event aims to vaccinate the maximum number of eligible people in the country. This comes amid a steep rise in daily Covid-19 cases across the country.

The Tika Utsav event was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday during his interaction with Chief Ministers where they discussed the current Covid-19 situation in the country and the vaccination strategy.

Sometimes, it helps in changing the environment. April 11 is the birth anniversary of Jyotiba Phule and April 14 is the birth anniversary of Baba Saheb. Can we organise a 'Tika Utsav: or vaccine festival and create an atmosphere of 'Tika Utsav'?" PM Modi had said.
Water-worried Vegas wants useless grass a thing of the past View Photo

LAS VEGAS (AP)  A desert city built on a reputation for excess and indulgence wants to become a model for restraint and conservation with a first-in-the-nation policy banning grass that nobody walks on.

Las Vegas-area water officials have spent two decades trying to get people to replace thirsty greenery with desert plants, and now theyre asking the Nevada Legislature to outlaw roughly 40% of the turf thats left.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority estimates there are almost 8 square miles (21 square kilometers) of nonfunctional turf in the metro area  grass that no one ever walks on or otherwise uses in street medians, housing developments and office parks.

They say this ornamental grass requires four times as much water as drought-tolerant landscaping like cactus and other succulents. By ripping it out, they estimate the region can reduce annual water consumption by roughly 15% and save about 14 gallons (53 liters) per person per day.

Las Vegas might be known for splashy displays like the Bellagio fountains on the neon-lit Strip, but officials say residents of bedroom communities and sprawling suburbs embrace conservation measures, including aggressive monitoring of sprinklers and leaky irrigation systems.

The public perception outside of Las Vegas is certainly much different  and has been for a long time  than the water conservation ethic within the community, said Colby Pellegrino, Southern Nevada Water Authority water resources director.

California imposed a temporary ban on watering ornamental grass during last decades drought, but no state or major city has tried to phase out certain categories of grass permanently.

The scale of this is pretty unprecedented in terms of a full ban on this nonfunctional turf, said John Berggren, a water policy analyst at Western Resource Advocates.

The proposal is part of a turf war waged since at least 2003, when the water authority banned developers from planting green front yards in new subdivisions. It also offers owners of older properties the regions most generous rebate policies to tear out sod  up to $3 per square foot.

Those efforts are slowing. The agency says the number of acres converted under its rebate program fell last year to six times less than what it was in 2008. Meanwhile, water consumption in southern Nevada has increased 9% since 2019.

Last year was among the driest in the regions history, when Las Vegas went a record 240 days without measurable rainfall. And the future flow of the Colorado River, which accounts for 90% of southern Nevadas water, is in question.

The waterway supplies Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming and Mexico. As drought and climate change decrease what the river provides, the amount allocated to Arizona, California and Nevada is projected to be cut further.

Justin Jones, a Clark County commissioner who serves on the water authoritys board, doesnt think ripping out ornamental turf will upend peoples lives.

To be clear, we are not coming after your average homeowners backyard, he said. But grass in the middle of a parkway, where no one walks: Thats dumb.

The only people that ever set foot on grass thats in the middle of a roadway system are people cutting the grass, Jones said.

The agency has different regulations for yards and public parks. Based on satellite imaging, it believes banning ornamental grass will primarily affect common areas maintained by homeowner associations and commercial property owners.

Jones said the proposal has drawn resistance in some master-planned communities, but water officials say years of drought-awareness campaigns and policies like the rebates have cultivated a cultural change.

Southern Nevada Homebuilders Association lobbyist Matt Walker said consumer preferences have reached the point that potential homebuyers from wetter regions arent turned off from neighborhoods that have parks but no ornamental grass.

Conservation frees water, reduces per capita consumption and strengthens builders arguments that the desert can accommodate more growth, Walker said. And the benefits are the ability to keep doing what we do, which is building homes.

Weve really gotten a comfort level that buyers are very much willing to go along with responsible development practices when it comes to water use, he added.

Other desert cities arent so sure. Salt Lake City has an ordinance that requires a certain amount of yard and median greenery. Phoenix, where some neighborhoods remain lush from flood irrigation, has never offered grass removal rebates.

Water officials elsewhere are loath to compare their policies to southern Nevada. Particularly in cities where water consumption per person is high, they say theres no one-size-fits-all approach for a drier future.

Las Vegas, for example, mostly ignores toilets, showers and dishwashers because the water authority is able to treat and recycle indoor wastewater and let it flow through a natural wash into Lake Mead  the Colorado River reservoir behind Hoover Dam. It is filtered again for reuse.

A draconian anti-grass policy might not work in downtown Phoenix, said Cynthia Campbell, water resources adviser for the nations fifth-largest city. Trees and grass blunt public health dangers of  urban heat islands   areas lacking green landscaping to offset heat through evaporative cooling.

Regional water officials understand future consumption will have to be reduced but fear the preparation and perception could backfire if the community doesnt buy in.

There comes a point when peoples demands start to harden, Campbell said. Theyll say, This is the point of no return for me. For some people, its a pool. For some people, its grass.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority isnt sure the idea of banning grass will spread to other cities. But Pellegrino, the water resources chief, said other places will have to make changes.

Particularly every community that relies on Colorado River water.

___

Metz reported from Carson City, Nevada, and is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

By SAM METZ and KEN RITTER

Associated Press
Headquarters of LG in Yeouido, Seoul's Youngdeungpo District, and SK in Seoul's Jung District are seen. Yonhap



Two Korean battery makers  LG Energy Solution Ltd. and SK Innovation Co.  have reached a settlement in a trade secrets dispute in the United States, company officials said Sunday, hours before a deadline for an import ban on SK.



The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in February sided with LG in a trade secret case and issued a 10-year import ban on SK, while temporarily allowing shipments of battery components for Ford and Volkswagen to give them time to find new suppliers.



Their settlement averts the import ban, which was set to take effect unless President Joe Biden vetoes the ITC decision before the Sunday night deadline.



The two companies will jointly announce the results of the settlement later in the day, officials of the companies said.



Their compromise will allow SK to complete the construction of the $2.6 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Georgia, which will supply electric vehicle batteries for Ford and Volkswagen.



SK earlier said it could shut down the Georgia plant if the import ban is not overturned, which could hamper the Biden administration's EV push and pledge for American jobs.



SK has claimed that it does not need LG's trade secrets as its development and manufacturing method for EV batteries is different from its rival and that it received an unfavorable ITC ruling due to destruction of evidence.



In the runup to the settlement, the Korean rivals made intensive lobbying efforts in the U.S. to grab a greater share of the rising battery market as the Biden administration pushes to accelerate the adoption of EVs.



LG Energy Solution, wholly owned by LG Chem Ltd., operates a lithium-ion battery factory in Michigan and is building a new factory in Ohio through its joint venture with U.S. automaker General Motors, which will be completed in 2022.



Last month, LG Energy Solution said it will invest 5 trillion won (US$4.5 billion) by 2025 to expand its battery production capacity in the U.S.



LG, which supplies Tesla and a number of automakers, is the world's No. 2 EV battery supplier with a share of 23.5 percent, and SK Innovation was in sixth place with a 6 percent share in the global EV market last year, according to SNE Research. (Yonhap)


The UK has passed the figure of 32 million first vaccinations, equal to the estimated number of people most vulnerable to coronavirus to whom the government promised to offer a jab by 15 April.

The milestone came as second doses of the Covid-19 vaccines hit a daily record of 450,136, bringing the total with two jabs to 6,991,310  more than 10 per cent of the population.

The Department of Health and Social Care did not claim the 32 million milestone as representing the target being reached.

But vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi retweeted a social media post describing the figure as a landmark, in a clear indication that he regards it as a mark of the success of the programme.

A deparment spokesperson said: Our vaccination programme continues to make phenomenal progress  with over 38 million vaccines administered so far.

We remain on course to offer a first vaccine to all those aged 50 and over by mid-April and all adults by the end of July.

The estimate of 32 million was given by ministers for the priority groups 1-9 recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation as most at risk of serious illness or death.

Made up of the over-50s, health and care workers and people with certain underlying conditions, they represent around 99 per cent of preventable mortality from Covid-19.

An increase of 106,878 new first doses was reported, bringing the number to have received at least one inoculation jab to 32,010,244  47.9 per cent of the UK population.

However, many of these will be outside the priority groups 1-9, for instance volunteers at vaccine stations who have been offered spare doses left over at the end of the day.

The lack of official fanfare at the milestone figure being passed may reflect orders to ministers not to make announcements during the period of mourning for the Duke of Edinburgh, who died on Friday.

Official figures recorded 40 deaths reported within 28 days of a positive test, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 127,080. Fatalities for the last seven days stood at 254, unchanged from the previous week.

Another 2,589 positive tests were reported in the latest 24-hour period, with the seven-day total of 18,970 almost a third (32 per cent) down on the week before.

Following a dip in vaccine supplies, NHS England has temporarily ceased first appointments for healthy people under the age of 50, while the programme focuses on delivering second doses to those who had their first jab between December and March.
The lockdown currently underway in Indore which was initially scheduled to end on Monday, i.e. April 12, has now been extended till 6

Lalwani said this was decided in a meeting of the Indore District Crisis Management Committee chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday.

He further said that vegetable and milk shops in the city will remain open from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm, adding that grocery and medical stores will also continue to remain open during the lockdown.

Lalwani said that the situation of Indore is worrisome as compared to other cities and districts.

"Home isolation has been encouraged because last time when we did home isolation then around 3,000 people were able to avail facilities. We will issue a protocol for who should be home isolated and who should be hospitalised," he said.

The MP further informed that a COVID control room/centre will be established that will function 24 hours and seven days a week.

"The main aim is to guide people on various issues like where to get tested, which hospital to approach for the treatment and other such querries of people shall be addressed and they shall be guided accordingly," he said.

Lalwani said that beds and oxygen supply will be increased because there has been a rise in cases. "The govt will issue SOPs identifying and categorising patients who need hospitalisation or home isolation or COVID isolation centre. Moreover, emphasis will be laid on conducting more tests."

He also said that the demand for oxygen supply in the city has increased by 60 per cent and to monitor the situation and keep a watch on the demand for oxygen, a team has been formed which will audit the requirement of oxygen in all the hospitals in the city.

The meeting was attended by Indore Mayor Krishna Murari Moghe, District Collector Manish Singh, MP Shankar Lalwani, and ministers Tulsi Silawat, Usha Thakur, Mahendra Hardia, Malini Gaur, Madhu Verma and Akash Vijayvargiya.

According to Union Health Ministry, reported 4,882 new cases on Saturday.

The ministry said that India's total Active Caseload reached 10,46,631 on Saturday. It comprised 7.93 per cent of the country's total Positive Cases. A net incline of 67,023 cases was recorded from the total active caseload yesterday, it had said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
One of Britain's biggest currency exchange firms could be about to change hands for about 150million after its secretive Chinese owner put it up for sale.

City sources said advisers from Houlihan Lokey had been appointed to sell International Currency Exchange (ICE) on behalf of HNA, the controversial Chinese conglomerate that recently declared itself bankrupt. ICE was set up 48 years ago with one outlet in London's Victoria Station.

It now has more than 350 outlets, many in airports across the world. Reports suggest the firm has a turnover of 1.3billion a year.

International Currency Exchange has more than 350 outlets, many in airports across the world

HNA bought ICE from Lenlyn Holdings in 2016 during a period in which state-backed Chinese firms carried out an unprecedented debt- fuelled acquisition spree.

HNA, which also owns Hainan Airlines, was one of the most aggressive Chinese companies on the acquisition trail. It also bought airline caterer Gategroup, and sizeable stakes in hotels group Hilton Worldwide and Deutsche Bank.

But the Chinese giant ran into trouble after racking up a reported 70billion of debt. It was forced into a debt restructuring and in January declared itself bankrupt.

Reports suggest Global Exchange Group, a Spanish firm, is weighing up a bid for ICE.

Bureaux de change have had a tough time since the pandemic limited foreign travel. Travelex, another currency exchange firm, went through a financial restructuring that saw its bondholders take control of the business.

Creditors to Travelex, such as Heathrow Airport, reportedly suffered a shortfall of more than 319million, and the future of foreign holidays remains uncertain.

International Currency Exchange did not return requests for comment. HNA could not be reached for comment. Houlihan Lokey declined to comment.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Turkeys president in Istanbul on Saturday.

A statement from Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogans office said the two leaders would discuss bilateral relations, characterizing them at a strategic partnership level.

Zelenskyys visit to Turkey comes amid renewed tensions in eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists have been fighting since 2014.

Erdogans office also said he would discuss with Zelenskyy the living conditions of Crimean Tatars, who have ethnic links to Turks.

Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Advertisement

The Prime Minister of St. Vincent has announced that only those residents of the Caribbean island who have received their Covid-19 vaccinations will be evacuated following the two explosions from the La Soufriere volcano.

The volcano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent erupted for a second time as thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate.

A second explosion of the La Soufriere volcano was observed on Friday, six hours after it erupted for the first time in more than 40 years yesterday morning.

Earlier today, the island's emergency management organisation Nemo tweeted to confirm that the majority of the country was experiencing power outages as a result of another explosive event.

Their tweet read: ''Massive power outage following another explosive event at La Soufriere Volcano. Lightning, thunder and rumblings. Majority of the country out of power and covered in ash.'

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, St. Vincent Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves confirmed that only those who had been vaccinated against coronavirus would be allowed to board cruise ships which had volunteered to evacuate residents.

St. Vincent Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves (pictured) has said that only residents who have already received their coronavirus vaccination will be allowed to board the cruise ships working to evacuate them from the Caribbean island

The La Soufriere volcano erupted twice on Friday, the first time it had done so in 40 years. Pictured: A cloud of volcanic ash hovers over Kingstown, St. Vincent, yesterday

Experts have warned that explosive eruptions could continue for days, or possibly weeks, and emergency aid supplies, such as cots, tents and respirator masks, have poured in from neighbouring nations. Pictured: A plume of ash is seen rising in the sky following the volcanic eruption

He said: 'The chief medical officer would be identifying the persons already vaccinated so that we can get them on the ship.'

Gonsalves also said that residents who haven't received a vaccine but are likely to have received it in time to join the cruise ship evacuations would not be allowed to board because of possible side effects such as 'wooziness in the head'.

While out conducting fieldwork, the University of the West Indies Seismic Center team witnessed the volcano explode for a second time, with a vertical ash column estimated to have reached around 2miles (4km) into the atmosphere - smaller than the first which is estimated to have risen as high as 10 kilometers (6 miles).

Experts have warned that explosive eruptions could continue for days, or possibly weeks, and emergency aid supplies, such as cots, tents and respirator masks, have poured in from neighbouring nations.

La Soufriere volcano exploded for a second time yesterday afternoon (pictured), just six hours after the volcano exploded for the first time in more than 40 years

A large ash column rose above the volcano on the Caribbean island of St Vincent on Friday (pictured), with the first explosion estimated to have risen as high as 10 kilometers (6 miles)

During the night, scientific teams from the University of the West Indies Seismic Center witnessed lightning in the ash column, which it said was due to its highly charged nature

Ash and smoke plunged parts of the island into near total darkness, blotting out the bright morning sun, said witnesses. The thick ash later covered the area, including people and vehicles.

Updating the public at 8pm, the University of the West Indies Seismic Center said vigorous ash venting had resumed at La Soufriere at approximately 2:45 pm.

Lightning was also seen in the ash column during the night, which the center said was due to its highly charged nature.

Erouscilla Joseph, director of the University of the West Indies Seismic Center, said a column of ash from the initial explosion is estimated to have risen as high as 10 kilometers (6 miles) on Friday - forcing the cancellation of several flights while falling ash limited evacuations in some areas due to poor visibility.

She said: 'This is just the beginning. There is heavy ashfall in the near vicinity. More explosions could occur.'

She added this kind of activity could go on for weeks if not months and said it was impossible to predict whether any potential upcoming explosions would be bigger or smaller than the first.

The volcano last erupted in 1979, and a previous eruption in 1902 killed some 1,600 people.

This volunteer was covered in ash from the second eruption of the volcano on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent

The ash covered roads on the island, making driving difficult for those who had yet to evacuate the danger zone closest to the eruption

This handout from the UWI Seismic Research Centre shows a street completely covered in ash in the aftermath of the volcanic eruption

An explosive eruption has rocked La Soufriere volcano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent following mandatory evacuation orders from the local government

The eruption is said to have plunged parts of Kingstown on the eastern Caribbean island of St Vincent into darkness at first as the evacuation got under way by terrified islanders

Roughly 16,000 people live in the surrounding red zone and will need to be evacuated, an official said

'The first bang is not necessarily the biggest bang this volcano will give,' Richard Robertson, a geologist with the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Center, said during a press conference.

The eruptions followed mandatory evacuation orders issued on Thursday for people who live near the volcano.

Officials planned to place them aboard cruise ships, send them to nearby islands or take them to shelters elsewhere in St. Vincent outside the danger zone.

Roughly 16,000 people live in the red zone and will need to be evacuated, Joseph, said.

Nations ranging from Antigua to Guyana offered help by either shipping emergency supplies to their neighbor or agreeing to temporarily open their borders to the fleeing ash-covered communities with as many personal belongings as they could stuff into suitcases and backpacks.

Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves asked people to remain calm, have patience and keep protecting themselves from the coronavirus as he celebrated that no deaths or injuries were reported after the eruption.

'Agriculture will be badly affected and we may have some loss of animals and we will have to do repairs to houses, but if we have life, and we have strength, we will build it back better, stronger, together,' he said in an interview with NBC Radio, a local station.

The pandemic could hamper evacuation efforts.

Gonsalves said in a press conference that people have to be vaccinated if they go aboard a cruise ship or are granted temporary refuge in another island.

He said two Royal Caribbean cruise ships are expected to arrive by Friday and a third one in the coming days, as well as two Carnival cruise ships and another from Celebrity Cruises.

The location of the volcano on the island of St Vincent is seen on the graphic above

A cruise ship arriving at St. Vincent following the eruption of La Soufriere volcano on Friday morning to transport evacuees to nearby islands in the Caribbean for their safety

Government officials warned it could be months before people are allowed back to their homes on the island, depending on any damage caused by the falling ash and rock

Islands that have said they would accept evacuees include St. Lucia, Grenada, Barbados and Antigua.

'Not everything is going to go perfect, but if we all cooperate ... we will come through this stronger than ever,' Gonsalves said.

He noted that he was talking to Caribbean governments to accept people's ID cards if they don't have a passport.

'This is an emergency situation, and everybody understands that,' he said.

Gonsalves added that he highly recommends those who opt to go to a shelter in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, an island chain of more than 100,000 people, be vaccinated.

He added some 4,500 residents near the volcano have already been evacuated ships and by road.

As of Friday, 2,000 people were staying in 62 government shelters while four empty cruise ships floated nearby, waiting to take other evacuees to nearby islands.

Those staying in shelters were tested for COVID-19, and anyone testing positive would be taken to an isolation center.

Heavy ash fall had halted the evacuation efforts somewhat due to poor visibility, according to St. Vincent's National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO).

Lavern King, a shelter volunteer, said: 'The place in general is in a frenzy.

'People are still being evacuated from the red zone, it started yesterday evening and into last night.'

Gonsalves said that depending on the extent of the damage, it could be four months before evacuees could return home.

Thousands of residents on the island have been ordered to evacuate to safe zones after the volcano erupted Friday morning for the first time since 1979

Erouscilla Joseph, director of the University of the West Indies Seismic Center, said on Friday that the ash column is estimated to have risen as high as 10 kilometers (6 miles)

A masked official from the National Management Organisation of St Vincent and the Grenadines makes a few checks before sending evacuees on their way

The sky was turned a moody grey colour as evacuees escape a red zone in village Rose Hall in the back of a farmer's truck amid warnings the eruptions could continue for several days and weeks

Thousands of evacuees have already escaped the worst affected areas on the Caribbean island as officials work to keep people safe following the volcano's first eruption in more than 40 years

Emergency management teams have been going to communities in the red zone and providing transportation to safer locations, including prearranged shelters, according to Joseph.

'They know who doesn't have transportation because all of this has been canvassed before,' she said, adding that those who board the cruise ship would not be taken elsewhere but would remain there for an unspecified period of time.

People were seen evacuating the area in vehicles after the government ordered them to escape

By late Thursday evening, shelters were filling up as a string of car lights making their way to safer ground twinkled through the darkened mountains.

John Renton, a school principal who was in charge of one shelter, said in a phone interview with The Associated Press that it had plenty of masks and other personal protective equipment but needed more cots.

While talking, he was interrupted by a phone call from a government official asking about the state of things. 'We're over capacity,' he responded, noting that the shelter could hold 75 people and was already filled up.

Government officials tweeted that the dome of the volcano located on the island's northern region could be seen glowing by nightfall.

The alert issued on Wednesday follows days of seismic activity around La Soufriere.

Gonsalves urged people to remain calm and orderly.

'I don't want you panicked,' he said. 'That is the worst thing to do.'

Evacuee Zen Punnett, who lives on the 18-mile long island, said people panicked Thursday night as the evacuation orders came out but things were calmer Friday.

He said: 'I can feel and hear rumbling here in the green safe zone. We can see a huge ball of smoke. Keeping calm as much as possible and praying.'

The volcanic activity forced the cancellation of several flights while falling ash limited evacuations in some areas due to poor visibility.

Officials warned that Barbados, St. Lucia and Grenada could see light ashfall as the 4,003ft (1,220m) volcano continued to rumble. The majority of ash was expected to head northeast into the Atlantic Ocean.

Scientists alerted the government about a possible eruption after noting seismic activity at 3 a.m. on Thursday. It indicated 'magma was on the move close to the surface,' Joseph said.

'Things are escalating pretty quickly,' she said of the volcanic activity, adding that it was impossible to provide an exact forecast of what might happen in the next hours or days.

An image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows the eruption of La Soufriere

Philmore Mullin, director of Antigua and Barbuda's National Office of Disaster Services, said the twin island nation was ready to receive evacuees from Saint Vincent.

He said: 'I know for sure they will be scared out of their wits. The question is, what will happen after they move? Volcanoes don't tell you what they are thinking.

'If it continues to erupt for a long time, it will be life-changing for them. And, depending on the type of eruption, they might not be able to get back home for years.'

A team from the seismic center arrived in St. Vincent in late December after the volcano had an effusive eruption.

They have been analyzing the formation of a new volcanic dome, changes to its crater lake, seismic activity and gas emissions, among other things.

The eastern Caribbean is home to other active volcanoes. Seventeen of the region's 19 live volcanoes are located on 11 islands, with the remaining two underwater near the island of Grenada, including one called Kick 'Em Jenny that has been active in recent years.

The region's most active volcano in recent years has been Soufriere Hills in Montserrat, which has erupted continuously since 1995, destroying the capital of Plymouth and killing at least 19 people in 1997.
China Battling Swine Fever in More Regions

The prevention and control of African swine fever has become normal practice in mainland China but official reports on the African swine fever epidemic in China have been sporadic.

On April 7, Henan Shuanghui Investment and Development Co., Ltd., a leading company in Chinas meat industry, revealed on an investor interactive platform that the African swine fever epidemic will be an uncertain factor affecting the price trend of live pigs this year and needs close attention.

China had a large-scale outbreak of African swine fever from August 2018 to the end of 2019. It hit the pork industry hard and caused pork prices to soar. In January and February of this year, the price of pork in China had a short-lived decline. A report on Yicai.com suggested that this was related to the concentrated selling caused by the outbreak of African swine fever. The report said that African swine fever has never disappeared in China.

According to Jan Cortenbach, chief technical officer of feed producer Wellhope-De Heus Animal Nutrition, at least 20 percent of the hog was affected, and maybe even 25 percent in northern and northeastern provinces of China by the outbreak of African swine fever in the first quarter of this year.

This statement coincides with March data from Beijing-based CnAgri-China Agricultural Consulting Ltd. It showed that sow stocks in northern China fell by 25 to 30 percent last month compared to February.

According to Chinas Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, an outbreak of African swine fever was reported on April 5 in the Fourth Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. An outbreak of African swine fever occurred on a pig farm in Yining City, Xinjiang, on March 24 in which 293 of the 466 live pigs in stock were infected and only 13 sick pigs survived. In addition, in March, multiple cases of African swine fever were reported in Sichuan, Hubei, Yunnan, and Guangdong, but the reports emphasized that they were all illegal shipments from other provinces.

On March 29, Founder Intermediate Futures clearly stated in its report that Henan Province, the second largest province in China in terms of hog breeding, has been affected by the African swine fever epidemic, with the mortality rate of breeding sows as high as 20-30 percent, and that the loss may be irreversible.

Also in March, a reporter for state mouthpiece Xinhua News Agencys China Comment periodical found about 50 dead pigs along the bank of the Yellow River in the Dalad Banner in Inner Mongolia, suspected to be caused by African swine fever.

Although the CCP has been silent about which provinces the swine fever came from, it has stressed the need for regular prevention and control of African swine fever throughout the country, which is an indirect admission of the seriousness and uncertainty of the change of the swine fever epidemic in China.

Reuters contributed to this report.
The 14th National Assembly from 2016 to 2021 ended with significant imprints made that were highly valued by voters.

browser not support iframe.

Amid the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the 14th National Assembly managed to deploy e-parliament and artificial intelligence in organising meetings. In particular, as the Covid-19 pandemic restricted peoples travel for over a year, the National Assembly conducted several meetings via teleconference for the first time.

The National Assemblys monitoring work also made good impressions on voters as it focused on several pressing social matters.

Regarding legislative activities, the 14th National Assembly adopted critical laws - 72 laws and 18 resolutions to be exact - which met requirements for Vietnams socio-economic development in the new era. The 14th National Assembly also recently completed appointing top leaders with a high level of consensus.

As Vietnam has entered a new phase of development, the innovations during the 14th tenure of the National Assembly are expected to lead the country into an era of prosperity./.VNA
Hainan, often referred to as China's Hawaii, is a tropical island off the southern coast of China. Covering 35,000 sq km and home to around 9.3 million people, it is a popular destination for Chinese tourists given its warm climate, clean environment, sandy beaches and beautiful scenery. Under China's reform and opening-up practice beginning in 1978, the island was designated as one of the country's first special economic zones a decade later in 1988. With a relatively small industrial sector, its economy has long relied on natural resources and the provision of services.



The Chinese government has demonstrated its determined and strategic goal of turning this largest special economic zone in China into a frontline integrating with the global economic system. After a series of planning discussions, on June 1, 2020, China announced a large-scale plan to turn the island into a globally significant free trade port by 2050. This is the country's 12th free trade port but the very first to cover an entire province, which allows it to maintain its economic strength and hence its national strength, and play a crucial role in the global economy.

Hainan's unique geographic location also helps it stand out among the many Chinese provinces. The island's proximity to the Pearl River Delta region as well as some South and Southeast Asian countries allows it to function as a crucial connector and facilitator on the Maritime Silk Road under the Belt and Road Initiative as well as development of the Greater Bay Area. Therefore, it is clear that China is attempting to make its development more coordinated and coherent.

According to the Chinese government, a series of business-friendly supporting policies and initiatives will be rolled out in several stages, as will corresponding changes to the tax and legal systems. It is hoped that zero tariffs, simple and low tax regimes, as well as robust legal institutions will help attain its goals. As a self-contained island, Hainan offers a distinctive testing space for aspiring planners to experiment with various new pilot policies and initiatives.

Given the aforementioned favorable conditions when compared to other existing pilot free trade zones, it is hoped that more foreign enterprises and investors  as well as highly educated and skilled talents  will flow into Hainan. This is aligned with China's overarching goal of accelerating economic restructuring and transforming its economic drivers. It is believed that innovation, quality and brands are more sustainable directions for growth.

Meanwhile, in order to tackle the challenges of losing its competitive edge due to labor shortages and increasing labor costs, this also reflects attempts by the Chinese government to move itself up the value-added chain using innovation. It is no longer possible to merely rely on labor-intensive manufacturing industries to generate economic growth. By re-establishing itself as a global center of innovation and technology, Hainan can help ensure its long-term productivity and competitiveness, especially when the high-value added output might offset the surge in labor costs.

The Chinese government's further development of Hainan is not arbitrary. The government deems the island's current solid foundation as something that allows it to develop in a more cost-effective manner. At present, Hainan's economy features various traditional service industries like finance, logistics and tourism, which have immense potential for expansion. Meanwhile, the scope of modern services could be further extended to include education, medicine, telecommunications, as well as science and technology, which could enhance economic development.

Another implication of Hainan's development is the shift from export-led growth to domestic consumption-based growth. In order to reduce reliance on exports and diversify risks when there are fluctuations within the global economy, the Chinese government is seeking to boost growth from domestic consumption at the same time. The potential development in a wide range of areas in Hainan will help spur consumption and economic growth by creating a new consumer base and expanding the middle class. Meanwhile, the expansion of private consumption in products and services will generate more employment opportunities in the long run.

Nonetheless, although the plan for developing Hainan seems to offer a promising breakthrough in China's economic development, there are still some limitations and uncertainties ahead in terms of the exact implementation, given the global COVID-19 situation. In the future, the Chinese government needs to offer more top-down strategic directions as well as concrete support to facilitate the development.

As the second largest economy in the world, China's economic performance will affect global economic development, especially as the entire world becomes more interconnected and interdependent. After all, the global economy benefits from sustainable growth in China. Hainan's model of sustainable development might also show other Chinese provinces how to achieve both quality and efficiency amid the economic slowdown.

Mathew Wong is an assistant professor in the Department of Social Sciences at the Education University of Hong Kong.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

If you would like to contribute, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn.




Haiti - Diaspora : Already more than 10,000 Haitians in DR have obtained the new CIN





The Embassy of Haiti in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic informs that since last February, the start of the registration process for the renewal or obtaining of the new Haitian National Identity Card (for the first time in the country) more than 15,000 Haitian citizens have already registered and more than 10,000 have already received the precious document.



The Embassy recalls that all members of the Haitian diaspora who have the new biometric Identity Card are able to exercise their right to vote in the referendum which will take place in June and in the next national elections scheduled for September 2021.



The Embassy urges all Haitians residing in the Dominican Republic to participate in the registration process which is underway: at the Embassy located at number 33 rue Juan Sanchez Ramirez, University Zone, from Monday to Sunday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. and at the Haitian consulates in Santiago, Barahona, Dajabon and Higuey on working days.



"We mainly work so that Haitian residents, who work and study throughout the Dominican territory, have all their personal documents, not only the identity card that identifies them as a Haitian citizen, but also their up-to-date passport, in order to that they can carry out all their legal activities in the Dominican Republic," declared Ambassador Smith Augustin in a statement adding that the birth certificate is offered free of charge at the Embassy to those wishing to obtain it, at the same time as their identity card also free.



In addition, he informed that the passports are arriving which have been delayed by the containment linked to Covid-19 in Washington where this document is produced...



We hope that the announcement of Chancellor Joseph in December 2020 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-32421-haiti-flash-towards-the-production-of-passports-at-the-embassy-of-haiti-in-the-dominican-republic.html concerning the "next" production of Haitian Passport in Haitian diplomatic missions in the Dominican Republic becomes a reality to avoid endless delays for compatriots.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33159-haiti-flash-mobile-offices-to-provide-cin-to-haitians-in-dr.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-32421-haiti-flash-towards-the-production-of-passports-at-the-embassy-of-haiti-in-the-dominican-republic.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Horizon postdoc Istvan Toth-Kiraly says adolescents who spend too much time online might be at risk of depressive symptoms, substance abuse and poor grades.
Letters to the Editor View(s):

PC polls: Why incur such expenditure to activate the giant white elephant?

The PC election issue which was on the backburner for almost five years or so, has now come into the limelight.

It is beyond the comprehension of most citizens, as to how a sensible government could possibly think of having whatever election, taking into consideration not only the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic but also the large expenditure amounting to a whopping Rs. 500 million that will be wasted on this exercise, only to activate yet another giant white elephant with political power!

It is obvious that the PC politicians all of whom had been jobless for quite some time now are desperately calling the shots to have PC elections, as for any politician, to be without power is as good as being dead wood.

Most PC politicians are not only close relatives of senior politicians at the centre but also many work hand in glove with most party politicians to share the spoils and enjoy other fringe benefits that are on offer.

On the other hand, the mainstream politicians on both side of the divide are dependent mostly on both PC and local government politicians to pile up their so-called manape to enter Parliament. Put shortly, it is a well-known political symbiosis of inseparable binding for their own survival and prosperity.

The Provincial Council system is a result of the Indo/Lanka peace accord which was signed on July 29, 1987 by Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and President J.R.Jayewardene not only to bring about the much-needed peace at that time but also to devolve power to meet the aspirations of the Tamil people. Unfortunately, it achieved neither. Worse, now we are burdened with an expenditure of almost Rs. 600 billion per annum as recurrent expenditure by way of salaries and wages and to provide 455 elected party members employment!

Under these circumstances, and with the drafting of a new constitution in progress, it is very surprising to many, that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa too has consented to go ahead with PC elections, once the present legal impasse that is preventing the govt. from conducting same, is sorted out in Parliament.

I wonder whether the President with two thirds majority in Parliament and supported further by the 20th Amendment is finding it difficult toprogress and achieve the Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour without politically functioning Provincial Councils. Or is it more than what meets the eye?

M.R.Pathirage Kolonnawa
(Natural News) The American military is on the verge of becoming even more feminized as the Army mulls scrapping its new gender neutral fitness test due to large numbers of women failing to pass it.

The Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) was designed to hold both male and female soldiers to the same set of physical fitness standards, which is a reflection of real-life battlefield conditions that pay no regard to a soldiers gender. In todays triggered social environment, however, this is apparently unacceptable.

Even though there are real-life consequences associated with not being physically fit enough to fight in a war, for instance, female soldiers who are unable to keep up with their male counterparts at the testing level are now demanding their own special set of physical fitness standards that are less rigorous and easier to achieve.

According to a recent Pentagon study, women currently fail the ACFT at a rate of about 65 percent  this compared to just 10 percent for men. This disparity has prompted Congress to halt the implementation of this sexist test while independent investigators evaluate whether or not it is fair.

The test includes six events: a maximum deadlift, a standing power throw, hand-release pushups, drag and carry, leg tuck, and a two-mile run. Those taking it are required to score at least 360 points out of a possible 600, and those on the higher scoring end of the spectrum are more likely to be promoted.

On average, female soldiers score 100 points lower on the ACFT than men do, which is easily explained by the fact that men are physical stronger, on average, than women. It really is as simple as that, no matter what outrage culture has to say about the matter.

Even so, changes are expected to come that will make it easier for women to pass the ACFT, producing a more equal outcome. Even if women are unable to physically perform at the same level as men, they would still receive a passing score under new proposed standards.

Congress has now declared that the test in its current form should not be a factor in deciding whether someone gets promoted, reported Nick Allen from the Daily Telegraph (United Kingdom).

Expected changes include how core body strength is tested in the leg tuck. Instead of hanging from a bar and tucking legs to their chest, soldiers will instead be given the option of doing a two-minute plank exercise. Early research showed female soldiers scores improved with the plank option.

If men and women are equal, shouldnt there be equal tests for all?

One Army official has also suggested using gender specific percentile groupings when evaluating test scores for promotional consideration. Rather than using raw scores among both males and females as a standard baseline, men and women would be separated and categorized in the various percentiles.

In other words, the military is having to admit that men and women are different, but only because women feel as though they are getting the short end of the stick. If things were the other way around and men were performing at something worse than women, there would most likely be silence.

We have to figure out a way to make it fair to both genders, an Army official told Military.com.

All U.S. soldiers have had the ability to take the ACFT as is since October. Scores from the test will not count towards promotions until March 2022.

What this all goes to show, of course, is that women only want equality when it benefits them. In this case, the ACFT does not benefit them when applied equally so suddenly there must be two sets of rules once again that give women an advantage.

More related news can be found at PoliticalCorrectness.news.

Sources for this article include:

NZHerald.co.nz

NaturalNews.com
A disgruntled shopper has called out Kmart for selling women's tracksuit pants three times more than men's $8 near identical style.

The woman, from Victoria, said she was 'disappointed' after she found a pair of women's tracksuit pants for $8, the same price as men's, but the designs were noticeably different.

She pointed out the women's version was 'made of light material and without pockets' while the men's pants featured a 'thicker fleece and have pockets'.

'I am unsure why women's track pants are not made with the same thicker fleece that men's track pants are made of. Women also get cold during winter,' she wrote on the retailer's Facebook page.

'More importantly, I can not fathom what it is about my gender that suggests I would not require pockets in my track pants. I use pockets in my pants literally every day.'

For a pair of women's pants with pockets, she found a branded version for $25 - $17 more than the men's budget version.

'I am aware that there are Everlast track pants that have pockets however I do not want to spend $25 for the privilege of pants with pockets,' she said.

A disgruntled shopper has called out Kmart for selling women's tracksuit pants three times more than men's $8 near identical style. The woman, from Victoria, said she was 'disappointed' after she found a pair of women's tracksuit pants (left) for $8, the same price as men's (right), but the designs were noticeably different

'I, too, want to spend $8 on a basic pair of track pants that are fleecy and warm and have pockets.

'I also understand that nothing is stopping me from buying men's track pants. My problem is, being short in stature, I find men's track pants to be far too long and unfortunately unwearable.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Kmart for comment.

The customer shared 'some examples' of what she typically puts in her pockets, which includes dog treats, keys, a pen and her phone.

'There are many more examples I can give but I will leave it there,' she said.

She said the issue she had was women are required to 'pay extra for pockets'.

'Why can't the basic track pants just have pockets like the men's ones?' she asked.

'What I want is a product that is equal in quality to the men's equivalent. I don't want to be forced to pay more for a product because of my gender. Or is that asking too much?

'Please, I implore you to consider stocking women's track pants made of the same fleece that men's are made of and for the love of God, with pockets.'

The women's $8 tracksuit pants (left) cost the same price as the men's. However, the men's version features two side pockets as well as a back pocket (right)

On the retailer's website, there are a range of women's tracksuit pants with pockets, with prices ranging between $15 and $25

Many women agreed with her statement, with one saying: 'We want gender-equal features for the same price. We love Kmart for being ahead of the curve. This is one area that is lacking.'

But others insisted women could simply resolve their issue just by purchasing a smaller size in the men's aisle.

'You can buy the men's pants. Or you can pay more and get female pants with pockets. Or you can shop elsewhere,' one man wrote.

And another added: 'I fail to see this as a gender issue. Get off your high horse. Male and female fashions are remarkably different.'

On the retailer's website, there are a range of women's tracksuit pants with pockets, with prices ranging between $15 and $25.
Asa Hutchinson lashed out on Sunday at Donald Trump for being 'divisive' after the former president attacked several Republican leaders during a GOP fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago.

During the Saturday fundraiser, Trump said he was 'disappointed' in his former Vice President Mike Pence and claimed Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is a 'dumb son of a bit*h.'

Hutchinson, the Republican governor of Arkansas, told CNN's 'State of the Union' host Jake Tapper: 'Well, anything that is divisive is a concern and is not helpful for us fighting in the battles in Washington and at the state level.'

'In some ways, it's not a big deal what he said, but at the same time whenever it draws attention, we don't need that,' he continued.

'We need unity. We need to be focused together,' he added. 'We have slim majorities or slim numbers in Washington and we got battles to fight. So we need to get beyond that.'

Also during his appearance Sunday morning, Hutchinson defended his decision to veto a bill banning doctors from treating transgender minors with hormones  a measure that ultimately passed when the Arkansas Congress overwhelmingly overrode his veto.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson slammed Donald Trump on Sunday morning for being 'divisive' in attacking GOP leadership at a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser Saturday. He said: 'We need unity. We need to be focused together'

During a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago Saturday, Trump reportedly said 'I was disappointed' in Mike Pence and called Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell a 'dumb son of a b***h'

Trump and former first lady Melania appeared at the GOP fundraiser Saturday evening at his Southern Florida resort

'Well, any time you go against the grain, you're going to get that kind of blowback,' Hutchinson told CNN. 'I think it's healthy for our society, I think it's helpful for our party to have that kind of vigorous debate about an important issue.'

Hutchinson said his decision was ultimately a Republican one, because he felt the bill was an overreach of the limited government conservatives usually strive to achieve.

Trump, last week, attacked Hutchinson's veto  at the same time endorsing his former press secretary, Sarah Sanders, in her bid to become Arkansas' next governor.

The former president claimed in a statement Thursday that Hutchinson supports 'chemical castration of children'.

Hutchinson also defended on Sunday his decision to veto a bill banning doctors from giving transgender children hormones: 'Well, any time you go against the grain, you're going to get that kind of blowback'

'Asa Hutchinson, the lightweight RINO Governor of Arkansas, just vetoed a Bill that banned the CHEMICAL CASTRATION OF CHILDREN,' Trump released in a statement under the letterhead from his Save America political action committee.

''Bye-bye Asa,' that's the end of him!' he added.

Trump has used emails through his PAC and 'Office of the 45th President' to send out statements issuing endorsements and attacking defectors.

'RINO', which means 'Republican in Name Only', and has become known as a popular insult to wield against GOP lawmakers and politicians, is a term Trump often uses against his critics and defectors.

The former president deemed Hutchinson's career over and slipped in an endorsement of his former press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in the statement.

Trump issued a statement Thursday claiming Hutchinson supports 'chemical castration of children'

'Fortunately for the Great State of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders will do a fantastic job as your next Governor!' Trump wrote.

It's never been a question whether Trump would publicly back his former spokesperson, who left in July 2019 and was succeeded by Kayleigh McEnany. It was clear she was leaving the administration to spend more time with her family and think about her career post-White House.

Sanders officially announced on January 25, 2021 that she would run to become Arkansas' next governor in the November 2022 election.

Hutchinson is in his second term, and the state of Arkansas has a two-term limit on governors.

On Friday, Trump held another event at Mar-a-Lago with Sanders where he formally endorsed the mother of three.

Sanders is the daughter of Mike Huckabee, who served as Arkansas' governor from 1996-2007.

Trump also sent another statement from his Save America PAC on Thursday endorsing Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul in his reelection.

'He fights against the Swamp in Washington, the Radical Left Liberals, and especially the destructive RINOS, of which there are far too many, in Congress,' Trump said of Paul in his statement.

'Rand will continue to stand up for our great AMERICA FIRST policies because he believes in stopping wasteful spending, defending our Second Amendment rights, and taking care of our Military and our Vets,' Trump continued. 'He has my Complete and Total Endorsement for another term in the U.S. Senate.'

Trump also held court Friday at his resort where he endorsed his former press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, for governor of Arkansas

Sanders, who is running for Arkansas governor, posted a picture to Instagram on Saturday thanking Trump for endorsing her at Mar-a-Lago on Friday

Trump is using his statements through his PAC and former president's office as a means to get his messages out after he was booted from Twitter following the January 6 Capitol attack.

These messages include endorsements and attacks  like on Hutchinson.

Tensions between the former president and Arkansas governor have been publicly boiling ever since the January 6 Capitol attack.

Trump told an audience of Republican Party donors on Saturday that the COVID-19 vaccine should be named after him as he admonished them to call it 'the Trumpcine.'

He also called the November election in which Joe Biden won 'bulls**t,' according to the Washington Post , which cited an attendee, who also said he spoke for about an hour at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort for a party fundraiser.

He said he wished former Vice President Mike Pence had possessed the 'courage' to send the certification of the Electoral College votes back to state legislatures.

'I like him so much. I was disappointed,' Trump said, according to the Post.

Most Democrats even think he won the election, Trump said, according to the Post, but they won't say it out loud.

He repeated a line from 2015 calling immigrants crossing the border illegally violent criminals, this time saying 'they're coming in from the Middle East.'

'They're not sending their best people. You have murderers, you have rapists, you have drug dealers,' Trump said, according to the Post.

The former president also hit out at Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former Republican Senate Majority Leader who's since fallen out with Trump after pinning blame on him for the January Capitol riots.

McConnell is a 'dumb son of a bit*h,' Trump said in his Saturday remarks, according to a CNN reporter who was told by a person in the room.

During the Saturday talk, Trump said some have told them there were 'more than a million' people at the rally that preceded the riots, according to the Post.

Meanwhile, Trump said he will help the GOP win seats in 2022 congressional elections but shed no new light on whether he will seek a second term in 2024.

Trump played host to a dinner at his Mar-a-Lago Club for Republican National Committee donors who are spending the weekend charting the future course of the party in Palm Beach, Florida.

'We are gathered tonight to talk about the future of the Republican Party - and what we must do to set our candidates on a course to victory,' Trump said, according to a prepared text of his speech to the group seen by Reuters.

'I stand before you this evening filled with confidence that in 2022, we are going to take back the House (of Representatives) and we are going to reclaim the Senate. And then in 2024, a Republican candidate is going to win the White House,' he said.

Trump is seen above mingling at the fundraiser (left). Melania is pictured at the event, right

While a staunch Republican, Hutchinson has shared some views and made some decisions that go against establishment GOP perspectives  including his decision this week to go against his own state legislature.

On Tuesday, the Arkansas House and Senate, which are overwhelmingly Republican, voted to override Hutchinson's veto.

This means Arkansas is now the first state that will bar doctors from providing certain treatment to transgender minors  like irreversible hormone treatment that could delay, stunt or, in some cases, stop puberty.

Hutchinson vetoed the legislation on Monday, calling it 'a vast government overreach.' He also claimed the bill was well intentioned and predicted there would be a successful override vote.

The House voted 71 to 24 on Tuesday to override the veto, followed shortly thereafter by the Senate, 25 to eight  even though only a simple majority was needed in each chamber.

The bill will become law 90 days after the end of the legislative session, which is currently scheduled to end on April 30.

At least 16 other states are considering similar legislation taking aim at treatment for children who identify as transgender.

Critics claim these laws will lead to more suicides, while supporters feel it will protect underage individuals from taking medical measures  most times permanent  that they will later regret as an adult or teen.
- By GF Value





The stock of Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX, 30-year Financials) is estimated to be modestly overvalued, according to GuruFocus Value calculation. GuruFocus Value is GuruFocus' estimate of the fair value at which the stock should be traded. It is calculated based on the historical multiples that the stock has traded at, the past business growth and analyst estimates of future business performance. If the price of a stock is significantly above the GF Value Line, it is overvalued and its future return is likely to be poor. On the other hand, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher. At its current price of $79.29 per share and the market cap of $2.9 billion, Comfort Systems USA stock gives every indication of being modestly overvalued. GF Value for Comfort Systems USA is shown in the chart below.





Comfort Systems USA Stock Is Estimated To Be Modestly Overvalued

Because Comfort Systems USA is relatively overvalued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to be lower than its business growth, which averaged 17.9% over the past five years.

Link: These companies may deliever higher future returns at reduced risk.

Companies with poor financial strength offer investors a high risk of permanent capital loss. To avoid permanent capital loss, an investor must do their research and review a company's financial strength before deciding to purchase shares. Both the cash-to-debt ratio and interest coverage of a company are a great way to to understand its financial strength. Comfort Systems USA has a cash-to-debt ratio of 0.17, which which ranks worse than 83% of the companies in Construction industry. The overall financial strength of Comfort Systems USA is 6 out of 10, which indicates that the financial strength of Comfort Systems USA is fair. This is the debt and cash of Comfort Systems USA over the past years:

Story continues

Comfort Systems USA Stock Is Estimated To Be Modestly Overvalued

Companies that have been consistently profitable over the long term offer less risk for investors who may want to purchase shares. Higher profit margins usually dictate a better investment compared to a company with lower profit margins. Comfort Systems USA has been profitable 9 over the past 10 years. Over the past twelve months, the company had a revenue of $2.9 billion and earnings of $4.09 a share. Its operating margin is 6.62%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Construction industry. Overall, the profitability of Comfort Systems USA is ranked 7 out of 10, which indicates fair profitability. This is the revenue and net income of Comfort Systems USA over the past years:

Comfort Systems USA Stock Is Estimated To Be Modestly Overvalued

Growth is probably the most important factor in the valuation of a company. GuruFocus research has found that growth is closely correlated with the long term performance of a company's stock. The faster a company is growing, the more likely it is to be creating value for shareholders, especially if the growth is profitable. The 3-year average annual revenue growth rate of Comfort Systems USA is 17.9%, which ranks better than 86% of the companies in Construction industry. The 3-year average EBITDA growth rate is 23.6%, which ranks better than 83% of the companies in Construction industry.

Another method of determining the profitability of a company is to compare its return on invested capital to the weighted average cost of capital. Return on invested capital (ROIC) measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. When the ROIC is higher than the WACC, it implies the company is creating value for shareholders. For the past 12 months, Comfort Systems USA's return on invested capital is 11.15, and its cost of capital is 7.61. The historical ROIC vs WACC comparison of Comfort Systems USA is shown below:

Comfort Systems USA Stock Is Estimated To Be Modestly Overvalued

To conclude, the stock of Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX, 30-year Financials) shows every sign of being modestly overvalued. The company's financial condition is fair and its profitability is fair. Its growth ranks better than 83% of the companies in Construction industry. To learn more about Comfort Systems USA stock, you can check out its 30-year Financials here.

To find out the high quality companies that may deliever above average returns, please check out GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


Tehran: Irans Natanz nuclear site suffered a problem on Sunday involving its electrical distribution grid just hours after starting up new advanced centrifuges that more quickly enrich uranium, state TV reported. It was the latest incident to strike one of Tehrans most-secured sites amid negotiations over the tattered atomic accord with world powers.

State TV quoted Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for Irans civilian nuclear program, announcing the incident.

A satellite photo shows Irans Natanz nuclear facility earlier this week. Credit:Planet Labs via AP

Kamalvandi said there were no injuries or pollution cause by the incident.

The word state television used in its report attributed to Kamalvandi in Farsi can be used for both accident and incident. It didnt immediately clarify the report, which ran at the bottom of its screen on its live broadcast. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the civilian arm of its nuclear program, did not immediately issue a formal statement about the incident on its website.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 20:06:01|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

NAIROBI -- Kenya's elephant population has gradually increased at an annual rate of approximately 2.8 percent over the last three decades amid declining poaching, a wildlife research institute said on Sunday.

"This success is attributed to enhanced government initiatives to combat poaching and trophy trafficking, and the continued collaboration with national and international partners to stop the trade in ivory," the State-owned Wildlife Research and Training Institute said in a statement.

- - - -

NEW DELHI -- "Today, we are facing a strange situation. Now we have vaccines available, unlike in the earlier three waves when we didn't have the option of vaccines. But, despite the availability of vaccines, the number of new cases today is even more than during the earlier waves," said New Delhi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday.

The Indian capital is witnessing its fourth COVID-19 wave as a single-day spike of 10,732 new COVID-19 cases was seen, in contrast to last month when less than 200 cases were being reported every day, he said.

- - - -

ISTANBUL -- "We believe that the current crisis must be resolved peacefully by diplomatic means in line with the territorial integrity of Ukraine and international laws," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday at a joint press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky here.

Erdogan called for a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the "worrying developments" in eastern Ukraine between Kiev and Moscow.

- - - -

LONDON -- The funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh is to be a "ceremonial royal funeral", rather than a state funeral, which "very much reflects the duke's wishes", a Buckingham Palace spokesman said Saturday.

The event will be held at Windsor on April 17, with no public access nor public procession beforehand, according to the spokesman. Enditem
The 30-year mystery surrounding the Isabella Gardner Museum heist, the biggest art theft in U.S. history, got some renewed intrigue with the recent release of a new docuseries This Is a Robbery on Netflix.

The four-part series, winding through the story of one of the most vexxing art heists of a generation, again turns an eye on aging reputed gangster Robert Gentile, who has spent the better part of the past decade denying any knowledge or involvement.

The $500 million heist has remained unsolved since two crooks, disguised as Boston police officers, got into the vaunted museum in March 1990, tied up the guards and made off with 13 works, cutting many from the frames they were hung in.

The art stolen includes works by Rembrant, Vermeer, Degas and Manet, along with an eagle finial statute.

The director of the series, Colin Barnicle, told SF Gate that he believes the art spread out among a small group of criminals, where it remains.

Barnicle says one informant saw the stolen eagle finial above a grease pit at a repair shop in Connecticut.

I do think some of the stuff is around, but the people who have it might not know exactly the provenance of it, Barnicle told SF Gate. The Degas drawings you might think somebody was sitting in the stands at Suffolk Downs in East Boston and drew it.

Gentile, despite pressure from federal authorities in separate criminal cases, has never publicly admitted to having any knowledge of the paintings or their whereabouts.

Facing gun charges in 2016, federal prosecutors said that Gentile told an undercover agent that he had access to two of the paintings and could see them for $500,000 each, the Associated Press reported.

Prosecutors later told a judge that Gentile talked about the paintings while he was held in a federal penitentiary in Rhode Island awaiting trial, according to the Associated Press.

Gentiles lawyer, A. Ryan ,McGuigan had sought to have the charges dropped, saying that federal agents entrapped his client in an effort to get his cooperation with the unsolved Gardner heist investigation.

In a previous federal case against Gentile in 2013, prosecutors said they found told a handwritten note with the names of all the stolen paintings while searching the mans Manchester home, the Associated Press reported at the time.

The docuseries highlights a sweeping search of Gentiles Manchester property at the time and a belief among investigators that they would find the long missing work. A TV interview with McGuigan is shown in which he says: They are looking for paintings. They are looking for them right here.

No paintings have been recovered and the frames still sit empty in the Gardner museum.

For years, the whereabouts of the paintings was left to speculation until 2013, when the FBIs Boston Field Office announced it had evidence that showed the paintings had moved through Connecticut.

The FBI believes with a high degree of confidence that in the years after the theft, the art was transported to Connecticut and the Philadelphia region, and some of the art was taken to Philadelphia, where it was offered for sale by those responsible for the theft, said Richard DesLauriers, then the head of the FBIs Boston office. With that same confidence, we have identified the thieves, who are members of a criminal organization with a base in the Mid-Atlantic states and New England.

Despite what DesLauriers said, the FBI, which believes the thieves are dead, never publicly identified the suspects involved in the heist. Gentile, who has been out of prison since 2019, has never been charged with possessing the stolen art.

A $10 million reward for the return of the paintings has not been claimed.
Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death.

Submit
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 15:22:06|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

NEW DELHI, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The Indian capital of New Delhi is witnessing its fourth COVID-19 wave as a single-day spike of 10,732 new COVID-19 cases was seen, in contrast to last month when less than 200 cases were being reported every day, said the national capital's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday.

Ruling out the option of lockdown to contain the COVID-19 spread, the minister appealed to the people at large to go for vaccination, and follow COVID-19 protocols like wearing masks and washing hands regularly even after taking vaccine jabs.

People should also avoid unnecessary travel out of their homes, he added.

According to him, nearly 65 percent of the patients suffering from the pandemic were aged less than 35 years.

"Today, we are facing a strange situation. Now we have vaccines available, unlike in the earlier three waves when we didn't have the option of vaccines. But, despite the availability of vaccines, the number of new cases today is even more than during the earlier waves," he said.

Kejriwal appealed to the people of Delhi to take vaccination seriously. "I appeal to the federal government to remove all conditions regarding vaccination. Let the vaccines be given to one and all. Vaccination seems to be the only cure for this pandemic," added the chief minister.

He went on to say that his government was ready to carry out a door-to-door COVID-19 vaccination drive in the national capital.

So far as many as 11,235 people have died in the national capital due to COVID-19.

The chief assured that there were an adequate number of beds in hospitals, both private and government, and that people having less severe COVID-19 symptoms should home quarantine themselves instead of going to hospitals. Enditem
A view of Mount Gyeryong in 2010 / Courtesy of David Mason



By Robert Neff



While traveling to Nonsan in the autumn of 1884, Foulk jotted down in his journal that the hills had ended and he was provided with a view of "Keryong san" (Mount Gyeryong). It is a shame he did not translate the name into English  Chicken Dragon Mountain  as his parents might have found it more interesting. Perhaps Foulk was unaware of its translation and how it came by its name  the mountain's ridgeline is said to resemble a dragon with a chicken's comb upon it.



He did not travel to the mountain but noted: "Sick people carry pieces of iron and tiles to it and leave them there to cure themselves. If these are taken away, the taker gets sick instantly."



Mount Gyeryong is often referred to as one of the most sacred in Korea and possesses a great deal of spiritual power  but Foulk, being a somewhat non-religious man, found little interest in its healing powers. And, somewhat surprisingly, Foulk did not seem too interested in the political importance the mountain held.



The mountain "is foretold to be the site for the next capital" and the name of the next dynasty would be Chung. When Songdo (modern-day Gaeseong in North Korea) was being replaced by Seoul as the new capital of Joseon, the people sometimes referred to their revenue rice as "Yi rice"  named after Joseon's Yi Dynasty. According to Foulk, "the whole people [of this community] commonly talk of revenue rice as [Chung] ssal (rice)."



It is a shame Foulk did not consider the site important enough to visit, for surely his description would be valuable to modern scholars. For the most part, the mountain was relatively ignored by Western media until 1921 when an article appeared in an American newspaper.





A sanshin stone altar at Mount Gyeryong in 1998 / Courtesy of David Mason





The path leading to the Pool of the Male Dragon in 1998 / Courtesy of David Mason The Pool of the Male Dragon. Some women believed bathing in this phallus-shaped pool could help guarantee they would have a son. / Courtesy of David Mason

According to the article: Mount Gyeryong, "the lonely mountain of Korea" was experiencing a real estate boom that rivaled those of oil towns in the United States.



"On a tiny piece of land on the mountain side are now encamped 2,562 persons forming 523 households, while hundreds more are gathered at the base, bidding high prices for the privilege of buying a bit of land among the favored."









A great Korean prophet "whose writings have been preserved in the ancestral mausoleum of the one-time imperial family of Korea, long ago prophesied that Mount [Gyeryong] would be chosen as the religious center of the sect which he founded and as the future capital and metropolis of the peninsula."



The article went on to claim that the prophecy had recently received a great deal of publicity and thousands of Koreans were flocking to the mountain in hopes of purchasing land where one of greatest cities of the world would soon be built.



The prophesized capital never materialized but it did  and perhaps still does  have a political role. In the late 1970s, it served as a military headquarters  the steep slopes providing excellent protection from artillery and missile barrages and it became closed to the general public.



Prof. David A. Mason was told "the Army forcibly requisitioned all the land of the entire Shindo-an Valley, expelling around 15,000 shamans, monks farmers and others off the land, and destroying hundreds of shrines & temples."



Mason, who has been to the mountain and the handful of religious sites that remain, added:



"I feel that this was a remarkable and tragic act of cultural destruction, and it always makes me sad to think of it. I wish that the spiritual culture was still flourishing there!"



Some suggest the military's use of the mountain wasn't only due to its strategic location and natural defenses  they suggest that perhaps President Park Chung-hee was attempting to utilize the prophecy to legitimize his own dynasty.



The destruction of so many of the religious and historical sites on this most sacred mountain in Korea leaves a bitter taste in Mason's mouth.



"I regret that this happened and hope that someday there will be a full public accounting of it."





Two dragons hold a gong at Gap Temple in 2012. / Courtesy of David Mason
The numbers of alcohol-related hospital admissions for older people is much higher than their younger counterparts, figures show. (Stock image: Getty)

There were more than three quarters of a million alcohol-related hospital admissions during the height of the COVID pandemic - with far more older people ending up in hospital than their younger counterparts - figures suggest.

Data from NHS Digital shows that there were 773,523 alcohol-related admissions between April and December last year - with three quarters of them (587,501) involving patients over the age of 50.

For the same period, alcohol-related admissions involving patients between 60 and 80 stood at over 300,000, compared to fewer than 100,000 admissions for patients aged 20 to 40.

The figures come just six months after experts warned that the number of people drinking "high risk" amounts of alcohol had doubled since before lockdown.

The number of alcohol-related admissions is down overall. (Stock image: Getty)

The NHS Digital figures, which measure admissions rather than numbers of people, show that far more older people are ending up in hospital due to alcohol than younger drinkers.

They do show a drop in alcohol-related admissions on the same period the previous year, where there were more than a million admissions.

Read more: Police urgently looking for mother of newborn baby found dead in supermarket car park

Alcohol-related admissions can include alcohol-related illnesses, excessive consumption or injuries people have sustained while under the influence.

In September, the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) warned in a report that an estimated 8.4 million people had drunk "high-risk" amounts of alcohol in June, compared to 4.8 million people four months earlier.

The college raised concerns that addiction services would be unable to treat the "huge numbers" of high-risk drinkers after being "starved of funding" for years.

Commenting on the latest figures, Dr Richard Piper, chief executive of the charity Alcohol Change UK, told MailOnline: "There is an urgent need to offer high-quality treatment and support for all those who are struggling with their drinking."

Watch: Why life has been extremely challenging on the Scottish islands with just 70 COVID cases
KYODO NEWS - Apr 11, 2021 - 18:43 | World, All

Tibetans living in exile in around 30 countries voted Sunday for their new political leader, with the outcome of the election expected to be announced as early as May.

For the position of president of the Central Tibetan Administration, the government-in-exile based in Dharamsala, India, Penpa Tsering, 57, the former speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, is running against Kelsang Dorjee Aukatsang, 52, a former senior staff of a non-profit organization established by the government-in-exile.

The current president Lobsang Sangay, 53, cannot stand this time because he has served for two consecutive terms, according to the administration.

There are a total of 82,969 registered voters around the world, according to the election commission.

The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, stepped down as political head of the Tibetan government-in exile in 2011.

Sangay, who has been serving as president since 2011, has maintained the moderate approach of seeking a high-level of autonomy for Tibetans in Tibet rather than independence from China.

Both Tsering and Aukatsang have similar views as him and so the policies of the Tibetan government-in-exile toward China are unlikely to go through major changes under either candidate.

A Tibetan woman who voted in New Delhi told Kyodo News, "I expect the new leader should work for the equality of Tibetan people in the society and should carry forward the Dalai Lama's thinking."

Tenzin Zondru, a 38-year-old Tibetan man, who also cast his ballot in the Indian capital, said the new president "should keep Tibetans united in a democracy."

The Dalai Lama fled China to India following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

Related coverage:

U.S. Congress passes bill in support of Tibetan human rights

After 60 years in exile, Tibetans struggle to preserve their heritage
Appointment

9 April 2021

Tiffany Rioux joins the new Dupont Circle as Director of Sales & Business Development

The Dupont Circle has undergone a complete transformation ensconcing itself among the most luxurious hotels in Washington, DC. In addition to its new mid-century bar and restaurant designed by Martin Brudnizki, its new oasis-like penthouse suite designed by Irish-born Clodagh, and its completely revamped rooms and suites, The Dupont Circle has brought on luxury hospitality veteran Tiffany Rioux to helm its sales and marketing.

Tiffany is ingrained in the D.C. hotel world after working at Conrad for three years and Rosewood, Capella, St. Regis and Langham before that. She brings with her an in-depth knowledge of the market and a creative outlook in crafting the best integrated strategies across e-commerce, social media, events, partnerships and advisor relationships.
New Delhi, April 11 : He has been around in the industry for nine years now, but it was only in 2019 that he became a familiar face with his performance as Moeen in "Gully Boy". The spotlight has never left Vijay Varma since then, and the actor now asserts he wants to have a long career in Bollywood.

Vijay ventured into Bollywood in 2012 with "Chittagong", and his first big break was in 2016, where he shared screen space with Amitabh Bachchan in "Pink". He was then seen in films such as "Gully Boy", "Yaara" and "Bamfaad". He was a talking point with his performance in the web-series "Mirzapur 2" as well as his recent released show "OK Computer".

Talking about Bollywood being a brutal place that defines success through hits and misses, Vijay says his fears are different.

"I don't know. I know that the audience suddenly starts to lose interest in certain actors and I could never figure out what could be the reason, but it is one of the deepest fears -- One of the fears I would have is not to be accepted by the audience," Vijay told IANS.

That's not his only fear, though.

"The second biggest fear will be to lose your capability as an actor. You're no longer able to do something surprising or invent a character or to do something that fascinates people. These are the fears every artiste lives with, and they therefore try to push themselves harder and reinvent themselves time and again," he said.

The 37-year-old does not want to stop early. "I would want to have a long career.... Would want to tell a lot many stories through a lot many characters... Best way to go about this is by keeping my head on the shoulder and feet on the ground and working hard, smart and taking risks," he signed off.

(Durga Chakravarty can be contacted at durga.c@ians.in)
Dugway Proving Ground tests and stores some of the deadliest chemical and biological agents on Earth.

The facility, which opened in 1942, covers about 800,000 acres - larger than the state of Rhode Island.

Past experiments include weaponized mosquitoes and fleas, as well as tests with deadly diseases such as anthrax.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Following is a transcript of the video.

Narrator: In 1968, about 6,000 sheep died near this government facility. They were poisoned by a chemical weapon named VX.

The US hasn't been known to actively use VX in combat. In fact, it's begun destroying its stockpile of chemical munitions as part of a UN treaty. But it's just one of many strange and secretive experiments that happened within these walls. Experiments on sheep, mosquitoes, and even civilians.

About 85 miles southwest of Salt Lake City is the US government's top-secret bioweapons lab. It's called the Dugway Proving Ground. The 77-year-old facility covers about 800,000 acres. That's just a little larger than the entire state of Rhode Island. And it tests some of the deadliest chemical, biological, radiological, and explosive hazards on Earth.

Less famous than Area 51, Dugway dates all the way back to 1942. Right in the middle of World War II.

Clip: The decisive battle of war has begun.

Narrator: The government needed a large area to test powerful weapons, eventually settling on this stretch of land in the Utah desert. Back then, the site was used to test everything from chemical sprays and flamethrowers to various antidotes and protective equipment, and even fire-bombing.

After World War II, Dugway mostly shut down. Until the Korean War began in 1950. That's when the proving ground turned into what it is today: a permanent military base. In Dugway's first few decades, the base worked mostly on offensive weaponry: biological and chemical munitions designed to directly attack enemies.

Story continues

Clip: Sampling devices, positioned throughout the test area, yield valuable information to chemical core researchers.

Narrator: The 1950s, for example, saw the launch of Operation Big Itch, an experiment that was testing weaponized fleas. The fleas weren't infected with any type of disease or agent, but experimenters were working with thousands of them. And the fleas were dropped in cluster bombs, to gauge if they would survive the fall from an airplane. And this was only part one. Dugway launched a second experiment, called Project Bellwether, in the 1960s. Only this time, mosquitoes were injected with inert diseases, inert bacteria, and inert viruses. But get this: Those mosquitoes were released upon several groups of human volunteers, who were bitten again and again during the trials.

And there are records dating back to the late 1950s, which describe experiments that used infected mosquitoes. And those are just two experiments known to the public. Exactly what goes on at Dugway is, well, pretty unclear. And that's not by accident.

The area is intensely guarded. Everything that comes in and out is carefully monitored, guards are on constant patrol and actively armed, and the perimeter is lined with tall, barbed-wire fencing. There are even signs that authorize "deadly force" when necessary.

Since the 1940s, officials say operations have shifted from offensive to defensive tactics. Case in point, most of the current known work prepares agents to defend against potential biological and chemical attacks. For example, a multitude of training programs are held on-site for the armed forces.

Here's one in which Army Reserve soldiers are tasked with checking the radiation levels of artillery rounds. And here's another where soldiers were tasked with identifying substances in a simulated chemical lab.

Dugway's main operations include the "BRAUCH" training facility, constructed from various shipping containers. It simulates underground environments for military training. There are also various buildings and rooms that serve specific purposes. Like the decontamination testing chamber, the wind-tunnel testing room, and the material test facility.

But perhaps the most interesting room of all is this: the Smartman Laboratory facility, which houses the Smartman dummy, a model that's used to simulate human contact with chemical agents, including the infamous VX nerve agent. Specifically, the Smartman helps the lab develop more effective individual protection respiratory equipment,- essentially, gas masks and the like.

A variety of chemists, chemical analysts, and technicians work on-site. And the use of airtight chambers and gas masks is not only common, but mandatory. Despite all of this dangerous experimentation, the work done at Dugway hasn't always been properly contained.

Remember that sheep incident? That marked the start of a worrisome track record. It happened when overhead planes spewed out the nerve agent into the wind, accidentally sending it into nearby farmland in Skull Valley. Within the next couple of days, farmers found thousands of sheep dead in their fields. The Army compensated the farmers and lent them bulldozers to bury the sheep. But the accident sparked a whole debate on the use of chemical weapons in warfare.

Adding on to these questionable practices, a 1994 Senate hearing on veterans' health focused specifically on Dugway veterans and civilians. A report found that people at Dugway were exposed to biological and chemical simulants believed to be safe at the time, but that the Army had later stopped using many of them because "they realized they were not as safe as previously believed."

One veteran, who was accidentally sprayed in the face with the chemical DMMP in 1984, found himself wheezing and coughing the next day - symptoms that ended up lasting several weeks. Despite this, he was given only cough medicine and antibiotics by the Dugway Army Hospital. The Dugway Safety Office assured him that the chemical was safe. But by 1988, officials at Dugway had reevaluated the simulant's danger and were concerned it could cause cancer and kidney damage.

In 2011, the facility slipped up again: It went on lockdown after workers lost a vial containing the VX nerve agent. Nobody was permitted to enter or exit the facility, not even the employees.

And in 2016, the CDC and the Department of Defense launched a major investigation when a review team found that Dugway had been operating dangerously for several years without the government's knowledge. USA Today reported "egregious failures" by the facility's leadership and staff. The reports singled out the head colonel in command at Dugway, Brig. Gen. William King.

The Army's accountability investigation recognized King as unqualified, lacking the education and training to effectively oversee biosafety procedures crucial to Dugway's operation. The report admonished him, saying he "repeatedly deflected blame" and "minimized the severity of incidents." It even says King "fails to recognize" how serious the incidents truly were. And how serious were the incidents, exactly? Well, under King's command, the facility mistakenly shipped live anthrax to other labs. And not just once, but multiple times. For over a decade.

That same report revealed that workers had been regularly and deliberately manipulating data in important records. Records meant to verify that pathogens being transported elsewhere were killed and safe for researchers to handle without protective gear. Still, the facility's shady past, secretive operations, and intense surveillance have captured the attention, and skepticism, of some closer observers, including several conspiracy-theorist groups.

There are suggestions that the facility is the "new Area 51." And the local community has raised their own questions about the facility's operations. Dugway was even featured in an episode of The History Channel's "UFO Hunters," in which local residents and UFO watchers were interviewed and footage from the area was examined. It's hard not to wonder, when you live in close proximity to such a restricted landscape.

Despite these theories, Dugway has expressed a desire to be "more transparent." And representatives have said the facility wants to be "more a part of the local community" by better informing citizens about what exactly goes on there. So far, they've delivered some on that. The facility has its own events page, which lists several events open to the general public and the local Utah community. This year, they're hosting a trail race on the facility grounds.

Certainly, today's Dugway is a far cry from the 1940s Dugway, which was entirely closed off to the public. But despite the shift in the level of secrecy, much of Dugway's testing remains classified, preserving the skepticism and mysteriousness surrounding the facility.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This video was originally published in October 2019.

Read the original article on Business Insider
India has banned the export of Remdesivir injection and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) used for making the coronavirus medication till the recent surge in COVID-19 cases subsides.

India has been witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases with the second wave of the pandemic. As of Sunday, the number of active cases stood at 11.08 lakh, and this figure is steadily rising, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. "This has led to a sudden spike in demand for Injection Remdesivir used in treatment of COVID patients. There is a potential of further increase in this demand in the coming days," it further added.

ALSO READ: Five COVID-19 vaccines likely by end of Q3; Sputnik V, Novavax, J&J in line

Currently, seven Indian companies are producing Remdesivir injections under voluntary licensing agreement with US-based Gilead Sciences. These producers have an installed capacity of about 38.80 lakh units per month.

Union Health Ministry said it is taking measures to ensure easy access to Remdesivir for hospitals and patients. All domestic manufactures of Remdesivir have been advised to display details of their stockists and distributors on their website to facilitate access to the drug.

Drugs inspectors and other officers have been directed to verify stocks and take "effective actions to curb hoarding and black marketing". The State Health Secretaries will review this with the drug inspectors of the respective states and union territories.

ALSO READ: COVID-19 situation in Delhi 'very serious'; people should stay at home: CM Kejriwal

Health Ministry said that the Department of Pharmaceuticals has been in contact with the domestic manufacturers to ramp up the production of Remdesivir.

The central government has also advised the States to adhere to the extant National Clinical Management Protocol for COVID-19 for treatment of patients infected with the virus. This protocol lists Remdesivir as an investigational therapy. This direction should be conveyed to hospitals and compliance should be monitored, the Health Ministry stated.

(Edited by Vivek Punj)

ALSO READ: 20-30% recovered people lose natural immunity against COVID-19 in 6 months
40% of US Adults Now Fully Vaccinated

By West Kentucky Star Staff

WASHINGTON DC - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that 166 million people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, including more than 62 percent of the nation's adults.About 133 million people have been fully vaccinated by Johnson & Johnsons single-dose vaccine or the two-dose series made by Pfizer and Moderna.However, the daily average of national doses continues to fall steadily. As of Friday, an average of 1.5 million doses are being administered daily, compared with 1.8 million a week ago and 3.4 million in April.This spring, President Biden set a goal of July 4 to reach the 70 percent "herd immunity" level, but at the current rate the CDC estimates that level won't be reached before August 27.Kentucky has given at least one dose to 46 percent of its residents, ranking it 29th in the nation. More than 38 percent of Kentucky residents are now fully vaccinated.Illinois ranks 18th at 54 percent. Tennessee ranks 45th in the nation with 38.9 percent getting at least one dose.Vermont continues to have the highest percentage of its population getting vaccinations at 70 percent. Hawaii and Massachusetts are next at 66 percent.Eight states are now over 60 percent with at least one shot administered, and 21 are over 50 percent.On the Net:
A Californian cannabis entrepreneur turned Democratic mayor was arrested Saturday on suspicion of sexually assaulting a minor aged 14 or 15 and possessing child pornography.

Police arrested former Sebastopol Mayor Robert Jacob, 44, over alleged attacks that occurred in the city between December 2019 and March 2021 - while he was no longer in elected office.

It came after police received a call on March 30 describing a number of offences said to have been carried out by Jacob, who was elected mayor in 2013 and served one term.

Police arrested former Sebastopol Mayor Robert Jacob, 44, over alleged felony sexual assaults that occurred in the city between December 2019 and March 2021 - while he was no longer in elected office

Police Chief Kevin Kilgore said Jacob was arrested just after 7am on charges including forcible penetration of a child aged 14 or 15 and a number of other sex crimes against minors.

'Right now, that investigation is ongoing for a determination as to the number of victims,' said Kilgore.

Jacob is now being held without bail at Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility on suspicion of five felonies and one misdemeanor.

The charges also include transporting a minor for the purposes of having sex with them and soliciting a minor for lewd purposes.

Jacob made history as the first US mayor to have served in the medical cannabis industry, owning two cannabis dispensaries at the time of his election in December 2013.

He served only one term, which included a six-month leave of absence to deal with a family illness.

Jacob did not seek re-election but served a variety of roles on the city council before leaving in December 2017.

The businessman, who describes himself as an 'inspirational leader' on LinkedIn, founded the Sebastopol medical marijuana dispensary Peace in Medicine in 2007.

A LinkedIn page under his name lists him as the principal of Robert Jacob Executive Consulting, which assists cannabis start-ups.

Jacob is now being held without bail at Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility on suspicion of five felonies and one misdemeanor

In 2015, Peace In Medicine merged its two stores in Sonama County with Sparc, a high-profile cannabis dispensary, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Current Sebastopol Mayor Una Glass said the charges against him were 'very disappointing'.

She added: 'This is very, very disappointing, and I hope the victims of anything that he has done are taken care of'.

'It's extremely disappointing.'

Kilgore said. 'We'll continue to see if we have more victims, and we would encourage anyone who may have information to please reach out to us.

'It's important to note that these are all sexual assault crimes against a minor.'

The police contact number is 707-829-4400.
New Delhi, April 11 : Dreams of three male freestyle wrestlers -- Sandeep Singh Mann, Satyawart Kadiyan and Sumit Malik, to qualify for this year's Tokyo Olympics went up in smoke on Sunday as they lost their respective semi-final bouts at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Almaty.

All the three wrestlers failed to make it to the finals, thus missing out on an Olympic quota.

The promising 21-year-old Mann from Punjab was expected to win his semi-final bout that would have fetched him an Olympic berth. However, he went down tamely to Iran's Yones Aliakbar Emamichoghaei.

A good defence saw the Indian concede only two points in the opening three minutes of the six-minute bout. Mann was expected to bounce back in the second half of the contest, but eventually lost to the Iranian 10-0.

Satyawart Kadiyan, Haryana's undisputed champion in the men's 97kg freestyle, lost in just 30 seconds. The Indian conceded three technical superiority points to Iran's Mohammad Hossein Mohammadian and bowed out of the contest with a 10-0 loss.

In the 125kg bout, Sumit Malik managed to last six minutes but two early points proved costly for the Haryana wrestler. He lost 0-2 to Yusup Batirmurzaev of Kazakhstan. All the three wrestlers stay in the race for a bronze medal scheduled for later.
President Moon Jae-in speaks during a meeting with his key aides at Cheong Wa Dae, last Monday. Yonhap



By Jung Da-min



President Moon Jae-in is expected to reshuffle his Cabinet as early as this week as part of his efforts to refresh his administration following the ruling party's crushing defeat in the April 7 by-elections. The reshuffle, which could be the last one before his term ends in May 2022, is likely to feature high-profile Cabinet members, including Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, as the President said he would be committed to overcoming economic difficulties and stabilizing the livelihood of the people amid the COVID-19 pandemic as well as addressing the land speculation scandal involving employees of state-run Korea Land and Housing Corporation.



The reshuffle is expected to come after the prime minister returns from Iran, Tuesday. Chung had earlier expressed his intention to join the next presidential election, slated for March 2022, and is expected to resign from his position soon to focus on his presidential bid. Chung flew to Tehran, Sunday, for bilateral talks amid lingering tensions over Tehran's call to unlock its funds frozen here under U.S. sanctions.



The defeat of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) by the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) in the recent by-elections is widely believed to be attributed to public disappointment with the Moon administration over its failed real estate policies and soaring housing prices.



Adding to the public anger was a recent housing scandal involving employees of state-run Land and Housing Corporation, which also spread into politics, with some ruling-bloc figures also allegedly involved in improper real estate deals.



In the mayoral by-elections in the nation's two largest cities of Seoul and Busan, the PPP candidates took both seats.


Drive thru condolences for the ongoing plague dominated tonight's Kansas City news cycle whilst the CDC continues to send mixed message.

Read more . . .

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Nearly 550 candles lined the mall at the National World War I Museum and Memorial Saturday night in honor of the Kansas Citians who lost their lives to COVID-19. "This is an opportunity to give family and friends a chance to memorialize them," Bert Malone, of the Missouri Public Health Association, said.
A woman who unwittingly helped a Canadian serial killer dispose of his victims has shared her shock at learning the corpses of seven men were buried in her backyard.

Bruce McArthur, 69, was sentenced to life in prison in 2019 after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting, killing and dismembering eight men he met in Toronto's Gay Village over a seven-year period.

All but one of McArthur's victims was found buried in planters on the property of Karen Fraser and her husband Ron Smith.

The couple had agreed to let McArthur, store tools for his landscaping business in their garage in exchange for him cutting their grass and tending to the yard.

Fraser spoke to Fox News this week and recounted the day she learned tools weren't the only thing McArthur was storing at her house.

Bruce McArthur, 69, (pictured) was sentenced to live in prison in 2019 after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting, killing and dismembering eight men he met in Toronto's Gay Village over a seven-year period.

Karen Fraser appeared in a new Oxygen documentary (pictured) and described her horror at learning that McArthur had buried seven of his victims in her yard

Investigators spent a week combing through Fraser's yard and the area around it in July 2018

Fraser said she was completely surprised when police arrived at her home in January 2018 and told her she had to leave within five minutes so they could perform a search after Arthur was arrested and accused of murder.

'Half of me was backing away and staring in horror,' she said. 'The other half was trying to think clearly.

'They didn't have a search warrant and I was fully aware of it. I really didn't have to pay any attention to them if I didn't want to.

'But when the officer said a serious crime had been committed and Bruce McArthur had been arrested, I then knew it was serious.

'The officer was clearly upset so something big was happening. That was the first of many decisions, to have faith in the system. So we cooperated and left.'

Fraser said she initially couldn't believe that McArthur was guilty of any crimes, because the man she's known for years was quiet, friendly and never caused any trouble.

'Just because the police believed he was guilty, didn't make him guilty,' Fraser said. 'I defended him for a while.

She said her perception changed one night when a detective told her: 'Karen, don't waste your sympathy on that man. We've never had as much evidence against someone as we have against him. Don't waste your good feelings on that man.'

The home did not belong to McArthur, but rather couple Ron Smith and Karen Fraser (above) who were horrified to learn the sick use that their property had been put to by McArthur

Fraser said she'd met McArthur (left and right) more than a decade ago. She described him as 'considerate, generous and cheerful'

Fraser said she'd met McArthur more than a decade ago around the time that he was launching his landscaping company.

When he offered to take care of her yard in exchange for storing his equipment at her house, Fraser said: 'I thought I had made the best deal ever.'

'He was very efficient and liked his job,' she said. 'He was very talented at it. He was very pleasant and spoke about his children fondly. He was also an excellent grandfather.

'He was just a nice man who seemed very happy with the choices he made in life.

'I never once saw him lose his temper with anyone. He was considerate, generous and cheerful.'

Fraser said she was aware of rumors of men disappearing from the city's Gay Village but never had any reason to suspect McArthur.

After McArthur's arrest Fraser learned that she'd actually met two of his victims - Skandaraj Navaratnam and Majeed Kayhan - who worked with the killer.

'Bruce always had people helping him, so I didn't think much of it,' she said of the time she met Navaratnam, a 40-year-old refugee from Sri Lanka who disappeared in 2010.

'I remember Skandaraj being very charming. He attracted your attention right away. Fabulous smile. He was well dressed and always laughing. I never saw him again.'

Kayhan, a 58-year-old immigrant from Afghanistan, disappeared two years later in 2012.

'I felt really sorry for him,' she said of Kayhan. 'He was trying to work but he was poorly dressed.

'My impression was that he never touched a shovel before in his life. He clearly didn't want to do it. I remember Bruce was just annoyed with him.

'About three weeks later, I emailed Bruce and asked if he kept his job. I never got a response.'

Fraser said Kayhan's body was later found just a few feet away from where she'd met him.

It was one of seven bodies buried in the planters in Fraser's yard. The eighth body was found in a ravine behind her property.

Fraser and her husband are seen outside their home in Toronto as investigators began searching for the remains of McArthur's victims in January 2018

Fraser had allowed McArthur to store landscaping tools in the garage of her home (pictured)

Investigators sift through compost looking for human remains behind Fraser's home in 2018

Three years later Fraser said she is still haunted by the fact that the bodies were right under her nose for so long.

'On a hot day, if we saw the flowers drooping a bit, my partner and I would water them,' she said. 'So we were watering the planters where the victims were buried.

'I can't give you words to describe how incredibly horrible that was. And cruel. It's just every negative word you can come up with. Sometimes your mind just gets overwhelmed by it all.'

Fraser spoke to Fox News ahead of the release of a new documentary about the case, Catching a Serial Killer: Bruce McArthur, which is set to air on Oxygen on Sunday as part of the network's 'Serial Killer Week'.

McArthur pleaded guilty to eight counts of murder in early 2019. His victims were: Kayhan, Navaratnam, Dean Lisowick, Soroush Mahmudi, Abdulbasir Faizi Kirushna Kanagaratnam, Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman.

The killings all took place between 2010 and 2017 and all involved sexual assault or forcible confinement.

Several of the victims - most of whom were of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent - were strangled.

McArthur became a suspect in 2017 when his final victim, Kinsman, was reported missing after he was last seen getting into the landscaper's van.

While most of the cases garnered little publicity, Kinsman's instantly drew attention because the 49-year-old former bartender was a well-known LGBTQ activist in Toronto.

McArthur was arrested for Kinsman's murder after police found the victim's blood and DNA in the van, which he had sold to a junk yard.

Investigators also found the ligature McArthur used to strangle Kinsman.

Police raided McArthur's home on January 18, 2018, and discovered a naked man handcuffed to his bed.

They also discovered a directory with nine subfolders - eight for the men he killed and one for the man found at the time of McArthur's arrest.

McArthur pleaded guilty to eight counts of murder in early 2019. He is pictured center in a court sketch from a hearing where he was sentenced to life in prison
Which part of my work do they have the biggest issue with? he asked of those who are upset with the demolition. That I took out a personal loan to pay the taxes? That I tried to keep the property up over the years? That I kept the county from bulldozing it with the art ending up in a landfill instead of in pods, where Dr. Smith can be paid to repair what is salvageable? That I want to put up a new building that will help preserve his legacy and also benefit the community?
Ellsworth: Realizing what was important to him, Grandpa was at peace
In 1985, two Rice University scientists and a British collaborator discovered a new form of carbon in the shape of a soccer ball just one nanometer wide. Thats just a billionth of a meter, and smaller than the DNA in your cells. A few years later, a tubular form of these tiny carbon molecules was discovered and these carbon nanotubes can join together to form materials with extraordinary properties  greater strength than steel and the conductivity on par with aluminum wire.

Seventeen years ago this month, Nobel laureate Richard Smalley, one of the two Rice scientists, testified to Congress about the potential of nanotubes to power a clean energy revolution. Battling cancer, his hair taken by chemotherapy, Smalley urged Congress to help American scientists create a cornucopia of new technologies that will  solve the energy problem within this generation.

We can find the new oil, the new technology that provides the massive clean, low-cost energy necessary for advanced civilization of the 10 billion souls we expect to be living on this planet before this century is out, he said.

Those who heard him that day in the Capitol still talk about the soaring vision the dying scientist spelled out for the nation, and yet all these years later its clear that the full potential of his work was yet to be understood.

So focused on a super material, Smalleys successors missed the new oil in their work  not the carbon they were after, but the hydrogen they all but ignored.

Hydrogen in the mix

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and its potential as a fuel has generated excitement since the 1800s. For decades, governments and industry have poured money into the research and development of hydrogen  and for several good reasons.

When hydrogen gas burns, only energy and water are produced  so just as with wind and solar energy, there are no greenhouse gases emitted. Using more hydrogen as fuel will help the world limit climate change.

Hydrogen also packs a punch, and can deliver energy with more intensity than either solar and wind. In fact, it holds more energy per unit of weight than fossil fuels. It can be stockpiled against future need and, with adequate precautions, transported safely.

Hydrogen can also power internal-combustion engines. And while early enthusiasm for hydrogen-powered cars has stalled, hydrogen could also offer hope in addressing some of the hardest climate challenges, like greening the worlds trucking fleets. An electric car can get you to Austin, but existing batteries cannot easily power long-haul trucks  or for that matter planes crossing oceans and cargo ships. Hydrogen, or fuels made from hydrogen, could do the job, as well as reduce emissions in steel production, a notoriously dirty process.

Investors, academic and energy giants have all taken notice. Exxon Mobil predicted this year that the hydrogen market will be worth $1 trillion by 2040, and others insist its share of the worlds energy supply will only grow. Hydrogen over the next 30 years could grow up to 20 percent of the worlds total energy demand, Mike Graff, the CEO of the Air Liquides American operations, told the Chronicle last month.

The payoff for Houston may go well beyond helping limit climate change. Investments in hydrogen will likely rely on many of the same skill sets already found in abundance along the Gulf Coast, and that could mean real alternatives for sustainable careers for oil and gas workers.

A rainbow of options

Each of these potential breakthroughs, however, faces challenges before hydrogen can deliver on its promise. They involve costs and technology that is not yet perfected, even as hydrogen is already in use in a wide variety of forms which experts have conveniently color coded.

European countries are investing in so-called green hydrogen, which is made by splitting water atoms into hydrogen and oxygen using an electrical current powered by renewable energy. It emits no carbon and yet for now requires more energy to split the atoms than the process produces.

Using coal to produce so-called black hydrogen avoids that problem, but the process releases large amounts of carbon dioxide. That makes it no better in fighting climate change than burning coal in the first place.

Slightly more promising is gray hydrogen, made using natural gas instead of coal. Special pipelines carry hydrogen made here up and down the Gulf Coast, where it is used to make fertilizer and take the sulfur out of gasoline. Houston is already a global leader in this method, but it nevertheless produces large amount of CO2, and is no better for the environment than burning gasoline.

Houston may be ready to help there, too. By adding CO2-capture technology to the process, the production of so-called blue hydrogen eliminates the harmful emissions and relies on science and engineering already being developed in Texas and elsewhere. Whats more, the University of Houston and the Center for Houstons Future have detailed how Texas is suited for such a scheme. The same porous rock that once gushed oil and gas can now be used to store emissions. It would make use of the massive infrastructure  and workforce  already in place along the Gulf Coast.

A future that is already happening

The potential for a true hydrogen breakthrough, however, brings us back to the story of Smalley and how other researchers took up his quest. Starting in the late 1990s, Smalley used carbon monoxide to make nanotubes. Other teams developed processes to create nanotubes using the four hydrogen atom and one carbon in each molecule of natural gas . Normally, burning the natural gas produces carbon dioxide. Nanotubes, however, are made without oxygen, yielding only solid carbon and hydrogen gas.

When we switched from using carbon monoxide to natural gas, we didnt think about the hydrogen, Matteo Pasquali, a professor at Rice who collaborated with Smalley, told the editorial board. A decade after Smalley died, Pasquali realized the value of both products.

Making hydrogen at a large scale this way could potentially do more than give the world another source of bountiful, emission-free energy. It could also accelerate the production of the carbon-based innovations that were the focus of Smalleys work all along.

Large-scale fibers made from carbon nanotubes could replace steel  a major step forward for a zero-carbon future, given that the nanotubes are lighter and more efficient.

Fiber-grade nanotubes are already made in the tens of tons per year and used in aerospace applications, but the costs are too high and the technology not yet advanced enough to produce the massive quantities that would be needed. But Pasquali is optimistic that Rices Carbon Hub can accelerate the curve. He points to the rapid drop in costs of solar energy, which over the course of a few decades went from an environmentalist fever dream to one of the cheapest forms of energy available.

Jobs for the workers we have

The still-untapped promise of hydrogen energy, and the carbon products made possible by its creation also offers real help for the tens of thousands of Texans whose oil and gas industry jobs will likely go away in coming decades.

It could address the thousand sighs, groans and dark guffaws that mix in Houstons humid air every time President Joe Biden suggests that oil and gas workers can switch to well-paying jobs in renewable energy. Energy workers here know that beyond a few well-established exceptions, there is no easy, job-for-job transition for most oil and gas workers  the refinery machinists, the pipe fitters, the drill operators, the engineers, the geologists.

The hard truth is that solar panels and wind turbines require fewer workers to install and maintain than drilling, moving and refining oil. And the salaries are lower, too.

As this editorial board has argued before, the energy transition to address climate change offers opportunities that Houston should embrace. Hydrogens potential for the Houston region is to give new life to infrastructure we have, to take the emissions out of fossil fuel, to spur a revolution in materials and to sustain the jobs of well-paid oil and gas workers.

It wont be easy to realize that promise. But few big things are.

I am an American scientist brought up in the Midwest during the Sputnik era, Smalley, with less than a year to live, told Congress in his 2004 speech, and like so many of my colleagues in the U.S. and worldwide, I am a technological optimist. I think we can do it.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

Santa Fe is slowly moving into election season. It looks like it may not be so nice this year.

Mayor Alan Webber reacted last week to two pieces of print media  an essay critical of the mayor published as an advertisement in the Santa Fe Reporter and a flyer circulated by the city employees union.

The essay was by Union Protectiva de Santa Fe, a traditional Hispanic fraternal organization that has been fighting with Webber for many months, mostly over removal of historic monuments. The ad headlined Mayor Webbers Dark Side was explicitly a campaign attack, mentioning Webbers announcement that he will seek reelection and saying he doesnt deserve a second term because he fails to understand the traditions and culture of this great City.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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

Somehow, though, Virgil J. Vigil, president of Union Protectiva de Santa Fe, maintains the ad wasnt political. He said that the groups bylaws prevent it from supporting candidates.

Webber, in a statement issued by his campaign, condemned the ad for being wrong on several points. Even worse, their intention is wrong: Their purpose is to inflame divisions in our city.

The ad was mainly a list of things that Union Protectiva doesnt like, such as: Webbers order to remove the statue of Don Diego de Vargas from Cathedral Park as tensions over historical monuments rose nationwide last year, and the statues subsequent, ignominious storage in someones backyard; his police departments pull-back before protesters toppled the Soldiers Monument obelisk on the Plaza; overdue city audits required by the state; and homeless camping that was tolerated in Franklin Miles Park on Webbers watch.

But, without explanation, the essay describes as Marxist the process Webber has set up for public discussion of historical monuments and related matters. It also maintains that Webber supports removal of a Hispanic artists mural from a building where a state modern art museum is planned, although Webber has taken no public stance on that issue. The essay, without elaboration, maintains that Webber wanted to illegally privatize city services.

Does the ad inflame division in our city? Well, it certainly reflects those divisions, at least divisions between Union Protectiva and what it calls outsiders.

The groups essay decries the role of outsiders in the historic monuments review process and the rich outsiders who are alleged to want Gilberto Guzmans mural removed from the old building that will become a modern art museum on Guadalupe Street. This is an apparent reference to the wealthy couple who moved to Santa Fe from Chicago and whose purported sin is donating $4 million to help create a major new cultural site here. Theres been no indication that Bob and Ellen Vladem are exercising any control over the state museums design, including whether Guzmans Multicultural mural should stay or go.

The bottom line is that Union Protectivas published ad amounts to a political attack ad. Its over the top (see Marxist) and misleading or wrong on various points.

To be clear, theres absolutely no indication that City Councilor JoAnne Vigil Coppler, Webbers only campaign opponent so far, had anything to do with the ad.

Webber was right to respond, and his response to the ad was valid and on point.

Still, Union Protectiva, however imperfectly, represents a significant piece of Santa Fe worried about changes to our 400-year-old town.

And, in general terms, the groups essay raised real issues that should be under discussion in an election season. There are in fact divides in Santa Fe over difficult issues of race and historical culture. Old-school traditionalists such as Union Protectiva may decry rich outsiders, while younger advocates condemn gentrification.

But, to be taken seriously, Union Protectiva needs to stick to the facts. It also should acknowledge at some point that people not born in Santa Fe, some of them even rich, can be good citizens, too.

The other item that Webber objected to, the flyer circulated by the city employees union, is about a tussle with city management over supplemental life insurance (spelled suplimental in the flyer). The flyer has a drawing of a short, bald man in a suit, quivering and sweating in front of a computer screen showing the Santa Fe city logo, and urges union members to contact various city officials, including the mayor.

Webber says the man in the drawing is meant to represent him, but with a large, exaggerated nose. Large noses have historically been used in derogatory depictions of Jewish people, most infamously in 1930s Nazi propaganda. This has no place in Santa Fe, not just with regard to me, but for everyone in our diverse city, said Webber, whos Jewish.

The union says the cartoon figure was supposed be to a generic city bureaucrat, not Webber. The union vice president who drew the cartoon said he was not aware that depicting an enlarged nose was derogatory toward Jewish people. Intentionally or not, the drawing does seem to represent Webber. And what about the nose? It isnt the evil hooked nose used in well-known racist tropes. This nose looks more like Pinocchios after a couple of lies. But its too close to anti-Semitic stereotypes to go unnoted.

If racist imagery in fact was not intended, this may be another teachable moment for some involved in Santa Fes public affairs.

A few years ago, a well-known local advocate claimed to not understand how posting photographs to compare a Black U.S. representative to an orangutan could be considered racist instead of just funny.

Santa Fes last mayoral election, with no incumbent, was pretty much devoid of mudslinging or attacks. With Webber running on a record this time, theres bound to be  and should be  more critical commentary. But the critics will have to do better than weve seen so far if they want to advance the cause of serious debate on local issues.
WASHINGTON - Two big South Korean electric vehicle battery makers said Sunday they have settled a long-running trade dispute that will allow one company to move ahead with plans to manufacture batteries in Georgia. President Joe Biden called it a win for American workers and the American auto industry.

President Joe Biden waves as he departs after attending Mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, Saturday, April 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

WASHINGTON - Two big South Korean electric vehicle battery makers said Sunday they have settled a long-running trade dispute that will allow one company to move ahead with plans to manufacture batteries in Georgia. President Joe Biden called it a win for American workers and the American auto industry.

The agreement between LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation ended the need for Biden to intervene in a case closely watched for its implications on Biden's clean-energy agenda, which includes a sharp increase the number of electric vehicles as part of his plan to address climate change. Biden had until Sunday night to make a decision, following a ruling in February by a trade commission.

The companies said in a joint statement that SK will provide LG Energy with a total of $1.8 billion and an undisclosed royalty. They agreed to withdraw all pending trade disputes in the United States and South Korea and not assert new claims for 10 years.

We have decided to settle and to compete in an amicable way, all for the future of the U.S. and South Korean electric vehicle battery industries, said Jun Kim, CEO and president of SK, and Jong Hyun Kim, CEO and president of LG Energy.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., wave to the crowd after speaking with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris during an event at Emory University, Friday, March 19, 2021, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The companies pledged to work together to strengthen the EV battery supply chain in the U.S. and support the Biden administrations efforts to advance clean energy policies, including electric vehicles.

The U.S. International Trade Commission had decided in February that SK stole 22 trade secrets from LG Energy, and that SK should be barred from importing, making or selling batteries in the United States for 10 years.

The decision could have left Ford and Volkswagen scrambling for batteries as they both roll out additional electric vehicle models, a priority for the companies and for the Biden administration. SK has contracts to make batteries for an electric Ford F-150 pickup truck and an electric Volkswagen SUV.

The commission said SK could supply batteries to Ford Motor Co. for four years and to Volkswagen AG for two years. The decision had jeopardized a $2.6 billion battery factory that SK is building in Commerce, Georgia.

Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, who at Biden's request had jump-started negotiations between two companies, said the settlement has saved the battery plant in Commerce, Georgia, ensuring thousands of jobs, billions in future investment, and that Georgia will be a leader in electric vehicle battery production for years to come.''

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the deal builds confidence" in the reliability and responsibility of the two companies as suppliers to the U.S. auto industry. The agreement puts U.S. in a stronger position to drive innovation and ... clean energy technology while also respecting the rights of technology innovators at the heart of trade and manufacturing policy,'' Tai said.

Added Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.: The best way to protect workers in Commerce  and the jobs Georgians were promised  is for the companies involved to negotiate a settlement in good faith,." He said he raised the battery issue with Biden during the president's March 19 visit to Atlanta.

Biden said in a statement that building electric vehicles and the batteries needed for them is an important part of his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan.

We need a strong, diversified and resilient U.S.-based electric vehicle battery supply chain, so we can supply the growing global demand for these vehicles and components  creating good-paying jobs here at home, and laying the groundwork for the jobs of tomorrow. Todays settlement is a positive step in that direction, Biden said.

Gov. Brian Kemp, R-Ga., called the settlement fantastic news for northeast Georgia and our states growing electric vehicle industry.''

Ford, in a statement, said the deal allows us to focus on delivering a range of Ford world-class battery electric vehicles for our retail and fleet customers, while also supporting American workers, the economy and our shared goal of protecting the planet.''

Krisher reported from Detroit.
As the youngest boy in his home back in Iskenderun, Turkey, it was Sean Bozkurts daily chore to walk to the local bakery first thing in the morning and bring back the freshly baked bread for breakfast.

Living now on Third Street in what was the Village section of Jersey City, Bozkurt, 26, frequents the Second Street Bakery, which reminds him of the daily ritual in the country he has visited 20 times since he left at the age of 6. He speaks Turkish fluently and talks passionately about Turkish cities and cuisine, which he enjoys cooking, and is proud to say he is Muslim even though he rarely practices, representing a growing phenomenon among young Muslims  to be identified as a cultural Muslim. Its a phenomenon replicated in all the major religions as people try to assimilate to the local customs and mores.

Sean Bozkurt holds up a glass Nazar Boncuk charm, also known as a Turkish evil eye, which he collects.Michael Dempsey

But he does believe in spirits. He collects amulets, known as Nazar Boncuk charms, which protect one from the evil eye curse and any harm.

So he dabbles. And listens to his mother.

Bozkurts mother, Sibel, is more religious, he said, and when he visited her family he would go with them to the mosque in Adana for prayers. He recalls taking off his shoes and performing the ritual ablution of his hands and feet. With the mosque separated by sex, he would, however, enter the mens side with his uncle whereas many male children remained with their mothers.

The walls of the mosque were a beautiful marble, he remembers.

But while he might be considered an apostate in some Islamic circles, he does follow the moral tenets of Islam to be kind and generous and charitable.

I always try to do the right thing: look after my neighbors, treat everybody with respect and be open to other cultures, said the mechanical engineer, who graduated from NJIT in 2017.

Bozkurts education and sophistication are some of the reasons many young Muslims like him do not see the need to follow the daily rituals, according to Imam Mohammed Al-Hayek, the outreach educator at the North Hudson Islamic Center in Union City.

It is evident among college-educated Muslims who have not had an Islamic foundation, said Al-Hayek, who is also the Islamic studies lecturer at the Al-Ghazaly High School in Wayne and affiliated with the Bergen County Islamic Center in Hackensack. He is aware that many ministers, teachers and counselors try to address this growing Muslim liberalism and said the issue is complex. A lot, he said, depends on the background, personal experience, family life and social interactions of young people.

When Al-Hayek spoke about the concerns for Muslims attending public schools, I mentioned to him that in the 19th century, Catholic leaders had similar concerns, which led to the founding of the Catholic parish school system.

Al-Hayek has four grown children. His daughter is working toward a doctorate in Islamic studies at Columbia. One of his three sons was at the New School in Manhattan. Because they had strong Islamic informed education, they have the faith and keep the faith, he said.

But, he admitted, they have been influenced by culture and their peers. They come up with all kinds of questions, he said, but never lose their sense of Islamic values.

I first met Bozkurt when he came to assess a new boiler for our parish; he is a project engineer for the Reiner Group. With a name like Sean, I assumed he was Irish. He told me his father, Niyazi, is a musician and named his older sister Melodi and said that in Turkish Sean means note, as in musical. His job has brought him to many churches of all denominations and temples, which he said is enlarging his spiritual awareness and that of other cultures. He once again said his mothers spirituality has influenced him.

Ramadan, a 30-day period of fasting, begins tomorrow. Bozkurt said he did try fasting on occasion a little bit to accommodate his mothers wish so he could see it from her perspective, he said.

He and his Muslim friends, though, are part of a younger generation (that) is not as conservative as in the past, he said.

Even though Al-Hayek is aware of the challenges of keeping younger Muslims in the fold, he acknowledges that, like Bozkurt, they cherish the values, charity and good character. They are kind, do service and help the needy.

He said many try to connect in some way to Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr, which ends the month of fasting, prayer and reflection. If they cherry-pick practices, he said, its better than nothing at all.

I wondered whats Bozkurts favorite sandwich at the Second Street Bakery, which used to be Campanellas when the Village was all-Italian. Now its the last vestige of the past. Chicken parm with roasted peppers, he told me. But he passes on the cannoli for his very favorite baklava.

The Rev. Alexander Santora is the pastor of Our Lady of Grace and St. Joseph, 400 Willow Ave., Hoboken, NJ 07030. Email: padrealex@yahoo.com; Twitter: @padrehoboken.
The Beach Co. has announced that Target is moving into Majestic Square, which has divided some folks ... as everything on King Street does. Warren L. Wise/Staff
AN/FLR-9 Circularly Disposed Antenna Array or Wullenweber antenna (popularly referred to as an "Elephant Cage") at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO United States Air Force

An aerial view of Security Hill with the "Elephant Cage" AN/FLR-9 circular disposed antenna array in the background at Misawa Air Base in Japan. NATIONAL ARCHIVES PHOTO TSGT CURT EDDINGS

U.S. Naval Base, Pearl Harbor, Naval Radio Station, AF/FRD-10 Circularly Disposed Antenna Array, Wahiawa, Honolulu County, HI. Library of Congress photo

A symbol of the Cold War will soon fall when the Navy demolishes the elephant cage, a mysterious metal structure that has occupied the south end of the Silver Strand for 50 years.

Officially known as the Wullenweber Antenna Array, the 1,300-foot-diameter circular contraption was built in 1964.

Some details about it are shrouded in Cold War-era secrecy. But the basic premise of its web of poles and wires was to intercept enemy communications and track Soviet fleet movements in the Pacific.

The United States and its allies built a network of these elephant cages in the 1950s and 60s, including in Great Britain, Italy, Japan, the Philippines and West Germany. The Soviets had a similar entry on the Cold War chess board, referred to as Krug.

For us, being able to track their fleet was a requirement to protect the country against a surprise. Thats why people spent a lot of money on it, said Norman Friedman, a physicist, U.S. naval analyst and author.

Now that most people who you dont like use satellite communications, this is not the way to do it.

Its possible that the Silver Strand antenna is the last of its kind still standing, said Alex Bethke, a Navy historian assigned to the project. Its been obsolete since the 1970s.

View the Video Silverstrand cage

The Navy has maintained the structure to some degree; however, some of the wires are visibly broken and dangling. The squat tan building that was once the communications center is now used by Navy SEALs for unrelated training.

In 2008, Navy officials in Coronado began studying how to get rid of the massive structure that now has only historic value.

Its eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, Bethke said.

The proposal is to keep one wedge of the structure as an illustration of what it looked like. Five of everything would be retained  five of the tallest, 100-foot poles, five of the medium-tall poles etc., including wires weaving between the poles and the cables securing everything to the ground.

Also, the Navy has commissioned a 3-D digital model. When ready, by the end of the year, its expected to be available at local libraries and historical societies, Bethke said.

The Navy said the cost of demolition will be about $700,000, but it had no estimate Thursday on how much the modeling project will cost.

Leaders in Imperial Beach and Coronado said public opinion is generally favorable toward the contraption.

Its kind of iconic for people who like to walk the beach, said Imperial Beach Mayor Jim Janney. But when you get up close, theres not much there. It reminds me of telephone poles and guy wire.

Janney said he thinks the Navy has better uses for the property.

As for icons, the mayor said, We are very lucky. We have a pier that is the landmark for IB.

The director of the Coronado Historical Association, Bruce Linder, said the situation reminds him of World War II-era aviation structures in Orange County. What do you do with something both grand and useless?

Its sort of like the blimp hangars in Tustin. They saved that as a national historic structure because its so dramatic. ... But of course you are never going to have blimps again.

In fact, the massive Tustin hangars suffered a roof collapse in October, and there was dispute over who was responsible for repairing the damage.

Why did the elephant cage need to be so big?

The point was to have antennae listening in all directions.

According to technical details provided by the Navy, heres how it worked:

During operation, wires attached to each pole acted as an individual antenna. The poles form four rings of different heights, each for a different bandwidth.

Using electronics that connected each antennae sequentially around the ring, a beam was swept around all points of the compass. By monitoring the output of the radio receiver during the scan, the direction of a particular radio signal could be determined.

In other words, the antenna receiving the strongest signal indicated the general direction of the sender.

It listened in a lot of directions at once. So, instead of turning around to look for a signal  which is what a lot of systems did  it listened in all directions, said Friedman, the naval analyst.

So whatever comes in, its likely to pick up, he said. And that was a very big deal.

With a range up to 3,200 nautical miles, the Silver Strand antenna likely monitored the Pacific Ocean and parts of Central and South America, according to Navy information.

Other NATO nations and allies covered other turf.

In 1950, an array went up at Royal Air Force Chicksands in Bedfordshire, England, to intercept signals from Warsaw Pact nations in Eastern Europe as well as portions of the Soviet Union.

Another array, located at a U.S. Air Force base in southern Italy, opened in 1960 to monitor areas of the Middle East.

An array at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines monitored Vietnamese and Chinese transmissions until it closed after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. Stations in Japan and Okinawa performed similar functions.

During the height of the Cold War, Wullenweber stations in Canada were responsible for listening to the Soviet Pacific fleet, in particular the Russian naval base at Petropavlovsk and the Soviet submarine fleet headquarters in Vladivostok.

Other Wullenwebers along the U.S. Pacific coast were located in Alaska, Hawaii and Skaggs Island in Northern California.

Friedman said that both sides  the United States and the Soviets  scooped up the initial technology from Germany after World War II.

The Russians used to track our fleet this way. Its not exactly unknown technology, Friedman said.

Then technology marched on, away from high-frequency radio transmissions.

One of the big deals of going to satellites, Friedman said, is to make it harder to track people.
Internet providers are the latest victim of the ongoing Global Chip Shortage after reports reveal that router orders have been delayed for more than a year.

The news proves how the struggling global semiconductors supply chain pushed tech companies' backs against the wall, an issue reported by The Guardian on Mar. 21.

Global Chip Shortage: The 60-Week Delay on Router Orders

A source who spoke to Bloomberg revealed that broadband providers' router orders have been quoted with 60 weeks lead-time, which is more than the wait time prior to the global chip shortage.

According to their report on Apr. 8, Taiwan-based router-maker Zyxel Communications confirmed that the crisis had become a headache on their supply chains.

Zyxel, head of European regional business Karsten Gewecke said that the shortage is due to the prolonged surge in demand for better home broadband equipment and 2020's manufacturing shutdowns, which were both caused by the pandemic.

In an effort to curb the issue, Zyxel had asked its customers to place orders a year in advance due to the anticipated shortage.

Gewecke added that the suggestion comes after chips suppliers like Broadcom Inc. had doubled the required components' lead times.

Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said that 90% of its entire 2021 supply had already been ordered as early as the first quarter.

Also Read: Computer Chip Shortage Now in Alarming 'Critical Point:' Price Increase on Smartphone, Car Products to Happen This Year

Additionally, Zyxel routers en route were also affected by the Evergreen ship that accidentally blocked the Suez Canal.

U.S.-based network equipment maker Adtran also warned their customers about the lead-time extensions and supply chain risks, a spokesperson to the company said.

After picking up the European market share from China-based Huawei Technologies, Adtran expanded its warehouse facilities in an effort to avoid problems by double its inventory and logistics capacity.

Addressing the Global Chip Shortage

The White House is stepping in to help address the issues caused by the global chip shortage, Reuters reported on Apr. 9.

According to the report, almost 20 major companies will send senior executives to a White House summit scheduled on Monday, Apr. 12.

The summit billed as the "CEO Summit on Semiconductor and Supply Chain Resilience," will include National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

19 companies have agreed to send executives to the summit, including Dell Technologies, Intel Corp, Samsung, and Google-parent Alphabet.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest contract chip manufacturer, also confirmed to have received an invitation but did not disclose any more details.

U.S. automakers are also expected to attend, including Chrysler-parent Stellantis NV, General Motors, and Ford Motor.

"Trying to address supply chains on a crisis-by-crisis basis creates critical national security vulnerabilities," said Sullivan.

Related Article: Apple Postpones iPad and MacBook Production Over Global Chip Shortage

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Lee Mercado

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Another week goes by and yet again there is more depressing news on fallout from the demise of the Woodford investment empire.

Will this stream of awfulness ever end? Will the regulator ever take responsibility for dealing with this investment travesty and hold those responsible (Neil Woodford, fund overseer Link and Woodford evangelist Hargreaves Lansdown) to account? Not for a while I fear.

Questions and sadly no answers  the regulator, it seems, has decided to go into permanent lockdown on this issue. (Note to the Financial Conduct Authority: lockdown starts ending tomorrow.)

Woodford saga: 'The FCA needs to come out of lockdown tomorrow and do the job it is paid to do - protect financial consumers,' says Jeff Prestridge

This time around, the bad news relates to some of the illiquid stocks that Neil Woodford bizarrely decided were suitable for his Woodford Equity Income Fund  and (more justifiably) were also held in Woodford Patient Capital investment trust, a fund set up to invest in whizz-bang start-ups.

After much scratching of heads and unnecessary delay, fund supervisor Link has now decided to significantly write down the value of these assets.

As a consequence, the rump of assets left in the shell that was Equity Income has been sharply devalued, from 164million to 124million. Frustratingly, that will mean less money for Equity Income investors when these bits and pieces are finally sold.

Some Equity Income investors are not happy. Said one investor who has done a better job surveying the Equity Income wreckage in recent months than either Link or the regulator: To my total shock and incredulity, Link has made another fund devaluation, without a word of explanation. At this rate, there will be zero money left for a final distribution to investors. What on earth is going on?

The write-downs have also severely impacted on Schroder UK Public Private  Patient Capital as was. Its assets have been written down by 80million, a move which sent the shares into a tailspin. They now trade at just above 30p, compared to 1 when the trust launched in 2015.

What is so galling about these write-downs is the inordinate amount of time they took Link to effect.

In our Wealth section in July 2019 and in this column in November 2019, I wrote that there were a number of holdings in both the fund and investment trust that were ripe for writing down. In particular, I referred to Rutherford, a cancer treatment specialist previously known as Proton Partners.

In November 2019, I said this company was not in good shape  making losses  and questioned the 2-a-share valuation that the trust had put on it.

At the time, fund manager Alan Miller, whose financial forensic skills have no bounds, estimated that Rutherford accounted for nearly 20 per cent of Patient Capitals net assets  the trusts assets minus borrowings.

Our conclusion at the time? Any write-down in Rutherfords valuation would have a material impact on the trusts asset value, which could plunge it into crisis territory as its borrowings relative to debt soared way above the permitted 20 per cent limit. Link didnt act.

Despite a stream of London Stock Exchange announcements from Rutherford warning of losses (November 30, 2020), and the need for more funding (January 18 this year), it was not until last week that the trusts board announced it was writing down the value of its Rutherford holding  from 81million to 34million. This followed an updated valuation from Link. Miller is singularly unimpressed.

On Friday, he told me: Surely the regulator needs to look at why Link and the trusts board waited until now to devalue its Rutherford holding. Private investors buy and sell an investment trust based on its net asset value. If it transpires this value was illusionary, then there has been a false market in the shares.

The FCA needs to come out of lockdown tomorrow and do the job it is paid to do  protect financial consumers.
Bold changes needed to salvage Sri Lankas tea plantation sector By Ananda Wickramasinghe Feature View(s): View(s):

The Sri Lankan tea plantation industry is facing serious challenges that call for unbiased analysis of the current status and bold rethinking of the solutions required if it is to continue to hold its place as one of the nations leading sources of foreign exchange.

What we are witnessing presently is an industry that cannot be sustained anymore with a colonial-time attendance-based wages system. Tea is a high labour-intensive crop and requires an abundant supply of inexpensive and skilled labour throughout the year. Availability of cheap labour in the colonial period was the most significant contribution to the profits of the tea industry. The labour component of the total cost of production of tea is about 65 per cent. The reality is that Sri Lanka is no more a country with cheap labour.

According to the Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) sources, the 2021 wage hikes are contributing to uncertainty in the plantation sector. With the latest wage hike, RPCs predict that they will lose an additional Rs. 15 billion annually and have decided not to accept a wage hike for plantation workers.

The periodical demand for wage hikes, given the rising cost of living, is rational and inevitable from the workers side. However, even with periodical pay increases, some reports state that these workers will continue to remain under poverty levels.

Wages, however, are only part of the problem. This report analyses the current situation and proposes several measures that can be implemented to revive the tea industry

Under-utilised tea lands: Old

Seedling Tea (OS tea) to Vegetative

propagated tea (VP tea)

Tea is not native to Sri Lanka and was first propagated by using seeds imported from China and India. Due to the genetic variability among plants and other agronomical factors the plant growth and the yield of those century-old seedling tea bushes were not uniform.

A report published by the Tea Research Institute (TRI) states that over 95 per cent of OS tea in the high country, Uva, and mid-country are over 60-80 years old. The productivity of seedling tea normally started to decline after 50 years. The TRI introduced high-yielding vegetative propagated clone tea in the 1950s to replace low-yielding old seedling tea. As its name implies, VP tea is a plant that is propagated vegetatively by a single leaf internode cutting from a mother plant.

TRI reports that in 2003, 46.7 per cent of the area under VP tea produced 61.7 per cent of the total crop, while 53.3 per cent of the area under OS tea produced only 38.4 per cent of the total. The average yield per hectare of made tea under seedling tea was 1050 kg while it was 1972 kg under VP tea. VP tea was, thus, seen to have over 80 per cent greater capacity for than OS tea.

The ability to produce higher yields is not the only benefit of VP tea. The plants uniform canopy cover acts as a protective soil cover, impedes soil erosion. Exposed topsoil in OS tea lands tends to cause higher soil losses due to raindrop splash erosion and also due to runoff erosion. Several research studies have proven that the soil erosion losses in VP tea land are very minimal. One should imagine how much soil would have eroded for about 2 centuries under OS tea.

In 1958, the first government-sponsored tea replanting (replacing OS tea with VP tea) subsidy scheme targeted about 2 per cent of tea extent (which is about 1,567 ha) to be replanted annually. However, the 2011 TRI report states: To achieve the conventionally accepted norm of 2 per cent annual replanting in the corporate sector, the extent replanted annually should have been an average of 1,567 ha per annum. What is most disturbing is that the net area the 307 RPC estates failed to replant to achieve the annual norm of 2 per cent from 1991-2005 is a total of 23,500 ha which would have all been in full bearing by 2008, and given an annual incremental crop of about 58 million kg made tea per year, at a modest yield of 2,500 kg per ha. The TRI reports that in 50 years (1956-2008) the average rate of replanting in the corporate tea sector was about 0.97 per cent.

Replanting is an expensive procedure that requires a high input of manual labour. The current estimated average expenditure to replant a hectare of OS tea is about Rs. 3.33 million and about 70 per cent of this cost accounts for manual labour.

According to RPC sources, they have been experiencing losses since 2014, and, therefore, cannot be expected to invest in expensive operations such as replanting.

Also with the current wage hikes, RPCs may argue the need to take further measures to lower their losses. The impact of such measures will result in gradual negligence of maintaining the plantation such as abandoning low yield tea lands, reduction of labour inputs for maintenance of plantation, etc. This has been already confirmed by one spokesperson attached to RPCs where he stated: We will manage and cut the coat according to the cloth, and if we cannot fertilise we wont, and if we cannot upkeep we cannot.

As a country, we cannot permit this to happen to one of our national assets because these lands have a greater potential to produce a higher yield than the current rate.

The slow rate of replanting for several decades has resulted in a greater loss to the country and also damage to the environment due to soil erosion. Some say that the required replanting rate was not specified in the 1992 Indenture of Lease agreement. This was a grave mistake and one should inquire why the authorities never took any action to force the lessee to implement the replanting operations.

It is now evident that lessees are not in a position to undertake the replanting operation and therefore the government should initiate a well-planned vigorous programme to start replacing century-old tea bushes with VP tea. Since it is already late, a proposed programme should complete this task within a given time frame. A separate authority with ample powers and funds should undertake this task.

This is a high labour-intensive and expensive task and, therefore, the government should consider obtaining the assistance of personnel from the Sri Lankan Tri Forces and also the help of volunteer groups to complete this task.

Time to replant in tea smallholdings too

One TRI report states that, in the low country, the highest productivity of VP tea reach is in the first 20 years. Based on a 2003 TRI report, the productivity has started to decline in 65 per cent of low country lands. This shows that by 2021 VP tea lands in the low country have started to decline their productivity. This shows how important it is to increase the current subsidy rates in the tea smallholdings (TSH) sector before it affects the national tea productivity negatively.

Labour wages problem in

the plantation sector

The current issue on wage hikes appears in RPCs and the state-managed plantation sector that only contributes about 25 per cent of total national tea production.

To minimise losses from plantations, RPCs came up with several productivity-based wages and revenue-sharing models. However, these models have not been accepted by the trade unions. Ramiah Yogarajan, a trade unionist and a former MP, says that the proposed models fail due to the non-uniformity of the prevailing conditions in the estate field level, conditions vary from estate field to estate field, due to the age of the bushes or trees and other agricultural inputs and practices. Under these circumstances, it is not possible to fix an all-industry productivity norm. It may be feasible in an industry where conditions are controllable. This observation is true because the workers who get marginal OS tea under revenue sharing models will face grave hardships due to low productivity.

RPC models would have developed after studying the current TSH sector. The TSH sector can be considered as a very successful model, initiated with little government backing in the early years. The total extent of TSH was 60,000 ha in 1992 and then doubled within 20 years to 122,450 ha. Remarkably, the production of RPCs managed tea lands declined and the TSH production went up 2.5 times from 1995 to 2012. Currently, TSH contributes more than 75 per cent of national tea production.

It is interesting to observe how the average extent of TSH that was 1.17 acres in 1983 has dropped to 0.69 acres by 2017. This clearly shows that TSH less than one acre which can be managed only with family labour are becoming popular.

If both groups failed to come to an amicable solution, the government should consider distributing the plantation land as tea smallholdings to workers. Descendants of the villagers whose land was taken by the British to cultivate coffee and tea should also be considered in this exercise.

Distributing plantation land among estate workers who were working in those plantations for 5-6 generations is a humane endeavour. These workers were been subjected to various forms of discrimination from the inception of plantations. Currently, there is a decline in the labour force in the plantation sector due to poor living conditions and low wages. Making those workers as TSH can be an encouragement for them to stay in the plantation.

This process of distributing estate lands as smallholdings has to be performed in a carefully well-planned manner to assure that the current tea production is not interrupted. Due to the various conditions of a tea estate, some may get unproductive tea lands. Such receivers may need additional assistance during the replanting period.

(The writer is a former research officer at the Department of Agriculture, Sri Lanka and also former Consul General for Sri Lanka, Los Angeles, US-2009. He can be reached at anawicks@gmail.com).
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wearing a protective mask arrives to visit Ann's Cottage Surf Shop in Truro, Cornwall, Britain April 7, 2021. REUTERS-Yonhap



Current and former world leaders joined a chorus of condolences from around the world following the death of Prince Philip on Friday at the age of 99.



Here are some reactions:



Britain



British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed Philip's "extraordinary life", sending his condolences to Queen Elizabeth after her husband's death was announced.



Johnson said the Duke of Edinburgh "earned the affection of generations" at home, in the Commonwealth and across the world.



"We give thanks, as a nation and a kingdom, for the extraordinary life and work of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh," he added.



Former prime minister Tony Blair hailed Philip's public service, calling him "a man of foresight, determination and courage".



The United States



US President Joe Biden paid tribute to Philip as a selfless servant of Britain and its people.



"From his service during World War II, to his 73 years alongside the Queen, and his entire life in the public eye  Prince Philip gladly dedicated himself to the people of the UK, the Commonwealth, and to his family," Biden said in a statement.



Former president Donald Trump said his death was an "irreplaceable" loss and expressed his and wife Melania's "heartfelt sympathies" to the queen and her family.



On Facebook former president Barack Obama praised Philip as someone who took his job as husband to the queen with selflessness.



"At the queen's side or trailing the customary two steps behind, Prince Philip showed the world what it meant to be a supportive husband to a powerful woman."



Ireland



Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said he was "saddened" by Philip's death, adding: "Our thoughts and prayers are with Queen Elizabeth and the people of the United Kingdom."





US President Joe Biden departs the Church of the Holy Trinity in Georgetown, in Washington, DC, April 10, 2021. EPA-Yonhap



Australia



Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison ordered flags to be flown at half-mast.



"There are many towering figures that the world has lost and known, but few have been before us in our lifetimes, for such a long time," Morrison said Saturday.



"Above all, he was a man who was steadfast, who could be relied upon, always standing by his Queen," said the leader of the Commonwealth nation.



France



French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Philip and sent his condolences to the queen.



Philip "lived an exemplary life defined by bravery, a sense of duty and commitment to youth and the environment", he said on Twitter.



Macron later recalled the prince's closeness to France and his many stays on French soil, from childhood to as recently as 2014, on the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings.



Citing the Duke of Edinburgh's participation in World War II and medals including the Legion d'honneur, Macron said "he knew the price paid by our two countries, allies and brothers in the fight for freedom."



Germany



German Chancellor Angela Merkel said his death filled her with "great sadness".



"His friendship with Germany, his straightforward nature and his sense of duty will remain unforgotten," Merkel said.





French President Emmanuel Macron, wearing a protective face mask, welcomes Togo's President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe (not seen) for a working lunch at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, April 9, 2021. REUTERS-Yonhap



Canada



Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Philip a "man of great purpose and conviction, who was motivated by a sense of duty to others", in a tribute on behalf of his Commonwealth nation.



He will be "fondly remembered as a constant in the life of our Queen", he said.



European Union









EU Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter she was "saddened to hear of the passing of His Royal Highness Prince Philip".



"I would like to extend my sincere sympathy to Her Majesty The Queen, the Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom on this very sad day."



India



Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Philip's long career, saying his "thoughts are with the British people and the Royal family".



"He had a distinguished career in the military and was at the forefront of many community service initiatives. May his soul rest in peace," he tweeted.



Israel



Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his "deepest condolences".



"Prince Philip was the consummate public servant and will be much missed in Israel and across the world," he wrote.



Philip was the first British royal to visit Israel in 1994. His mother Princess Alice is buried in a church on the Mount of Olives.





Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures as he speaks in a rally during the ongoing Phase 4 of West Bengal's assembly election, at Kawakhali on the outskirts of Siliguri on April 10, 2021. AFP-Yonhap



Kenya



President Uhuru Kenyatta said he had been a unifying figure.



"His Royal Highness Prince Philip has been a towering symbol of family values and the unity of the British people as well as the entire global community."



Philip's wife Elizabeth became queen in 1952 while on a trip to Kenya when her father George VI died.



Pakistan



Prime Minister Imran Khan praised the duke for his support for Pakistan, which he last visited with the queen in 1997.



"Britain has lost a wise elder who was imbued with a unique spirit of public service," he tweeted.



Italy



Italian President Sergio Mattarella praised Philip's "exemplary dedication, accompanying the evolution of his country with an open and innovative spirit".



Italians would "cherish a grateful memory of his deep admiration for Italy's artistic and cultural heritage", he said.



Russia



Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Philip and wished Elizabeth "courage and mental fortitude in the face of a grievous and irreparable loss".



"He rightfully enjoyed respect among the British and internationally," a statement from the Kremlin cited Putin as saying.



Spain



Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia hailed Prince Philip's "sense of service and dedication to the crown and the United Kingdom," in a letter to the queen.





Chinese President Xi Jinping applauds at the closing session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China March 10, 2021. REUTERS-Yonhap
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price speaks at his first daily press briefing at the State Department in Washington, U.S. February 2, 2021. REUTERS-Yonhap



The State Department said Friday it will make it easier for US officials to meet Taiwanese representatives, defying pressure from China at a time of high tensions.



The United States still considers Beijing as China's legitimate government, consistent with its switch of recognition in 1979, but will do away with some of the convoluted rules that restricted dealings with Taiwan including in-person meetings.



The updated guidance "underscores Taiwan is a vibrant democracy and an important security and economic partner that is also a force for good in the international community," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.



"These new guidelines liberalize guidance on contacts with Taiwan, consistent with our unofficial relations," he said in a statement.



The move by President Joe Biden's administration formalizes increasingly vocal US support for Taiwan, a self-governing democracy, and comes in response to an act of Congress that required a review.



Taiwan's mission in Washington  officially called the "Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States", rather than an embassy  welcomed the new guidelines, saying they reflected a bipartisan consensus for closer relations.



"Taiwan and the US share a deep and abiding partnership based on our common values and joint interests," it said, pointing to cooperation on global health, space, trade and democracy promotion.



Former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, a staunch critic of Beijing, in his last days in office said he was getting rid of previous guidelines on dealing with Taiwan but not issue new ones, drawing confusion in some quarters on what had changed.



Open meetings



Under the guidelines issued by the Biden administration, US officials will be allowed to invite Taiwanese representatives into government buildings in Washington or attend working-level meetings at the Taiwanese mission, both of which were earlier prohibited, a State Department official said.



The United States has already begun allowing open interactions with Taiwanese diplomats since Pompeo ended earlier guidance.





Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen speaks at Hualien Armed Forces General Hospital a day after a deadly train derailment in a tunnel north of Hualien, Taiwan April 3, 2021. REUTERS-Yonhap
New Delhi:

Punjab Minister Navjot Sidhu on Wednesday gave Rs 15 lakh each to farmers whose crops got damaged in a fire in Amritsars Rajasansi.

Sidhu gave the money from his own pocket to farmers.

The affected farmers crops got damaged in a fire due to short circuit. Sidhu had announced that he will give exactly the same amount of money which government will offer.

In a special program, Sidhu handed over cheques to farmers.

Sidhu said that he understand the plight of farmers and that is why he is giving money to them. He also expressed hope that the amount will help farmers.

The short circuit fire had damaged the crops spread in 202 acres.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Fresh COVID-19 cases in breached the 3,000-mark with 3,187 new infections pushing the tally to over 3.27 lakh, while the toll rose to 1,759 with seven more fatalities, the state government said on Sunday.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 551, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri (333) and Rangareddy (271), it said in a bulletin, providing details as of 8 PM on April 10.

The total number of cases stood at 3,27,278 while with 787 patients being cured, the total recoveries were at 3,05,335.

The state has 20,184 active cases and over 1.15 lakh samples were tested on Saturday.

Cumulatively, over 1.09 crore samples have been tested.

The samples tested per million population was over 2.95 lakh, the bulletin said.

The case fatality rate in the state was 0.54 per cent, while it was 1.3 per cent at the national level.

The recovery rate in was 93.29 per cent, while it was 90.4 per cent in the country.

According to a separate release, over 17.61 lakh people in the state have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine while nearly three lakh got their second shot also as of April 10.

(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.)
Abby De La Rosa is expecting twin sons with Cannon, she announced on Sunday

Television presenter Nick Cannon is to become a father again, three months after another girlfriend gave birth to their second child.

Abby De La Rosa, a 30-year-old DJ, confirmed on Sunday that Cannon is the father of their unborn twin sons. She had announced on December 14 that she was pregnant.

On Thursday she celebrated her pregnancy with a desert photoshoot, naked except for billowing Grecian-style robes.

On Sunday, she wrote on Instagram: 'I pray that God give you both the strength to walk brave and boldly in your individual truth just like your Daddy.'

Cannon was pictured in the images on Sunday for the first time.

A second girlfriend, Brittany Bell, a 33-year-old former Miss Arizona, announced on Christmas Day the arrival of their second son - a daughter named Powerful Queen.

The pair are also parents to a three-year-old son, Golden.

Cannon and Bell on April 2 with son Golden, three, and daughter Powerful, born in December

Bell announced on Christmas Day the arrival of Powerful in an Instagram post (above)

De La Rosa has been celebrating her pregnancy on Instagram

The Los Angeles-born DJ has been providing regular updates as her pregnancy progresses

De La Rosa has enjoyed showing off the changes to her body

The performer remained coy about the father of her twins, until Sunday

Her Instagram followers were kept updated as to her progress

De La Rosa said that she was missing her dog, who was being cared for by her mother

At four months pregnant, De La Rosa said she was 'blessed and highly favored'

De La Rosa already refers to herself as 'Twin Mom' on Instagram

It will be the second set of twins for Cannon, 40

Bell announced her pregnancy in June.

At the time, Cannon was also in a relationship with Victoria's Secret model Jessica White, 36.

She ended her five-year relationship with the TV host in August, saying that she found out about his impending child with Bell via Instagram.

Cannon is seen in February 2020

'She was aware that I just had a miscarriage two weeks prior to her news coming out, because he told me that he told her,' White said.

'I was living at his house, and she knew that as well.'

Bell and Cannon were happily together over the Easter weekend, posting a photo of them goofing around as Easter bunnies on April 2.

Yet in February, he was apparently spending Valentine's Day with another woman, too - Lanisha Cole, who shared a now deleted video of him in a room filled with balloons. She had 'King Cannon' tattooed on her in January: they reportedly broke up at the end of February.

Cannon has twins with his ex-wife Mariah Carey, who he was married to from 2008 to 2016.

Their son Morocco and daughter Monroe, now aged nine, split their time between both Carey and Cannon.

Cannon and Carey, seen in 2014, married in 2008 after a whirlwind six-week romance

Cannon and daughter Monroe, and Carey with son Moroccan, seen in May
Chinese COVID-19 vaccine maker Sinovac said it recommends longer intervals between two doses to achieve better effectiveness after the country's top CDC official admitted the weakness of Chinese coronavirus vaccines.

Liu Peicheng, Spokesperson for Sinovac, one of the Chinese COVID-19 vaccine producers that have distributed millions of doses domestically and in other countries, acknowledged at a press conference on Sunday that varying levels of effectiveness have been found.

Liu added that the significant variations in effectivness found in different places could be due to the age of people in a study, the strain of virus and other factors.

The effectiveness of a Sinovac vaccine at preventing symptomatic infections was found to be as low as 50.4% by researchers in Brazil, near the 50% threshold at which health experts say a vaccine is useful. By comparison, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been found to be 97% effective.

In a rare admission of the weakness of Chinese coronavirus vaccines, the country's top disease control official on Saturday said that their effectiveness is low and the government is considering mixing them to get a boost.

Chinese vaccines dont have very high protection rates, said the director of the China Centers for Disease Control, Gao Fu, at a conference Saturday in the southwestern city of Chengdu.

Beijing has distributed hundreds of millions of doses abroad while trying to promote doubt about the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine made using the previously experimental messenger RNA, or mRNA, process.

Officials at a news conference Sunday didnt respond directly to questions about Gaos comment or possible changes in official plans.

But another CDC official said developers are working on mRNA-based vaccines.

Experts say mixing vaccines, or sequential immunisation, might boost effectiveness.

Researchers in Britain are studying a possible combination of Pfizer-BioNTech and the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The coronavirus pandemic, which began in central China in late 2019, marks the first time the Chinese drug industry has played a role in responding to a global health emergency.

Vaccines made by two state-owned drug makers, Sinovac and Sinopharm, have been exported to 22 countries including Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, Hungary, Brazil and Turkey, according to the foreign ministry.

Health experts say Chinese vaccines are unlikely to be sold to the United States, Western Europe and Japan due to the complexity of the approval process.

Beijing has yet to approve any foreign vaccines for use in China.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
EDWARDSVILLE  A Dorsey man faces several felony weapons charges after an April 8 incident in Granite City.

Randy L. Sheppard, 41, of Dorsey, was charged with possession of a firearm with revoked firearm owners ID card, a Class 3 felony, and aggravated unlawful use of weapons and criminal damage to property over $500, both Class 4 felonies.

The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department.

According to court documents, on April 8 Sheppard allegedly was found to be in possession of a Smith & Wesson 9 mm handgun while having a revoked Firearm Owners Identification Card, and was carrying it loaded, uncased and easily accessible in a motor vehicle without a concealed carry permit. He is also accused of causing more than $500 damage to another persons 2000 Toyota 4runner by breaking out the windows and ramming the back of the vehicle.

Bond was set at $50,000.

Other felony charges filed April 9 by the Madison County States Attorneys Office included:

 Levi E. Six, 28, of Jacksonville, was charged with aggravated unlawful use of weapons, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Illinois State Police. On Sept. 10 Six allegedly was carrying a Davis Industries handgun loaded, uncased and immediately accessible without an FOID card or concealed carry license. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Billy J. Bryant, 42, listed as homeless out of Alton, was charged with aggravated battery, a Class 3 felony; and unlawful restraint, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Alton Police Department. On April 7 Bryant allegedly punched a senior citizen in the face, threw him down, and would not let the victim leave the room. Bail was set at $20,000.

 Jeffrey H. Perryman, 34, of Granite City, was charged with offenses relating to motor vehicles, a Class 2 felony; and aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. On March 26 Perryman allegedly was found to be in possession of a stolen 2006 Kawasaki KSV700 ATV, and attempted to flee from a Granite City police officer, disobeying several traffic control devices. Bail was set at $60,000.

 Christopher L. Lyles, 45, of Caseyville, was charged with retail theft under $300 (second subsequent offense), a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Collinsville Police Department. On April 8 Lyles allegedly took a Bluetooth speaker and headphones, Dr. Pepper, cleaning spray and a bandana valued at less than $300 from the Collinsville Walmart, 1040 Collinsville Crossing. It was noted he had a previous conviction for larceny out of North Carolina in 2018. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Stephan T. Pierson, 38, of Godfrey, was charged with theft over $500, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department. Between March 20 and March 27 Pierson allegedly took in excess of $500 from the Godfrey Walmart, 6660 Godfrey Road. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Misty C. Stevenson, 48, of Highland, was charged with unlawful use of a credit card, a Class 3 felony; and unlawful use of a debit card, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Highland Police Department. On Feb. 8 Stevenson allegedly used credit and debit cards belonging to another person to obtain goods and services, more than $300 for the debit card and less than $300 for the credit card. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Wayne Jones, 25, of Venice, was charged with aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Illinois State Police. On Feb. 5 Jones was driving a 2003 Ford Fusion when he attempted to flee from a state trooper, causing more than $300 in damage to a 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Anthony M. Mosby, 38, of Madison, was charged with aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Madison Police Department. On June 27 Mosby allegedly was driving a 2008 Qlink motorcycle when he attempted to flee from a Madison police officer, disobeying several traffic control devices. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Rick M. Shaw Jr., 33, of New Douglas, was charged with driving while license revoked, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department. On April 4 Shaw allegedly was found to be driving a 1979 Honda motorcycle on Quercus Grove Road in Edwardsville with a revoked drivers license. It was noted the license was revoked due to a 2010 DUI conviction, and he also had a previous conviction for driving while license revoked. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Robert S. Spratley, 41, of Granite City, was charged with criminal trespass to a residence, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department. On Oct. 24, Spratley allegedly entered a residence in the 2600 bloc of Guth Place without the permission of the resident, who was there at the time. Bail was set at $15,000.
Elaine Thompson/AP/REX / Shutterstock.com

Once a young boy who enjoyed tinkering with computers, Bill Gates now is one of the richest people in the world. According to Forbes, Gates net worth was at a staggering $128.1 billion as of April 2021.

These days, Gates is more interested in giving his money away than he is in acquiring more. In 2010, along with his wife, Melinda, and fellow multibillionaire Warren Buffett, Bill Gates co-founded The Giving Pledge, which encourages the worlds wealthiest people to give away most of their fortunes to charity. He has donated $35.8 billion in stock from Microsoft, the company he co-founded, to his own Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest private charitable foundation in the world.

See Also: 21 Billionaires Who Lost Big in 2020

Budding entrepreneurs and philanthropists want to know how Gates amassed his fortune so that they might join the Billionaires Club one day. Here are just a few ways that Bill Gates was able to become a massive success.

Last updated: April 5, 2021

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Cj Gunther/EPA/Shutterstock (7846172e)Microsoft Founder Bill Gates and Recipient of the Honorary Degree Doctorate of Laws During Commencement Ceremonies at Harvard University in Cambridge Massachusetts Usa 0 7 June 2007Usa Bill Gates - Jun 2007.

He Has a Thirst for Knowledge

Gates attended Harvard University only briefly before he dropped out, yet he attributes his time there to his success. It was an amazing privilege (studying at Harvard), and though I left early, I was transformed by my years at Harvard, the friendships I made, and the ideas I worked on, Gates said in a 2007 commencement speech.

Gates studied computers, but he also dabbled in many other subjects that interested him at the Ivy League school. Academic life was fascinating, he said during the speech. I used to sit in on lots of classes I hadnt even signed up for. This thirst for knowledge and his willingness to always improve and learn contributed to the growth of his eventual business.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by John Froschauer/AP/Shutterstock (6430935a)GATES William H.

His Parents Were Supportive

When asked in 1998 about his role models, Gates said he looked up to his parents. I had great parents, both of whom were involved in lots of interesting activities and would come home and talk to us about the world of business or law or politics or the charitable activities they were involved in, he said.

Story continues

Gates parents nurtured and supported his interest in computers as well  even after he decided to abandon his Harvard education. Gates father, Bill Gates Sr., told Forbes that his sons decision to drop out of college wasnt precisely what my wife and I had envisioned for any of our children.

However, Gates parents were extremely supportive of his endeavors after that. After Gates mother died in 1994, The New York Times reported that she had helped her son get the contract that led to a lucrative relationship with IBM for his fledgling Microsoft Corporation.

As for his father, Gates long cited him as an inspiration for his philanthropic work, which has dominated the younger Gates time and energies since he left his day-to-day work at Microsoft in 2008. The elder Gates was actively involved in his sons philanthropic work  he even wrote the first check for Gates foundation  until his death in September at the age of 94.

Check Out: 20 Hobbies of the Rich Only They Can Afford

Bill Gates net worth

He Reads a Lot

In the Forbes interview, Gates father said his son was an incredibly avid reader as a child. Just about every kind of book interested him  encyclopedias, science fiction, you name it, he said. I was thrilled that my child was such an avid reader, but he read so much that Bills mother and I had to institute a rule: no books at the dinner table.

Gates has maintained his love of reading throughout his life. He even has his own blog where he frequently recommends books to his readers.

Reading likely contributed to Gates net worth, as it helped provide him with the knowledge he would need to become a successful entrepreneur.

Take a Look: 9 Best Personal Finance Books To Read

Bill Gates and Paul Allen

He Chose a Great Business Partner

Gates has made countless brilliant business decisions, many of which have involved the people he has chosen to work with. Id say my best business decisions really have to do with picking people, Gates said in the 1998 interview. Deciding to go into partnership with Paul Allen is probably at the top of the list.

Allen and Gates were friends growing up, and they co-founded Microsoft in 1975. Allen left the company eight years later after being diagnosed with Hodgkins disease. A fellow philanthropist who gave away more than $2 billion, Allen owned the NFLs Seattle Seahawks and the NBAs Portland Trail Blazers at the time of his death from complications of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2018 at age 65. Throughout the years, Gates and Allen had a complex relationship, as outlined in Allens book, Idea Man: A Memoir by the Cofounder of Microsoft. However, Gates attributes Microsofts early success to his partnership with Allen and the many lessons they learned along the way.

Seattle, Washington, USA downtown skyline at night with Mt.

He Stayed Confident in His Dream and Vision

Gates was fortunate to attend Lakeside School, an elite private school in Seattle that gave him access to computers when he was in the seventh grade. And instead of just teaching students how to use computers in the conventional sense, the school unleashed them, according to Gates. Looking back, he said his experiences at the school gave him the encouragement he needed to do the impossible.

The experience and insight Paul Allen and I gained here gave us the confidence to start a company based on this wild idea that nobody else agreed with  that computer chips were going to become so powerful that computers and software would become a tool that would be on every desk and in every home, Gates said in a 2005 speech at his former school.

Read: 19 Traits of Highly Successful Billionaires

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Dwayne Newton/AP/Shutterstock (6497498a)BILL GATES In the largest contempt fine ever sought, the Justice Department asked a federal court, to impose an unprecedented $1 million-a-day fine on software giant Microsoft Corp.

He Had an Emergency Fund for Microsoft

Gates learned early that in order to be successful, he had to amass a large emergency fund for Microsoft, which would keep the business afloat if it ever encountered financial obstacles.

I got this incredibly conservative approach that I wanted to have enough money in the bank to pay a years worth of payroll even if we didnt get any payments coming in, and Im almost true to that the whole time, he said during a 1998 interview. We have almost $10 billion now, which is pretty much enough for the next year.

He Learned From His Mistakes With Microsoft

Everyone makes mistakes, including Gates. The key, however, is to learn from those mistakes, and thats exactly what Gates does.

In a 2008 BBC interview in which he talked about how Microsoft was able to beat competitors, Gates said, Our products were successful enough that even when we did make a mistake  when we hired the wrong person or organized things the wrong way  we were frank enough with ourselves to say, Oops, this isnt working. And yet, my conservative balance sheet approach meant that for all the mistakes we made, we had a chance to learn from them and do different things.

This ability to be creative, work with his team and have a big enough cash cushion to continuously grow and try new things contributed greatly to Microsofts success and, eventually, Gates fortune.

See: Heres What Bill Gates Says You Should Do With Your Money

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Glenn Copus/Evening Standard/Shutterstock (1077650a)Bill Gates U.

He Gets Seven Hours of Sleep

Although many successful businessmen like to brag about how little sleep they get, Gates is the opposite. He knows hes not superhuman and that sleep is required for his intellectual curiosity to be at its best.

I like to get seven hours of sleep, he told The Seattle Times in 1990. Even though its fun to stay up all night  maybe taking a red-eye flight  if I have to be creative, I need seven hours. I can give a speech without much sleep; I can do parts of my job that way. But in thinking creatively  Im not much good without seven hours.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Andrew Gombert/EPA/Shutterstock (7933684dx)Michael Larson Business Manager For Cascade Investment Llc at the Allen and Company 32nd Annual Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley Idaho Usa 11 July 2014 the Event Brings Together the Leaders of the World's of Media Technology Sports Industry and Politics United States Sun ValleyUsa Allen and Company - Jul 2014.

He Has a Good Money Manager

When it comes to choosing a financial advisor, Gates certainly knows how to pick em. His money manager, Michael Larson, is largely responsible for growing Gates fortune.

Business Insider reported in 2014 that Gates hired Larson more than two decades ago  when his net worth was $5 billion  to run his personal investment company, Cascade Investment, LLC. According to Business Insider, Gates is getting richer faster than he can give his money away thanks to Larson.

Larson also manages investment assets for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Check Out: Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg and Other Rich People Not Leaving a Fortune to Their Kids

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP/REX/Shutterstock (9964639m)Bill Gates, former Microsoft CEO and co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, speaks as a jar of human feces sits on a podium at the Reinvented Toilet Expo in Beijing, .

He Diversified His Private Portfolio

When Gates was building Microsoft, he put most of his time, energy and creative talent into making it arguably the greatest tech company in the world. Once he got rich, however, he did what most financial advisors recommend investors do regardless of their net worth  he diversified. Gates sold most of his Microsoft stock  he now owns a little more than 1% of the companys shares. He then used the cash to invest in a wide range of different stocks and other assets that protected his massive portfolio from a single-security calamity and sent his already sizable fortune soaring.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates testifies on Capitol Hill, before the Senate Judiciary Committee

He Knew When He'd Outgrown Partnerships

Microsofts partnership with IBM formed the backbone of the 1980s personal computer revolution. The two companies collaborated to create the operating systems that breathed life into most PCs. By the early 1990s, however, the partnership had stagnated and Gates determined Microsoft would be better going it alone.

The gamble paid off.

When the separation was complete in 1992, IBM walked away with the jointly created OS/2 operating system and Microsoft left with the software that would make it king: MS-DOS and Windows. In 2016, Forbes wrote of Gates, His decision to divorce IBM stands as one of his best. Microsoft took control over its own destiny.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Barry Sweet/AP/Shutterstock (6484636a)BALLMER GATES Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, left, and Bill Gates react to a question during a news conference in Redmond, Wash.

He Learned To Give Up Control

According to a 2019 report from Inc., Gates found success only after he learned to trust the people he hired and delegate responsibility to them. That, however, required Gates to do something that was antithetical to his entire personality  forfeit control. In Microsofts early years, Gates maintained a tight grasp on everything that happened and did whatever he could himself, but how could he grow Microsoft to its full potential if he spent all day writing code or editing code that others had written? He couldnt. Instead, he developed relationships with key employees, and those relationships were based on mutual trust. He found that the new mentality allowed him to take on the role of mentor instead of micromanager, which, it turns out, suited him well.

He Has Remained Passionate About His Work

As many entrepreneurs have said, you must love what you do if you hope to be successful. Bill Gates fell in love with computers as a child and spent a lifetime building one of the most successful businesses in the world.

Youve got to enjoy what you do every day, and for me thats working with very smart people, Gates said in 1998. Its working on new problems.  The competition, the breakthroughs, the research make the field Im in, I think, the most exciting field there is.

Even though he left his day-to-day role at Microsoft more than a decade ago, Gates served as Microsofts chairman of the board. In 2020, however, he left the board to focus solely on his philanthropic work. As the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world, Gates reinvented himself again by emerging as a leading advocate for science-based policy in government while donating hundreds of millions of dollars to coronavirus-related research and causes.

More From GOBankingRates

Andrew Lisa contributed to the reporting for this article.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 13 Ways Bill Gates Built His $128 Billion Fortune
India has been gripped by a life or death race against Covid-19, as the country of nearly 1.4 billion people rolls out one of the fastest vaccination drives in the world while recording all-time high tallies of infections.

The country reported a record-high daily total of almost 153,000 coronavirus cases Sunday with 839 new deaths, according to health ministry figures. India's total caseload stands at more than 13.5 million -- second only to the United States and Brazil -- including nearly 170,000 fatalities.

On the same day, vaccinations topped 100 million, with India being the fastest country globally to reach that milestone, reaching the figure in just 85 days, said the health ministry.

The union territory of Delhi, of which capital city New Delhi is a part, has been hard-hit by the new wave of the pandemic. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwa announced a record single-day case rise on Sunday, of more than 10,000 new infections.

"Delhi is witnessing the fourth wave of coronavirus pandemic" warned Kejriwal. "The situation is worrisome, the government is working to improve it."

At least 57 doctors in New Delhi tested positive for Covid-19 this week.

Some 37 doctors working at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the city tested positive -- after previously receiving both doses of the vaccine. The doctors have mild symptoms but 32 are under home isolation, while five were admitted to the hospital to avoid the risk of infecting their families, a hospital spokesperson told CNN. Hospital authorities are investigating the source of their infection, discovered Thursday, and further contact tracing is underway, the official added.

New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) confirmed Friday that at least 20 doctors had been found to be infected with Covid-19. Two resident doctors who tested positive had received both doses of the coronavirus vaccine, AIIMS told CNN. All the infected people have mild symptoms and are in home isolation, officials said.

The western state of Maharashtra is also a major concern. Eight of the top 10 worst-affected districts across India are in Maharashtra, including its capital Mumbai, officials said last week. Public spaces such as parks, shopping malls, cinemas and religious centers are closed in the state until further notice, and all restaurants can only serve take-out.

Thousands of migrant workers attempted to leave large cities such as Mumbai last year after lockdowns left them without jobs or pay, and locals fear a repeat of this scenario.

"Some sectors are of course more affected, which might lead to a migration of workers," Hariharan Kumar, a lawyer in Mumbai, told CNN Sunday. "They fear losing their jobs and wages."

"People are becoming fatigued to an extent, but I think others also realize that this is the best-case scenario," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced a four-day vaccination drive starting Sunday.

India is now regularly administering over 3 million vaccines a day, surpassing the United States' daily rollout and gaining on China's, according to University of Oxford research group Our World in Data.

Gaurav Preet Singh, 28, got his first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India in Ludhiana in Punjab, a state in northern India. The businessman told CNN that he felt "safe" now after experiencing some side effects like a fever and fatigue.

"It's going well and many people seem to be taking it," Singh said. "It's totally safe and it's totally good -- I can get back to normal life."

However states such as Maharashtra, Odisha and Punjab have complained of vaccine shortages, and several districts in Maharashtra have had to suspend inoculation drives, the state's health minister said Thursday.

Singh said that in his area doctors had stopped giving the vaccines to those under 45 because of shortages.

There are lax restrictions in Ludhiana, he said, with curfews at 9 p.m. local time, but shops and hospitality remain open. Many people he knows who aren't vaccinated are getting the virus, he added.

According to a senior administrative official in Mumbai, more than 70 centers in the city have said they do not have vaccines available. The central government has said it is doing everything it can to help the states, according to statement from the health minister earlier this week.

The Serum Institute of India, the world's biggest vaccine maker, is producing Covid-19 vaccines for countries participating in the global vaccine-sharing initiative COVAX, but deliveries will be delayed in April as India battles the new wave of infections.

Raghav Chadha, national spokesperson for the Aam Aadmi Party, wrote to Modi Saturday asking he adopt a policy of "vaccine nationalism"

"Do not let vaccination centre [sic] shut while doses are being flown out of the country," he said.

On Saturday, Kejriwal announced a slew of new restrictions in Delhi to fight the coronavirus spike there.

This includes a ban on all gatherings (social, political or religious), a cap on attendance at weddings and funerals at 50 and 20 people respectively, and restaurants, movie theaters and public transport must operate at half occupancy.

Delhi authorities announced Friday that all educational institutions will remain closed until further notice.

The rise in cases comes as India's top researchers announced last month that there are nearly 800 variants of concern present in the country.
A reality TV star has landed herself in hot water with the advertising watchdog over a sponsored Instagram post that wasn't clearly distinguishable as an advert.

Anna Heinrich, who won Tim Robards' season of The Bachelor in 2013, breached the new rule about distinguishable advertising as stated in the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) Code of Ethics, reports Mumbrella.

AANA's updated Code of Ethics came into effect on February 1, and Ms Heinrich's post from February 11 was found to be in violation of the new rule.

However, Ms Heinrich's manager has since told Daily Mail Australia he wasn't informed about Ad Standards' concerns until Thursday, whereupon the post was immediately amended and now has a 'paid collaboration with' disclaimer at the top.

Rules: Anna Heinrich has landed herself in hot water with the advertising watchdog over a sponsored Instagram post from February 11 that wasn't clearly distinguishable as an advert

Not sufficient: The Ad Standards Community Panel ruled that simply tagging the brand did not sufficiently indicate the post was sponsored, and the complaint was upheld

The post in question was an advertisement for clothing brand Runaway The Label.

The photo showed Ms Heinrich, 34, in a strapless green dress from the label, alongside the caption: 'Turning my apartment into a Runway. Then back to my PJs I go! Wearing: @runawaythelabel.'

The Ad Standards Community Panel ruled that simply tagging the brand did not sufficiently indicate the post was sponsored, and the complaint was upheld.

Regulations: AANA's code states that influencers must include hashtags such as #sp, #spon, #gifted or #collab to make it clear when their content is sponsored, which Ms Heinrich did not in this instance. Pictured here with her husband, former Bachelor Tim Robards

AANA's code states that influencers must include hashtags such as #sp, #spon, #gifted or #collab to make it clear when their content is sponsored, which Ms Heinrich did not in this instance.

Ms Heinrich was also the subject of another complaint, regarding a post from February 17 promoting Crown Resorts, which was not upheld.

This complaint was dismissed because the February 17 post - unlike the February 11 post - used the hashtag #CrownPartner, which clearly distinguished it as advertising.

Second complaint: Ms Heinrich was also the subject of another complaint, regarding a post from February 17 promoting Crown Resorts, which was not upheld

Dismissed: This complaint was dismissed because the February 17 post - unlike the February 11 post - used the hashtag #CrownPartner, which clearly distinguished it as advertising

It comes as influencer marketing faces growing scrutiny over its lack of regulation, with a special investigation by SBS's The Feed shedding light on the lack of clarity from brands regarding partnerships and contra deals, in addition to the impact of buying 'fake followers'.

There is no suggestion Ms Heinrich has bought Instagram followers.

Ms Heinrich's agent, David Dalton at Chic Talent Management, told Daily Mail Australia on Monday: 'We were completely unaware, as was Anna, that one of her posts had even come before Ad Standards until Thursday last week when we were contacted for comment regarding the alleged breach.

'Unfortunately the brand never disclosed to us that they had been contacted by Ad Standards, so it was quite a surprise.

'We contacted the brand immediately and amended the post. Unfortunately the "paid collaboration with" didn't appear until the Friday.

'Anna Heinrich has always been very open and honest with her audience and we certainly would have addressed this had we become aware of it sooner.'
Associated Press

A 16-year-old boy who was shot and killed by Honolulu police arrived at an emergency room with gunshot wounds to the back of his head and to his shoulders, according to hospital records provided by a lawyer representing the teen's family. It's evidence that the kid was shot in the back, attorney Eric Seitz said Friday.
Luggage Stolen at Kuttawa Business

By West Kentucky Star Staff

KUTTAWA - A piece of luggage was stolen last week at the Huck's Travel Center in Kuttawa.According to the Lyon County Sheriff's Department, the victim said that he set the luggage outside his vehicle while getting fuel.He inadvertently drove off without the luggage and realized it a short time later.When he returned to the business, the luggage was gone.Surveillance footage showed that the luggage was taken by another person at a nearby gas pump, and was placed in a black SUV.Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Lyon County Sheriff's Department at 270-388-2311.
The Pearl River originates in Mississippi and meanders more than 400 miles to the Gulf of Mexico, forming the boundary between the two states along St. Tammany Parishs eastern border.

Cypress trees growing along the river predate the arrival of the first Europeans and bear witness to centuries of human and environmental activity.

Jessica Gauley grew up along the Pearl River, with summers and weekends spent camping, boating, fishing and exploring the swamps and sloughs that make up the vast wetland.

She remembers being in a playpen when her family would camp in tents along the river, later learning to boogie board. As a teenager, she spent weekends at a friends houseboat from where they would put their boats in the water at dawn and head out to explore.

Its a way of life my parents introduced me to, Gauley said, and it's a lifestyle she wants to protect.

Gauley organized a river cleanup on her own, and later met Abby Braman of Mississippi, who had organized a similar event on the Ross Barnett Reservoir.

The two shared a mutual goal to clean the whole river in one day. They founded the Pearl Riverkeepers, which is linked to the Alabama Water Watch and now the Mississippi Water Stewards. Gauley serves on the board of the organization, which continues to host the Pearl River Clean Sweep the third weekend in September.

Although there are dozens of monitors in Mississippi, Amanda Geraci of Pearl River has been the only Riverkeepers volunteer to do so in Louisiana. She found out about the program when her sons Boy Scout troop participated in one of the cleanups.

Abby was at the cleanup and told me about the class. I have a background in biology and signed up, Geraci said.

But a degree in biology is not needed. Pearl Riverkeepers provide training and all the supplies and equipment needed for volunteers to independently follow the protocols that meet EPA standards.

St. Tammany top stories in your inbox A weekly guide to the biggest news in St. Tammany. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

I was trained to take the temperature of the water and collect the same volume in the same locations, then incubate them at home to determine the level of bacteria and E. coli present in the water, Geraci said.

The Riverkeepers then post the results, so people can know if the water is swimmable or safe for boating that weekend. While testing has been suspended due to COVID-19 restrictions, Braman held an online training session to begin training more citizen scientists to monitor the water quality up and down the Pearl River.

The Pearl River is one of the most critical areas of natural habitat that remains in Louisiana, Geraci said. The activities that I do allow the public to know what is in the water. It allows the public to access the data to see if its pristine.

She said the area she tests is remarkably clean for both swimming and recreation. We utilize the water system. Its just the peace of mind of knowing that where my children swim is great water.

Gauley believes the course the Riverkeepers is charting has brought communities along the Pearl River together for the first time.

The communities never treated it as one river, Gauley said of the Mississippi and Louisiana residents.

Over time, Gauley said she has seen the river change, shifting its banks and bends, and she sees and hears wildlife coming back as areas are cleaned and restored.

She has studied the sound of the legendary ivory-billed woodpecker, which once roamed the Pearl, but is now near extinction. She said it has a very recognizable call, different from the pileated woodpecker she hears up and down the river.

As she takes her boat out and looks up at the ancient cypress, full of woodpecker marks, Gauley imagines some of those holes were made by one of the ivory-billed that once roamed the area.

For more information, visit www.pearlriverkeeper.com.
The mishandling of a national problem and the predicament of war heroes By Major General Nirmal Dharmaratne [retd] View(s): View(s):

A glance at the last four decades of the military history of Sri Lanka reveals an agonising period for its citizenry. From 1983 to 2009, the national question that remained unresolved in this country was separatist terrorism. In 1987, it was transformed into a hybrid threat with the emergence of the JVP insurrection which was suppressed in 1989. Since then until the LTTE was militarily defeated in May 2009, the dominant national challenge was the war, which security forces fought against the LTTE terrorists. These issues that endangered the national security were politically capitalised and influenced the internal power shifts and thus the creation of international opinion on Sri Lanka.

Since mid-2009, Sri Lanka has been facing another hitherto unresolved problem  war crime allegations, particularly during the last phase of the armed conflict, against Sri Lankan armed forces by the UNHRC under the influence of some powerful western nations. This issue impedes the countrys development and also tarnishes its reputation as a nation that values and upholds rule of law, democracy and respect for diversity. Hence, Sri Lankas most threatening and smouldering issue is the allegations of human rights. Solving this problem is a high priority for Sri Lanka.

World politics and human rights

The western powers dominance of international institutions such as UNHRC and ICJ and their use of these institutions as tools to force specific nations to come to terms with them are a part of global power politics. There have been several resolutions in the UN against Sri Lanka, since the end of the internal armed conflict. These resolutions include 19/2 of March 22, 2012, 22/1 of March 21, 2013, 25/1 of March 27, 2014, 30/1 of October 1, 2015, 34/1 of March 23, 2017 and 40/1 of March 21, 2019.

On May 23, 2009, the then UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon called for protection of human rights in Sri Lanka. Then on May 26, 2009, Resolution 11/1 was adopted. In June 2010, the UN Secretary General appointed a Panel of Experts to study and submit recommendations on Sri Lanka. In September 2015, the UN released a report, known as the OISL report.

In response to these, the Government of Sri Lanka appointed three presidential commissions, namely the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in May 2010, the Paranagama Commission in August 2013 and the Udalagama Commission in October 2015. Of the three, the LLRC was accorded some credibility by the UN which insisted that the government implement its recommendations.

The latest resolution and TGTE

On March 23 this year, the UNHRC adopted Resolution A/HRC/46/L.1 on Sri Lanka at its 46th session. The main outcome was that the UN will create an office with an annual budget of USD 2.8 million to collect information about war crimes and crimes against humanity alleged to have been committed in Sri Lanka. Although, it does not impose any sanctions on Sri Lanka, this could be seen as a step to take Sri Lanka to an international tribunal.

The resolution was presented by a core group of countries led by the United Kingdom with the influence of the Diaspora-led Trans National Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), which seeks to establish Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka. Hence, TGTE is the new enemy of Sri Lanka.

The question is whether the TGTE will be content with perpetrators, as they refer to them, being taken to task. NO  this will not serve its ultimate objective of creating the State of Tamil Ealam. Therefore, it is most likely that the TGTE will press for a plebiscite to decide the opinion of the majority of the people in the North and East of Sri Lanka. This may happen even without the cooperation of the Sri Lankan state.

In Sri Lankas case, it is beyond doubt that both the evidence and the argument belong to the prosecutor, in the form of LTTE sympathizers and the TGTE. Nothing is in favour of the defendant, the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL). Since the evidence forms the building blocks of any investigative process, there is no doubt that Sri Lanka will be in trouble in the event of such a scenario.

In January 2021, UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet released a report on promoting reconciliation, accountability and HR in Sri Lanka. The key accusations in this report are Militarisation of Government Functions, Reversal of Constitutional Reforms, Political Obstructions, Majoritarian and Exclusionary Rhetoric, Surveillance and Intimidation and Exacerbating Human Right Concerns. The GOSL has its explanations to these allegations and justifications to its actions which the UNHRC has recognized as irregular.

War heroes the main victims

In the conclusion of its report, the Human Rights High Commissioner has threatened to refer the case to the International Criminal Court. In the unlikely event if this becoming a reality, would the State support the defendants, the military commanders who have been identified by name by the UNHRC? This list will inevitably include many serving and retired members of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. The majority of them will be from the Army.

The question which arises is whether the State would support those being accused. Support in this case will entail representation, legal assistance and evidence. In the rare case of these officers being tried in international courts, it is simply unthinkable that they could prevail without the states support.

The other question which raises concerns is the evidence. If the war heroes are prosecuted will they have access to the evidence?

Consequent to the adoption of the UNHRC resolution 30/1 in 2015, the Army Headquarters appointed a committee to study it and submit recommendations. One of the recommendations of that committee was to set up a separate cell under the Directorate of Legal Services to keep all evidence in record so that any Army Officer could refer to them if needed.

Our country has a history of facing a similar situation during the period of 1988 to 1990. There were widespread allegations of human rights abuses committed by the security forces against JVP cadres and Sri Lanka found itself under scrutiny by influential international actors. The government that came to power in 1994 activated legal action strictly against a handful of members of the Army. Some were unfortunately held scapegoats and were imprisoned. The outcome was that the country saved its image and regained its reputation internationally.

LTTE culpability and UN bias

It is disappointing that since the first salvo was fired by the UN against Sri Lanka in 2009, no punitive action has been considered against remaining LTTE members and pro-LTTE organisations among the Tamil Diaspora.

The UNHRC continues to state that crimes were committed by both parties. However, it has not expressed willingness to take action against those responsible for crimes committed by LTTE. For instance, Adele Balasingham, who played a key role in the womens military wing of the LTTE, is left scot-free. If the UNHRC is impartial, it could proscribe LTTE front organisations abroad. The UN can even ban their actions such as rallies. However, none of these measures has been taken or considered. This gives the impression that although the military capability of LTTE was wiped out in Sri Lanka the threat of Tamil Eelam still exists outside the countrys borders. As such, there remains a threat to Sri Lankas national security.

Equality before the law is a question which must be raised. If a legal process is to be instituted, justice must be even handed. The questions of bias and equality before the law must be enforced and instituted as part of the process.

The way forward

This problem has dragged on to this day and has risen to this magnitude largely due to the failure of Sri Lankas foreign policy and the performance of its diplomatic missions abroad. This can be attributed to the factors such as the absence of a coherent foreign policy, a strategic plan, lack of coordination and will. Unqualified and incompetent diplomatic appointments to key offices in key countries by governments have made things worse. Those bureaucrats who formulate the foreign policy for Sri Lanka should be thorough of the geopolitical concerns of the world and should make their recommendations realistic, workable and sustainable, but not to appease their political masters.

Disunity among Sri Lankans has made it easier for outsiders to cause problems. One root cause is the bitter division between the various groups supporting Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka and the Rajapaksa family. The other root cause is the prevailing and continuing gulf between the major political parties.

By analysing the past events, it doesnt look as if either party  the GOSL or the UNHRC  has deviated from its stand despite more than 11 years lapsing. The UNHRC continues to insist that the GOSL should respond to the allegations while the GOSL vehemently condemns the allegations as false and unsubstantial.

As a result of the prevailing situation, there will be no progress. Just as the Eelam War was used as a tool for political parties to point fingers at each other, this effort to combat HR allegations too has become a subject of political infighting.

This problem must be solved within the next five years, failing which it is uncertain that any future government or any leader will be committed to safeguard the defendants. Even at present some Sri Lankans say if there are those who have done a crime, then they should do time. Those who think so may be suspecting that the so-called war crimes were actually committed by the forces. They do not believe that most of these allegations are lies, exaggerations and malicious propaganda. However, not knowing the true facts they make such comments. Therefore, it is quite possible that the next generation of Sri Lankans, who will have no idea of what exactly happened, may betray the war heroes.

A possible solution

To drive Sri Lanka out of this dark cloud, it must be left to be handled by an independent entity. As such, a separate Independent National Task Force (INTF), similar to the former Peace Secretariat, would definitely see progress but it should be completely APOLITICAL, granted with a clear mandate and a definite time frame, with a reasonable budget. This INTF must be composed of, apart from legal experts and multi-ethnic learned representatives from the civil society, at least a couple of senior retired military officers who would represent the interests of the armed forces.

The INTF should not only be countering the allegations against the state but also be proactive by presenting a Counter Resolution and getting the UNHRC to react.

The INTF should be the apex body which will keep in custody of all the evidence, both in support of the state and in support of the counter resolution. It should continue to collect, consolidate, analyse and preserve information and evidence.

It may be reporting to and taking guidelines from a top legal official such as the Attorney General or the Chief Justice, but not from any politician. Such a Task Force may directly engage with the UNHRC. Only then, would no political party be able to claim credit for its achievements or face the blame for its failures. Only then would it also be acceptable to the outside world.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has refused to set a date for when every Australian will receive their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine after blood clot fears over the AstraZeneca jab threw the nation's vaccination program into chaos.

The Federal Government initially set an October deadline to inoculate all people in Australia but Mr Morrison said they were no longer in a position to say when the vaccine program will be completed.

'The government has... not set, nor has any plans to set any new targets for completing first doses,' he said.

'While we would like to see these doses completed before the end of the year, it is not possible to set such targets given the many uncertainties involved.'

Delays to vaccination imports posed a problem, and then the rollout was derailed last week when health authorities recommended AstraZeneca doses should only be given to Australians aged over 50, following concerns about blood clotting.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured, flanked by Department of Health Secretary Dr Brendan Murphy) said the government will no longer be setting a target date for Australia's Covid-19 vaccination rollout

The government had initially been aiming to have every Australian inoculated by the end of October (pictured, a nurse in Canberra receives her Covid-19 vaccine)

'We will just get on with the job of working together to produce, distribute and administer the vaccines as safely and efficiently as possible,' Mr Morrison said.

More than 1.1 million doses have been administered so far, well below the four million target the government had been aiming to achieve by the end of March.

'You can see that 1.16 million doses have now been administered, with over 465,000 given by our GPs. Another 1,000 GPs are expected to join the rollout this week, taking the total number to over 4,000,' Mr Morrison said.

'At the end of this past week, it's also important to note that more than 142,000 doses have been administered to our aged care residents, in more than 1,000 facilities, with over 46,000 of these now being second does in over 500 facilities.'

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese said it was 'beyond belief' that the Morrison government 'seem to have no idea about vaccination timetables'.

'This should have been their main focus given they have handed most responsibility to the states,' he said on Twitter on Sunday night.

Australians are being urged to consult with their doctors regarding any concerns they have over AstraZeneca vaccinations.

The Federal Government was forced to change its Covid-19 vaccine timetable after concerns over the AstraZeneca jab through the rollout into doubt (pictured, a nurse in Tasmania receives her Covid-19 vaccine in February)

'It is critical for Australia's future that public confidence in the vaccine program is maintained,' Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid said.

He is urging Australians to discuss with their GP which vaccine they should have, noting most younger Australians would not be eligible for the vaccine until later this year anyway.

The government has secured a further 20 million Pfizer vaccines, which are due to be delivered in the final quarter of this year.

Even so, Dr Khorshid said the AstraZeneca vaccine remains very safe and effective, and access to the alternative, preferred Pfizer vaccine is likely to be delayed.

'Our advice for Australians with questions is to make an appointment with their GP for a full discussion about the possible risks and benefits of having the vaccine, or of not having it, taking into account their own specific circumstances,' he said.

He also noted reports that there has been some talk about doctors being concerned about potential litigation from side-effects of any vaccines.

Australian health authorities recommended the AstraZeneca vaccine (pictured) should only be given to people above 50 due to the risk of blood clotting. Those aged under 50 should instead get the Pfizer vaccine, authorities recommended

Health Minister Greg Hunt (pictured left while a woman receives her Covid-19 vaccine) said there were now 4000 GP clinics across the nation administering the vaccine

'Please be assured that all registered doctors are fully covered - your GP is more concerned with your health,' he said.

Health Minister Greg Hunt also made the point that vaccine indemnity is already in place.

Mr Hunt insists GPs have 'flocked' to participate in the program in the coming week, and have not been put off by the advice on AstraZeneca jab.

There were now 4000 GP clinics across the nation able to administer the vaccine.

Mr Morrison said Australia's vaccine program is faring well on an international scale.

'The latest data shows that Australia's vaccination program is advancing consistent with comparable countries such as Germany, and ahead of Canada, Sweden, France, NZ, South Korea and Japan at the same stage of their rollouts,' he said.

There were no new Covid-19 community transmission cases reported on Sunday.
Swedish oil company Tethys Oil, which has Oman as its core area of focus, said it plans to invest around $47 million in 2021 in its portfolio of upstream oil & gas assets in the Sultanate in 2021.



The company would continue to capitalise on promising growth opportunities in the Sultanate of Oman linked to its enhanced asset portfolio, Tethys Oil Managing Director Magnus Nordin was quoted as saying by Oman Observer.



2021 should see five exploration/appraisal wells and new seismic studies conducted across our asset portfolio all funded by our profitable production asset (Blocks 3&4) while leaving room to continue to fund our growth and our (dividend) distributions to shareholders, Nordin said.



Of the total commitment of around $47 million pledged this year, the lions share of around $32 million is earmarked towards Blocks 3&4, a pair of flagship producing blocks located in central Oman, the Oman Observer report said.



Tethys Oil has a 30 per cent working interest in the blocks, with the rest shared between CC Energy Development Oman Branch (50 per cent) and Mitsui E&P Middle East (20 per cent). CC Energy Development is also the operator of Blocks 3&4.



The focus of the work programme on Blocks 3&4 is continued development drilling, upgrading infrastructure with focus on asset integrity and debottlenecking, continue the gas utilisation project and the drilling of exploration wells, a company statement said.



The work programme for Block 49, located in the southwest of the Sultanate, will primarily focus on completing the drilling, testing and evaluation of the newly drilled Thameen-1 exploration well.



Although no flows were recorded at surface, logs indicated a gross hydrocarbon column of close to 40 metres, said the company, adding that it will plan the next steps for the Block once all of the data linked to the well are compiled and evaluated.



Block 56, located in the southeast of the country, will see up to three wells drilled in the Al Jumd area of the concession, in addition to the planning of a 3D seismic acquisition in the central area of the block. Tethys Oil holds a 65 per cent interest in Block 56 and is the operator of the concession.



Block 58, which was awarded to Tethys Oil last July, represents a new exciting exploration licence, according to the company.



The Block borders Tethys Oils other operated block, Block 49 and holds some very interesting geological features that hopefully will be upgraded to drillable prospects in the not-too-distant future, the statement said.


They're two of four judges at the panel of an entertaining talent show.

Americas Got Talent stars Sofia Vergara and Heidi Klum brought their typical style to Sundays arrivals photo op, outside the taping studio in Los Angeles, California.

Sofia, 48, looked summery wearing a white keyhole knit blouse paired with frayed cropped light wash skinny jeans.

Easy, breezy: Americas Got Talent judges Sofia Vergara and Heidi Klum brought their typical style to Sundays arrivals photo op, outside the taping studio in Los Angeles

Her denim jeans ended mid-calf, drawing more attention to her towering brown heeled Louboutin sandals.

The Modern Family star also handled a fetching tan leather handbag.

Her lustrous light brown hair blew wavy in the breeze as she turned back to smile at the shutterbugs.

Supermodel Heidi, 47, provided a fair amount of pizzazz in a bright lime green blazer with oversized lapels.

Peace: Supermodel Heidi provided a fair amount of pizzazz in a bright lime green blazer with oversized lapels

Beautiful: Sofia looked great and summery in a white keyhole knit blouse, paired with frayed cropped light wash skinny jeans

Underneath, she wore a tight white top and lighter wash cropped jeans.

The rest of her ensemble was white, including heeled pointy-toed leather ankle booties and a large leather tote bag.

Heidis bag had a fun fuzzy banana ornament attached to a keychain.

Head turner: Her denim jeans ended mid-calf, drawing more attention to her towering brown heeled Louboutin sandals

Bold: The rest of Klum's ensemble was white, including heeled pointy-toed leather ankle booties and a large leather tote bag

She accessorized with chunky semicircular white earrings and John Lennon-style circular sunshades with white rims.

Her blonde hair was done up in the back and parted at the side, flowing around her face as she flashed a peace sign with her two fingers.

Meanwhile Howie, 65, arrived in a hilarious ensemble covered head-to-toe in a photo collage printed suit with all the AGT judges on it.

Statement: She accessorized with chunky semicircular white earrings and John Lennon-style circular sunshades with white rims

Meanwhile: Cohost Howie Mandel arrived in a hilarious ensemble covered head-to-toe in a photo collage printed suit with all the AGT judges on it

Too funny: He paired this with weathered pink footwear

He paired this with weathered pink footwear.

The ladies along with Mandel are in the midst of shooting season 16 of the reality competition series.

Also filming Sunday were host Terry Crews and judge Simon Cowell.

The first episode of the hit NBC show is set to air on June 1st.

Thumbs up: Simon Cowell was in an upbeat mood as he arrived for filming on Sunday

Casual: The media mogul was dressed down in a black sweater with white shorts and black socks and black trainers
Advertisement

The first photo has emerged of three young children who were allegedly stabbed to death by their mother in Southern California as police continue working to uncover a motive.

Liliana Carrillo, 30, was arrested on Saturday hours after police said she killed her two sons and daughter, aged two, three and six months, at her apartment in Los Angeles.

The children's grandmother discovered the grisly scene that morning and Carrillo fled the home in a stolen car, sparking an hours-long manhunt that ended with her being taken into custody in Ponderosa, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

Loved ones set up a GoFundMe campaign to help the children's father, Erick Denton, cover the costs of their funerals.

The campaign, which has already raised more than $13,500 as of midday Sunday, features an adorable photo of the three kids playing outside with their dad.

Denton's cousin, Teri Miller, revealed on Sunday that the father had been fighting Carrillo, his ex-girlfriend, for custody of the kids long before they were killed.

Miller told Fox 11 that Denton had repeatedly contacted the Department of Children and Family Services because he felt Carrillo 'needed help'.

'Liliana was very sick, and this is not  she was not herself, and it's been going on for several months that she has been unwell,' the cousin said.

Three young children who were allegedly stabbed to death by their mother in Los Angeles on Saturday are pictured with their father, Erick Denton, in a photo posted on a GoFundMe campaign

c, 30, (left and right) was arrested on Saturday hours after police said she killed her two sons and daughter, aged two, three and six months, at her apartment in Los Angeles. A relative claimed Carrillo had been 'unwell' for months

Police are pictured outside the apartment building where Carrillo allegedly killed her children on Saturday

Erick Denton, the father of the children is pictured in the foreground, with the mother, Liliana Carrillo, in the background

An apparently pregnant Liliana Carrillo, left, is seen with the father of their children, Erick Denton

Miller noted that Denton had received an emergency order granting him custody of the kids in March, but suggested that no one helped enforce it so the kids remained living with their mother and grandmother.

'He's also frustrated with the system, because the system failed them,' Miller said of Denton. 'The system failed these kids.'

Video courtesy of KTLA

Teri Miller, whose cousin Erick Denton was the children's father, shared her grief in an interview with Fox 11 (pictured)

Police said the grandmother returned home from work on at about 9.30am Saturday and found the children dead inside Carrillo's apartment in the Reseda neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Carrillo had apparently already fled the scene in her own car before ditching it for a stolen silver Toyota pickup truck in Bakersfield.

She was apprehended in a Tulare County after the LAPD received reports she was driving north on Interstate 5, a spokesperson for the LAPD confirmed to DailyMail.com.

Before her arrest LAPD Lt Raul Jovel had said that Carrillo was considered a suspect in the stabbings but police hadn't ruled out other possible perpetrators.

After her arrest the LAPD confirmed that Carrillo was the sole suspect.

Neighbors said they had assumed that the children's grandmother was their primary guardian after seeing them around the Reseda neighborhood.

'At this point, she is a suspect in this incident but that doesn't exclude other people,' Jovel said.

He added: 'We're trying to figure out what ties she has up north.'

Lupe Cuevas, a neighbor of Carrillo and her children, told the San Bernardino Sun that she interacted with the three children and their grandmother during afternoon walks around the neighborhood.

One of the children, a girl, was drawn to her Chihuahua, Rosie, Cuevas told the newspaper.

'She wasn't shy. She was sweet,' Cuevas said. 'An angel shouldn't have to go that way.

'Those babies were such sweet little ones. It hurts.'

Los Angeles Police officers at the crime scene where three children were stabbed to death and their mother was arrested Saturday in Reseda, California

Los Angeles Police officers at the crime scene where three children were killed in Reseda, California on Saturday morning

Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore exits an apartment complex as police investigate in Reseda

On Saturday DailyMail.com revealed that Carrillo kept a blog where she criticized Teen Mom stars for being bad mothers.

An Instagram account believed to belong to Carrillo, which has since been deleted, had linked to an old blog that apparently belonged to her in which she had written positive, inspirational messages and a few confessions about herself called 'Blogging For Good.'

In her posts, Carrillo talked 'about common life issues and obstacles that people may have encountered'.

Many of the posts are filled with messages describing 'opportunities for change' and telling readers to 'take charge of your life.'

'I am not perfect, I still have many issues but overall I am happy and proud of my past. I love my present life and look forward to my future,' she wrote in 2013.

A number of her posts also address her family  though her children would not have been born by the time she stopped writing in the blog.

On Saturday DailyMail.com revealed that Carrillo kept a blog where she criticized Teen Mom stars for being bad mothers

In one post from May 10, 2013, Carrillo recounted her irritation with the show Teen Mom 2 in which she claimed its stars 'physically and emotionally abuse their partners and then victimize themselves.'

'My sister watches this crap and I got stuck eating lunch in the living room with her,' she wrote.

She added: 'They are involved in heavy drugs, cannot escape them, and then cry about how they can't access their child... I mean really?'

'All of these mothers that have been presented have in my opinion, and forgive me if this offends anyone but it is my opinion and I hold strongly to it, just idiot after idiot. I do not feel pity for them.'

She added: 'There's no denying that there are a few mothers in the show who progress from their situations and grow from their troubles but there are others that I am shocked as to how or why they still have custody of their child.'

In her blog posts, Carrillo talked 'about common life issues and obstacles that people may have encountered'

In that same post, she said that had also been in 'unhealthy relationships' in which she would ' go out with my girls, drink, smoke, lose control.'

'I'm not perfect. I was a person in these same situations, minus the child,' she wrote.

'Believe in yourself and summon strength from within to push you to do the best you can do. This world is limitless. You are your own worst enemy.'

In that post, she also wished her mother a 'Happy Mother's Day.' It was not immediately clear if the grandmother of the children who were killed was Carrillo's mother or the children's paternal grandmother.

'She has put up with more than I can imagine myself doing. She has struggled so much to raise this family. Although we do not agree on many things, I will always be grateful for the opportunities she has provided for me,' Carrillo wrote.

'I may not have been dealt the cards in life everyone dreams of but I was blessed with an overbearing, over-loving mother whom also played the role of a strict father and an even more loving and caring sibling unit.'

Carrillo also appeared to struggle with her identity, at some times calling herself a 'passionate lover' and at others referring to herself as 'selfish' and a 'manipulator.'

'As for you, have a f**king amazing time today! Be yourself, don't give mind to those that are hating on you. They probably need a hug and a smile,' she wrote in one post.

An Instagram account belonging to Carrillo, which has since been deleted, linked to a blog she apparently once had

Carrillo, right, is pictured with a man in a post made to an Instagram

In one post made to a blog Carrillo slammed the stars of Teen Mom 2 as bad mothers

A post made by Carrillo to her Instagram before it was deleted appears to reference her children
COLUMBIA  The trial of former South Carolina Sheriff Alex Big A Underwood begins April 12, with federal prosecutors opening arguments that the Chester County lawman used his position to enrich himself, retaliate against his enemies and enlist deputies to help advance a corrupt agenda.

Underwood is accused of siphoning public money for his own use, using deputies for work improving his barn, ordering deputies to cite and arrest the sheriffs political opponents and altering public documents to cover up some of the malfeasance.

Two of his former deputies  Johnny Neal and Robert Sprouse  also face charges, including conspiring to aid Underwood and cover-up a November 2018 arrest of a man who recorded deputies responding to an incident outside his home.

The trio will appear together before a jury of 12 in Columbia. The trial, with U.S. Judge J. Michelle Childs presiding, is expected to last three weeks.

Lawyers for Sprouse and Underwood did not respond to requests for comment. But the defense has maintained the trios innocence and argued in court papers that the stack of charges are a malicious and flagrant attempt to force the defendants to plead guilty instead of risk pursuing their constitutional right to a jury trial.

Andrew Johnston, a Spartanburg lawyer for Neal, stressed that his client has pleaded not guilty, adding, His whole family stands behind him and we all have confidence in his defense.

Underwood faces 10 counts of conspiracy, fraud and other tampering and theft charges that upon conviction could carry more than 80 years behind bars. Neal and Sprouse face 19 additional charges.

The charges amount to one of the largest public corruption cases lodged against a South Carolina law enforcement official in recent memory, even with a parade of scandals involving the states elected sheriffs.

Many of the issues involving Underwood were first exposed by The Post and Courier.

First, the newspaper reported on the case of Kevin Simpson, the 26-year-old Chester resident who Underwood confronted while the man live streamed the departments response to a wreck outside his home. After a scuffle, deputies arrested Simpson and charged him with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Indictments alleged Neal and Sprouse wrote a bogus police report on the incident, and that the department illegally confiscated and tampered with Simpsons phone.

The Post and Courier featured Underwood in its 2019 investigation, Above the Law. The reporting highlighted more than a dozen sheriffs who had been accused of breaking laws they swore to uphold in the past decade. It also laid out how several more sheriffs had abused their positions, lining their pockets on the public's dime and bullying those who questioned their behavior.

Among the newspapers findings: Underwood and Sprouse flew first-class in 2017 to a sheriffs conference in Reno, Nev. They took their wives, charging $5,627 on the countys credit card. When they landed, they hired a $353 chauffeur to take them to and from the airport, a roughly 2-mile trip.

Underwood also enlisted deputies for renovations on a barn on his personal property, The Post and Courier reported. Prosecutors later alleged that the free labor was worth at least $10,000.

At the time, Underwood told The Post and Courier that deputies helped out on the barn on their own time and said the newspapers questions were ridiculous.

Now, prosecutors have centered their case around several of the same records first reviewed by reporters. That includes video from the Simpson arrest and travel vouchers from the Reno trip.

Other evidence that may be introduced at trial, summarized by prosecutors in court papers, includes revelations of other ways in which Underwood allegedly sought to punish his political opponents or those who declined to do his bidding.

Among the allegations: Underwood tried to have the county treasurer jailed because the official refused to sign off on a department pay raise, court records show. And in another instance, prosecutors say Underwood instructed a deputy to cite a state lawmaker because the official opposed the appointment of Underwoods wife, Angel Underwood, as a county magistrate.

The Post and Courier identified that lawmaker as former state Sen. Creighton Coleman. He told the newspaper he was pulled over by a deputy and presented a reporter with a copy of a speeding citation from 2015. I dont know why he did it, but he did it, Coleman said.

Coleman is among the more than 100 potential witnesses who may be called during Underwoods trial. The list also includes Sen. Mike Fanning, a longtime Underwood supporter who has defended him since he was first indicted in May 2019.

Shortly after, Gov. Henry McMaster suspended Underwood and installed former State Law Enforcement Division Capt. Max Dorsey as the new sheriff in Chester County. Dorsey then defeated Underwood in last years election to earn a four-year term.

Underwood, Chesters first African American sheriff, was first elected in 2012. A former SLED agent, he arrived in an area with high rates of poverty and a history of crime. But it didnt take long for his tenure to be marked with conflict and scandal.

In 2014, a female deputy filed a lawsuit alleging that he used his position as sheriff to force her to have sex, allegations he denied.

The case went to trial in 2015. The jury sided with Underwood.
By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For Kendrick Fulton, the COVID-19 pandemic opened the door to an unexpected opportunity to rebuild his life in Round Rock, Texas, after serving 17 years behind bars for selling crack cocaine.

As officials scrambled last year to stem the spread of the coronavirus in prisons, the Justice Department let Fulton and more than 23,800 inmates like him serve their sentences at home.

But as more people are vaccinated, thousands could be hauled back into prison to serve the remainder of their sentences, thanks to a little-noticed legal opinion issued by the Justice Department in the waning days of Republican former President Donald Trump's administration.

Congressional Democrats and justice-reform advocates have called on President Joe Biden and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to reverse the opinion, but so far the new administration has not acted to rescind the memo.

The memo offers a strict legal interpretation of the CARES Act, a 2020 law that gave the attorney general the authority to release low-level inmates into home confinement during the pandemic.

Once the emergency is lifted, the memo says, the federal Bureau of Prisons "must recall prisoners in home confinement to correctional facilities" if they do not otherwise qualify to remain at home - a move that could impact as many as 7,399 BOP inmates who currently remain out on home confinement because they still have time left on their sentences.

'WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?'

That leaves Fulton, 47, who said he was able to get much-needed knee surgery and secure a job at a wholesale auto glass distributor in the past few months, facing the prospect of losing the new life he's tried to create for himself.

"Words can't really express how I feel to be home 11 years earlier. To get a job, to get a bank account," said Fulton. "I served over 17 years already. What more do you want? I should go back for another 11 years to literally just do nothing?"

Story continues

Criminal justice reform advocacy groups say that if the White House leaves the policy in place, it will destroy the lives of thousands of people who pose little public safety risk and have already landed jobs, returned to school and tried to reintegrate into society.

"Allowing this memo to stay on the books is in direct conflict with the administration's commitment to criminal justice reform," said Inimai Chettiar, a director at the Justice Action Network.

"They know how to change Trump policies if they want to," added Kevin Ring, president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums. "We don't know why this one hasn't been changed yet."

A BOP spokesman said the bureau is aware of the memo but declined to answer further questions. A union official who represents correctional staff said he believed that ordering everyone back to prison would be logistically "impossible."

"We don't have the staff," said Joe Rojas, the Southeast Regional Vice President at Council Of Prison Locals. "We are already in chaos as it is as an agency."

A Justice Department spokesperson declined to answer questions about the policy, instead touting the BOP's success administering more than 122,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine to staff and inmates. "BOP continues to evaluate the scope of home confinement policies that have also helped to address COVID-19 concerns," the spokesperson added.

Former Attorney General William Barr in March 2020 ordered the BOP to release non-violent federal inmates into home confinement if they met certain criteria, and later expanded the pool of people who could qualify after declaring the BOP was facing emergency conditions.

Last week, U.S. Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman and 27 other lawmakers, mostly Democrats, sent a letter asking Biden to act so people won't have to return to prison.

"We urge you to use your executive clemency authority or direct the Justice Department to seek compassionate release for people who have demonstrated that they no longer need to be under federal supervision," they wrote.

Miranda McLaurin, 43, a disabled Iraq War U.S. Army veteran who was sentenced to five years on a drug-related offense, said not knowing whether she will be sent back to prison is taking a toll on her mental health.

"It will drive you crazy," she said. "I kind of felt like I did before I went to prison, not knowing what's going to happen."

In February, she was allowed to go home to Ridgeland, Mississippi, from a federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, where she suspects she was infected with the coronavirus after she lost her sense of smell for two weeks.

Since then, she landed a job at a car manufacturing plant and has finally been able to see her nearly two-year-old grandson.

"I always hear them talking about giving people a second chance," she said of the Biden administration. "I came home, I got a job. I'm working. I have to catch a ride everyday because I can't buy a car ... But I'm making it."

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; editing by Scott Malone and Grant McCool)
JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  Aqeel Glass threw six touchdown passes and ran for another score to lead Alabama A&M to a 52-43 victory over Jackson State on Saturday.

It was Alabama A&Ms first game since March 6, a 31-7 win over South Carolina State. The Bulldogs (3-0, 2-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference) scheduled season opener on February 27 was forfeited by Alcorn State.

Glass, a 6-5 senior from St. Louis, was 27-of-40 passing for a career-high 440 yards. He threw two touchdown passes to Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim and one each to Gary Quarles, Zabrian Moore, Odieu Hilaire, and Anthony Howard. Glass also had a 5-yard touchdown run.

Moore had four catches for 114 yards and Hilaire six for 100 yards. Ibrahim finished with five receptions for 94 yards. Glass's 61-yard TD pass to Moore gave the Bulldogs the lead for good, 28-21, with 3:45 left in the second quarter.

Quincy Casey completed 30 of 47 passes for 323 yards with four touchdown passes for Jackson State (4-3, 3-2). Santee Marshall had a 54-yard touchdown run and finished with 126 yards rushing. Warren Newman caught three TD passes and had a 6-yard touchdown run.

___

More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
New Delhi: Actor Amitabh Bachchan posted an interesting trivia about his 1975 film 'Chupke Chupke' as the film completed 46 years of release on Sunday.

The superstar, who played the role of an English professor Sukumar in the comedy film, revealed that the house used in the film to shoot some scenes is now his current Mumbai residence Jalsa.

Amitabh took to Instagram on Sunday as he shared a fascinating fact from the film.

He uploaded a still from the movie and captioned it as: "Chupke Chupke " our film by Hrishikesh MUKERJI.. closing today at 46 years ..!! This house you see in the picture is Producer NC Sippy's house .. we bought it , then sold it , then bought it back again .. rebuilt it .. this is our home now JALSA !!

Here's the post:

Many films were shot here .. Anand, NamakHaram , Chupke Chupke , Satte pe Satta , and many more .."

The film also starred Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Asrani, Jaya Bachchan and Om Prakash in pivotal roles.
The Maharashtra unit of the



Congress will hold protest against the BJP-ruled Centre from Monday by beating plates and ringing bells outside those vaccination centres in the state that have been shut due to the non-availability of COVID-19 vaccines, a party leader said.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, state Congress president Nana Patole wondered how 'Tika Utsav' (vaccine festival) can be observedin the state from April 11 to 14 when several centres are shut as they have run out of doses.

"We will protest against the central government's attempt to politicise a serious issue of shortage of vaccine doses by banging of thalis (plates) and ringing of bells outside those vaccination centres that had to be shut due to the non-availability of doses," Patole said.

Beating of plates and ringing of bells was part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to the people last year to display the country's collective resolve to defeat COVID-19 and to express gratitude towards the health workers and the frontline staff risking their lives during the pandemic.

Patole said there is no option but to vaccinate people to keep them safe from the virus.

"Maharashtra is leading among other states in the vaccination drive, but the Centre is not providing enough doses," he said.

Patole said there is enough production of vaccine doses in the country, but instead of allotting them to Maharashtra, the vaccines are being exported to other countries, including Pakistan, free of cost.

He alleged that the BJP-ruled Gujarat has less number of COVID-19 active cases and its population is also less than that of Maharashtra, but the supply of vaccines to that is more.

Patole accused the Centre of deliberately trying to corner the opposition-ruled states to put the blame of management on them.

"The state Congress's agitation outside the closed vaccination centres will continue till the vaccine supply is adequate," he added.

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

I have a '65 plate on my F-350 dually flatbed. It's for a truck tagged at 18K lbs so there's only one, and it's on the rear bumper.So I was followed to Autozone by a city cop who pulled up behind me and asked about the '65 plate. He didn't know what a YOM plate was... so I explained, it's a '65 truck, etc.Ditto for a Missouri state trooper who once pulled me over (doing 65 in a 65 about fifty miles from home) because of the plate. HE didn't even know what YOM plates were either! That was somewhat more surprising. Anyway he admitted that it was, in fact, current and registered to me, and went back tokeeping the public safe. My tax dollars at work.
Portuguese Leaders Declare Vaccines a Public Good, Demand EU Invoke Emergency Powers

April 10 , 2021 (EIRNS)Ninety leading citizens of Portugal issued a public appeal Vaccines Are a Public Good: Citizens Appeal, on April 8 for the European Union to invoke emergency powers to override market interests, and order that COVID-19 vaccine production be undertaken in any appropriate plant available, even if not owned by the vaccine patent holders.

The pandemic has brought catastrophe to the world, and vaccines, an indispensable instrument in the global battle against the pandemic, have become a public interest good. As such they cannot be subject to the supply and demand laws of the market, they declare.

Europe has around 80 vaccine plants, which, according to Vaccines Europe, the specialized vaccines group within the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, produced 76% of the vaccines on the world market in 2019, states appeal.

The lack of vaccines seen today in Portugal and Europe, which subordinates European citizens to the vaccine producers, is incomprehensible. The arguments put forward by the European Commission regarding the nature of contracts, existing production capacity, and prices agreed on are not acceptable.

The call takes on added force given that Portugal is currently the rotating president of the European Union. Nor is the calls initiator, Jose Aranda da Silva, a lightweight, having served as the first head of Infarmed, Portugals national medicine and health products authority (1993-2000), and co-founded the European Medicines Agency (EMA) itself. The other signers include other former high-ranking health officials, former and incumbent Members of the European Parliament and national MPs, numerous academics, medical professionals, trade unionists, journalists, a bishop, an admiral and an air force general, and others. And the initiative has been covered widely in Portugals main media.

Nearly 3 million people have died of COVID-19, the call states. The European Commission must

override financial and industrial interests.... In cases classified as catastrophic, European and national legislation allows member-states to invoke public interest grounds and the overriding importance of public health or national defense, to adopt measures compelling vaccine production in locations which are not those of the patent-holders.

The manifesto here references an earlier call by the Director-General of the World Health Organization Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for all instruments to be used, including technology transfer and lifting industrial property rights, to secure vaccines.

In the face of the catastrophe which we are living through, in the face of the tragic lack of European response, the citizens call for measures capable of protecting the health of populations to be taken immediately. These measures require transparent sharing of information, the use of the legislation provided for situations of catastrophe, and a mobilization of productive resources and capabilities.

The manifesto will be circulated internationally, and presented to the United Nations and World Health Organization, Dr. Aranda da Silva told Portugals Lusa press agency on April 8. He elaborated:

Science rose to the challenge of the pandemic, with governments funding, but when the vaccines entered the market, the commercial game began, instead of their being treated as a public good. When there is a war, there is a total mobilization. And in this war we are not using adequate weapons. He was emphatic: This is not an ideological question. It is a pragmatic question. If everyone is not vaccinated by the summer, we are going to have another wave and a great economic and social crisis.
avid_creative / Getty Images

BRIDGEPORT  Two people were sent to a hospital with non-life threatening gunshot wounds Sunday, according to an official.

Those individuals were wounded to the arm and the other to the face, emergency management director Scott Appleby said. Following early morning report from the citys ShotSpotter system, officials responded and saw the victims on Sheridan Street, according to Appleby.
At least fours people including soldiers were killed on Saturday evening as suspected members of ISWAP, a faction of the Boko Haram, attacked Damasak, a border community in Borno State, security sources and witnesses said.

Information trickled in late Saturday night that the border community was under attack. No clearer details were received until the early hours of Sunday.

Security sources told PREMIUM TIMES that the attack was mostly targeted at the UN and NGO facilities in Damasak. A police station and a hospital were also attacked.

It was a bad situation we had on Saturday when the Boko Haram gunmen stormed Damasak later Saturday afternoon, said a source, a local security personnel who pleaded not to be named.

The attackers came in large numbers riding on motorcycles and many gun trucks. They attacked an area around the UN hub, setting it on fire.

They also slaughtered two persons and we later discovered that two special forces soldiers also died.

Another source informed our reporter that while most of the UN and other NGO workers were able to move into the bunker at the UN hub, the insurgents set fire on virtually all the NGO offices and warehouses.

Yes, they set fire on the UN hub, the GISCOR office as well as INTERSOS, NRC offices before carting away their vehicles.

The insurgents went to the General Hospital in Damasak and looted drugs and related medical facilities, but one of their commanders prevented them from setting fire on the hospital because there were patients in the wards.

PREMIUM TIMES also learnt that the Damasak police station was burnt down as the police took to their heels upon sighting the insurgents advancing toward the station.

The fire that affected part of the UN humanitarian hub was as a result of the escalation of the fire set on the warehouse of an NGO called ACTED, one of our sources in Damasak said.

The source said the attackers left Damasak with a hospital ambulance and some other vehicles belonging to some of the NGOs.

Residential compound bombed

Some residents also said that a military jet that came to salvage the situation dropped a bomb that landed in a compound where civilians were holding a naming ceremony. The bomb exploded and killed many women and children, they said. Premium Times has not been able to independently confirm the bombing story.

The attack on the UN hub is the second of its kind in five weeks.

On March 1, the insurgents attacked a UN hub in Dikwa town of Borno State, where they burnt several vehicles after dislodging a military base.

The UN Office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs has not made any official comment on the Damasak attack.

Sandy Maroun, the Head of Public Information at UNOCHA, who said it was premature to speak with the media at the moment. She said she would issue a statement later when her office gets enough information on the matter.

The Nigerian military has also not spoken on the attack.

ADVERTISEMENT

More details of the incident will be provided in subsequent reports.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  Irans underground Natanz nuclear facility lost power Sunday just hours after starting up new advanced centrifuges capable of enriching uranium faster, the latest incident to strike the site amid negotiations over the tattered atomic accord with world powers.

As Iranian officials investigated the outage, many Israeli media outlets offered the same assessment that a cyberattack darkened Natanz and damaged a facility that is home to sensitive centrifuges. While the reports offered no sourcing for the evaluation, Israeli media maintains a close relationship with the countrys military and intelligence agencies.

If Israel caused the blackout, it further heightens tensions between the two nations, already engaged in a shadow conflict across the wider Middle East.

It also complicates efforts by the U.S., Israels main security partner, to re-enter the atomic accord aimed at limiting Tehrans program so it couldnt pursue a nuclear weapon if it chose. As news of the blackout emerged, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin landed in Israel on Sunday for talks with Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

Power at Natanz had been cut across the facility, comprised of above-ground workshops and underground enrichment halls, civilian nuclear program spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi told Iranian state television.

We still do not know the reason for this electricity outage and have to look into it further, Kamalvandi said. Fortunately, there was no casualty or damage and there is no particular contamination or problem.

Asked by the state TV correspondent if it was a technical defect or sabotage, Kamalvandi declined to comment.

Malek Shariati Niasar, a Tehran-based lawmaker who serves as spokesman for the Iranian parliaments energy committee, wrote on Twitter that the incident was very suspicious, raising concerns about possible sabotage and infiltration. He said lawmakers were pursuing details of the incident as well.

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors Irans program, said it was aware of the media reports, but declined to comment.

Natanz was built largely underground to withstand enemy airstrikes. It became a flashpoint for Western fears about Irans nuclear program in 2002, when satellite photos showed Iran building its underground centrifuges facility at the site, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of the capital, Tehran.

Natanz suffered a mysterious explosion at its advanced centrifuge assembly plant in July that authorities later described as sabotage. Iran now is rebuilding that facility deep inside a nearby mountain.

Israel, Irans regional archenemy, has been suspected of carrying out that attack as well as launching other assaults, as world powers now negotiate with Tehran in Vienna over its nuclear deal.

Iran also blamed Israel for the killing of a scientist who began the countrys military nuclear program decades earlier. The Stuxnet computer virus, discovered in 2010 and widely believed to be a joint U.S.-Israeli creation, once disrupted and destroyed Iranian centrifuges at Natanz.

Its hard for me to believe its a coincidence, said Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at Tel Avivs Institute for National Security Studies, of Sundays blackout. If its not a coincidence, and thats a big if, someone is trying to send a message that we can limit Irans advance and we have red lines.

Israel has not claimed any of the attacks, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly has described Iran as the major threat faced by his country in recent weeks.

Meeting with Austin on Sunday, Gantz said Israel viewed America as an ally against all threats, including Iran.

The Tehran of today poses a strategic threat to international security, to the entire Middle East and to the state of Israel, Gantz said. And we will work closely with our American allies to ensure that any new agreement with Iran will secure the vital interests of the world, of the United States, prevent a dangerous arms race in our region, and protect the state of Israel.

The Israeli armys chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, also appeared to reference Iran.

The Israeli militarys operations in the Middle East are not hidden from the eyes of the enemy, Kochavi said. They are watching us, seeing (our) abilities and weighing their steps with caution.

Multiple Israeli media outlets reported Sunday that a cyberattack caused the blackout in Natanz. Public broadcaster Kan said Israel was likely behind the attack, citing Israels alleged responsibility for the Stuxnet attacks a decade ago. Channel 12 TV cited experts as estimating the attack shut down entire sections of the facility. None of the reports included sources or explanations on how the outlets came to that assessment.

In Tehran, Iranian officials meanwhile welcomed arriving South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, the first visit by a premier from Seoul since before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran on Friday released a South Korean oil tanker held since January amid a dispute with Seoul over billions of dollars of its assets frozen there due to sanctions.

On Saturday, Iran announced it had launched a chain of 164 IR-6 centrifuges at the plant. Officials also began testing the IR-9 centrifuge, which they say will enrich uranium 50 times faster than Irans first-generation centrifuges, the IR-1. The nuclear deal limited Iran to using only IR-1s for enrichment.

Since then-President Donald Trumps withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, Tehran has abandoned all the limits of its uranium stockpile. It now enriches up to 20% purity, a technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iran maintains its atomic program is for peaceful purposes.

On Tuesday, an Iranian cargo ship said to serve as a floating base for Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard forces off the coast of Yemen was struck by an explosion, likely from a limpet mine. Iran has blamed Israel for the blast. That attack escalated a long-running shadow war in Mideast waterways targeting shipping in the region.

___

Jon Gambrell and Ilan Ben Zion of The Associated Press wrote this story. Ben Zion reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Birla Carbon, a global leader in carbon black, providing innovative solutions that enhance the performance of products across various industries, will participate at Chinaplas 2021 expo and will unveil two unique products for its local and global customers.

Raven SF8 Ultra will be launched for synthetic fibre in the textile industry and Raven 5100 Ultra piano black for high-end automotive and electronic applications, the company announced in a release.

Chinaplas 2021 is being held from April 13 to 16, 2021, at the Shenzhen World Exhibition and Convention Center, Shenzhen, Guangdong. The 34th International Exhibition on Plastics and Rubber Industries - Chinaplas 2021 - welcomes visitors from automobiles, chemicals, raw materials, packaging, plastics, rubber products, and other allied industries.

Speaking about the global introduction of the new solutions, John Davidson, Chief Sales, and Marketing Officer, Birla Carbon, said: As an innovation-focused carbon black leader, Birla Carbon has been engaging with its customers to understand the challenges in every industry we operate in.

Innovation for the plastics industry is an important aspect of our overall strategy.

He further added: The availability of new solutions with Raven SF8 Ultra and Raven 5100 Ultra, at Chinaplas 2021, is a result of our continued efforts with our customers. Our Purpose is to Share the Strength, and we will continue to engage with our customers to find those new solutions that benefit both the customer and the industry.

Raven SF8 Ultra

A high-performance carbon black for fine denier synthetic fibers, offering easy dispersibility and appealing color. The grade manufactured at the Birla Carbons Weifang plant in China has excellent filterability, and spin-ability with minimal yarn breaks and low moisture pick up.

Raven 5100 Ultra

A next-generation piano black for high-end applications in automotive, consumer electronics, and household appliances segments. Showcases ultra-high jetness with an attractive blue undertone; is compatible with various engineering resins, and has a good balance of dispersion and color performance. Raven 5100 Ultra is produced in bead form, which makes handling and transport of the material easier.

Birla Carbon technical experts will be present at booth 16G41 to address any queries from visitors and customers regarding Raven SF8 Ultra and Raven 5100 Ultra. The company will also make a presentation on A Breakthrough in High Black Engineering Plastics at the Chinaplas Tech Talk 2021 seminar on April 15, the release added.--TradeArabia News Service
Advertisement

Protesters reportedly set fire to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building in Portland on Saturday night before cops swept in to disperse the crowds.

Photos and videos posted on social media showed flames engulfing a barrier protecting the ICE building in Portland's South Waterfront district, which has been a frequent target of demonstrations over the past year.

The protesters also appeared to create a makeshift bonfire in front of the building by setting fire to a pile of wooden pallets.

Dozens of protesters were pictured at the demonstration before federal officers clad in riot gear arrived to break it up.

Protesters reportedly set fire to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building in Portland on Saturday night before cops swept in to disperse the crowds

Images posted on social media showed flames engulfing a wooden barrier protecting the ICE building in Portland's South Waterfront district, near a small bonfire

Photojournalist Chris Landis chronicled the demonstration on Twitter and said tensions were running high between protesters and police.

As they have with many previous protests, the officers reportedly resorted to firing pepper balls into the crowd to force people to disperse.

It's unclear whether any arrests were made.

Journalist Grace Morgan also shared updates from the scene on Twitter.

At about 9pm local time Morgan said 'close to 100' people had already arrived for the planned protest and more were still trickling in.

Minutes later Morgan tweeted a photo of a small burning pile of trash on the ground, writing: 'First ANTIFA fire of the night has already kicked off, so far people are just warming their hands on this cold night.'

Later protesters were seen crowded around the fire chanting: 'This is what community looks like!'

Morgan also posted a photo of fences and barricades that had been dismantled by the protesters and placed in front of entrances to the building.

Fire outside the Portland ICE facility. The crowd chants This is what community looks like! #portlandProtests pic.twitter.com/nPrdfA62Tz  Grace Morgan (@gravemorgan) April 11, 2021

Dozens of federal officers in riot gear arrived at about 2am to confront the crowd

The officers were seen firing pepper balls at protesters in the street

Just before 2am Morgan tweeted that police had arrived and were warning the crowds not to trespass.

One video showed armed officers standing by the building as smoke poured out of a flaming barrier.

Other videos showed officers firing what appeared to be pepper balls at the protesters, who tried to shield themselves with umbrellas.

The protesters appeared to have left the scene by 2.30am, leaving officers to survey damage to the building.
Restaurants, cafes and other hospitality businesses in Kilkenny are being encouraged to apply for new grants of up to 4,000 to install outdoor dining facilities.



The Failte Ireland backed Outdoor Dining Enhancement Scheme will transform outdoor spaces across Kilkenny into welcoming, vibrant places that will help support economic recovery.

Kilkenny Chamber is encouraging qualifying businesses to apply for the grant of up to 4,000 to cover the costs of outdoor tables, chairs, umbrellas, electric heaters, screens or windbreaks, plant stands and wooden platforms.



The provision of outdoor seating and dining areas has been particularly successful and it is very encouraging to hear that the Government will now provide funding for more of this, said John Hurley, Chief Executive of the Chamber .



The concept of outdoor dining is likely to continue well after the pandemic is over and now is the time for businesses and the Government to invest appropriately to maximise the potential benefits for the future.

Businesses, especially those in the hospitality and retail sectors, have been hit very hard by the effects of the pandemic and they will need every assistance and device possible to help them rebuild after the economy reopens.



With Kilkennys enviable selection of restaurants and cafes and the wonderful vista of its quaint streets and quirky streetscapes, every opportunity for the provision of outdoor seating areas should be explored, he added. These newly created outdoor dining experiences will not only benefit locals, but will also be attractive to domestic and overseas visitors when the sector reopens.



Deputy John Paul Phelan echoed the sentiment, noting how new areas of outdoor seating in towns and villages around the county are proving hugely popular with locals and act as a safe outdoor, socially distant meeting space, while many more streets in the city and county would really benefit from such investment.



Developing outdoor dining and socialising spaces will help to improve the vibrancy of our towns across Kilkenny and bring them more in line with the European model, said Deputy Phelan. Anyone who visits our larger towns and villages as well as Kilkenny streets such as Patricks Street, Kierans Street and more will see how much outdoor dining facilities add to the ambiance.



There are two strands to the scheme - one for businesses to apply for grants and a second for the local authority to develop outdoor spaces.

Kilkenny Chamber has already had a number of conversations with the Local Authority about availing of the 200,000 funding from Failte Ireland to upgrade and weatherproof public dining spaces and the space at the Market Yard would be ideal for such a project, according to CEO John Hurley.

Part 1: Outdoor Seating and Accessories

Open to individual tourism and hospitality businesses including hotels, cafes, restaurants and attractions where food is sold for consumption on the premises. Local authorities will administer the scheme and all applicants will be required to comply with planning codes, legislative and other compliance requirements.



This Scheme aims to expand on the work done in 2020 by local authorities in supporting businesses and will support individual independent hospitality and tourism businesses towards the cost of equipment to provide additional outdoor seating and facilitate these businesses to increase their outdoor dining capacity for the summer of 2021.



Applicants can apply for a grant of up to 4,000 (up to 75% of the ex-VAT cost of equipment purchased/ installed). Costs for outdoor tables, chairs, umbrellas, electric heaters, screens/ windbreaks, plant stands and wooden platforms will be covered under the Scheme. Expenditure must be incurred between April 1 2020 and September 30 2021. The scheme will open for applications on April 12 through local authority websites.

Part 2: Weatherproofing & Outdoor Dining Infrastructure

This will support local authorities to upgrade and enhance streets and public spaces and implement weather-proofing solutions which will facilitate year-round outdoor dining in urban tourism centres.

This element of the scheme will facilitate medium to large scale, weather-proofed dining areas for a collective of businesses in a single zone/ street, similar to those that exist in various European cities.

Each Local Authority can apply for up to 200,000 for a maximum of two locations. Permanent robust and design appropriate weatherproofing structures, including parasols, electric heaters, wind breakers/ screens and associated works to accommodate these interventions on a long-term basis will be included. Roof structures and awnings will be considered subject to planning requirements being adhered to.



Key is that these remedial works will increase the outdoor dining capacity within our cities and towns, whilst also ensuring the safety of diners and pedestrians.
Some years ago he bought the book from a shop in the Cuesta de Moyano in Madrid. One of those editions from the other side of the pond at a time when it was thought in Spain that these things could not be - and should not be - read. Chema Cobo began reading The Face of Spain and was astonished by the perspicacity of Hispanist Gerald Brenan's view, which was from outside, but still able to approach with precision the situation of a country in ciaroscuro.

IN THE TWILIGHT KINGDOM Artist. Chema Cobo. Where and when. Casa Gerald Brenan. Churriana, Malaga. Until 3 September. Opening times. Wednesdays and Thursdays 4pm to 9pm; Fridays 11am to 2pm and 4pm to 9pm. Entry is free.

That marked the start of an intellectual idyll between artist and writer. Well, in reality it may have begun earlier, through their shared passion for mystical poetry and the "dark night of the soul" that loomed over a country that Cobo would abandon for long periods shortly afterwards.

One of his sojourns was in New York in the 1980s, where he showed his work at the city's Metropolitan Museum: scenes inherited from the black paintings of Goya and the torrential symbolism of William Blake.

These works have returned now, as if 35 years had not gone by, to the quiet rooms of the Casa Gerald Brenan, the writer's former home in Churriana, Malaga.

There, the artist has opened In The Twilight Kingdom. This enigmatic and delicious, subtle and powerful exhibition once again displays Cobo's work like a laminated surface that offers something new at each glance, an added significance, a wider vision than those before, superimposed but at the same time complementary. Each work opens like a fascinating labyrinth, whose existence has to be sought, like the reader of the pages of The Spanish Labyrinth by Brenan himself.

Detail from In The Twilight Kingdom (Gamel Woolsey), one of the watercolours created by Cobo for this display.

This display is like a fascinating game of mirrors in which the works of Cobo and Brenan are reflected, in space and also in time. In The Twilight Kingdom links with an astonishing naturalness his works from the 1980s with new ones for this exhibition; at the same time it links the creative moments of Cobo, first with the poetry of San Juan de la Cruz (about which Brenan did a paradigmatic study) and, afterwards, with Dora Carrington and Gamel Woolsey, women who are essential to understanding the hazardous life of the Hispanist.

The first room brings together Cobo's works from the 1980s with texts by Brenan on San Juan de la Cruz and the volume of complete works of Arthur Rimbaud which Brenan successfully annotated. This produces an interesting conjunction featuring the shared symbolism of the poets and the prints and drawings by the artist, whose works are in collections such as the Reina Sofia National Art Museum and the Met in New York.

To this, Cobo adds a new piece, in which a young Brenan travels the Andalusian desert landscape with the vocation of an anchorite, linking him to San Juan de la Cruz. This piece creates an imaginary bridge to the second room, where the impressive depth of Cobo's work detonates in a splendid and profound content. Because every watercolour unleashes a bouquet of references, metaphors and allusions which serve a succulent artistic and conceptual feast. From the kaleidoscopic portraits of Brenan and Woolsey, to the bombardment of the city, seen by Woolsey from the tower of the house which now features in the watercolours titled Death's Other Kingdom I and Death's Other Kingdom II, taken from T. S. Eliot's poem The Hollow Men.

Each image says more than it appears to and combines with the one next to it. Each piece is in dialogue with the one next to it, to create a lucid, ironic and free labyrinth. The labyrinth of Cobo in the Casa de Brenan. And also viceversa.
A new research model has estimated that nearly 40,000 children have lost at least one parent to COVID-19 as the nation sees an increase in the administering of vaccine doses and hospitalizations among young people.

According to an analysis published last week by JAMA Pediatrics, researchers from Stony Brook University, the University of Western Ontario, Penn State University and the University of Southern California estimated that nearly 40,000 children aged 0 to 17 have lost one parent to COVID during the pandemic.

'The number of children experiencing a parent dying of COVID-19 is staggering, with an estimated 37,300 to 43,000 already affected,' the research team, led by Rachel Kidman, of Stony Brook University, wrote.

'Black children are disproportionately affected, comprising only 14% of children in the US but 20% of those losing a parent to Covid-19,' researchers added.

A 'staggering' number of children (file image) in the US have lost at least one parent to COVID-19, a new model has estimated

According to researchers, the model suggests that each COVID-19 death leaves 0.078 children between the ages of 0 and 17 without at least one parent

According to researchers, the model suggests that each COVID-19 death leaves 0.078 children between the ages of 0 and 17 without at least one parent.

That number represents a 17.5 per cent to 20.2 per cent increase in parental bereavement due to the virus.

'As of February 2021, 37 300 children aged 0 to 17 years had lost at least 1 parent due to COVID-19, three-quarters of whom were adolescents,' the research says.

'Of these, 20,600 were non-Hispanic White children and 7,600 were non-Hispanic Black children. When we rely on excess deaths, we estimate that 43,000 children have lost a parent.'

Researchers also noted that 'a natural herd immunity strategy that results in 1.5 million deaths demonstrates the potential effect of inaction: 116,900 parentally bereaved children'.

For comparison, the attacks on September 11, 2001, left 3,000 children without a parent.

'Sweeping national reforms are needed to address the health, educational, and economic fallout affecting children,' the authors of the research wrote.

'Parentally bereaved children will also need targeted support to help with grief, particularly during this period of heightened social isolation.

'The establishment of a national child bereavement cohort could identify children who have lost parents, monitor them for early identification of emerging challenges.'

The researchers noted that the estimates rely on demographic modeling, not survey or administrative data, and do not include bereavement of nonparental primary caregivers.

Meanwhile, Dr Cyrus Shahpar, the COVID-19 data director for the White House COVID, shared on Twitter that the US has administered more than 4.6 million vaccine doses.

'Amazing Saturday! +4.63M doses administered over total yesterday, a new record! More than 500K higher than old record last Saturday. Incredible number of doses administered,' Shahpar wrote.

While infections have been going up, the number of deaths has been falling thanks to increased vaccination of 'vulnerable' populations, according to health officials

And while that is good news, the US is still seeing troubling numbers in hospitalizations among young people and an upward climb in COVID-19 cases.

During a White House COVID-19 briefing on Friday, CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky, said: 'On the one hand, we have so much reason for optimism and hope, and more Americans are being vaccinated.

'On the other hand, cases and emergency room visits are up,' she added, pointing to younger adults who have not been vaccinated.

According to Walensky, young people ages 18 to 64 have seen increasing numbers of hospital visits, noting that the upper Midwest is seeing these trends 'magnified'.

'CDC is working closely with public health officials in this region to understand what is driving these cases and how we can intervene,' she said.

Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech SE on Friday asked US regulators to allow the emergency use of their vaccine in adolescents aged 12 to 15.

The vaccine is currently authorized for emergency use in the US for people aged 16 and up. The companies said on Friday that they requested an expansion of the authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration to include the younger age group.

In March, the drugmakers said the vaccine was found to be safe, effective and produced robust antibody responses in 12- to 15-year olds in a clinical trial.

It is unclear how long the regulator will take to review the data from the trial, although Walensky said Thursday she expects the vaccine to be authorized for 12- to 15-year-olds by mid-May.

Inoculating children and young people is considered a critical step toward reaching herd immunity and taming the pandemic, according to many experts.

Last week, officials warned that nearly half of the new US coronavirus infections were coming from five states: New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Florida and Pennsylvania.

Particularly, Michigan health officials expressed concern on Wednesday over rising coronavirus cases despite a stepped-up vaccination campaign.

Joneigh Khaldun, the state's chief medical executive, warned on Twitter of a 'significant increase' in cases.

'Our hospitalizations are going up as well. Michiganders need to double down and take the steps to help stop the spread of this virus,' she said.

Michigan is seeing more COVID infections by population than any other US state and some experts have attributed the rise to spring vacations.

Meanwhile, Dr Cyrus Shahpar, the COVID-19 data director for the White House COVID, shared on Twitter that the US has administered more than 4.6 million vaccine doses. People are seen wearing masks in New York on Saturday

'We have CDC teams on the ground working to assess outbreaks in correctional facilities,' Walensky said. 'We're working to facilitate increased testing that is happening on the ground in the context of youth sports.'

Walensky said the CDC was also seeking to 'understand what is happening' with COVID-19 variants.

The number of new cases has begun to rise again in the US and there have been around 63,000 new cases a day on average during the last week.

While infections have been going up, the number of deaths has been falling thanks to increased vaccination of 'vulnerable' populations, Walensky said.

Health officials also said last week that the highly contagious variant of COVID-19 first discovered in the United Kingdom has become the most common strain of the virus in the US.

The strain, known as B.1.1.7, was identified in Britain last fall and has since been detected in 52 jurisdictions in the US, Walensky said.

US public health officials have urged Americans to get vaccinated as soon as possible in part to prevent new variants of the novel coronavirus from spreading.

The US has also detected cases of a variant first discovered in South Africa that is thought to be resistant to some COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. That strain has been found in 36 US jurisdictions, according to federal data.

Vaccine supply has increased significantly in the United States in recent weeks as Johnson & Johnson has begun making millions of doses of its recently authorized shots.

Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have also recently boosted their vaccine production capacity.

President Joe Biden has doubled his goal for shots administered in his first 100 days in office from 100 million to 200 million and urged states to begin giving shots to all adults by mid-April.

Walensky said that the CDC has identified a number of COVID-19 outbreaks tied to youth sporting events and that communities experiencing high case counts should avoid holding such events. Testing should also happen twice a week, she said.

White House COVID-19 adviser Andy Slavitt also told reporters that the US government is expanding its community health center program, which it set up in recent weeks to help get vaccines into underserved communities.
Click here to read the full article.

British people are known for being self-deprecating, but even they might have felt a little blindsided by Minari star Yuh-Jung Youns brutally honest, funny assessment of them.

Shortly after offering her condolences for the death of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, during her BAFTA Film Awards acceptance speech for supporting actress, Youn then delivered arguably the biggest laugh of the night.

Thank you so much for this award. Every award is meaningful, but this one, especially being recognized by British people, known as snobbish people and they approve me as a good actor, I am very happy. Thank you so much, Youn said.

The evenings co-host Dermot OLeary didnt know quite how to react to Youns comment, raising a surprised eyebrow and moving swiftly on.

However, in the press conference following her speech, Variety asked Youn to expand on her comments and whether her not-so-flattering (but probably quite accurate) views come from personal experience.

Yes it comes from personal experience. Ive visited Britain a lot of times and I had a fellowship in a Cambridge college ten years ago as an actor. Somehow it felt every snobbish, but not in a bad way, Youn said. You have a long history and then you have your pride. As an Asian woman, I felt these people are very snobbish, thats my honest feeling.

Youns win at the BAFTAs, coupled with her previous Screen Actors Guild Awards triumph, could very well pave the way for another victory at the Oscars later this month. However, the actor said she certainly isnt looking that far ahead and expressed, with a big laugh, that she has had enough of being asked about her Oscar prospects.

I dont know anything about Oscars or BAFTAs, Youn said. In Korea Ive been in this business such a long time, Im very famous domestic-wise, not internationally. I dont know whats going on now, I dont know whats happening to me. So dont ask me!

Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Marcus Kirkwood was riding his bike through St. Helena last month when he noticed a man take a photo of him from the sidewalk.

Kirkwood at first wrote it off as poor timing. Maybe the man was taking a picture of a house across the street. Kirkwood turned his bike around and asked. The man told him he often took photos in St. Helena of things that he found suspicious. He meant Kirkwood.

Kirkwood is a 36-year-old business owner who identifies as Black and biracial. He was only a stones throw from the home he owns on the affluent, mostly white west side of town.

St. Helena is a tiny city of 6,100 residents and more than 400 vineyards tucked in the Napa Valley. Its 65% white and 31% Latino, with only 4% of the population Black, Asian or multiracial, according to U.S. census data.

By many accounts, its also quite segregated.

St. Helena has been slow to build new affordable housing. Karina OBriain of Napa Valley Community Housing told the Napa Valley Register in November that the city had built only 25 income-qualified rental units in the past two decades. And when St. Helena does build this housing, it happens in one area.

In 2016, a group of residents wrote the city saying that 98 percent of St. Helenas low-income, affordable and multi-family rental units were on the east side of town, the Napa Valley Register reported. This keeps working-class Latino residents out of the citys posh west side, with its multimillion-dollar homes few can afford.

This invisible border exists because people of color have rarely held positions of leadership in St. Helena.

St. Helenas mayor, vice mayor and three City Council members are all white. Residents have elected just two people of Mexican descent to its City Council in the last 50 years  Anthony Perez in 1988 and Catarina Sanchez in 2008.

Rosaura Segura ran for a council seat in 2020. She was more than qualified. Her resume included time as a board trustee for Napa Valley College. She also led the Mexican American Vintners Association, where she worked to address farmworker housing problems.

Voters ended up electing two white men in Lester Hardy and Eric Hall. Segura currently sits on the St. Helena Planning Commission, where she says a city official recently expressed surprise to her about how clean the ground was at an affordable housing community with a large number of Latino residents.

She said she was disappointed by the comment, but not surprised.

There needs to be a better understanding of our (Latino) community, Segura told me. And I know Im the Mexican in the chair and it looks good for me to be a representative. But the frustration I feel sometimes is good for me because ... I become more vocal.

Segura and St. Helena school board member Julio Olguin  who was appointed to his seat in 2018, not elected  are currently the citys only high-ranking officials of Mexican descent.

St. Helena has been at least 28% Hispanic or Latino since 2000, according to census data. St. Helenas connection with its Latino community should be better established.

Theres gigantic blind spots when you have a certain type of thinking or experiences youre drawing from and it doesnt include those Latinx voices, or Black and brown voices, Kirkwood told me. Yet that community is so deeply engaged in our economy and makeup, not having those voices heard on the policy level, its deeply detrimental as a whole.

St. Helena has a history of prioritizing its white, affluent majority. Its part of the citys pervasive anti-growth sentiment, which is the desire by many to keep new housing and new residents to a minimum.

When the St. Helena Planning Commission voted in 2019 to embrace density  or the creation of more housing  in its General Plan, Hardy said the anti-growth sentiment has as much influence today as it did 30 years ago, according to the California Planning & Development Report, a news publication that covers planning and development issues throughout California.

Last week, the St. Helena City Council published a 12-point mission statement on the Napa Valley Register website stating its top goal was (p)romoting a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion. No. 8 on the list was (p)reserving our historic, small-town, rural character.

History has shown St. Helena cant do both.

St. Helenas white voters must make it their priority to elect officials of color. It can start in November 2022 when two St. Helena council members reach the end of their terms.

This wont erase the citys past, but it can make St. Helena feel more like home to the minorities living there now.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Justin Phillips appears Sundays. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
Congress candidate Madhava Rao who had contested in the Srivilliputhur assembly constituency died of heart attack on Sunday morning.

The 63-year old Madhav Rao was admitted to a private hospital in Madurai after he had filed his nomination papers on March 20.

He had tested positive for coronavirus then.

Condoling Madhava Rao's death, DMK President M.K. Stalin said Madhav Rao should have entered the assembly as a member and his sudden demise is a loss to the Congress party and the people of Srivilliputhur.

Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) leader M.H. Jawahirullah condoling Rao's death said the Congress leader was a son of the soil and a lawyer and had good name in the constituency.

Jawahirullah also said counting of votes for the Srivilliputhur constituency will be done and if Rao turns out to be the winner then by-poll will be held.

The single phase assembly poll in Tamil Nadu was held on April 6. Counting of votes will be on May 2.
Advertisement

Steve Scalise slammed Joe Biden's border policies as 'child abuse' as he shared images from the border including one of a migrant facility that is at 16 times its capacity.

'How could President Biden and Kamala Harris allow this to go on and not even come here and see it for themselves?' the House Minority Whip questioned during a press availability at the border. 'It's a disgrace.'

'We went into a facility  in the middle of a pandemic  that is designed to hold no more than 250 people. Today, there's more than 4,000 people,' Scalise continued as he was joined by a group of 10 other Republican lawmakers.

Biden and Vice President Harris have not yet visited the southern border  despite it quickly becoming the biggest obstacle and failure of the new administration so far.

Last month, Harris was appointed by Biden as point person for the administration's response to the crisis, specifically to address the root causes in Northern Triangle countries that lead to the mass amount of migrants fleeing to the U.S.

In the vice president's 18 days in charge of the growing immigration crisis, she has not once visited the southern border or Central American countries from which migrants are traveling.

GOP Whip Steve Scalise claimed the situation at southern border facilities are 'child abuse' as he shared images of massively overcrowded pens

'We went into a facility  in the middle of a pandemic  that is designed to hold no more than 250 people. Today, there's more than 4,000 people,' Scalise detailed in a press conference over the weekend

Images of the facility in a video shared to Twitter show migrant children crammed together on the floor of a see-through pen with only Mylar blankets to comfort them

Scalise slammed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for not yet visiting the southern border amid a growing humanitarian crisis there

Massive amounts of Central American migrants continued to arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border overnight Saturday to Sunday

Unaccompanied minors (left) and families and adults (right) are grouped separately as they wait to be processed

Scalise went on a boat tour of the riverine in McAllen, Texas as part of his trip to the southern border. During his trip to the border and its facilities, he brought 10 other GOP lawmakers with him

Critics have slammed Harris for traveling the country for other reasons, like to promote the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan and urge Americans to get the coronavirus vaccine.

On Saturday, Scalise shared a video on Twitter exhibiting the massive overcrowding at the processing facility in Donna, Texas.

'I visited the Donna processing facility yesterday,' he wrote, claiming: 'These are the videos Joe Biden & Kamala Harris don't want you to see.'

'This is the devastating result of their disastrous left-wing immigration agenda,' Scalise tweeted.

He urged his followers: 'RT so everyone can see what they're trying to hide.'

'This is child abuse.'

The images in the video show children crammed together in a see-through pen, with most laying on the floor of the facility with only mylar blankets as comfort.

The White House's border coordinator announced after just one month in her post that she will resign at the end of the month amid a historic surge in migrants at the southern border.

Roberta S. Jacobson, the former ambassador to Mexico tasked with taking on the situation at the southern border in her capacity at the National Security Council, announced the move in an interview with The New York Times.

Migrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador wait in line to be processed by Border Patrol agents after crossing illegally into the U.S.

CBP data shows migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border is vastly higher in 2021 compared to 2020, which saw a decrease. Illegal crossing have reached an all-time high under Biden

She praised Biden's efforts to 'repair and recast' the nation's immigration system and slammed Donald Trump.

'They continue to drive toward the architecture that the president has laid out: an immigration system that is humane, orderly and safe,' she said in a brief interview. 'I leave optimistically. The policy direction is so clearly right for our country.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan called Jacobson's work 'an invaluable contribution.'

'Consistent with her commitment at the outset to serve in the Administration's first 100 days, Ambassador Jacobson will retire from her role as Coordinator at the end of this month,' he said in a statement Friday.

After just a month on the job, Biden's border coordinator Roberta Jacobson on the National Security Council said she will resign at the end of the month amid a historic surge in migrants at the southern border

Sullivan insisted Harris continues to lead efforts related to the border, showing the importance the administration places on the issue.

'President Biden has asked Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the Administration's work on our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle, a testament to the importance this administration places on improving conditions in the region. The Vice President is overseeing a whole-of-government approach supported by outstanding public servants,' he said.

Critics, however, claim Harris is too busy touring the country for other reasons than to focus on the humanitarian crisis. They specifically point to her stopping for a light-hearted trip at a bakery in Chicago.

Biden's team and some Democrat allies in Congress insists the situation at the southern border is 'under control.'

All this talk despite Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealing last week that March saw the highest number of migrant children crossing the border in history.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott told 'Fox News Sunday' that he thinks CBP projections for 28,000 crossing in September will be exceeded.

Jacobson has argued that the migration problem needs to be addressed at the source, in Central America, while many have suggested that Biden's reversal of Trump policies has caused a flood of new arrivals.

She briefed reporters in March, where she echoed the administration's message the U.S. border with Mexico.

But when she tried to translate that message into Spanish, she reversed its meaning, saying, 'La frontera no esta cerrada,' which in English means 'the border is not closed.'

Later in the briefing, she corrected herself and translated the message correctly.

Meanwhile, Arizona's Republican attorney general said Thursday that Harris has not responded to his requests to visit the crisis-hit border, as Republicans released video of migrants crossing the Rio Grande just a few feet behind them.

'I guess if you were a philosopher you would say no response is a very loud response because we've not received any response,' Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in an interview with Fox.

Scalise released a video from the border Friday where migrants can be seen in the background being apprehended by border patrol

Harris was named border czar last month by President Joe Biden as the administration faces a growing emergency with record numbers of illegal immigrants arriving in the U.S. and border facilities quickly becoming overcrowded and understaffed.

Jacobson praised Harris in her interview with The New York Times.

'I briefed and worked in support of the vice president's leadership on this issue,' she said. 'Nobody could be more delighted to see the vice president take on that role. It didn't have anything to do with my decision.'

In the 16 days since she was given responsibility, the vice president hasn't visited the southern border or addressed the crisis in any way - despite mounting pressure.

During a trip spearheaded by Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan on Wednesday, Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana said: 'Forty percent of our Border Patrol agents are busy processing people and changing diapers.'

'It means that they cannot do their job protecting the border. It means that Mexican cartels are controlling the border. This is a national security and humanitarian crisis,' she continued during a press conference at the border.

Here a Customs and Border Protection agent takes down information from Central American immigrants in La Joya, Texas

Biden claims the vast majority of families and adults who arrive at the border are being sent back home  but he promised to take in all unaccompanied minors who arrive in the U.S.

Republican lawmakers have been flooding to the south to assess the situation  holding two separate group trips to the border this week.

GOP House Whip Steve Scalise released a video on Twitter around 1:30 a.m. Friday morning where, in the background, children migrants were seen apprehended and escorted to processing facilities by border patrol agents after they ran across the U.S. border from Mexico.

Scalise led a group of 10 GOP lawmakers to McAllen, Texas Thursday evening to tour holding facilities and assess the growing border crisis.

'LIVE from the border,' the Louisiana representative wrote on Twitter at 1:37 a.m. 'This is out of control. It's the middle of the night. We've seen dozens of children flow freely across the border in just the past few minutes.'

'This is the reality of Joe Biden's disastrous amnesty agenda,' Scalise said.

Vice President Harris has faced mass criticism for jetting all over the U.S. without visiting the U.S.-Mexico border, despite holding her post as border czar for almost three weeks

In the video, Scalise said he witnessed about 100 migrants cross in one hour.

The trip comes as the number of unaccompanied migrant minors arriving at the border has reached its highest number ever in U.S. history.

Ranking Member of the House Administration Committee Rodney Davis of Illinois, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul of Texas, Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes of California and House Republican Conference Secretary Richard Hudson of North Carolina joined Scalise on the trip.

Also in two are Reps. French Hill and Steve Womack of Arkansas, Bob Latta of Ohio, Nicole Malliotakis of New York, Steve Stivers of Ohio and Ann Wagner of Missouri.

Scalise said before departing Thursday that the trip was also to find out what Biden is 'hiding' in regards to the emergency at the southern border  as his administration continues to largely block media from touring the overflowing facilities.

And GOP Rep. Jim Jordan, who also led a group of Republican lawmakers to the border for a two-day trip this week, slammed the scenes during a Wednesday press conference as a 'catastrophe'.

'In all my years in Congress, this has been the most disturbing field tour that I've ever taken,' California Rep. Tom McClintock told reporters.

During that round table, the lawmakers recounted seeing crying children  including one girl who has not spoken following trauma from gang rape.

The border crisis shows no signs of abating for Biden, with the number of unaccompanied children arriving in the US soaring.

Some facilities are running low on food, and there are reports of children going hungry and sleeping on the floor.

In one facility, human rights lawyers say children only have access to showers intermittently.

The Biden administration opening up two more emergency intake sites for migrant kids 12 years old and under in Pennsylvania and Michigan which together will be able to hold nearly 900 kids, according a government statement.

A lost migrant child, crying and scared, was found by a Border Patrol agent on his way home. The boy said he was abandoned by the group he was with

And it was also revealed on Thursday that Biden's Department of Health and Human Services is spending $60million a week to house the child migrants in 10 shelters across the country.

Figures seen by The Washington Post show the cost of caring for one of these youths is $290 a day, and the 7,700 available beds have already been completely overwhelmed.

President Joe Biden also tried to characterize the influx as normal seasonal upticks during his late March press conference.

'It happens every single solitary year. There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March - it happens every year,' Biden said at the time.

Top House Republican, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, tweeted Thursday: 'President Biden said the surge was seasonal. But the #'s don't lie  172k migrants were taken into custody last month, a two-decade high.'

However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Republicans are actually to blame for the spike, and conditions are improving under President Biden.

'The fact is that we're on a good path at the border under the leadership of President Biden,' Pelosi insisted during an event in California on Thursday.

She added: 'It's about restructuring how we do what is happening there, because we were in a very bad situation under the Trump administration.'

The House speaker is helping push the Democratic narrative that former President Donald Trump and Republicans are to blame for the growing crisis at the southern border.

Other critics claim the situation has been exacerbated by Biden rolling back Trump-era policies and vowing not to turn away any unaccompanied minors who arrive at the border.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 08:51:33|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

ADDIS ABABA -- Djibouti's incumbent president Ismail Omar Guelleh was re-elected, according to the provisional results released on Saturday. This was the fifth time that Guelleh was elected as president.

The provisional results showed Guelleh to have won over 98 percent of the vote, state-broadcaster Radio Television of Djibouti reported, quoting the country's Interior Minister Moumin Ahmed Cheick. (Djibouti-Presidential Election-Result)

- - - -

QUITO -- At least eight people died and 20 others were injured in a traffic accident that occurred on Saturday on the Pifo-Papallacta Highway in eastern Pichincha province, authorities reported.

The Quito Fire Department wrote on Twitter that the accident occurred during the early morning when "a public bus lost control and flipped" on the highway, which connects the Sierra mountainous region with the Amazon. (Ecuador-Accident-Death)

- - - -

BAGHDAD -- Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit arrived on Saturday in Baghdad to meet with Iraqi leaders over the pan-Arab organization's relations with Iraq and regional developments.

The two sides discussed "Iraq's foreign policy and the results of many visits by Iraqi delegations to neighboring countries, especially the recent ones by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to some Gulf countries," Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said during a press conference after the meeting. (Iraq-Arab League-Visit)

- - - -

LOS ANGELES -- Two deputies were shot Saturday morning outside the Salt Lake County Sheriff Office in the U.S. state of Utah, while the shooter was killed on the spot, said the local police.

The shooting occurred around 10:30 a.m. local time on the north side of the office's parking lot near a bus stop, Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said during a press briefing. (US-Shooting) Enditem
Oregon House lawmakers could vote as soon as Monday on a proposal to require gun owners to safely store their weapons and report any firearms that are lost or stolen.

Gun safety advocates have tried for several years to pass those mandates, known as the Cindy Yuille and Steve Forsyth Act after the two people killed by a gunman who opened fire at Clackamas Town Center in December 2012. The man who opened fire at the mall used a semi-automatic rifle he had stolen that morning.

Its unclear exactly how soon House Bill 2510 will come up for a vote because minority House Republicans continue to insist that most bills be read aloud in a process that can take hours or days, depending upon the bill. Four bills are ahead of the gun control proposal in the voting queue for Monday, and the House is scheduled to hold two to three floor sessions a day all week to get through the bill reading.

Republicans on the House Committee on Health Care all voted against sending the bill to the full House for a vote, but Democrats hold majorities in the Legislature and on that committee.

Republican lawmakers said at a March 30 committee meeting that mandating secure gun storage would make it difficult for people to quickly defend themselves, and they opposed a provision to make people who violate the proposed law liable for injuries that result. Rep. Cedric Hayden, R-Roseburg, said one of his constituents recently used a gun to scare away people who broke into the persons home.

Democrats cited the role of unsecured firearms in injuries to children, including suicides. Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Lake Oswego, referred to a recent suicide by a teenager in her district, and Rep. Wlnsvey Campos, D-Aloha, noted that a 3-year-old boy in her district died in October after shooting himself in the head with a gun that he found in an Aloha home.

Democrats said they heard from constituents who said House Bill 2510 would not go far enough because people who violate the proposed law would not be subject to criminal charges, but they described the fines and liability the bill would impose as an appropriate compromise.

Supporters attempts take a gun storage ballot initiative to voters repeatedly stalled for various reasons, and Gov. Kate Brown killed an omnibus gun safety bill containing the provisions in 2019 in order to get Senate Republicans to end their walkout and allow a vote on a new business tax to boost education spending.

Unlike earlier proposals, House Bill 2510 would allow gun owners to store weapons in a gun room that is kept securely locked when it is unoccupied, in addition to using cable and trigger locks and locked containers such as safes.

Firearm owners would be required to report any weapons lost or stolen within 72 hours.

Under the proposal, failure to follow the law would be a violation punishable by a fine. For example, if a minor obtained a firearm that the owner knew or should have known that minor could access, the owner would be subject to a Class A violation which currently carries a fine of $225 to $2,000.

A gun owner would be liable for a period of two years under the proposed law if someone was injured by a person using an incorrectly stored firearm  for example, if a handgun that was left in plain view in a vehicle was stolen and used six months later to shoot someone.

Nonpartisan legislative staffers noted in a report accompanying the bill that among U.S. adolescents and young adults 10-24 years old, gun homicides are the third leading cause of death; gun suicides are the second.

Access to guns makes children more likely to succeed when they attempt to kill themselves; 90% of suicide attempts with guns are successful, compared to less than five percent of suicide attempts using less lethal means, like medications or sharp objects, staffers wrote.

Opponents and supporters of House Bill 2510 submitted more than 380 pieces of testimony, with some people weighing in multiple times.

-- Hillary Borrud
if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...
(Natural News) On March 31, RT published an article titled, Beyond farce: CNN states theres no consensus criteria to determine childs sex at birth. The article revealed how CNN writers now find it difficult to tell if its a boy or a girl at birth by peaking under the cloth. CNN reporter Devan Cole became so extreme as to state there is no consensus criteria for assigning sex at birth.

(Article by David Haggith republished from TheGreatRecession.info)

Some of us found that odd because we believed ourselves to have been part of a broad consensus that has embraced 99.99% of humanity for the better part of all the millennia from cave days to now, so we did not even realize sufficient criteria for determining gender were lacking. It was about as universal as any consensus had ever been throughout human history, and now we are informed suddenly it doesnt even exist.

It seems to those of us who thought there still was a consensus on what is a man and what is woman that only a minuscule component of modern liberal humanity finds this mysterious at all. The broader mystery is why they even think it is possible that people can be born into the wrong body or why it doesnt occur to them that it is far easier and more likely that the human software got a bug in it than that the body was hard-wired to be the wrong model.

Let me raise, for example, the question of how it is any more correct in the grand scheme of things for a man (while I may still legally use that word) to believe he was really supposed to be born into a female body because he/she has a female mind than for another man to believe he was really supposed to be born into a cats body because he has a feline mind?

The catman cometh

I present the following video evidence:

There is a name for this kind of illness. Its called Dysphoria, and weve known about it for a long time. It has only in the last decade, however, become politically incorrect to believe in gender dysphoria. Apparently, all things human can go dysphoric, except gender. You can, in other words, be dysphoric in the belief that you are a cat when you are a clearly in a human body, yet not about the belief that you are a woman when you are clearly in a male body. Or should society just accept that anyone who believes he is a cat really is a cat in the same way it now insists that any man who believes he is a woman really is a woman?

It turns out, however, that the pretentiously humane approach of surgically reassigning either gender or species often does not deliver the full freedom to be ones virtuous self that reassignment surgery patients hoped for. The Catman, for example, never made it to his ninth life or even his third because both of his first and only two lives  as human, then as cat  turned out to be such unhappy existences that he put a bullet through his head. Who could have guessed there might be deeper issues? Was it truly more helpful to play along by giving him a surgery to make him look like what he thought he should look like?

This is not a once-in-a-century anomaly either. It happens to both genders in any nation at any time:

Sometimes a person, it turns out, is both transspecies and transgender  such as the man who knew he was really a girl dog:

Simply changing gender identity from man to woman, didnt solve this former mans problems. They proliferated. Of course, this unusual case of the man who became a woman who became a bitch happened in LA, so it is not as if it would stand out, even on the beach where dogs and humans frequently play together, although not generally as the same creature.

Hes not even all that original. There are many like him of various breeds  even though they were never bred! Can they get a pedigree?

Mad cow disease

But what about the man who thought he was a cow? One might see the upside in thinking oneself is either a dog or a cat or even becoming one  people cuddle you, etc., at least those who dont run  but a cow? Where is the upside in that?

Yet, that particular psychological malady turns out to be common enough that we have a word for it: Boanthropy. The illness apparently dates back as far as King Nebuchadnezzar the Great, as the complete regressive degeneration of a man who has overreached himself.

The Bible records that the ancient ruler lost his sanity when God warned the arrogant King Chad he would be humbled in the following manner:

You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. from Daniel 4

Nebuchadnezzar started off as a great ruler over a great land with fabulous wealth and self-reportedly grand accomplishments, testified to by historic monuments. His pride, however, ran his mind off its rails:

As the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?

Its not actually that hard to envision a modern narcissistic leader strolling the colonnades of some pink palace on the Florida coast, saying much the same thing, as he surveys his grand accomplishments.

Surely even lesser mad cows than great human leaders like King Chad do not start off believing as infants they are really calves. I think their madness literally becomes them.

This leads me to wonder if those who come to believe they are bovine also come to believe they are disproportionately guilty of climate change through methane production. As evidence of how deep the guilt can run, one sad human cow actually believed it should be slaughtered because, at his deepest level, the man who would be cow knew he was really meant to be born as hamburger. Becoming a cow turned out to be nothing more than a means to an unfortunate end.

Im not sure transgender surgery fifty years from now will be seen as any less hamburgerlike in what it does to the human body after we learn more about dysphoria. It will probably be put on the shelf alongside ideas like drilling holes in peoples heads to let the fever out.

Everyone is playing the emperors new clothes

All of this is not terribly different than those poor souls who believe they have an arm they shouldnt have, so they beg doctors to amputate a perfectly functional limb. Sometimes they actually find a mad doctor who will do it just to make them feel better about themselves, just as sometimes a doctor will turn a perfectly good girl body into a poorly performing boy body, or vice versa.

It turns out humans can have every form of dysphoria imaginable, going far beyond a gender identity crisis to physically transmogrifying into a different species. Why stop there. Somewhere someone has probably thought they belong outside the animal kingdom entirely, believing perhaps they are just a fungus who needs to be set on a log and occasionally watered to be content.

Is it a kindness to not question their self-identification?

I find it ludicrous to believe catering to any of that is helpful, even though it has become politically correct as liberal society pretends a new body will cover the nakedness of these unfortunate lost souls. It is really just enabling an identity disorder. It does not result in a happier, better-adjusted more highly functioning person.

Yet, we have created an Orwellian world where the thought police have made normal rational behavior illegal by mandating in a supreme court that a man could no longer refer to his transgender daughter as his daughter or have any say in the minors gender reassignment, not even so much as counsel or input, lest his input damage his own child psychologically, however kindly the concern was expressed. George Orwell referred to this legally mandated language in his futuristic novel, 1984, as Truthspeak. We are now fully there where you can go to jail for not using the state-mandated language.

Some US states, such as Washington, have even decided it could be abusive to tell children at birth what gender they are, so birth certificates can now come with gender unselected, as if gender is not naturally selected, and as if we are doing all children a great favor by forcing them to decide whether they are boys or girls when, at least, that decision used to one they were delivered with and could take for granted.

What a burden to foist on children! Imagine the struggle millions of children will now face, spending years trying to figure out if theyre boys or girls because their liberal parents told them they cannot really tell just by looking, and no one can figure it out but them.

Sounds to me like an awful April Fools joke or like some hideous version of Santa Claus where all the adults participate in tricking the kids into believing no one but them can really figure out their gender. Instantly a former easy given becomes a lifelong quest for all the ungendered children (a word that didnt exist throughout human existence until the past insane decade).

Thats got to create a nation full of seriously messed-up kids for the sake of making a truly minuscule percentage of children with gender dysphoria or who are born as hermaphrodites feel a little better about themselves. Could it not just be that humans are really weird but its not nice to say so?

A little local loco

I got a localized taste of how crazy the world has become at a county council meeting I was addressing this week. One of the items that came up ahead of the vote for my own topic of interest was a move by the council to change a county law that prohibits women from exposing their bosom in order to breastfeed in public. While I think all women should be allowed to expose their breasts as much as they would like in public so long as they dont mind my looking as much as Id like, what struck me as a new level of insanity-become-norm was the move by one woman on the council to amend the language from a woman exposing her bosom in order to breastfeed to a person being allowed to expose their bosom in order to breastfeed.

Silly me. My first thought was what kind of a person other than a woman is capable of breastfeeding? The councilmember wanted the language to be more inclusive, but what other kind of creature than a woman would it be able to include? Even though breast implants are plentifully available to make people look like they have breasts, to my breast knowledge none of them are functional.

What particularly surprised me was how everyone  male and female  at the council meeting praised this council member for recommending the amendment to more inclusive language, thus stripping away one of the last bastions of womanhood that a woman can claim is specially her province.

To the only person who argued that this was effectively a change without a difference because it would benefit no one, the councilwoman replied that she knows, at least, three people who no longer identify as female who still have the requisite body parts for breast feeding, should they so desire to do so in public.

NOW HOLD ON A MINUTE! I thought. If you are going to indentify as male, even though you clearly still have a female body, why would you want to breastfeed? Even if you do (thus belying your own statement that you feel like you are a man) shouldnt you, in a world that believes you can pick your sexual identity, regardless of the reality and truth of your body, at least have to swear off specifically female roles if youre going to choose to identify as male?

No way. Society says you can be both legally male and female at the same time OR that being either male or female has absolutely no meaning! Call yourself a male, but function and look entirely like a female, ovulating, giving birth to babies and then nursing, all as a legally defined man.

The most troubling part of this for me was seeing how the language amendment wasnt viewed as insane by anyone at the meeting but seen, instead, as perfectly normal and even praiseworthy. The council voted to amend the language to person so that a female body can declare itself male but still function as a female in public, and the populace all praised the councils forward-thinking ways. You can have your manhood and eat it too.

In that case, what does it mean to be male or female anymore? To be or not to be  what is the question. Male or female now mean nothing at all. Either one is just a label you for some reason want to wear to feel better about yourself. Its no longer even a physical identity youre trying to create for yourself.

Racing off to a new race

Id like to ask, if someone can claim gender reassignment surgery makes that person legally a different gender, even though he and/or she retains exactly the same foundational male or female genetics throughout that body while becoming as incapable of natural genetic reproduction as a mule, then why not racial reassignment surgery, too? Race is far less primary than gender.

This brings up a new world of human problems because what do you do when your racial-reassignment rights collide with the Lefts cultural-appropriation concerns? Why not declare yourself Black to get better affirmative-action employment possibilities? Race is less primary than gender as sexuality developed much further back down the animal tree than human species or race.

If we do take that path, this article RT also ran last week, Dear white celebrities: Stop using black people as your props to try to show youre not racist. Because it just proves you are, could be reassigned as, Dear white celebrities; Stop using black people as props and simply become one!

Its a human cafeteria: pick your own race, even your own gender and ultimately your own species a la carte!

Maybe Im not even supposed to be from earth! What if Im Martian?

Read more at: TheGreatRecession.info
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Police are asking the publics assistance in locating a 67-year-old man reported missing from his home in Clifton.

Leung Low was last seen at about 9 p.m. Friday on the 200 block of Vanderbilt Avenue, according to a written statement from the Deputy Commissioner of Public Informations office.

Low is described as an Asian male, standing about 5-feet-9-inches tall and weighing about 130 pounds. He has brown eyes, black hair and was last seen wearing gray and blue striped pajamas and black sneakers.

Anyone with information in regard to the missing is asked to call the NYPDs Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Tips also can be submitted to the CrimeStoppers website or on Twitter @NYPDTips.
Chandigarh, April 11 : Sonu Sood, the Messiah of the migrants who refuses to call himself so, has donned a new hat. Beginning Sunday, he is the brand ambassador of the Punjab government for its Covid vaccination programme.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh made the announcement a day after meeting Sonu Sood, who called on him at his residence.

"There is no one more ideally suited to inspire and influence people to take the vaccine. There is a lot of hesitancy among people here in Punjab. Sonu's popularity among them, and his exemplary role in helping tens of thousands of migrants reach safely home since the pandemic broke out last year, will help counter their reservations," said the Chief Minister.

"When people hear this Punjab 'da puttar' talk about the benefits of vaccine, and how safe and essential it is, they will believe him. Because they trust him," he added.

Sonu said he was happy and honoured to be appointed the brand ambassador for this life-saving product.

"I feel blessed to be playing any part in this huge campaign of the Punjab government to protect the lives of the people of my home state," he added.

On the occasion, Sonu presented to the Chief Minister his book 'I am no Messiah', which he says captures his the experiences of his journey from Punjab's Moga town to Mumbai.

"I truly believe I am no saviour. I am just a human being playing my own small part in the big plans of God. If I can, in the process, touch any lives in any manner, I can only say - God has blessed me, he is guiding me to fulfill my duty.
Trade Minister Dan Tehan is considering taking Australia's dispute with China over wine exports to the World Trade Organisation.

Australia has already taken its grievance about blocked Chinese barley exports to the WTO, as one of many commodities that are in dispute with its number-one trading partner, including beef, lobster and coal.

'One of the things we are very keen to do is to make sure with our trade disputes with China is that we are using every means we can to deal with them,' Mr Tehan told Sky News' Sunday Agenda program on Sunday.

Trade Minister Dan Tehan is considering taking Australia's dispute with China over wine exports to the World Trade Organisation

Australia has already taken its grievance about blocked Chinese barley exports to the WTO, as one of many commodities that are in dispute with its number-one trading partner, including beef, lobster and coal

'Obviously the World Trade Organisation is one of those mechanisms. We are using that when it comes to barley and we are under very deep consideration now when it comes to wine, as to whether we will also refer that.'

The minister is about to embark on a trip to Europe, which will include a meeting with the WTO director general in Geneva.

Mr Tehan said as the global economy emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia does not want to see a shift towards protectionism and it is a time to be working together.

'If you look what happened post-second world war, it was that trade liberalisation agenda which helped countries out of poverty to make sure developed countries continue to provide increased living standards in all countries.'

'Now is not the time for us to be resorting to trade protectionism, now is not the time we need countries using harmful trade measures against other countries.'

During his trip to Europe from Wednesday, Mr Tehan will meet counterparts from France, Germany and the European Union in Brussels

During his trip to Europe from Wednesday, Mr Tehan will meet counterparts from France, Germany and the European Union in Brussels.

He said the world needs to look at ways to address so-called 'level playing field' issues to make sure everyone is adhering to the rules.

'That's going to require new forms of diplomacy, new alliances, new groupings when it comes to dealing with these trade issues,' the minister said.

'That is something I will be looking at and talking to my counterparts as I make this trip.'
Staking his claim to the Republican Party, former President Donald Trump is casting his populist policies and attack-dog politics as the key to future GOP success.

In a closed-door speech Saturday night to donors at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump also reinforced his commitment to the party, according to remarks obtained by The Associated Press. Going off script, however, Trump slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as a stone-cold loser and mocked McConnells wife, Elaine Chao, who was Trumps transportation secretary.

Trumps appearance came as Republican officials are trying to play down an internal feud over his role in the party, his commitment to GOP fundraising and his plans for 2024. While Trumps advisers initially said he planned to emphasize party unity, he rarely sticks to script.

The key to this triumphant future will be to build on the gains our amazing movement has made over the past four years, Trump said in his prepared remarks. He added: We transformed the Republican Party into a party that truly fights for all Americans.

Veering from his prepared remarks, Trump said he was disappointed in his vice president, Mike Pence, and used a profanity in assessing McConnell, according to multiple people in attendance who were not authorized to publicly discuss what was said in a private session. He also said McConnell had not thanked him properly for putting Chao, who was labor secretary under President George W. Bush, in his Cabinet.

McConnell and Chao have been critical of Trumps role in encouraging the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol; Chao resigned her post in protest. Pence, meanwhile, presided over a congressional session that certified Joe Bidens election victory over Trump.

Saturdays speech was the final address of the Republican National Committees weekend donor summit in Palm Beach. Most of the RNCs invitation-only gathering was held at a luxury hotel a few miles away; attendees were bused to Trumps club for his remarks.

While a significant faction of the Republican Party hopes to move past Trumps divisive leadership, the location of the event suggests that the GOP, at least for now, is not ready to replace Trump as its undisputed leader and chief fundraiser.

Trumps commitment to the GOP is far from certain.

Earlier in the year, he raised the possibility of creating a new political party. Just a month ago, Trumps political action committee sent letters to the RNC and others asking them to immediately cease and desist the unauthorized use of President Donald J. Trumps name, image, and/or likeness in all fundraising, persuasion, and/or issue speech.

GOP officials have repeatedly tried to play down the fundraising tensions and see Trumps participation as a sign that he is willing to lend his name to the party. At the same time, Trump continues to aggressively accumulate campaign cash to fuel his own political ambitions.

He has accumulated a total of roughly $85 million so far, a small fortune that rivals the RNCs bank account.
The organizing committee for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics is planning to secure a hotel with about 300 rooms for athletes with minor or no symptoms of the coronavirus, officials with knowledge of the plan said.

It is yet another effort from the organizing committee to prevent the spread of the virus during this summer's games, the officials said, adding that the hotel will be used to isolate and treat the athletes around the clock soon after testing positive for the virus.

Those athletes and Olympic staff members who do not need to be hospitalized will be quarantined in hotel rooms for 10 days in principle, said the officials, who declined to be named as the plan has not been made public.

The committee is considering reserving an entire hotel building located a few kilometers away from the athletes' village in Tokyo's Harumi waterfront district, which is expected to cost hundreds of millions of yen, according to the officials.

It also plans to prepare up to 30 special vehicles, designed to protect drivers from infection, to transport COVID-19 patients to the hotel.

Since the Summer Games will draw athletes and officials from across the globe, it is seeking to meet their needs at the hotel, such as offering multi-language services and halal food.
An atom suspended by magnetic forces inside a Sydney University lab could revolutionise the citys transport network, the NSW government hopes.

The microscopic particle is trapped inside the most powerful computer in the southern hemisphere, a multimillion-dollar quantum machine paid for in part by the United States Department of Defence.

Professor Michael Biercuk and NSW Transport Minister inspect a quantum computer at the University of Sydney. Credit:Brook Mitchell

The trick is whats happening inside that box, Q-CTRL founder, chief executive and Sydney University Professor Michael Biercuk said, pointing to an ion trap on a sprawling table of machinery and lasers.

We can put information into the atoms and then the way you tickle them with the laser pulses is what gives you the quantum process.
WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court, citing religious liberty, has lifted another of Californias COVID-19 restrictions, holding the state may not prevent people from gathering in homes for Bible study and prayer meetings.

The court issued a 5-4 order near midnight Friday barring the enforcement of a state restriction that was due to expire on Thursday.

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.

The courts conservatives slammed the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for what they called another erroneous decision in favor of the state.

This is the fifth time the court has summarily rejected the 9th Circuits analysis of Californias COVID restrictions on religious exercise, they said in Tandon vs. Newsom. In the most significant of the rulings, the court in early February said churches in California may open for indoor worship services, so long as they enforced limits on how many people gathered together.

Repeatedly in these cases, judges in California and the justices in Washington have disagreed over how to compare, for example, people gathering in a restaurant or hair salon to people gathering for a worship service. The state has enforced stricter limits on indoor gatherings such as in theaters or churches where people sit together for an hour or more while allowing retail stores where people go in and out to remain open.
Royal biographer IAN LLOYD

'Grief is the price we pay for love, was the message the Queen sent to New York in the aftermath of the September 11 atrocities.

They are words worth remembering at the passing of the man she loved since the age of 13  and which follows one of the most traumatic periods of her life.

In the past 12 months, the Queen has watched the reputation of her favourite son, Prince Andrew, reduced to tatters thanks to his association with the late paedophile millionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

She has endured the departure of grandson Harry and his American wife Meghan not just from Royal duties, but from Britain amid a damaging storm of claim and counter-claim.

As mother of a nation, the Queen has seen the country she serves suffer the greatest collective trauma we have undergone since the Second World War.

Now, her rock, her husband of 73 years and the longest-serving consort in the history of the British monarch, has finally left her side.

The Duke of Edinburghs importance to her, and to the monarchy, cannot be overstated.

Prince Philip was truly her liege man and limb, just as he had sworn to be at the coronation in 1953  her chief adviser and mainstay, a fount of old-fashioned common sense whose humour broke the ice on many a fraught occasion.

However, friends and others close to Her Majesty point to a tenacity and inner strength they are certain will carry her through the coming weeks and months of loneliness.

In part, they say, the Queen will survive quite simply because that is what she has always done.

She was trained not to show emotion from an early age and, as a child, memorably told her grandmother Queen Mary that handkerchiefs are for waving rather than crying into.

As mother of a nation, the Queen has seen the country she serves suffer the greatest collective trauma we have undergone since the Second World War

The Duke of Edinburghs importance to her, and to the monarchy, cannot be overstated

It is a view that has served her well.

I once asked her cousin, the late Margaret Rhodes, one of the Queens closest confidantes, how she stayed calm when major engagement such as the State Opening of Parliament was imminent.

She has the ability to compartmentalise her life, she replied.

She can be in the middle of some great personal crisis, but will go for a ride with her groom and discuss how his son could find university accommodation.

She will give that just as much thought.

History has already shown us how the Queen responds to grief .

Although devastated at the loss of her sister, Princess Margaret, in 2002, she continued to work. Between the announcement of Margarets death and the funeral, one week later, she made two public appearances.

There was only one caveat  an instruction that, in attending, she did not want people consoling her.

Former courtier Sir Edward Ford reflected on her extraordinary work ethic:

In the past 12 months, the Queen has watched the reputation of her favourite son, Prince Andrew , reduced to tatters thanks to his association with the late paedophile millionaire Jeffrey Epstein

She has endured the departure of grandson Harry and his American wife Meghan not just from Royal duties, but from Britain amid a damaging storm of claim and counter-claim

Some have suggested it is time for a full-blown Regency, with Charles  although not King  declared the formal head of state

I always got the impression she thoroughly enjoyed what she did, he told me. Certainly she was a terrific help to us [the household] since she quickly dealt with all her paperwork and was very decisive in answering things.

Even when she gave birth to her children, within the house she would be sitting up in bed reading through her red boxes.

Death or no death, those red boxes, which contain official government papers requiring the sovereigns attention, will keep on arriving.

Philips cousin, Countess Mountbatten, reflected in 2015 that, while the Duke had been an enormous help, Given her strong sense of duty Im sure the Queen could have reigned alone.

Religious faith will be another strength in the coming months.

Princess Elizabeth was taught by her mother to say her prayers at a young age and even today she will not go to sleep without kneeling in prayer at the side of her bed.

No matter where she was in the world she attended some form of Sunday worship, whether in a local Anglican church or a service conducted on board the Royal Yacht Britannia.

The Queen wasnt just crowned, but anointed as sovereign. That, if anything, meant more to her, said Mrs Rhodes.

The anointment  the most sacred moment of the coronation ceremony  was the only part the Queen would not allow to be filmed. The solemn tradition recalls the biblical reference of Zadok the Priest anointing Solomon, and links the monarch with the divine.

At Windsor, Her Majesty has been using the private chapel on the Castles east wing for her regular worship.

The chapel holds particularly poignant memories of the Duke: he helped design the re-construction following the devastating fire of 1992, which included the three stained glass windows which depict the fire and the battle to save the ancient building.

She also has the unswerving support both of her family and the extended Royal household.

Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, with his wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex, have all been seen arriving at Windsor over the last two days.

Loyal members of staff, including her favourite page, Paul Whybrew, and dresser Angela Kelly, are also close friends and have already helped the Queen through a year of lockdown and turbulence.

Last year, when Prince Philip only stayed a short time at Balmoral Castle, three generations of the family, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children, joined her for the summer holidays.

She is devoted to her growing brood of great-grandchildren and two new Royal babies  Zara and Mike Tindalls new-born son Lucas, and Princess Eugenies first child, August, with husband Jack Brooksbank  have been added in the last two months.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are also expecting another child, a daughter, in the summer.

More immediately, she has two new Corgi puppies  Fergus and Muick. Like their much-loved predecessors, she will feed and walk them personally.

And the Queen has a robust private routine to carry her through  often involving her love of horses.

The day after the Queen Mothers death in 2002, Princess Anne joined the Queen for a ride through the Home Park at Windsor.

Rarely will she miss the opportunity to get out on horseback, often every day. Warmer weather will hopefully see her out with her groom, Terry Pendry. Her racing manager, Sir John Warren, will also likely be in close contact.

Royal Ascot will resume in June and the Queen is usually expected to attend all five days. The Royal Windsor Horse Show, cancelled last year, in which Her Majestys fell ponies compete, will take place at the beginning of July.

As to her longer-term future, she has remained steadfastly against abdication, a position supported by her religious faith and her firm belief in her Coronation oath.

Abdication is particularly unpalatable because of its association with her uncle, Edward VIII, whose decision to renounce the throne and marry American divorcee, Wallis Simpson threw the monarchy into crisis.

Other European heads of state who have stepped down early have earned the Queens scorn.

Hearing Queen Juliana of the Netherlands had abdicated in 1980, as her mother Queen Wilhelmina had done before her, the monarch sniffed: Well, thats the Dutch for you.

This stance has softened slightly with her advancing age.

Speaking shortly before her death in 2016, Mrs Rhodes said the Queen had added an important caveat to her intentions: she would never abdicate unless I have Alzheimers or a stroke.

This change of tack was said to have been informed by the sight of the desperately frail Pope John Paul II carrying out the Easter blessing outside the Vatican when seemingly was barely cognisant.

There is another milestone in 10 days time when, on April 21, The Queen turns 95. The birthday is likely to be marked with more reflection than celebration.

Poignant, too, will be June 10, the date on which the Duke of Edinburgh would have turned 100.

It was suggested many years ago that the Queen would use her 95th to announce an abdication. Few believe this credible, yet significant change is under way, and has been for some time with the Queen handing over increasing responsibilities to her oldest son and other senior royals.

Some have suggested it is time for a full-blown Regency, with Charles  although not King  declared the formal head of state.

This is, too, is unlikely in the immediate term. His mother, after all, is determined to carry on her duties for as long as she is able.

All the same, it is Charles who carries out overseas tours. He also attends all key royal events. A hand-over is questionably under way  and will continue.

One of the few consolations of the coronavirus crisis is that brought the Queen and the Duke together under the same roof, with few official interruptions. Until the Covid crisis, Prince Philip had spent much of his time living separately at Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate.

He lived out his final days quietly with the Queen by his side which, after a lifetime of service for them both, will have been precious.

Together, they created one of the most memorable reigns in British history. In 2022, the Queen will have been on the throne for an astonishing seven full decades.

While she must now face that anniversary alone, it is to be hoped that the memories of her late husband and his unstinting support may yet sustain her for years to come.
Self-determination for Australias First Nations people is the unfinished business that must be addressed nationally to prevent Indigenous over-representation in the criminal justice system and deaths in custody, NSWs top coroner has said in a call to action.

Ahead of the 30th anniversary on Thursday of the final report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, State Coroner Teresa OSullivan said First Nations people continued to be overrepresented in every category of death dealt with by the Coroners Court.

We have the oldest jurisprudence in the world, lawyer and Wiradjuri woman Taylah Gray said of First Nations Australians. Credit:Max Mason-Hubers

Indigenous deaths in custody could not be separated from the over-representation of First Nations people within the criminal justice system, nor can we separate it from the colonial history of this nation, she said.

More than 455 Indigenous people have died in custody since the report was released on April 15, 1991. This includes the deaths of five First Nations people in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia in the four weeks between March 2 and April 3.
South Korea's SK Innovation decided to partner with LG Energy Solution to prevent the upcoming U.S. electric vehicle battery import ban. However, the giant manufacturer needs to pay around $1.8 billion or 2 trillion won in royalties and cash to LG.

According to The Verge's latest report, the two companies said they would work together to help develop the electric vehicle industry in the United States and South Korea.

They said that they will do this through healthy competition and friendly cooperation. Aside from these, LG and SK Innovation added that they will ensure to enhance the battery network and environmental-friendly policy.

Why the South Korean EV battery company decided to do this

Bradenton's latest report confirmed that the new partnership could prevent the upcoming import ban. Previously, the United States International Trade Commission created a 10-year import ban against SK Innovation.

Also Read: Tesla EV Owners Confirm Refund on 'Double Charged' Credit Card Transactions, Adds In $200 Coupon for Online Store

This ban is expected to take effect on Sunday, Apr. 18. This was created after SK Innovation was accused of illegally using the EV battery technology from LG, which is also its rival.

And now, since SK Innovation will partner with LG Energy Solution, the upcoming import ban could be dismissed since the accusation will be rendered invalid. This will also allow the South Korean manufacturer to provide EV batteries to Volkswagen and Ford.

LG and SK Innovation's previous issue

Before the two tech giant manufacturers decided to collaborate, they had a major issue. LG recently accused SK Innovation of stealing the important information about its electric car batteries, which worth billions of dollars.

However, the South Korean company denied the accusation, claiming that it didn't receive any information from the employees it hired. This was a major concern since SK Innovation hired workers that were from LG. If you want to know further details, all you need to do is click here.

For more news updates about SK Innovation and other EV battery manufacturers, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Elon Musk Says Tesla FSD is Ready for Beta v. 9.0 to Improve on Cornering and Bad Weather, Self-Driving Coming to Boring Loop Tunnel EVs

This article is owned by TechTimes.

Written by: Giuliano de Leon

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
An AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is prepared at a local vaccination center as the spread of COVID-19 continues in Hagen, Germany, on March 19, 2021. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

More Colleges Require Students to Have COVID-19 Vaccines for Fall Semester

Duke University said over the weekend that it will require COVID-19 vaccinations for students before theyre allowed to return for the fall semester, joining a growing list of colleges that are doing so.

Duke research played an important role in the development of these vaccines, and we are committed to leading the way in vaccine access for students and employees, Duke President Vincent E. Price said in a statement. Looking ahead, we know that widespread vaccination will be the only way to facilitate a return to normal and robust campus life.

With this in mind, we plan to require all new and returning Duke students to present proof of vaccination to Student Health before they can enroll for the Fall 2021 semester. This policy will cover all undergraduate, graduate, and professional studentsin all degree programswho intend to be on the Duke campus for any period of time starting with the Fall 2021 semester. Documented medical and religious exemptions will be accommodated.

Rutgers University in New Jersey became the first college in the United States to mandate vaccines. More than a dozen colleges have followed suit, including Notre Dame, Northeastern University, Brown University, and Cornell University.

The legality of colleges issuing vaccination requirements could be a legal minefield, one expert said.

Most universities have the power to require vaccines, said Dorit Reiss, a law professor at the University of CaliforniaHastings College of the Law in San Francisco, in an interview with NPR. But it does depend on what the college can do generally on vaccines and what theyve done in the past.

There almost certainly are going to be legal challenges, because the anti-vaccine movement is already preparing for them.

The main arguments will include the EUA question and the fact that these vaccines are early [in use]. EUA refers to the FDAs emergency use authorization for COVID-19 vaccines.

COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

In March, Duke University issued a week-long stay-at-home order to contain a surge in CCP virus cases among students. Officials claimed it was caused by students going to parties, according to a letter.

This is by far the largest one-week number of positive tests and quarantines since the start of the pandemic, the letter stated.

The push for vaccination requirements comes as several governors and lawmakers have taken action to curb the usage of so-called vaccine passports that some governments and companies have proposed.
Vietnamese labor export firms are working hard to find more contracts and markets.











Vietnams Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) expects to send 90,000 laborers to work abroad in 2021, mainly to high and stable income countries.

Director General of the MoLISAs Department of Overseas Labor Tong Hai Nam said the department has renewed its agreement on labor cooperation with Thailand, negotiated similar deal with Israel, and carried out existing agreements with South Korea, Japan and some other countries.

Some target markets of Vietnam still have high demand for labor, including Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea.

Nam added that his department has been pondering on sending workers to Romania and Poland. It has also been supporting localities to send seasonal workers to South Korea and other nations.

Nam noted that more than 26,000 Vietnamese guest workers whose labor contracts expired are unable to return home due to the effects of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The Department of Overseas Labor Management has instructed relevant units to coordinate with Vietnamese diplomatic missions abroad, partners, and employers to ensure the safety and legitimate rights of guest workers amid the global crisis, while they are waiting to return home.

Besides, the department has also required 506 enterprises licensed to send workers abroad to review the number of employees who are subject to return home due to the effects of the outbreak.

Some 78,641 Vietnamese laborers were sent abroad in 2020, reaching 60.5% of the government target amid border closures imposed by many countries due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the MoLISA, Vietnamese labor export firms are working hard to find more contracts and markets. Besides, some have invested in training the workforce on foreign languages and necessary skills before sending them overseas.

hanoitimes

Labour market faces mounting challenges Vietnam is becoming an attractive destination for foreign investors as several of the worlds largest technology corporations plan to shift their production chains to Vietnam,
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 23:50:16|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- A new COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinopharm has recently been approved for clinical trials.

The new recombinant COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the National Vaccine & Serum Institute, a R&D center of Sinopharm's bioscience subsidiary the China National Biotec Group (CNBG), got approval from the National Medical Products Administration on Friday, the CNBG said on its official Weibo account on Saturday.

The vaccine is based on the structural features of the receptor binding domain (RBD) on the virus' spike protein (S-protein). It uses genetic engineering to grow harmless copies of the virus S-protein to induce neutralizing antibodies.

The company said that recombinant vaccine technology is mature and suitable for large-scale production. The production does not require facilities with high biosafety levels since the process does not involve live viruses.

The recombinant vaccine is the company's third COVID-19 vaccine. Last December, an inactivated vaccine developed by the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., Ltd. under CNBG became the first Chinese COVID-19 vaccine to have conditional marketing authorization.

In February, another inactivated vaccine from the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, a CNBG affiliate, was allowed to enter the market on a conditional basis.

More than 161.12 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered across China as of Friday, the National Health Commission said Saturday. Enditem
COVID infections to dampen Songkran tourism

BANGKOK: The new COVID-19 outbreak is expected to cut tourism receipts by half during the Songkran festival after many provinces have voluntarily imposed a 14-day quarantine, while dozens of events have been cancelled or postponed, says the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

tourismeconomicsCOVID-19Coronavirus

By Bangkok Post

Sunday 11 April 2021, 12:32PM

A travel agency employee sits in front of his closed shop in Bangkok on Thursday. Thailand remains closed to international tourists because of COVID-19.

TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said a large number of infections originating from the Thong Lor cluster will impact tourism activities next week, leading to stricter travel regulations at major destinations and lower tourism confidence, reports the Bangkok Post.

TAT previously estimated 3.2 million domestic trips next week would generate B12 billion for the economy.

However, given the outbreak, Mr Yuthasak said the number of trips and revenue is likely to drop 50% to 1.6mn and B6bn, respectively.

Almost 70% of guests headed for Prachuap Khiri Khan (Hua Hin) have already cancelled their hotel rooms as the province detected a high number of local infections.

This week Hua Hin reported 25 COVID-19 cases linked to travellers from Nonthaburi. More tourists will continue to cancel bookings if the number of COVID-19 cases there continues to escalate, he said.

Chiang Mai, which requires tourists from Bangkok, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan and Nakhon Pathom to observe a 14-day quarantine period or pass a test for COVID-19 upon arrival, has seen cancellations of around 20%.

Hotels in Pattaya reported a decline in bookings as the occupancy rate is expected to drop from 90% to 60% after tourists expressed concern over safety and strict travel measures in many places.

The Northeast, which has eight provinces requiring 10- or 14-day quarantines for those from at-risk areas, also recorded 20% cancellations, led by Nakhon Ratchasima with over 130 bookings erased.

Mr Yuthasak said hotels in the South reported cancellations at around 15% from an average occupancy of 50-90% previously.

Cancellations in this region are not as high as other places because Phuket and Phang Nga are still allowing tourists to visit without quarantine. Instead, they have asked travellers to activate a tracking application.

However, some provinces that use Hat Yai airport in Songkhla as a transport hub may see more cancellations as Songkhla issued a 14-day quarantine mandate for travellers from at-risk areas, including Bangkok.

Hotels in Satun, a province that can only be reached from Hat Yai airport, has seen cancellations of 14.3% from an average occupancy of 54.4%.

Destinations in the Gulf of Thailand have also felt the impact as Samui, Koh Tao, and Koh Phangan have seen 20% of all bookings cancelled, while Nakhon Si Thammarat experienced 15% cancellations.

Meanwhile, some 38 events and activities planned for Songkran nationwide have been cancelled or postponed to help contain virus spread, including the TAT-sponsored Amazing Songkran Festival from April 13-15.
OKLAHOMA CITY - Jurors and others in Judge Donald Thompson's courtroom kept hearing a strange whooshing noise, like a bicycle pump or maybe a blood pressure cuff. During one trial, Thompson seemed so distracted that some jurors thought he was playing a hand-held video game or tying fly-fishing lures behind the bench.

The explanation, investigators say, is even stranger than some imagined: The judge had a habit of masturbating with a penis pump under his robe during trials.

The lurid allegations have led to criminal charges against Thompson, brought an embarrassing end to a solid career and shocked many of his colleagues. The case could also lead to a wave of appeals from defendants claiming that the judge was not paying attention while presiding over their cases.

Thompson, 58, a married father of three grown children, has denied the allegations, and said the pump was just a gag gift received from a hunting buddy on his 50th birthday. He retired in August after being threatened with removal from the bench, but still faces indecent-exposure charges brought against him last month.

"We're certainly saddened by the thought that the prosecutor filed charges," said Clark Brewster, Thompson's attorney.

"We thought all this was dealt with when he resigned. We didn't feel like anything that was alleged rose to the level of criminal charges."

The trials during which he allegedly used the pump included murder cases as well as a libel suit in which a jury ordered the company that publishes The Oklahoman, a Web site and a TV station to pay $3.7 million.

Police built a case against the judge after one of Wall's officers testified during a 2003 murder trial. From the witness stand, the officer saw a piece of plastic tubing disappear under Thompson's robe.

During a break, officers took photographs of the pump under the desk.

Investigators later collected carpet samples, Thompson's robes and the chair from behind the bench, and found semen, according to court records.

Thompson was a former state legislator and a judge with more than 20 years on the bench in Creek County in eastern Oklahoma.

Thompson's court reporter, Lisa Foster, told authorities that she saw him use the pump at least 10 times during trials.

She said the first time in court was in 2000, but she did not tell authorities. "I didn't want to be found dead in a ditch somewhere," she said.

Foster and a bailiff were fired by Thompson after giving statements against him.
Indian travel bubble excludes Lankan tourists View(s):

India on Friday declared the creation of an air travel bubble with Sri Lanka and allowed designated carriers to operate between the two countries until the resumption of scheduled flights.

The decision was conveyed by the Indian Civil Aviation Ministry and will be operative with immediate effect.

In terms of this, Indian tourists will be allowed to visit Sri Lanka. However, no Sri Lankan tourists will be eligible to travel to India.

Three categories will be allowed in flights from Sri Lanka to India. They are Indian nationals and those from Nepal and Bhutan. All Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cardholders and Persons of Indian cardholders possessing passports from any country. Nationals/residents of Sri Lanka (including diplomats) and foreigners intending to visit India for any purpose (including their dependents on appropriate category of dependent visa). This will, however, not cover tourist visas.

Flights from India to Sri Lanka, in terms of the directive, will be (i) Indian businessmen on a Business Visa; (ii) Indian healthcare professionals, health researchers, engineers and technicians for technical work at Sri Lanka health sector facilities, including laboratories and factories; (iii) Indian engineering, managerial, design or other specialists travelling to Sri Lanka on behalf of Indian business entities located in Sri Lanka; (iv) Indian technical specialists and engineers travelling for installation, repair and maintenance of Indian-origin machinery and equipment registered Sri Lankan business entity; and (v) Indian tourists visiting Sri Lanka on leisure/pleasure purpose.

The operations will be subject to strict adherence to standard operational procedures issues by civil aviation authorities and other COVID-19 related guidelines.
Jean Yonemura Wing, a champion of equity in education, and a retired Oakland Unified School District administrator, died March 29. She was 70.

A Berkeley High School graduate, Wing earned her masters degree in education at UC Berkeley. She dedicated her career to eliminating the education gap, District Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell said, beginning as a parent of a student at Berkeley High School, where she served on the diversity project, an effort involving teachers, parents, students and researchers to reduce differences in academic achievement from 1996 to 2002.

She later was involved as an Oakland Unified administrator on equity projects, a tireless advocate for the students of OUSD, Johnson-Trammell wrote in a letter to the community. The superintendent lauded Wing for her battle to achieve equity.

Wing was co-author of Unfinished Business: Closing the Racial Achievement Gap in Our Schools, with Pedro Noguera. The book looked at the outcome of the diversity project and the work that remained to be done.

Until her retirement in June, Wing worked with Oakland Unifieds Research, Assessment and Data Department for 16 years. She was responsible for the districts equity dashboard, and used data to push for equity in the schools. She was also involved in the African American Male Achievement Program, which aims to promote the success of Oaklands Black male students in the classroom and life.

The program led to the creation of the Kingmakers of Oakland, and Wing volunteered as a mentor and leader for the organization. She helped create the districts Men of Color Project, which debuted this year, employing young men who graduated from Oakland schools to help tutor kindergarten students.

I was sad when she left the district because she was such a joy to work with, and I knew how much she meant to the organization, Johnson-Trammell wrote. But of course, after spending decades in support of students here in Oakland and in Berkeley, a peaceful retirement was well-deserved. Now, less than a year later, I am devastated. We all are.

Rep. Barbara Lee lauded Wing in a Twitter post as a woman warrior for justice, dignity of all people & the well-being of children. Rest in peace & rest in power Jean.

Former presidential candidate and civil rights activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson remembered her in a lengthy essay on his Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/revjessejackson/posts/317569053062761

Today is a dark hour, he wrote. With Jeans departure, there is a hole in our soul. We lost one who touched our hearts and minds. Jean had all of our attention without being loud or boisterous.

We look back on these moments with pride. When blacks were attacked, Jean stood with us. When the children of Oakland were underserved and marginalized, Jean displayed non-negotiable dignity.

When Jean talked, she made the children comfortable. And she loved teaching someone elses children beside her own.

She is survived by her husband, Butch Wing, and daughter, Teri Wing.

Memorial donations may be made to Kingmakers of Oakland.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan
The British royal family has dysfunctional elements, but Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip have been stalwarts.

In this milieu of moral relativism and post-modern claptrap they represent compassionate conservatism. Indeed, when contrasted to the cancel culture, or, more aptly, progressive fascism, it is they who espouse the values of the Enlightenment such as reason and humanity.

It is heartening to see the public appreciation for Prince Philip in the U.K., especially amongst the youngsters. Life of privilege? Not really, more of an exhausting noblesse oblige. He signed up to join the Royal Navy at the start of World War II while only a teenager. Sure, he enjoyed his games of polo, but he always displayed dignity in the royal fishbowl, even while performing 22,220 solo engagements and delivering 5,496 speeches. Thats royally remarkable.

We all know the gracious queen is an amazing woman, perennially one of the most admired women in the world  often number one, in fact. Prince Philip was also one of the most influential figures in the royal family for more than seventy years. In fact, at their 50th wedding anniversary, the queen said of Prince Philip several years ago that: He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years. I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know. Ah, yes, many other countries -- lets consider some.

In 2014, Scotland voted decisively to stay in the United Kingdom.

In 1999, Australians voted to keep the Queen (and her consort). They did it again in 2019, when Conservative Prime Minister Morrison defeated liberals who promised to ditch the queen.

Despite Canada having plenty of French-speaking people, at a Liberal Party convention in 2012 they also voted to keep the British monarchy.

Though New Zealand has dallied with the notion of republicanism, the Kiwis remain entranced by the constitutional monarchy.

In 2013, 99.8% -- you read that right, 99.8% -- of Falkland Islanders voted to remain a British territory.

In 2002, despite concessions by the magnanimous Brits to share sovereignty with Spain, voters in Gibraltar cast 98.97% of their ballots against the proposal  they wanted to remain under British administration. Gibraltar remains a British rock of stability even as Spain huffs and puffs on their doorstep.

In 2008, the proud South Pacific Islanders of Tuvalu voted 65% in favor of keeping the British Monarchy. Well done, Tuvaluan lads and lassies!

What about Fiji -- perhaps that tropical paradise on your bucket list? Well, theyre a republic, but the queens birthday remains a national holiday. As for St. Vincent and Grenadines  you know, that indispensable Caribbean archipelago  a 2009 vote for a new constitution was easily defeated.

Indeed, even without her loyal consort, Queen Elizabeth II remains head of state of 16 nations (including the United Kingdom), which has some of the most vibrant democracies with whom the U.S. engages in deep security accords. There are 53 countries in the Commonwealth.

Great Britain is the sceptered isle, described by Shakespeare in Richard II as a fortress built by nature for herself, a precious stone set in the silver sea. Philip, with uniforms decorated to the hilt, served in that silver sea. He was a precious prince consort -- the longest-serving to a monarch in British history -- who helped carry the royal baton with dignity and respect as he travelled to so many countries who wisely voted for constitutional monarchy.

Image: Humberpike, via Flickr // CC BY 2.0

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
A bill in the Manitoba legislature proposing stricter animal agriculture laws would violate Manitobans charter rights, says a letter from 10 law professionals from across Canada. Multiple animal advocacy groups have expressed support for the letter.

A bill in the Manitoba legislature proposing stricter animal agriculture laws would violate Manitobans charter rights, says a letter from 10 law professionals from across Canada. Multiple animal advocacy groups have expressed support for the letter.

If passed, the amendment to Bill 62 would make it illegal to enter places such as farms or slaughterhouses without permission. It would also make it illegal to "interact" with animals on that land or in transport without consent. That would include giving food or water to animals. Violating these rules could carry fines up to $10,000 or one year in jail, or both.

"I think its a complete red herring," said Kaitlyn Mitchell, a Winnipeg-based lawyer at advocacy group Animal Justice. "These are not biosecurity bills."

Its already illegal to trespass on private farms and slaughterhouses or to give an animal poisoned food or water, she said, so neither measure adds new protections.

Rather, the bills language is designed to quell peaceful protest, she said.

"The term interact is incredibly broad," said Mitchell. "Does that mean if they make eye contact? Does that mean speaking? Does that mean singing?"

She said it appears to target people who protest near trucks on public property outside of slaughterhouses in particular.

"It would essentially make it an offense for those people to go really anywhere near a truck."

These constraints on public protests would violate the charter, say critics.

Mitchell said she often relies on photographs and videos of inhumane conditions to support and launch lawsuits aimed at holding animal processors accountable. She worries the threat of fines and jail time will scare protesters and prevent them from getting near enough to transport trucks to get footage.

Even if taking the photo or video itself isnt considered interacting, she said, shes heard animals may nudge or lick a protester if theyre close, which may result in criminal charges under the new amendment.

"These laws are designed to try and silence or stifle animal rights activists," said Cara Zwibel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

"The concern here is what is special or unique about the agricultural industry that makes it acceptable to pass legislation that arguably insulates them from scrutiny?" she said. "And what other industries might like to benefit from legislation like that?"

Others also worry the bill sets Manitoba on a slippery slope.

"The problem with this type of bill is where does it stop?" said Sam Trosow, associate professor at University of Western Ontarios Faculty of Law and letter signee. "If they do it here with respect to farm facilities, will they do it next in a hospital or in a long-term care home or in some other type of public facility? Its too easy to come up with these really sort of onerous measures."

The authors of the letter accuse the province of making it easier for government and private business to shut down peaceful protest. And they say its part of a broader campaign.

They point to Bill 57, which has drawn criticism and protests from a wide range of people, including a board member of the National Farmers Union. Vague language in that bill has also fed controversy. The bill would allow owners and operators of "critical infrastructure" to apply to Court of Queens Bench for orders to stop or limit protests.

The letter describes Bill 62s amendments as an ag gag law. Similar laws have already passed in Alberta and Ontario, stirring controversy in those provinces too. Manitobas proposed law is narrower in scope than Albertas and Ontarios, which can prosecute people for entering farms and animal processing centres even with consent if they enter on "false pretenses." That means journalists or activists who take jobs in these centres to collect information on them could face heavy penalties.

Mitchell and Animal Justice have already launched challenges to Ontarios law. Mitchell said she hopes it wont come to it, but Animal Justice would consider taking the province to court if the bill passes.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca
Leftists like the phrase victimless crime when theyre trying to decriminalize destructive behaviors such as prostitution or using dangerous drugs. However, if they were to use the phrase correctly, economic inequality, which they talk of as it were a crime, is the true victimless crime.

Think about it: Who is harmed by economic inequality?

Bill Gates is a blabbering boob on any topic other than computers, yet he has a very large paycheck. However, that paycheck does not have any effect on my paycheck, or anyone elses paycheck -- except that the size of his paycheck makes it possible for thousands of other people even to have a paycheck.

Despite this obvious fact, the Harris-Biden administration has added ending inequality to its mission, along with open borders, gun-grabbing, gender confusion, and all the rest of the far-left agenda. Income redistribution, naturally, will be the tool to effect the cure.

Politicians firmly believe that, if you take money from one person and give it to another, the recipient will be better off and will reward you with his vote forever, or as long as the cash continues to flow.

Life, of course, is not that simple.

Just trying to measure inequality is rife with problems. Are we talking about wealth inequality, income inequality, or consumption inequality?

Those who claim to measure these things usually avoid consumption inequality, as there is much less of it. Nevertheless, they willingly tackle the first two, even though they are notoriously difficult to quantify.

Despite all its intrusions into your financial affairs, the government doesnt really know the extent of your wealth. So, economists do what they often do  estimate.

In a paper published last year by the Cato Institute, John H. Cochrane detailed the problem and concluded that wealth taxes would do more harm than good. Furthermore, a wealth tax is a very inefficient way for the government to raise money, he said. This is one reason Europe has abandoned them.

American leftists, however, have no qualms about adopting failed policies.

They believe that wealth equals power and that only politicians should have power. So, the golden goose that makes their compassion possible must be killed or seriously wounded.

But even aside from the fact that it is a poor policy, there is the larger point that it seeks to cure a problem that does not exist. Rich people dont make poor people poor, and as the famous quote goes: You dont make the poor rich by making the rich poor.

Contrary to Bidens beliefs, capitalism is the solution, not the problem. According to the World Bank, the percentage of extremely poor people in China in 1981 was 88.3%. Then it began allowing free enterprise. By 1990, extreme poverty had fallen to 66.2%. By 2015 only 0.7% of the Chinese population was living in extreme poverty.

If the Biden administration really wants to rid America of economic inequality, maybe it should do more to emulate the Chinese communists.

IMAGE: Redistribution of wealth. Quotemaster poster.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Please purchase a subscription to continue reading. If you have a subscription, please Log In .

Your current subscription does not provide access to this content. If you believe you've gotten this message in error, please Log In.
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
Delhi Chief Minister said on Sunday that the national capital is facing an alarming situation as around 65 per cent new Covid-19 cases in Delhi are below 45 years of age.

"Fourth wave of Covid-19 in Delhi has made the situation worse than what it was during the third peak. Over 10,000 Covid-19 cases were reported in Delhi in the last 24 hours, this is a worrisome situation, Kejriwal said.

Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said the Delhi Government is fully prepared to combat the fourth wave of in the capital and the health system in all government and private hospitals has been revamped.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister urged the people of Delhi to rush towards hospitals only if there is a serious symptom of Covid-19 infection. "More and more people are rushing to hospitals even if they have mild symptoms. If all people would rush towards hospitals, our emergency health system would collapse. ICU beds would be occupied by non-serious patients. If this happens, the health system will collapse and we will have no option but to impose lockdown," Kejriwal stated.

However, he reiterated that the state government is not in favour of imposing lockdown. "No Government will consider a lockdown until the health system collapses. Hence I would urge people of the city to follow Covid-19 measures."

Kejriwal also stated that he has urged the Centre to open Covid-19 vaccination for all ages. "People below the age of 45 should also be vaccinated to break the cycle of the Around 65 per cent new cases of Covid-19 in Delhi are below 45 years. People below the age of 45 should also be vaccinated to break the cycle of the coronavirus," he added.

Kejriwal continued, "I have requested the centre many times regarding the removal of age restrictions on taking Covid-19 jab. The Delhi government is ready to conduct a door-to-door campaign to vaccinate people."
The Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon marches in front of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial on its way to perform for the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington April 12, 2014. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Bryan Nygaard/Released)

Nearly 40 Percent of Marines Declining to Get COVID-19 Vaccine: Official

About 40 percent of U.S. Marines have declined to take a COVID-19 vaccine, according to Pentagon officials.

Some 75,500 Marines are fully vaccinated or received one dose, and around 48,000 Marines have declined the shot, Communication Strategy and Operations Officer Capt. Andrew Woods told several news outlets over the weekend.

We fully understand that widespread acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine provides us with the best means to defeat this pandemic. The key to addressing this pandemic is building vaccine confidence, said Woods, according to USA Today.

Marine Corps officials didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

The Navy and Marine Corps are providing substantial educational information broadly, and working with commands to ensure Marines, Sailors, and beneficiaries have accurate information regarding the safety and efficacy of the vaccines to encourage individuals to get immunized, Woods told The Hill in a statement.

Woods noted that Marines are typically healthy and young, adding that there may be a number of reasons for declining the vaccine.

For example, an individual may have deferred until later to allow others to get the vaccine, they may have gotten the vaccine on their own and not through military channels, they could be unavailable for a second dose in the prescribed time period for the vaccines that require two doses, they could expect the vaccine to become mandatory and are waiting until then, or they may be allergic to one of the compounds in the vaccine, Woods said.

COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Several Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to President Joe Biden last month requesting that he make the vaccine mandatory for all U.S. military members.

The Department of Defense in mid-February reported that about a third of all U.S. troops had turned down the vaccine.

Maj. Gen. Jeff Taliaferro, a top official with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the time that the military has a two-thirds acceptance rate for the vaccine.

Our initial lookand this is, of course, very early datais acceptance rates are somewhere in the two-thirds territory, Taliaferro said in a hearing. And of course, it varies by different groups.

We believe that, of course, the vaccine is the right thing to do. Its clearly safe for service members, Taliaferro said, noting that military officials want personnel to get the shot. And we need to continue to educate our force and help them understand the benefits.
A total of 10,000 captive-bred Chinese sturgeon were released into the middle reaches of the Yangtze River on Saturday to help restore the fish's wild population.

The released sturgeon, with a total weight of 13,130 kg, include both young and adults. Fishery authorities have tagged them to track their migration and monitor their activities. Sixteen sturgeon that are close to sexual maturity are carrying satellite-tracking receivers.

The release, which took place in the city of Yichang, in central China's Hubei Province, was conducted jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) and the local government.

Jiang Wei, chief engineer with the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute of the CTG, said it is important to research the species' migration, habitat and distribution to better help restore their natural propagation and ultimately enrich the wild population.

Nicknamed "aquatic pandas," Chinese sturgeon have existed for more than 140 million years. However, the population of the flagship species in the Yangtze plummeted in the late 20th century due to intrusive human activities.

Since 1984, Chinese experts have been conducting reintroduction events, including releasing captive-bred fry, to increase the wild population. So far, the CTG has released more than 5.04 million Chinese sturgeon into the Yangtze River.

A 10-year fishing ban was also launched in 332 conservation areas along the river at the beginning of 2020.
At first glance, the drawings seem innocuous.

Each of the 20 black and white sketches artfully depicts a natural landscape.

Pine trees and mountains set against a bright orb in the sky. Cartoonish leaves splayed out like tentacles. Unearthly limestone columns towering before an ominous cloud.

Their origins, though, are darker: They are believed to have been created by an artist in Manzanar, the concentration camp in California's Owens Valley where thousands of Japanese Americans were incarcerated as a result of the United States government's racism and hysteria during World War II.

When Japanese American community leaders were alerted recently to the fact that these drawings had been put up for sale on eBay, they immediately began organizing to stop the auction.

"We don't feel that Japanese American history -- particularly around the trauma of racist policies that excluded, forcibly removed and incarcerated 120,000 residents from the West Coast -- should be sold or used for profit," said Rick Noguchi, chief operating officer for the Japanese American National Museum.

After a meeting with Japanese American activists on April 6, just hours before the auction was set to end, eBay decided to halt the sale of the artifacts, determining that it violated the company's artifacts policy. At the time, the bidding had reached $470.

For the coalition of Japanese Americans behind the effort to cancel that sale, eBay's move was a victory. But ultimately, they want to ensure that all World War II artifacts born out of the tragedy and suffering of Japanese Americans can no longer be bought and sold.

This wasn't the first such sale

The drawings from Manzanar are just the latest artifacts from Japanese American concentration camps to be saved from the auction block.

In 2015, a New Jersey auction house was set to sell a collection of about 450 such objects, including paintings, photographs and handmade jewelry. The artifacts had been collected by the crafts expert Allen Eaton and eventually came into the hands of a family friend, who had decided to put them up for sale.

After protests by Japanese Americans, the auction house withdrew the items, which were eventually acquired by the Japanese American National Museum.

Nancy Ukai, project director for the digital history website 50objects.org, was one of the leading voices behind the effort to stop that sale.

Her grandfather and mother, along with several other relatives, were incarcerated in the camps during the 1940's. She recalled a story about how her grandfather, afraid that he'd never experience the smell of eucalyptus leaves again, brought the plant with him to the camp.

"Artifacts have a really important meaning to not only me but to our community," Ukai said. "There's a greater understanding in the world now that things have histories, and that these histories have been erased or concealed or allowed to stand uncontested."

The now-withdrawn listing on eBay comes at a time when Asian Americans have been experiencing heightened racism and discrimination.

That sales of objects from Japanese American concentration camps continue to proliferate is just part of that pattern, said David Inoue, executive director of the civil rights organization Japanese American Citizens League.

"It's very triggering for many people to see these items now being placed up for sale on eBay by unrelated individuals who perhaps obtained them through chance or random randomness but perhaps don't understand the meaning behind what these artifacts actually do bear for the families that were incarcerated," Inoue said.

She believes her father drew the sketches

Lori Matsumura, a third-generation Japanese American in Santa Monica, California, first learned of the drawings on eBay from a ranger at the Manzanar Historical Site.

Matsumura is the granddaughter of Giichi Matsumura, who was incarcerated at Manzanar and disappeared during an outing in the mountains after stopping to paint. Her father, Masaru Matsumura, was an artist, too. The ranger wondered if the sketches, signed "MATSUMURA," might have been drawn by one of her family members.

When Matsumura looked at the listing, she said she believed the drawings to be her father's. She even compared the signatures on them to an old high school assignment of his -- and the two appeared similar.

Matsumura's first reaction was to bid on the collection, a desperate attempt to acquire what she felt were important family mementos. Then, the gravity of the situation sunk in.

"It just made me angry that I would have to bid on my own family's artwork to get it back," she said.

Multiple families with the name "Matsumura" were incarcerated at Manzanar, and Lori Matsumura's claim to the drawings hasn't yet been verified.

Japanese American groups who spoke with CNN said that they hoped to work with eBay on brokering a conversation between Matsumura and the seller -- and potentially facilitate a return of the items.

The provenance of the items is unclear

It's unclear how the drawings came into the hands of the eBay seller, whose full identity is unknown.

The seller told the Associated Press that the collection came from the family of a former girlfriend in the 1980's, though they declined to confirm this detail to CNN.

In messages to CNN, the seller described themselves as a small time art and antiques dealer and said they weren't aware that they were violating eBay's artifacts policy, which prohibits the sale of items from government or protected land.

The seller apologized for the hurt caused by the listing and expressed a willingness to send the items their rightful owner.

"I am not interested in making a profit on these pieces, since they are part of history," the seller wrote. "I would rather give them away to a right individual rather than donate them to an institution."

Other artifacts from this era are still up for sale

That eBay removed the drawings from auction is a significant first step, Inoue said.

But numerous other artifacts from the period of Japanese American incarceration continue to be sold on the platform.

The Japanese American Confinement Sites Consortium, a collective dedicated to preserving the historical experiences of Japanese Americans during World War II, says they're continuing to work with eBay on applying its artifacts policy to similar items.

Inoue said that his organization and other members of the consortium also planned to discuss with eBay the potential creation of algorithms that would be able to flag violations of the company's policies on the front end.

Noguchi, the COO for the Japanese American National Museum, says the group would like to see all items associated with Japanese American concentration camps be banned for sale on eBay. (eBay did not respond to a question from CNN about whether it was considering such a ban.)

"It is offensive to see and to have this reminder that people are profiting off of this history," he said. "For many Japanese Americans that either were affected by those policies or had parents or grandparents affected by them, it's just a really negative reminder of it."
A new batch of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine consisting of 511,290 doses will arrive in Romania on Monday by air at the airports in Otopeni, Cluj-Napoca and Timisoara, according to the National COVID-19 Vaccination Coordination Committee (CNCAV).

Shipment to the storage centres is provided by the manufacturing company, including by land, with the vaccines doses being transported under optimal safety conditions, in special containers, with carbonic ice and sealed foil.

Thus, the vaccination process continues both in the centres in Bucharest and elsewhere in the country, with the doses being distributed as follows:Bucharest National Storage Centre - 187,200 doses;Brasov Regional Centre - 64,350 doses;Cluj Regional Distribution Centre - 62,010 doses;Constanta Regional Distribution Centre - 50,310 doses;Craiova Regional Distribution Centre - 36,270 doses;Iasi Regional Distribution Centre - 52,650 doses;Timisoara Regional Distribution Centre - 58,500 doses.So far, Romania has received 3,374,729 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, having already administered 2,965,888 of them.
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.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 14:45:48|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

This year marks the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (#LMC) mechanism. So what progress has the mechanism achieved in the last 5 years? And what benefits has it brought to the people? Follow us to find out...

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
COLUMBIA  The daily updates delivered to Steve Benjamin's inbox offer encouraging progress more than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the Columbia mayor was miffed there was an uptick April 7 in the percent of positive coronavirus tests reported to the public by state health officials. The numbers aren't yet consistently low enough to where Benjamin feels the city should relax rules requiring masks in public places.

He and other local officials want to see multiple weeks in which fewer than 5 percent of South Carolinians taking a COVID-19 test get diagnosed with the virus. The rate has averaged 4.5 percent over the last month but fluctuated between 3.4 percent and 7.9 percent day to day over that period, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

"It's been down fairly consistently over the last couple of months, and that's encouraging," Benjamin said. "We believe that the mask ordinance plays a role in driving it down. I think we're going to do as we have, continue to follow the data."

And he's not alone.

While Gov. Henry McMaster lifted mask mandates for state buildings last month, South Carolina's capital city is one of dozens of local governments in the state to keep mask requirements in place even as additional cases and deaths have dropped steadily with the rise of vaccinations.

Statewide, only Laurens County still trended a high rate of virus spread as of April 7, while 15 counties, including Richland, posted low disease activity, according to the state's public health agency.

But 54 cities and towns and nine counties still have a mask ordinance in place, according to data tracked by the state emergency management agency.

That includes Midlands jurisdictions like Columbia, Forest Acres and Richland County, which renewed its mask requirement another 60 days in an emergency vote April 6. Other mask mandates statewide include Upstate cities of Greenville and Spartanburg and coastal areas like Charleston and Hilton Head Island.

The mask rules remaining in place for the most part don't appear to follow geographic or ideological boundaries. Some local governments have let the requirement lapse when their latest 60- or 30-day duration is up, said Scott Slatton, with the Municipal Association of South Carolina.

"That could change, I guess, based on how the numbers go," Slatton said. "Local officials are making those decisions based on the conditions in their communities."

Local governments have also begun considering reopening services to the public and employees in the wake of McMaster's March 5 order that not only lifted mask mandates for state buildings and restaurants but also directed state employees still working from home to return to the office.

Some officials are looking at federal guidance that suggests masks should be worn until the percent of positive tests stays below 5 percent for a two-week period.

Sign up for our new health newsletter The best of health, hospital and science coverage in South Carolina, delivered to your inbox weekly. Email

Sign Up!

Others say they are wary of other strains of the virus and how effective the vaccines will be against them.

The daily emails Columbia City Council receives from Emergency Management Director Harry Tinsley include statewide and county testing data, percent positive rate, hospital occupancy and ventilator use, and vaccines administered.

In coastal areas like the small town of Beaufort, situated between Charleston and Hilton Head, officials look at the percent of the community that's vaccinated but are wary of tourist season and people visiting the area from all over the country, Mayor Stephen Murray said.

At the end of March, Murray and the City Council voted to extend the ordinance another month.

"The economys open, weve got a number of tourists and visitors coming in," Murray said. "And so while a lot of us dont like wearing masks, myself included, we do think its a simple, small measure that keeps our economy open and keeps our people safe until we can get more shots in arms in the next couple months. I think were getting close."

The continued mask rules have not been without detractors.

Richland County Councilman Joe Walker, who voted against the mask ordinance again April 6, has consistently opposed the county requirement. Columbia City Councilman Daniel Rickenmann asked that council revisit its rule in April to see if numbers supported lifting the mandate.

Before Charleston considered extending its mask mandate in March, council members received 22 comments opposing extending the requirement and five supporting the extension, according to meeting minutes.

Councilman Kevin Shealy said during the meeting the mask ordinance had done its job, that the most vulnerable members of the population had been protected and that masks should be optional moving forward.

Council member Harry Griffin said the city's rules were at odds with the governor's orders and that the city should repeal the requirement and stop issuing tickets for violations.

The council ultimately voted to extend the requirement until April 14 and will reconsider the rule during its meeting April 13.

"There's a lot of fatigue, patience is low, but we're getting closer to normalization," Dr. Michael Sweat, director of the Medical University of South Carolina's Center for Global Health, told Charleston City Council in March. "I would think by the summer, if we can get vaccination rates up, we're going to be in a much stronger position and we can begin to start loosening up some of the restrictions. But people do need to be vigilant a little bit longer."
This space race is staged through four key episodes in the conquest of the Moon. It combines the finest craftsmanship with lunar meteorite and the most spectacular natural stones. These four creations all feature an authentic fragment of the spacecraft that shaped history. Each of them has travelled more than a million kilometres in interplanetary space before being presented in the Louis Moinet travel trunk, which invites you on a journey through space.

FIRST ON THE MOON | 1966

Luna 9 was the Soviet space probe that made the first successful lunar soft landing. It was a real feat at the time, following a long series of failures. Soviet astronautics lost 26 space probes between 1962 and 1965 without a single success. Launched on January 31st 1966 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Luna 9 landed in the Ocean of Storms (Oceanus Procellarum) on February 3rd 1966, giving the world the first panoramic images of the lunar surface.

First on the Moon  Louis Moinet

FIRST ON THE MOON | 1966

The dial depicts the soft landing of Luna 9. The spacecraft is hand-engraved and then entirely painted. It includes an original piece of woven fibre from Luna 24. This piece made the journey from the Earth to the Moon and back  over a million kilometres through interplanetary space  aboard Luna 24. The Moon is entirely hand-engraved, then blackened in the old-fashioned way to give it an enigmatic appearance. The sky is made of black astralite, also known as aventurine glass. This material has been preserved for more than 50 years to be used for a major artistic work. The countless sparkles of its particles resemble gold spangles, stars shining against the pure backdrop of the sky. The Earth is depicted in a highly detailed artistic miniature painting, standing out against the sky thanks to the volume of its applique.

Hand engravings on the bezel

They represent Luna 9, as well as the lunar landing capsule. Ejected just before the lunar impact, it then separated from the rest of the spacecraft. The 100-kilogram capsule hit the lunar surface at a speed of 4 to 7 metres per second, protected by an airbag. The first images of the Moon were taken by this capsule and sent back to Earth via its antennae.

Mechanism  Calibre LM 35

60-second tourbillon movement, awarded the Gold Medal at the last International Chronometry Competition.

MAN ON THE MOON | 1969

While the Russians were attempting to send a crew to the Moon, the U.S. orchestrated a succession of Apollo space missions, drawing ever closer to this goal. It was Apollo 11 that enabled humankind to set foot on the Moon for the first time. The giant Saturn V rocket left the Kennedy Space Center on July 16th 1969, and the crew landed on the night star on July 21st 1969. The first steps on the Moon were filmed by a video camera and broadcast live, an event watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world.

Man on the Moon  Louis Moinet

MAN ON THE MOON | 1969

"Man on the Moon" represents the modern-day Christopher Columbus, the first man to walk on the Moon! His astronaut's suit is hand-engraved and coloured using a miniature painting technique. His visor is an authentic fragment of the polyimide film that protected his spacecraft across a wide temperature range (-250C to 400C). This material was used to travel from the Earth to the Moon and back  more than a million kilometres in interplanetary space  on Apollo 11. The miniature painting on this visor represents the reflection of the lunar module. In order to achieve the finest details, the painter trims the hairs of their brush one by one, using only the last one to create the finest decorations. The Moon is represented by a real lunar meteorite, named Dar Al Gani 400. This lunar anorthosite is a rock found on Earth in 1998 and ejected from the Moon following the impact of a celestial object. The curved Earth is embodied by that "azure stone" used for 7,000 years by the greatest civilisations: lapis lazuli. It floats in a sky of exceptional quality crafted from black aventurine.

Hand engravings on the bezel

They represent the Saturn V rocket, the famous space launcher developed in the 1960s for the Apollo moon programme. This huge rocket was over 100 metres high, weighed 3,000 tonnes, had 11 engines and could launch a 45-tonne payload to the Moon. The engravings in the centre depict man's first step on the Moon, while those at the bottom show the foot pads of the Apollo lunar module as it lands.

Mechanism  Calibre LM 35

60-second tourbillon movement, awarded the Gold Medal at the last International Chronometry Competition.

AROUND THE MOON | 1970

Apollo 13 is the third mission in the space programme to take a crew to the Moon. When landing at the Fra Mauro crater, a site heavily impacted by asteroids, a serious accident damaged the spacecraft. The mission was abandoned, and the return journey required going around the Moon before returning to Earth. So was Apollo 13 a success or a failure? The objective was of course not achieved, yet this highly dangerous mission can be considered as one of the most spectacular rescues ever carried out. The return to Earth was due to the unfailing will and tenacity of human beings, from the crew to the control centre in Houston.

Around the Moon  Louis Moinet

"Around the Moon" depicts the spectacular rescue of Apollo 13, which managed to reach Earth with a badly damaged spacecraft. The spacecraft is hand-engraved and then enhanced with a fragment of the polyimide film that protected it on its return journey, particularly during its atmospheric re-entry. This material travelled from the Earth to the orbit of the Moon and then back to Earth. In total, it travelled more than a million kilometres through interplanetary space aboard Apollo 13. The spacecraft can be seen heading towards Earth, having circled the Moon. Onyx, a variety of agate used since antiquity for its deep black colour, embodies the mysterious face of the night star. It is set against granite from the Bernese Oberland, found by Daniel Haas at an altitude of over 2,000 metres. The blue Pietersite from Namibia was chosen to evoke the beauty of the Earth. Its shimmering effect is due to the many multicoloured fibre inclusions that give it bluish tones with an incomparable silky appearance. Black astralite completes the picture. This material has a history, since its origins date back to Murano at the beginning of the 17th century. It is the result of a lucky mistake  when a glassmaker dropped copper filings into molten glass that was slowly cooled  and its name comes from the Italian word "all'avventura". That is why astralite is also known as aventurine, or even river gold. The astralite adorning the Moon Race watch was acquired and carefully preserved by the father of Daniel Haas, our partner in the field of exceptional stones. The Haas family has been a pioneer in the sourcing and cutting of natural stone dials for two generations.

Hand engravings on the bezel

They represent the Odyssey service and command module, the only one capable of returning the crew to Earth with its heat shield. In the centre, a view of the Moon shows a distant Earth, the ultimate quest of the imperilled mission. Finally, we see the command module that landed in the Pacific Ocean.

Mechanism  Calibre LM 35

60-second tourbillon movement, awarded the Gold Medal at the last International Chronometry Competition.

LAST ON THE MOON | 1976

Luna 24 is the last probe of the Luna programme to land on the Moon, in the unexplored region of Mare Crisium. It brought back 170 grams of lunar soil samples (regolith). The analysis of these samples proved to be valuable, proving the existence of water on the lunar regolith. After landing on the Moon on August 18th 1976, Luna 24 returned to Earth (Siberia) on August 22nd 1976, thus concluding the Luna programme, which began with Luna 1 in 1959, as well as the Moon Race launched in 1961. It was not until 32 years later that a new probe landed on the Moon (Moon Impact Probe, India). China also landed a probe (Chang'e 3), but in a controlled manner (soft landing) in 2013, subsequently bringing back samples from the Moon in 2020 (Chang'e 5).

LAST ON THE MOON | 1976

"Last on the Moon" is the final episode of the "Moon Race". One of the results of Luna 24 was the proof of the existence of water on the Moon. Luna 24 is depicted on its journey back to Earth. Its prodigious design is hand-engraved, and a real piece of Luna 24 (resin-coated braided fibre) adorns its side. This material has travelled over a million kilometres through interplanetary space from the Earth to the Moon and back, aboard Luna 24. The Moon is shown here in high contrast, with copper etching to highlight its craters. Another of Nature's mysteries, azurite has been transformed into malachite by a phenomenon known as pseudomorphosis. This metamorphosis allows it to retain part of its appearance while morphing into malachite. The result is a very special mineral: azurite-malachite, which perfectly embodies the Earth. It is complemented by a yellow Pietersite sun, which fully deserves its nickname of "storm stone". It lights up the sky with black aventurine of exceptional quality.

Last on the Moon  Louis Moinet

They represent the Proton rocket, a Russian heavy launcher capable of placing a 22-tonne payload into low earth orbit. It was used on many Soviet space missions, including Luna 24. Developed in the early 1960s, this rocket remains Russia's main launcher, with over 400 Protons launched to date. The centre is decorated with lunar engravings, while the base of the bezel features the incredible design of the Luna 24 space probe.

Mechanism  Calibre LM 35

60-second tourbillon movement, awarded the Gold Medal at the last International Chronometry Competition.




All future Church of England bishops should be approved by a representative from black or minority groups, leaders have recommended.

The reforms will give a black or ethnic minority churchgoer an effective veto over who lands the most senior posts.

The move, which was influenced by the Black Lives Matter movement, follows a year of Anglican agonising over race.

Last year the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, (pictured) compared the CofEs attitude to ethnic minorities with that of Nazi-era German churches to Jews

The authors said the BLM movement provides a particular context to the conclusion of our work and brings into sharp focus the issues of diversity highlighted throughout our report. (Pictured, a woman holds a sign saying 'Black Lives Matter' during a protest outside Cardiff Castle in response to the death of George Floyd on May 31, 2020)

Last year the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, compared the CofEs attitude to ethnic minorities with that of Nazi-era German churches to Jews.

He also called on cathedrals and churches to examine monuments and statues that may be connected to slavery, saying some will have to come down.

Reforms to the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC), which picks bishops, have been recommended in a report compiled over three years by senior Church figures.

The plans will go before a meeting of the Churchs parliament, the General Synod, this month.

The authors said the BLM movement provides a particular context to the conclusion of our work and brings into sharp focus the issues of diversity highlighted throughout our report.

Its 38 recommendations will shake up the workings of the commission, which includes the archbishops of Canterbury and York, Synod members and a Downing Street official.

The key proposal says a minority representative should join the commission as a non-voting member whenever a new diocesan bishop has to be chosen.

The individual must be listened to by other members.

The report stressed the commission should also be able to pick representatives from other minorities.

This would deal with the perception that it fails ... to reflect adequately the diversity of the Church ... in terms not only of theological opinion, but also gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability and social background.

Names of potential bishops go to the Prime Minister for final approval.

They are usually chosen by a two-thirds majority of CNC members. The report conceded: We recognise some will be unhappy with a proposal for a non-voting co-opted member.
Eliminating coal from Australias energy system within 20 years would not significantly increase the risk of blackouts or price spikes, according to new modelling that counters the claim that coal-fired generation is key to ensuring affordable and reliable electricity.

As the nations transition to clean energy gathers speed, a study from the Grattan Institute think tank challenges the argument of pro-coal politicians and the fossil fuel lobby about the importance of keeping coal generators running, showing that Australia can achieve a net-zero emissions electricity system without posing any threats to consumers.

Economic modelling debunks the myth that coal is vital to ensure power bills dont skyrocket. Credit:Michele Mossop

Gas-fired power will play a role in supporting renewable energy by providing on-demand power, but it would not have an expanded role, the modelling found, raising questions about the merits of the Morrison governments plans to pursue a gas-fired economic recovery from COVID-19.

The scaremongers are wrong  the analysis in our report shows that Australia can achieve the trifecta of reliable, affordable, low-emissions electricity, and we can do it without coal, Grattan Institute energy director Tony Wood said.
Voters in Kyrgyzstan have approved a new constitution that expands the power of the president in a referendum, according to preliminary results.

The Central Election Commission (BShK) said results from 90 percent of ballots showed that around 79 percent of voters backed the constitutional amendments.

The BShK said turnout was around 35 percent, just above the 30 percent threshold required to make the referendum valid.

The new constitution reduces the size of parliament by 25 percent to 90 seats and gives the president the power to appoint judges and heads of law enforcement agencies. The current law allowing a president only one term will be scrapped in favor of allowing reelection to a second term.

The amendments also envision the creation of a so-called People's Kurultai (Assembly), described as "a consultative and coordinating organ" that would be controlled by the president. Critics say it could act as a parallel parliament and a way for the president to exert more power.

The referendum comes three months after Sadyr Japarov was elected president following a tumultuous period that saw the ouster of the previous government amid protests over October parliamentary elections and months of political wrangling over the future of the country.



Japarov proposed drafting a new constitution in November 2020 as he emerged from the turmoil as acting president in the wake of the resignation of then-President Sooronbai Jeenbekov.



He easily won the presidential election in January, while a referendum held in tandem saw voters opt for a presidential system that will be the centerpiece of the proposed constitutional amendments.

Speaking to reporters after voting at a polling station outside Bishkek, Japarov said the new constitution was the work of some 100 Kyrgyz experts and would replace a document he said was "copied from many countries."

"Over the past 30 years, many changes have been made to our constitution, which were copied from various sources or from other countries, and this is how we lived," Japarov said.

Incidents and irregularities were reported at some polling stations.

Three individuals attacked a journalist, whose mobile phone was also taken, and an election observer in the southern city of Osh. Police said they were investigating.

Also in Osh, police said they had opened a probe after two local politicians were apparently caught on camera trying to buy votes.

Overall, an NGO monitoring the polls said it had so far registered 50 voting irregularities, with 31 in Bishkek and 19 in Osh.

Some in the Central Asian country have criticized Japarov, saying the new constitution is being rushed through to create an authoritarian system and concentrating too much power in the hands of the president.



In an interview with RFE/RL in March, Japarov defended the changes as needed to create a strong central branch of government to "establish order" in the country of 6.5 million people, which has experienced three uprisings ousting the government since 2005.



He also rejected concerns about a power grab, saying Kyrgyzstan will "remain a democratic country."



The country is also holding local elections.



Japarov was among several prominent politicians freed from prison by protesters during the October unrest.

He had been serving a 10-year prison sentence for hostage taking during a protest against a mining operation in northeast Kyrgyzstan in October 2013. He maintains the charges against him were politically motivated.
TUs to challenge Port City Commission Bill View(s):

Several trade unions, organisations and individuals are planning to challenge the recently presented-to-Parliament Colombo Port City Commission Bill in the Supreme Court.

Six to seven unions have expressed interest in challenging the bill particularly since it exempts the operation of the Termination of Employment of Workmen (Special Provisions) Act, No. 45 of 1971 for companies operating within this special zone. That would mean workers dont have any rights, among other issues, said Palitha Athukorala, a senior trade union leader, who said there were others who were also planning to challenge the bill. The trade unions are those which are members of the National Labour Advisory Council.

Several key legislative enactments including, among others, the Urban Development Authority Act, No. 41 of 1978, the Municipal Council Ordinance (Chapter 252), and the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka Law No. 4 of 1978 are not applicable in the new economic zone in Colombo.

The Government has presented the bill in parliament in such a way that it gives little time for people to challenge the bill owing to the New Year holidays next week. However we are hoping to at least register our FR case against the bill in the Supreme Court office within next week, Mr. Athukorala said.
Lucknow, April 11 : The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has decided to prohibit the entry of more than five persons at a time in all religious places.

Lucknow reported a staggering 4,059 fresh Covid-19 cases on Saturday, taking its tally of active cases to 16,690.

Following a late-night review meeting on Saturday, the Chief Minister imposed fresh restrictions by capping the number of devotees entering a religious place at a time.

The move is significant considering that the festival of 'Navratri' is scheduled to begin from Tuesday and the month of Ramzan will commence from Wednesday.

Meanwhile, even as the state capital faces a massive crunch of hospital beds, the state government has decided to convert three hospitals, Era Medical College, TS Mishra Medical College and Integral medical College, into dedicated Covid facilities.

The Chief Minister directed officials to arrange for at least 2,000 ICU beds immediately and another 2,000 Covid beds must be arranged for within a week.

From Sunday, the Balrampur Hospital will also be starting a 300-bed Covid facility.

The Chief Minister has allocated one hospital each to the medical education minister, principal secretary (medical education) and secretary (medical education) and the Balrampur Hospital to the state Health Minister.

They will survey the hospitals and start the process for converting them to dedicated Covid facilities immediately. They will also ensure that there is sufficient trained manpower available at all four hospitals, including ventilators and high flow nasal cannula.

The district magistrate has been directed to ensure that there is no shortage of oxygen in any Covid hospital in the district.

The Chief Minister further said that comprehensive contact tracing was needed. "At least 30-35 people who could have come in contact with a positive person have to be identified and tested. Ambulances should be linked with the integrated command and control centre so that patients can get ambulance services on time. There should be 'nigrani committees' in every village and in every block of the urban local body," he said.

Containment zones will be monitored strictly and nobody will be allowed to enter or leave.

He also focussed on the need for carrying out a cleanliness, sanitization and fogging drive across the district.

This, he said, should especially be done at bus stations, railway stations, airports, crossings and all crowded places.

Police, fire services, housing development and development authority should assist in this exercise.

The Chief Minister also directed the police commissioner to initiate a dialogue with traders and shopkeepers so that social distancing can be maintained in markets.

The state government has already imposed a night curfew in the Lucknow municipal area from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Directions have also been issued to limit the number of staff in the government and private offices to 50 per cent of the total capacity.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, say goodbye to law and order Joe.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Shop talk around the Google campus in South Carolina can now include open conversations about pay, working conditions and even unionizing.

The sudden policy change is being held up as an early legal victory for a labor-affiliated group that 250 workers and contract employees formed a few months ago to push for bottom-up reforms within the internet search and advertising behemoth.

It also reflects a rising tide of discontent among the rank-and-file who earn a living in the sector known as Big Tech.

The higher-profile labor battle unfolded over the past few weeks at Amazon Inc., where workers at an Alabama warehouse came up short in their effort to unionize when the votes were tallied April 9.

The lesser-known Google dispute flared up in early February. It became public when a complaint was filed with the government on behalf of a technician who had been suspended from her job at the company's Berkeley County data center.

The National Labor Relations Board grievance named Alphabet Inc., Google's parent, and contractor Modis E&T LLC, which employed Shannon Wait.

The filing marked the first formal legal salvo from the experimental Alphabet Workers Union, which made its debut in early January through a partnership with the Communications Workers of America. The tiny self-funded upstart isn't recognized by the NLRB and can't engage in collective bargaining with management of the Silicon Valley company.

Wait joined the new organization. She described what it was like to work at the 500-acre data center off U.S. Highway 52 near Moncks Corner, saying in a recent interview she was paid $15 an hour when she started in February 2019.

"You're fixing the servers, which includes swapping out hard drives, swapping motherboards, lifting heavy batteries, they're like 30 pounds each," the College of Charleston graduate told the BBC. "It's really difficult work."

Also, the rows and rows of whirring electronics that process web searches, photo downloads and myriad other online tasks make for a toasty environment, about 85 degrees by her estimate.

Sign up for our new business newsletter We're starting a weekly newsletter about the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina. Get ahead with us - it's free. Email

Sign Up!

Wait has said she faced more heat after talking with a colleague about COVID-19 bonuses Google was planning to pay last year. A manager later warned her that discussing compensation with co-workers was off limits, according to a text message to that effect that she shared with the BBC.

Also, Wait went on Facebook to complain about working conditions at the site and to explain that she decided to join the new in-house labor organization after the company refused to replace her broken water bottle but did so for one of its own employees. She said last week it was the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back."

Wait and others have pointed to that incident as an example of a two-tiered employment system, with vendors and contractors with on one level  she also has called the growing ranks of third-party hires that Google limits to two years as "perma-temps"  and full-time staffers on another that offers better wages and more generous benefits.

Wait was suspended Jan. 25, after being told her public social media post breached a confidentiality agreement.

The Communications Workers of America Local 1400 filed an unfair-labor practice complaint with the NLRB in her name on Feb. 4. It alleged Alphabet, Google and Modis violated federal law by barring workers from discussing wages with each other. Wait likened the practice to "gaslighting.

The complaint was resolved in rapid fashion, in about two months. It was the first NLRB settlement involving the Alphabet Workers Union.

Under the terms, the companies agreed to post written notices telling employees they have the right to form, join or help a union, and that they can discuss pay and working conditions, without interference or fear of retribution. Google and Modis did not respond to requests for comment last week.

The Alphabet labor coalition called the settlement a huge win" for its roughly 800 members, including Wait, whose suspension was rescinded and scrubbed from her personnel file. She said in a statement she was "ecstatic" about the turn of events.

For now, Wait's brief run as a Big Tech labor activist is over. Her two-year gig was up in February, so she's no longer employed at the data center, where the company announced last month it will invest $500 million this year.

Google hasn't said whether the expansion will create any permanent new local jobs, but Wait said she has no interest in returning, either as contractor or full-timer. She's finishing her master's degree in history at the College of Charleston with a goal of becoming a professor.
Police found a man shot to death Sunday while responding to a report of gunfire, authorities said.

An officer found the wounded man in a pickup truck around 2 a.m. in the 9400 block of Concourse and tried to save him. He was rushed to a hospital, where he died.

Investigators believe he and the shooter exchanged words down the street in their respective vehicles. The shooter then fled.

Police are combing the Westwood neighborhood near U.S. 59 and Beltway 8 for surveillance footage connected to the shooting.

nicole.hensley@chron.com
A nurse who sexually assaulted a woman and then kissed her goodnight has been disqualified for applying to register as a health practitioner for the next two years.

Prince Harry Bass Gebusion, 36, was convicted in 2019 of sexually assaulting a patient on a night shift at a south-east Queensland private hospital.

In January 2018, an 18-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital for a kidney infection, where Gebusion attended the patients room several times during the evening.

About 9pm after the womans mother had left, Gebusion entered the room and introduced himself, asking if she was hungry.

He later returned with food before staying and talking with the woman, telling her he was aged in his early 30s and he thought he had seen her working at a McDonalds restaurant.
(Newser)  A Navy SEAL turned Texas congressman says he'll be "off the grid" for about a month after emergency eye surgery that has left him "effectively blind" while he recovers. Per Politico, Rep. Dan Crenshaw announced Saturday that he underwent surgery after recently experiencing "dark, blurry spots" in his vision. In a statement posted to his Twitter, Crenshaw said doctors informed him his retina was detaching, news he called "terrifying" for someone with one eye. As part of his treatment, Crenshaw said doctors put a gas bubble in his eye to act as a bandage for his retina and he'll be required to remain face down for several days as he recovers.

story continues below

Crenshaw, a Republican who represents Texas' 2nd District, lost one of his eyes from an IED blast in Afghanistan. The 2012 blast also did extensive damage to his other eye. It was always a possibility that the effects of the damage to my retina would resurface," he said in his statement. "It appears that is exactly what has happened. Crenshaw also thanked the VA doctors and nurses, who performed his surgery in Houston on Friday. (Read more Dan Crenshaw stories.)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 02:39:26|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

RABAT, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Morocco announced on Saturday 740 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally in the North African country to 501,688.

The total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Morocco increased to 488,015 after 601 more were added.

The death toll rose to 8,891 with six new fatalities during the last 24 hours, while 449 people are in intensive care units.

The COVID-19 fatality rate in Morocco stands at 1.8 percent while the recovery rate is 97.3 percent.

Meanwhile, 4,471,831 people have received so far the first vaccine shot against COVID-19 in the country, and 4,134,740 people have received the second dose.

The North African country launched a nationwide vaccination campaign on Jan. 28 after the arrival of the first shipment of China's Sinopharm vaccines. Enditem
The battle of Tigers Bay, a gritty Protestant housing estate in Belfast, commenced under the gaze of Union flags draped from residents windows demonstrating unswerving loyalty to Great Britain and the Queen.

Prince Philips death had just been announced and the community forum of Tigers Bay had posted his picture with a message that called for peace during the days of mourning.

I saw that hope dashed within hours when, out on the streets that night, a burning car laced with fireworks rolled towards me, gathering speed as it was pushed down a slope by masked rioters.

I ran to safety behind a line of police officers with riot shields as the hijacked car exploded in a blaze of light 30 yards away. Clouds of acrid smoke and firework sulphur made my eyes water while some of the policemen started to cough.

Surreally, the doomed vehicles alarm began bleeping forlornly, before flames transformed it into a metal carcass.

I saw that hope dashed within hours when, out on the streets that night, a burning car laced with fireworks rolled towards me, gathering speed as it was pushed down a slope by masked rioters in Belfast

The rioters didnt stop there. They hurled bricks torn from walls, pavement stones and even a shed door, its latches still intact, at the police line.

A hooded figure ran behind a flaming wheelie bin and shoved it our way.

The police ordered me back to the estates edge, where I watched from a burned-down bus shelter, one of the first casualties of the six-hour Tigers Bay riot.

When the officer in charge shouted Forward, they marched towards the loyalist agitators, pushing them back towards their homes. The manoeuvre stopped a confrontation with their opponents from the Catholic community of New Lodge who were out on the streets nearby.

Ironically, I witnessed this ugly scene on the eve of the 23rd anniversary of the 1998 peace agreement designed to end sectarian violence in Northern Ireland forever.

The rioters didnt stop there. They hurled bricks torn from walls, pavement stones and even a shed door, its latches still intact, at the police line

For 30 years, this corner of the UK played host to a bitter religious civil war called  in an understatement  the Troubles. Now the violence has returned.

Night after night since Easter, young Protestant Unionists, who want Northern Ireland to remain in the UK, have fought against equally youthful Catholic nationalists, who dream of a united Ireland.

In the middle are police, firing plastic bullets and deploying water cannons  banned in mainland Britain and brought out for the first time in six years last Thursday night  as they try to keep control.

TV and internet footage of the unrest have flashed across the world, prompting both Boris Johnson and President Joe Biden to appeal for calm.

A spokesman for the grass-roots Police Federation said the shocking scenes have set Northern Ireland back years to a time everyone hoped had been consigned to history, while a senior police officer told a Belfast press conference that he didnt rule out guns being carried on the streets by rioters if the urban warfare continues this summer.

The PSNI use a water cannon on the Springfield road, during further unrest in Belfast on April 8

Violence flared up in Belfast again tonight as youths hurled petrol bombs at police officers in what has been described as the worst riots 'in years

So exactly why has violence erupted here again? A key trigger was the funeral last June of an notorious IRA kingpin, Bobby Storey, at the height of the Covid lockdown when mass gatherings were banned in Northern Ireland.

Last month after considering police evidence, the Public Prosecution Service announced no one would be punished in connection with the funeral parade.

This led to furious allegations from Protestants that the Police Service in Northern Ireland (PSNI) is biased in favour of Catholics and sparked the protests that escalated to violence. But Brexit is a factor, too.

Many Protestants want the new trade border created in the Irish Sea (as a means of avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland which remains in the EU) scrapped.

They say it cuts Northern Ireland adrift from the UK and threatens their identity as loyalists to Britain and the Crown. Nationalists disagree. Yet, are a funeral and a border squabble really behind the return to sectarian violence? Or has a religious apartheid here never really disappeared?

Today its the youngsters of both communities who are on the frontline and a recent UN report has predicted that they, the so-called Peace Agreement Generation, are likely to be the next threat to harmony.

A fire burns in front of police vehicles in Belfast. Protests have been continuing in the city between officers and youths

Fireworks explode on police vehicles after being fired at police officers during clashes with nationalist youths in the Springfield Road

They have no memory of the Troubles, nor have they had the horrors of war explained to them. Instead, the Troubles have been romanticised by the older generation who lived through them, making some of these youngsters susceptible to taking up arms in sectarian conflict all over again. Certainly, many of the rioters I saw at Tigers Bay were very young, and three 14-year-old boys have been arrested for their part in that nights events.

But while the Troubles may be glamourised in modern Northern Ireland, so, too, is peace.

This weekend  and despite the lockdown  I saw a group of Chinese tourists climbing into a taxi for a 59 tour of the 100 or so peace walls which dot the city.

One such 20ft wall of brick, metal and wire went up on the day the peace agreement was signed in 1998 and is within spitting distance of the riots breaking out now. On one side live Protestant children. On the other  just a few yards away  live young Catholics.

A car is seen burning in Belfast amid the unrest. Yesterday, details were revealed of how Facebook and other social media platforms have been used by agitators

They may never meet until they are old enough to work: 93 per cent of state schools and many colleges and universities remain segregated by religion.

Not far from Belfast city centre, I talk to a taxi driver waiting for a fare. He is from Somalia and a Muslim and has lived in Belfast for 30 years. What he says is chilling: My religion means I take no sides over who is Protestant and Catholic. I have asked youngsters at work to come to my house  I live in a Protestant area  for a meal with my family. When the Catholics hear my postcode, they always refuse. They say I cant go there, my people wont let me. It happens time and again.

He tells me about the Albert Bridge which spans Belfasts River Lagan. The Catholics stay on the left pavement, the Protestants on the right, he explains. The peace walls should be taken down. They are not for peace. If you put up a barrier between people and, particularly children, they cannot become friends. They are enemies for life.

This week, a foreign TV crew filming the riots stopped a teenage Protestant boy and asked him why he was there. Was it about the sea border after Brexit?

The boy looked bewildered, before answering: They [Catholics] get more than us.

If the TV crew had posed the same question to a Catholic youngster, the chances are the response  about Protestants  would have been exactly the same. And that is a threat to any real peace in Northern Ireland.
Uttar Pradesh on Sunday reported 15,353 new COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day spike since the outbreak of the virus, while 67 fresh deaths took the toll in the state to 9,152, according to an official statement.

The total number of cases in the state stands at 6,92,015. The count of active is 71,241, it said.

Uttar Pradesh recorded its "highest single-day increase in fresh COVID-19 cases with 15,353 new cases reported on Sunday, which is the highest since the outbreak of the coronavirus," Director General of Medical Health D S Negi told PTI.

In this month, so far, the highest single-day death toll has been 67, according to official figures.

Of the 67 fresh deaths, state capital Lucknow reported the highest at 31, followed by nine in Allahabad, eight in Kanpur, two each in Gorakhpur, Muzaffarnagar and Chandauli and one each in Varanasi, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Ballia, Ayodhya, Lakhimpur-Khiri, Jaunpur, Deoria, Rae Bareli, Ghazipur, Rampur, Basti and Kannauj, the statement issued here said.

Of the 15,353 fresh COVID-19 cases reported in the state, Lucknow tops the tally with 4,444 cases, followed by 1,740 in Varanasi, 1,565 in Allahabad and 881 in Kanpur, it said.

So far, as many as 6,11,622 COVID-19 patients in the state have recovered from the disease, and have been discharged, according to the statement.

(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.)
Republican Senator Lankford disagrees with the HR1 Bill of the Democrat, calling it an easy way to rig elections. The bill is a step backward from election integrity laws, like requiring IDs to vote.

Recently Georgia Election Reform laws, which the HR1 wants to weaken, were attacked by President Biden. States say that it should be their call on elections not to be dictated by the federal government.

HR1 will legalize election fraud, Senator Lankford

A tweet video obtained by the Hill Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) stated his opinions about the controversial HR1, as reported by the Epoch Times.

Sen. James Lankford: "I'm a firm believer to make it easy to vote, but hard to cheat. That bill H.R.1 makes it easy to vote and easy to cheat, and it's really easy to do fraud." pic.twitter.com/1t0zY32aFy  The Hill (@thehill) April 9, 2021

He claimed that some expressed fear this would allow the Democrats to suppress legal votes and cheat, like what happened in the 2020 elections.

Lankford said the bill was not to suppress voters' rights but to make it easy to cheat by legalizing what Democrats did in the 2020 elections.

He added making it easier to vote is one of his beliefs, but at the same time, he stressed voting needs to be fair and legal for all participants; fraud must be prevented by laws and bills, not allow it.

If the bill is passed by legislation, it will allow the Democrats to control the election process and parts of campaign funding.

Sen. Lankford was quoted to say this statement about the HR1.

"It's going to challenge our elections from here on out and it changes a lot of our election policies, not for the better, but for the worse," Senator Lankford said. "So lots of people have had lots of questions about the HR1 Bill."

Trump on HR 1 Election Reform Bill: Disaster for the US; Made for Democrats

His words echoed what ex-president Donald Trump said about the HR1 if it is signed. Trump called it a disaster that will happen as the Democrats grab power over state election bodies with this counter election integrity bill.

Trump gave these statements as quoted from the Epoch Times.

"It would be very unfair that Democrats should use COVID in order to do things that they can't believe they got away with, what they did, and they didn't get their legislatures to approve, and by the way in the Constitution, you have to do that."

He added that the US constitution has something specific that makes the Democrat HR1 allow the changes made before the elections stick, and there was a big change like in mail-in ballots, and laws against vote harvesting were reversed.

One more fact is that fraud was committed but denied those concerned; neither was it done through statehouses to make election changes. Ex-president Trump said they were all against the constitution.

The HR 1 also said that the People Act was passed via partisan vote with no Republicans with 220-210 votes last March 3, 2021. No House Republican voted for it, but one Democrat, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), sided with them.

Rep. Thompson said he voted a no because many in his state were concerned how much it will cost its public finances, with forced changes by the Democrats.

Senator Lankford is against the HR1 Bill, but the senate filibuster needs 60 votes to overcome it; Democrats and Republicans are 50-50 in the senate. If the filibuster was removed, it could be passed.

Arizona Attorney General to Senators: Vote Against H.R. 1

Greg Abbott Supports Election Integrity Bill

Miller-Meeks Calls Out the Democrats' Dirty Methods

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
New Delhi, April 11 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday that the national capital is facing an alarming situation as around 65 per cent new Covid-19 cases in Delhi are below 35 years of age.

"Fourth wave of Covid-19 in Delhi has made the situation worse than what it was during the third peak. Over 10,000 Covid-19 cases were reported in Delhi in the last 24 hours, this is a worrisome situation, Kejriwal said.

Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said the Delhi Government is fully prepared to combat the fourth wave of coronavirus in the capital and the health system in all government and private hospitals has been revamped.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister urged the people of Delhi to rush towards hospitals only if there is a serious symptom of Covid-19 infection. "More and more people are rushing to hospitals even if they have mild symptoms. If all people would rush towards hospitals, our emergency health system would collapse. ICU beds would be occupied by non-serious patients. If this happens, the health system will collapse and we will have no option but to impose lockdown," Kejriwal stated.

However, he reiterated that the state government is not in favour of imposing lockdown. "No Government will consider a lockdown until the health system collapses. Hence I would urge people of the city to follow Covid-19 measures." Kejriwal also stated that he has urged the Centre to open Covid-19 vaccination for all ages. "People below the age of 45 should also be vaccinated to break the cycle of the coronavirus. Around 65 per cent new cases of Covid-19 in Delhi are below 35 years. People below the age of 45 should also be vaccinated to break the cycle of the coronavirus," he added.

Kejriwal continued, "I have requested the centre many times regarding the removal of age restrictions on taking Covid-19 jab. The Delhi government is ready to conduct a door-to-door campaign to vaccinate people."

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
CAHOKIA MOUNDS  Whatever ultimately caused inhabitants to abandon Cahokia, it was not because they cut down too many trees, according to new research from Washington University in St. Louis.

Archaeologists from Arts & Sciences excavated around earthen mounds and analyzed sediment cores to test a persistent theory about the collapse of Cahokia, the pre-Columbian Native American city in southwestern Illinois that was once home to more than 15,000 people.

No one knows for sure why people left Cahokia, though many environmental and social explanations have been proposed. One oft-repeated theory is tied to resource exploitation: specifically, that Native Americans from densely populated Cahokia deforested the area, an environmental misstep that could have resulted in erosion and localized flooding.

But such musings about self-inflicted disaster are outdated  and theyre not supported by physical evidence of flooding issues, Washington University scientists said.

Theres a really common narrative about land use practices that lead to erosion and sedimentation and contribute to all of these environmental consequences, said Caitlin Rankin, an assistant research scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who conducted this work as part of her graduate studies at Washington University.

When we actually revisit this, were not seeing evidence of the flooding, Rankin said.

The notion of looming ecocide is embedded in a lot of thinking about current and future environmental trajectories, said Tristram R. T.R. Kidder, the Edward S. and Tedi Macias Professor of Anthropology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University. With a growing population and more mouths to feed, overconsumption of all resources is a real risk.

Inevitably, people turn to the past for models of what has happened, said Kidder. If we are to understand what caused changes at sites like Cahokia, and if we are to use these as models for understanding current possibilities, we need to do the hard slogging that critically evaluates different ideas.

Kidder leads an ongoing archaeological research program at the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site.

Such work allows us to sift through possibilities so we can aim for those variables that do help us to explain what happened in the past  and explore if this has a lesson to tell us about the future, he said.

Writing in the journal Geoarchaeology, Rankin and colleagues at Bryn Mawr University and Northern Illinois University described their recent excavations around a Mississippian Period (AD 10501400) earthen mound in the Cahokia Creek floodplain.

Their new archaeological work, completed while Rankin was at Washington University, shows that the ground surface on which the mound was constructed remained stable until industrial development.

The stockade, or palisades, are log walls built for defense. Small portions of the stockades have been reconstructed at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. The presence of a stable ground surface from Mississippian occupation to the mid-1800s does not support the expectations of the so-called wood-overuse hypothesis, the researchers said.

This hypothesis  first proposed in 1993  suggests that tree clearance in the uplands surrounding Cahokia led to erosion, causing increasingly frequent and unpredictable floods of the local creek drainages in the floodplain where Cahokia was constructed.

Rankin was previously honored as a co-recipient of the Geological Society of Americas prestigious Richard Hay Award for this work.

Rankin noted that archaeologists have broadly applied narratives of ecocide  the idea that societies fail because people overuse or irrevocably damage the natural resources that their people rely on  to help to explain the collapse of past civilizations around the world.

Although many researchers have moved beyond classic narratives of ecocide made popular in the 1990s and early 2000s, Cahokia is one such major archaeological site where untested hypotheses have persisted.

We need to be careful about the assumptions that we build into these narratives, Rankin said.

In this case, there was evidence of heavy wood use, she said. But that doesnt factor in the fact that people can reuse materials  much as you might recycle. We should not automatically assume that deforestation was happening, or that deforestation caused this event.

This research demonstrates conclusively that the over-exploitation hypothesis simply isnt tenable, said Kidder said. This conclusion is important because the hypothesis at Cahokia  and elsewhere  is sensible on its face.

The people who constructed this remarkable site had an effect on their environment, Kidder said. We know they cut down tens of thousands of trees to make the palisades  and this isnt a wild estimate, because we can count the number of trees used to build and re-build this feature. Wood depletion could have been an issue.

The researchers state that area forests might have been depleted, but even if they were, that didnt cause local flooding.

The hypothesis came to be accepted as truth without any testing, Kidder said. Caitlins study is important because she did the hard work  and I do mean hard, and I do mean work  to test the hypothesis, and in doing so has falsified the claim. Id argue that this is the exciting part; its basic and fundamental science. By eliminating this possibility, it moves us toward other explanations and requires we pursue other avenues of research.

The research was funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 20:27:19|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Photo taken on July 21, 2019 from Xiangshan Mountain shows the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, southeast China's Taiwan. (Xinhua/Zhu Xiang)

TAIPEI, April 11 (Xinhua) -- A COVID-19 patient died in Taiwan Friday, raising the island's death toll to 11, the local epidemic monitoring agency said Sunday.

The patient, a Taiwan resident in his 60s, was diagnosed with COVID-19 in January. He died of the disease and septic shock, the agency said at a press briefing.

The island also reported one new COVID-19 case Sunday, imported from the United States, the agency said.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Taiwan has risen to 1,057 as of Sunday. Eleven of them have died, 1,022 have recovered, and 24 remain hospitalized, the agency said. 
Conviction for contempt of court cause for Ranjans expulsion from parliament: CA By Ranjith Padmasiri View(s): View(s):

Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Ranjan Ramanayakes conviction for Contempt of Court by the Supreme Court disqualifies him from holding his Parliamentary seat as per the Constitution, the Court of Appeal (CA) has stated.

A two-judge Court of Appeal bench stated this in its judgment on Monday, dismissing the writ petition filed by Mr Ramanayake seeking an interim injunction preventing the Secretary General of Parliament from taking any action regarding his parliamentary seat.

The Secretary General of Parliament and the Attorney General were respondents in Mr Ramanayakes petition.

The lengthy judgement, delivered after hearing extensive arguments from both sides by the bench comprising Court of Appeal President Arjuna Obeyesekere and Judge Mayadunne Corea, noted that Mr Ramanayakes conviction for Contempt of Court and subsequent four year prison sentence disqualifies him from holding his MP seat in terms of Article 89(d) read with 91(a) of the Constitution.

Article 89 deals with disqualification to be an elector. Since Mr Ramanayake was sentenced to a four-year prison term, the CA noted that he could not hold his Parliamentary seat as under Article 89(d), anyone sentenced to a prison term of more than two years is disqualified from being elector for seven years after completion of his sentence.

Article 91 deals with disqualification to be an MP and 91(a) notes that any person who has been subject to disqualifications under Article 89 cannot be an MP.

The Court also noted that the Secretary General of Parliament was performing a ministerial act in accordance with legal authority and established procedures when writing to the Election Commission announcing a Parliamentary seat had fallen vacant.

The bench pointed out that with a vacancy staring in his face, the Secretary General has no option but is required by law to inform the Election Commission of such vacancy. In doing so, he is carrying out a purely ministerial act.

Such a purely ministerial act is not subject to be quashed by a court order. Moreover, if the Secretary General fails to act at this stage, a court order can be obtained compelling him to do so, the CA judgments noted.

Mr Ramanayakes counsel had argued that although contempt of court was a criminal offence, it was not an offence that disqualified one from being an elector.

The CA, however, refused to go into the question as the Supreme Court had ruled it to be such an offence in the case of S B Dissanayake v Priyani Wijesekera, Secretary General of Parliament and others.

Once the Supreme Court has determined that contempt of Court is an offence, it is not open for this Court to take a contrary view, the judgment stresses.

Faisz Musthapha, PC, with M A Sumanthiran, PC, Ashan Fernando, Suren Fernando, Keerthi Tillekeratne, Khyati Wikramanayake and Sanjit Dias appeared for Mr Ramanayake.

Senior Additional Solicitor General Indika Demuni De Silva, PC, with Senior Deputy Solicitor General Nerin Pulle, Senior State Counsel Suharshi Herath, Dr Avanti Perera and Suren Gnanaraj, and State Counsel Indumini Randeny appeared for the respondents.
AKRON, Ohio  A 26-year-old woman died Friday night after she was struck by a white truck on Ohio Route 8, police say.

The crash happened about 10:30 p.m. on Ohio Route 8 southbound near the East Buchtel Avenue exit, Akron police spokesman Lt. Michael Miller said in a news release. When they arrived, officers found the victim lying unresponsive in the roadway.

She was taken to Summa Health Akron City Hospital, where she died, Miller said. Her identity has not yet been publicly released.

During the initial investigation, authorities learned that the woman had been riding in a vehicle on the highway with her mother, Miller said. The woman was acting erratically during the ride, and at some point, her mother pulled over and let the woman out of the vehicle.

Shortly after getting out of her mothers car, the woman stepped into the roadway and was struck by a white truck. The white trucks driver briefly stopped at the crash scene, but then sped away, Miller said.

Akron police are still searching for the white trucks driver, Miller said. The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Akron polices Detective Bureau at 330-375-2490 or 330-375-2Tip, Miller said. Tips can also be sent to Summit County Crimestoppers by calling 330-434-COPS or texting TIPSCO with your tips to 274637. Tips can remain anonymous.

Read more on cleveland.com:

How an Ohio bartenders patriotism was warped by social media and a devotion to Trump, ending in conspiracy charges from the Capitol riots

Man shoots, kills man who punched him in Clevelands West Boulevard neighborhood, police say

Daughter arrested in fatal shooting of mother in Clevelands North Shore-Collinwood neighborhood, police reports say
The Chinese military will maintain diplomatic communication with its Indian counterpart to jointly safeguard peace and stability in the border region, senior colonel Long Shaohua, spokesman of the People's Liberation Army Western Theater Command, said in a statement on Saturday.

The two militaries held their 11th Round of China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting on Friday at the Moldo-Chushul border meeting point.

Long said both sides exchanged views on issues of mutual concern. China hopes the Indian side can cherish the positive trend of de-escalation in the region and uphold the consensus reached by previous meetings, and work together with China to safeguard peace and tranquility in the area.
Soldiers have been banned from referring to each other as lads in the Armys latest gender equality drive.

Troops from 22 Engineer Regiment were told not to use the word because it may cause offence, even if no women are present.

Words such as mankind and sportsmanship have also been banned as the Armed Forces is remodelled as a gender-neutral organisation.

The lads ban came in orders given by 22 Engineer Regiments sergeant major to all troops taking part in online meetings

Millions of pounds have also been spent on gender-neutral bathroom facilities at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the Armys officer training centre, and other bases.

Such moves originate from the Ministry of Defences joint equality, diversity and inclusion unit, known as Jedi.

FACT BOX TITLE As military operations go, its fair to say this one tanked. It was red faces all round after an armoured personnel carrier overturned during an Army exercise on Salisbury Plain. Thursdays incident at the Ministry of Defences Bulford camp in Wiltshire resulted in a callout to Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service. No one was injured. The MoD owns 150 square miles of land on Salisbury Plain. A spokesman said: A military tracked vehicle slipped off a track and toppled during a driver training course. Advertisement

The ban on lads has emerged in a set of orders given by 22 Engineer Regiments sergeant major to all troops taking part in online meetings.

He told his troops that values and standards [V and S] had been slacking recently while using Zoom calls or Microsoft Teams meetings to conduct military business.

He said: There has been a drop in V and S over the last few weeks... Saluting/bracing up [coming to attention]... make sure people are getting paid the correct compliments... All are to remember D and I [diversity and inclusion]  gents, men, lads and other phrases are not to be used.

A ban on women serving in close combat units was lifted in 2016 and since 2018 women have been able to apply for all military roles.

The Army has also introduced gender and age-neutral fitness tests, with the same standards required of male and female troops in tests such as press ups and running.

But while there is support for such initiatives, stopping troops using phrases which are included in so many everyday conversations tends to test their patience.

A serving soldier said: Ive served on operations with lots of women. I didnt meet one who was offended by the word lads.

'Someone of such a sensitive nature, be they male or female, would not last five minutes.

'I think the bosses are trying to solve a problem which frankly doesnt exist.

'There is no engrained or subconscious bias in the use of words like lads... This is nonsense.
Fibre network operator and ISP Herotel has announced new prices for its fibre-to-the-home packages, which include a 50Mbps uncapped option for R499 per month.

Herotel has also reduced pricing on its 10Mbps, 100Mbps, and 200Mbps packages, and added 75Mbps and 1Gbps services.

All these fibre products are symmetrical, which means the download and upload speeds are the same.

There is also no fair usage policy. This allows customers to use any Internet protocols and consume as much data as they wish without being shaped or throttled.

Installation is free and include a free-to-use router. Another benefit is that all the fibre packages are offered on a month-to-month basis without any long-term contracts.

Herotel has emphasised the new prices are not part of a limited-time promotion  they are here to stay.

Herotel CEO Van Zyl Botha told MyBroadband the new products were the result of the companys unique approach to the market, which includes running fibre from poles to the customers home instead of trenching.

We build aerial fibre networks which allow us to deploy faster and with far less disruption to municipal infrastructure and private property, Botha said.

As it sells its packages directly to the end-customer, and not through any middlemen or other ISPs, it is able to keep prices low.

Direct access further means Herotel is responsible for the full-service experience, including sales, installation, and support.

It employs local staff across South Africa to assist with any service issues that may arise.

We always want to lead the market in terms of value to the customer, and hope that we can eventually remove all speed distinctions from our products, Botha said.

Herotel offers its broadband services in more than 522 towns and suburbs, with 100,000 on-network fixed broadband customers.

It also recently announced plans to expand its fibre network to numerous towns in seven provinces in South Africa.

These projects include fibre rollouts in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Free State, and North West.

Herotels new home fibre prices will be available within the next two weeks across its fibre projects that are either live or currently being built across South Africa.

Existing customers will be automatically aligned to the new product speeds at no additional cost.

The table below shows the old and new pricing for Herotels fibre-to-the-home packages.
A family walking along an Australian beach have uncovered an incredible eight-armed sea creature nestled in the sand unlike anything they have ever seen before.

Karen Crompton and her daughter were at Blacks Beach, in Mackay, North Queensland, when they stumbled across the stunning sea star as they were examining the marine life.

'We were looking and counting the starfish and my daughter said, "Oh, is that an octopus?",' Ms Crompton told the Fraser Coast Chronicle.

'I've never seen anything like it before. It tops it all.'

Karen Crompton and her daughter were walking along Blacks Beach, in Mackay, North Queensland when they came across this eight-armed sea creature

Ms Crompton's daughter initially thought it was an octopus but on closer inspection it was revealed to be a sea star scientifically named Luidia maculata

What they had uncovered was a sea star scientifically named Luidia maculata, which is found along the coast of Queensland, Northern Territory and the northern half of Western Australia.

According to the Australian Museum, they have 'eight arms tapering to a point' and an 'aboral surface covered with square or polygonal plates'.

They are commonly yellow or buff coloured to dark green and feature 'tube feet ending in a rounded knob rather than a sucker'.

The marine invertebrates, known also as the Southern Sand Star, grow to a maximum of 40cm and while they are harmless, they have soft arms that break easily if they are handled in a rough manner.

They can reproduce asexually or sexually and are known to like burying themselves in sand up to 90 metres deep.
FREDERICTON - A continuing outbreak of COVID-19 in northwestern New Brunswick has prompted health officials to place much of the region under full lockdown as of midnight Sunday.

Dr. Jennifer Russell, New Brunswick chief medical officer of health, is shown in a government handout photo. An ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 in northwestern New Brunswick has prompted health officials to place the region under full lockdown as of midnight. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Government of New Brunswick MANDATORY CREDIT

FREDERICTON - A continuing outbreak of COVID-19 in northwestern New Brunswick has prompted health officials to place much of the region under full lockdown as of midnight Sunday.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell said the move is necessary after 15 of 19 new cases announced Saturday were identified in the Edmundston-Grand Falls area.

Russell also announced one new COVID-19 related death  a person in their 70s in the Edmundston area. The death was the 33rd in the province since the onset of the pandemic.

"New variants of COVID-19 have changed the course of this pandemic," Russell told reporters. "We must now assume that these new variants are here with us to stay. Going forward Public Health will be assuming that all positive COVID-19 cases in New Brunswick are on of the highly infectious variants of concern."

She said the new variants are placing a strain on the health care system in the Edmundston area and are starting to effect other regions of the province that are accepting patient transfers as a result.

The variant found thus far has been that first identified in the U.K. known as B.1.1.7.

Russell said the province is dealing with as many as 16 confirmed cases of community transmission where officials can't trace the origin of an infection to an existing confirmed case.

"Community transmission prior to the U.K. variant arriving was concerning but community transmission with the U.K. variant is much more concerning," she said.

Russell said Saturday's other confirmed cases include two in the Fredericton area, one in the Moncton region and one in the Saint John area.

The province currently has 149 active cases.

Under the lockdown, people in the Edmundston region must stay home in order to limit contacts with others in the community and all non-essential businesses must close.

While Edmundston and the Upper Madawaska region go under full lockdown, Grand Falls and other nearby communities will remain in the red phase of restrictions, while Kedgwick and Saint-Quentin will continue in the yellow phase.

The province also announced that it was delaying its decision to resume full-time in-person learning for all high schools in the province on Monday.

Health Minister Dorothy Shephard said the precaution is deemed necessary for the time being and will be revisited during the week of April 26.

"We need to be quite confident that we are not going to be contributing to the problem and this gives us more time to watch the cases," said Shephard. "If we don't have more cases then we can have more confidence going back (to school)."

Meanwhile, two positive cases of COVID-19 were confirmed at Ecole Saint-Jacques, in Saint-Jacques on Friday and officials said the Halte Scolaire Saint-Jacques  a child-care facility located within the school  would also be closed on Monday and Tuesday.

Ecole Saint-Jacques is also scheduled to move to virtual learning on Monday and Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2021.

By Keith Doucette in Halifax
(Natural News) Did you know that California Gov. Gavin Newsom awarded an exclusive, no bid contract to Blue Shield to manage the Golden States Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine campaign? And did you also know that Blue Shield just so happens to have donated heavily to Newsoms political campaigns over the years?

Many Americans did not know any of this until just a few days ago after 60 Minutes aired a hit job against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over a partnership he made with grocery chain Publix to distribute vaccines in Palm Beach County. Hilariously, the hit job ended up backfiring and now all eyes are on Newsom for doing that which 60 Minutes falsely accused DeSantis of doing.

We now know that Newsom gave Blue Shield a $15 million no bid contract after the nonprofit healthcare corporation donated some $23 million to the infamous governors campaigns and special causes over the years. Most of that $23 million has since been spent on Newsoms pet projects for homelessness.

Of that, nearly 90% has funded the homelessness initiatives that critics and allies say are dearest to Newsoms heart, reported Fierce Healthcare back in March. Newsom, elected governor in 2018, in turn has rewarded Blue Shield and its executives with positions of power during the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed nearly 56,000 Californians lives.

Meanwhile, 60 Minutes is too busy squawking about some measly $100,000 that Publix donated to DeSantis political committee, as if this is somehow more newsworthy. The only reason for this double standard, of course, is that DeSantis is a Trump-supporting Republican and Newsom is a Trump-hating Democrat.

Newsom is a lying scam artist and Democrats still seem to trust him

Another thing worth noting is that DeSantis efforts with Publix have received widespread bipartisan support because they have worked incredibly well at getting the Chinese virus jab out to people who want it. Blue Shields efforts, on the other hand, have been a total disaster.

Blue Shields injection rollout has been described as an expensive frustration with enormous challenges, while Publixs has been a huge success. And yet 60 Minutes could not be bothered to address Newsoms failed attempts at leadership, and instead chose to focus its efforts on bashing DeSantis, who appears to have done nothing out of the ordinary.

Newsoms Blue Shield rollout across California has been so problematic, meanwhile, that many counties across the state are refusing to sign on with the insurer. The reason, says company whistleblower Michael Johnson, is that Californians can clearly see that Newsom is engaging in corruption with the insurer.

Newsom of course denies this, insisting that all allegations against him are nonsense. This rhetoric sounds oddly similar to that of failed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who also denies that he ever engaged in any inappropriate behavior with his many female accusers.

Everybody came together looking at whats working, whats not working, and we identified two partners in particular, two nonprofits, Kaiser and Blue Shield, Newsom told the press back in February about why, supposedly, he made the decision he did.

They have the kind of scale, they have the capacity  we were looking for.

Newsom also appointed Blue Shield CEO Paul Markovich to help steer the states Covid testing strategy, though this effort also faltered, according to Fierce Healthcare.

The propaganda presss avoidance of the disasters that are Democrat governors Cuomo and Newsom  instead attempting to tear down the governor who has quite obviously handled the Covid crisis the best in the country, even with a super old population!  is deserving of mockery, tweeted The Federalists Mollie Hemingway.

More news stories about the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) sham can be found at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

BlacklistedNews.com

NaturalNews.com
The U.S. space agencys explorer, Perseverance, arrived on Mars on February 18 with an important piece of equipment.

NASAs Perseverance was carrying an experimental aircraft called Ingenuity, which is set to have its first test flight this week. NASA hopes to make the helicopter the first vehicle to fly on a planet other than Earth.

NASA recently announced that Ingenuity had been safely lowered onto the surface of Mars from its storage space underneath Perseverance. The explorer, or rover, then moved about five meters away from Ingenuity. The rover and aircraft are communicating through radios.

After separating from the rover, the helicopter faced its first important test on Mars -- protecting itself from the planets freezing temperatures. Readings taken from instruments on Perseverance from early April showed low temperatures at the landing area, called Jezero Crater, had reached minus 83 degrees Celsius.

In a statement, NASA said Ingenuity passed the test by surviving its first night alone in the extreme cold. The helicopter used its own solar-powered battery to operate a heater to protect its electrical equipment from damage.

The space agency praised the success as a major milestone for the experimental aircraft.

MiMi Aung is Ingenuitys project leader at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She said that while her team did all it could to prepare the helicopter, the group was very excited to see the results of their work on Mars.

We now have confirmation that we have the right insulation, the right heaters, and enough energy in its battery to survive the cold night, which is a big win for the team, Aung said. We're excited to continue to prepare Ingenuity for its first flight test."

The next set of tests involves the aircrafts motors and rotor equipment. The helicopter will be the first aircraft to attempt powered, controlled flight on another planet.

NASA has compared Ingenuitys attempt to the Wright Brothers first flight of a motor-driven airplane near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903. In recognition of that historic flight, a small piece of cloth that covered a wing from the Wright Brothers plane was attached to the helicopter for its first flight on Mars.

The main purpose of the Perseverance rover is to search for signs of microbial life from the planets ancient past. The explorer is expected to collect rock and soil materials from the surface. They will be sent to Earth by a future mission to Mars.

During its first test, Ingenuity will attempt to rise about three meters off the surface. It will try to briefly push forward into the planets extremely thin atmosphere. Then, the aircraft will attempt to turn around and complete a soft landing.

If the first flight is successful, other tests will be carried out, with Ingenuity trying to go a little higher and farther each time. NASA says such helicopters could assist astronauts on future search and collection missions.

NASA recently released pictures of Perseverance and Ingenuity. The space agency described one of the pictures as a selfie. It showed the rover and helicopter sitting on the rocky surface of Mars.

The rover was able to capture the selfie with its robotic arm, which has a camera attached to the end. NASA said the picture was made from 62 individual images that were put together once they were sent back to Earth.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for Learning English, based on reports from NASA, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

Quiz - NASA Prepares for First Helicopter Flight Test on Mars Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

_________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

battery  n. a device that is placed inside a machine to supply it with electricity

milestone  n. an important point in the progress or development of something

insulation  n. a material used to stop heat, cold, sound or electricity from escaping or entering

rotor  n. a part of a machine that spins, especially the device supporting the turning blades of a helicopter

microbial  adj. relating to microbes (very small living things)

mission  n. the flight of a spacecraft to perform a task or job
CCP Virus Variant Affects Vaccinated People More Than Unvaccinated People: Study

A study from Tel Aviv University found that a South African variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus affects people vaccinated with the Pfizer shot more than unvaccinated people.

The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, indicated that the B.1.351 variant of the virus was found eight times more in individuals who were vaccinatedor 5.4 percent against 0.7 percentagainst those who were not vaccinated. Clalit Health Services, a top Israeli health care provider, also helped in the study.

We found a disproportionately higher rate of the South African variant among people vaccinated with a second dose, compared to the unvaccinated group, said Adi Stern of Tel Aviv University. This means that the South African variant is able, to some extent, to break through the vaccines protection.

The study looked at 400 people who received at least one shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and had contracted the COVID-19 variant and compared them to the same number of people who were infected and unvaccinated. Modernas vaccine is also used in Israel, but it was not included in the study.

It is the first in the world to be based on real-world data, showing that the vaccine is less effective against the South Africa variant, compared to both the original virus and the British variant, said Professor Ran Balicer, director of research at Clalit, according to news reports.

Stern said the studys findings came as a surprise.

Based on patterns in the general population, we would have expected just one case of the South African variant, but we saw eight, Stern told the Times of Israel. Obviously, this result didnt make me happy.

Even if the South African variant does break through the vaccines protection, it has not spread widely through the population.

These preliminary findings necessitates close continued attention to the dissemination of this strain in Israel, emphasizing the need for epidemiological monitoring and systematic sequencing, in order to contain further spread of the South African variant in Israel.

The South African variant accounted for less than one percent of all COVID-19 cases in Israel, reported AFP, citing the study.

This means that the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine, though highly protective, probably does not provide the same level of protection against the South African (B.1.351) variant of the coronavirus, the study said.

Israel, separately, has rolled out a so-called vaccine passport system that allows people who have been vaccinated privileges over individuals who are not vaccinated. Such systems have been criticized by civil liberties groups, saying it would be an infringement on peoples rights, including privacy, and would potentially create a two-tiered class system of vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP virus, a novel coronavirus.

The Epoch Times has contacted Pfizer for comment.
Michigan public school students will be required to take federally mandated standardized tests this spring, despite the argument from state leaders that the pandemic has disrupted student learning.

On Tuesday, the Michigan Department of Education announced that the U.S. Department of Education denied its request to waive the annual statewide exams. State Superintendent Michael Rice had hoped to instead prioritize benchmark assessments to measure student improvement throughout the school year.

Related: Students must take standardized tests this spring in Michigan, federal government says

Asking schools to administer standardized testing this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic has been rigorously debated among superintendents, parents, teachers, and groups across the state. Last school year, DOE did waive standardized testing for Michigan.

While Rice and other opponents argue the exams cannot be administered fairly this year with thousands of students still learning remotely, many with no or inconsistent internet access, supporters say testing students will give officials a better look into the learning losses that have occurred since last March.

This was very disappointing, Kalamazoo Public Schools Superintendent Rita Raichoudhuri said of the federal ruling on state assessments. We will not obtain any useful data from these tests, the districts time and resources could be much better used than preparing and administering these exams. And student time can be better used in learning versus taking a test that is not useful this year.

The federal government did waive the requirement that at least 95% of students participate in state assessments.

School districts are required to offer standardized testing to all students, including virtual, but students learning at home are not required to come into the school building solely for the assessment, the Michigan Department of Education said.

Kalamazoo is scheduling dates to test students. But if the district remains entirely virtual, only students whose parents register for the in-person testing will participate in this years assessments, the superintendent said.

While many students learning remotely statewide likely wont be tested, advocates say the exams still have value.

Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of Detroit Public Schools Community District, has said he thinks it is important to know where children are at, to properly advocate for their support. He said testing data can quantify the amount of learning loss theyve seen.

The federal government requires that we provide students the opportunity to test, Vitti said in a Friday statement to MLive. We believe students should have that option, and some students would like to test, especially high school students for the PSAT/SAT. We will start offering this opportunity at the end of April.

Besides the PSAT/SAT, school districts will be required to administer the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress, or M-STEP for students in grades 3-8 to gauge how well they are mastering subjects.

In Ann Arbor, middle and high school students were scheduled to come back to the classroom on April 12, but an increase in COVID-19 cases and concern about spring break travel forced the district to put the brakes on bringing students back, Ann Arbor Public Schools spokesperson Andy Cluley said.

He said students are currently slated to return to school on April 26, and district officials are working to set the dates for when students will take the state assessments

Ann Arbor parent Lena Kauffman described herself as a supporter of testing but said this years test results should come with big asterisks.

The mother of a sixth-grade student in the district said she will opt her daughter into testing this year because she believes her results will provide an important data point for my district and for my policymakers.

But Kauffman urged caution against misinterpreting this years data since not all kids will be tested. The mother of three said since Ann Arbor recently delayed return to in-person learning for secondary students, her daughter is still learning virtually at home. To take the standardized test, Kauffman said she will allow her daughter to go into a school building.

Related: Parents understand but are still frustrated with Ann Arbors decision to delay in-person classes

I dont want the kids to feel pressured, and thats on us grownups to explain the tests properly to them, Kauffman said. The test should be there so we can do better and constantly improve how children receive instruction in public schools.

In a letter to state education leaders, acting Assistant Education Secretary Ian Rosenblum wrote that standardized tests are too crucial for collecting data on how COVID-19 has impacted learning to be waived in 2021.

But Portage Superintendent Mark Bielang said he too was let down by the federal governments decision.

I am disappointed in their lack of recognition of this whole circumstance that were under, Bielang said.

(The testing is) not going to provide us with much useful data, and were going to be spending time assessing kids instead of using that for instructional support, he said.

The superintendent said officials cant draw reliable conclusions from the test results because not every student will take the test this year. In past years, districts used the data to compare themselves to other similar populations, but that wont be possible this year.

Every district will have a different percentage of students who take the test, depending on their learning modes, Bielang said.

When you dont have all of your kids testing everywhere its awful hard to draw any kind of logical conclusions from your tests, Bielang said. When youre not comparing apples to apples, it really doesnt provide us with much useful information.

Rice said Tuesday, the agencys decision to deny the M-STEP waiver, continues to demonstrate its disconnect from conditions in public schools in Michigan and across the country.

While many districts across Michigan have been open to in-person learning, a large percentage of Michigan students are still learning remotely. Schools that have opened also face frequent closures and quarantines due to exposure to COVID-19.

On Friday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recommended high schools go virtual and youth sports pause for two weeks after spring break because of the rise in COVID-19 cases.

Related: Whitmer asks high schools, youth sports to pause for two weeks  but doesnt order it

The U.S. Department of Education approved some other Michigan waiver requests.

In a letter to Rice, DOE waived the requirement that the state measure progress toward long-term goals and interim progress, rate schools based on performance and identify low-performing schools for targeted support and improvement based on data from the current school year.

The M-STEP is usually administered in April and May. The state has extended the testing window through June 4 to give districts flexibility, MDE spokesperson Bill Disessa said. Those operating temporarily at a distance are expected to reschedule their assessments for a later time, he said.

Portage Assistant Superintendent of Instruction and Assessment Mike Huber cautioned the 2021 assessment will only be a snapshot of a students performance at the end of the year.

Though the 95% participation requirement was waived, he said districts arent looking to test the minimum number of students.

I dont think any district is looking for a loophole right now, Huber said. I think what were trying to do is what best meets the needs of our students in light of the waiver on accountability being granted but not the waiver to administer assessments.'

To help you navigate this complicated school year, were pleased to offer you a simpler way to get all of your education news: Our new Michigan Schools: Education in the COVID Era newsletter delivered right to your inbox. To receive this newsletter, simply click here to sign up.

Also on MLive:

Petition demands Michigan pause in-person classes until COVID-19 spread is reduced

Coronavirus testing is down in Michigan, but its no less important as cases surge

Michigan ranks highest in COVID-19 hospitalizations amid surge as model predicts further worsening
Lawton, OK (73501)

Today

Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mainly cloudy. Low around 65F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
New Delhi: In view of the increasing COVID-19 cases, the Tamil Nadu government on Saturday (April 10) announced to ban entry in beaches in Chennai and two other districts on weekend and all government holidays.

The government in an official statement said effective from April 11 beaches in Chennai, Tiruvallur and Chengelpet districts would be out of bounds for the public on "Saturday, Sunday and all other government holidays," PTI reported.

While announcing new restrictions and relaxations, the TN government decided to allow one more screening of new movies in cinemas during the first week of release, in addition to the already permitted shows (four shows a day, usually). The seating capacity has been capped at 50 per cent.

In terms of new relaxations, people can now offer prayers in places of worship till their 'usual time' or till 10 pm (the maximum allowed time limit). Earlier, the worship time was allowed only till 8 pm from April 10 for prayers.

However, congregations in places of worship and gatherings for festival purposes have been banned.

On Friday, the government had said that night curfew would be the next option if the latest COVID-19 restrictions failed to curb the spread of infection.

Tamil Nadu recorded 5,989 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the infection count to 9,26,816. With 23 more fatalities, the death count rose to 12,886. The active cases in the state stand at 37,673, as per the Health Department data.

Live TV
LUDINGTON, MI - Want to get a jump-start on spring travel by exploring one of Michigans best waterfront towns before the summer crowds arrive? A handful of Ludington hotels and B&Bs are offering a sweet deal to early-season travelers.

They are offering 50% off a second-night stay through April 29. If you see a spot on the list below and make a reservation, be sure to mention the special deal when booking your room so it will apply. The offer is good for stays Sunday through Thursday.

Known as a four-season destination, Ludington has plenty of hiking and biking options for outdoor enthusiasts, and lots of in-town walking - including a lakeside sculpture park - and spots for history buffs to explore. Brandy Miller, executive director of the Ludington Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, has described her town as the front door to Up North.

Related: Beaches, trails, waterfront eats make Ludington the front door to Up North

For some recreation ideas to help start your planning, check here.

Headed to the nearby Ludington State Park for a day of hiking or a long walk to Big Sable Point Lighthouse? Check the park website for information and maps.

Here are the hotels participating in the 50% Off Second-Night Stay Offer:

Best Western Lakewinds: 5005 West U.S.10, Ludington (231) 843-2140

Comfort Inn: 5323 West U.S. 10, Ludington (231) 845-7004

Lamplighter Bed & Breakfast: 602 East Ludington Ave., Ludington (231) 843-9792 (Related: Why this Michigan couple left corporate life to be innkeepers of a beach town B&B)

Ludington House Bed & Breakfast: 501 East Ludington Ave., Ludington (231) 845-7769

Ludington Pier House: 805 W. Ludington Ave., Ludington (231) 845-7346

Naders Motel & Suites: 612 N. Lakeshore Drive, Ludington (231) 843-8757

Stearns Hotel: 212 E. Ludington Ave., Ludington (231) 843-3407

READ MORE

Historic Lake Michigan car ferry now booking 2021 crossings
Charges were brought against a French citizen of Turkish origin, on Friday, for his attempt to transfer 186 handguns and about 7,400 munitions from Turkey to Europe illegally, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office.

The regional prosecutor in Haskovo (southern Bulgaria) Ivan Stoynov said that the 41-year-old man hid in a minibus bearing French paintings 186 pistols of various types, and 7,475 bullets.

"These were probably gas pistols that had been converted into firearms," the judicial official added during a press conference.

Stoynov explained that the minibus coming from Turkey was heading to Western Europe.

The penalty for smuggling firearms and ammunition in Bulgaria is three years in prison and a fine of between 20,000 and 100,000 Bulgarian Lev (between 12,000 and 61,000 $)
Almighty and everlasting God,

who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation:

Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body

may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God,

For ever and ever.

Amen.
Charlyne Yi has accused James Franco of being a 'sexual predator' and claimed she was 'bribed' not to quit The Disaster Artist over sexual assault claims - as she branded Seth Rogen his 'enabler'.

The actress, who played designer Safowa Bright-Asare in the Oscar-nominated 2017 movie, posted on Instagram Thursday that she had tried to leave the film due to sexual assault claims against Franco, 42, who was director and lead actor.

The 35-year-old said she tried to 'break legal contract' but the filmmakers instead promised her a bigger role, which Yi saw as an attempted bribe.

'I cried and told them that that was the exact opposite of what I wanted, that I didn't feel safe working with a f*****g sexual predator,' Yi wrote.

'They minimized and said Franco being a predator was so last year and that he changed when I literally heard of him abusing new women that week.'

Yi has accused James Franco of being a 'sexual predator'. She is seen at a premiere for a different movie in 2019

Yi, previously appeared with Rogen in the 2007 comedy Knocked Up, claimed that Rogen, 38, whose production company Point Grey Pictures produced the film, was Franco's responsible for not stopping Franco's alleged misdemeanors.

She continued: 'Seth Rogen was one of the producers on this film so he definitely knows about the bribe and why I quit.

'White men saying it's not their responsibility when holding Franco accountable, or when holding Seth Rogen and enablers accountable.

'Then whose responsibility is it? The women and children who have PTSD from Franco? Or the future targets of abuse?'

On Saturday, Yi posted a second statement on Instagram complaining that women 'did not feel safe' speaking out, blaming law enforcement and 'the media'.

Dailymail.com has contacted representatives for both Franco and Rogen for comment.

Franco has faced several allegations of sexual misconduct, including in 2017, when a 17-year-old British schoolgirl Lucy Clode shared messages between her and the then 35-year-old actor inviting her to his hotel room.

The actor confirmed he had sent the messages and said he was guilty of 'bad judgement'.

Yi, who played designer Safowa Bright-Asare in the Oscar-nominated 2017 movie, posted on Instagram Thursday that she had tried to leave the film due to sexual assault claims against Franco, 42, who was director and lead actor

Yi, previously appeared with Rogen in the 2007 comedy Knocked Up, claimed that Rogen, 38, whose production company Point Grey Pictures produced the film, was Franco's responsible for not stopping Franco's alleged misdemeanors

A year later, Franco's former girlfriend Violet Paley claimed he had forced her to perform oral sex in a car, a claim the actor denied.

Meanwhile, in February, Franco reached a tentative settlement with two female students at his now-defunct Studio 4 acting school.

Actresses and ex-students Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal alleged in a 2019 lawsuit that Franco coerced them into explicit sexual situations against their will, under the guise of it being part of an acting course.

The Palo Alto star ran a master class on sex scenes where the incidents were said to have occurred by both women, prompting them to bring charges against him, but as of February 21 both dropped their claims with the opportunity to-refile in the future.

Franco's school ran for three years (2014-2017) and had locations in both Los Angeles and New York.

During the course of his sex scene class, it has been said that he pushed and intimidated his students to perform on-camera sex scenes - some in an 'orgy type setting.'

The women (both students in 2014) alleged that Franco said he would cast them in his upcoming films if they were to perform such explicit scenes, despite the fact that the situations went far beyond what was deemed acceptable on Hollywood film sets.

Franco - seen at an event in New York - has faced several allegations of sexual misconduct

Tither-Kaplan and two other women first aired their sexual misconduct allegations in 2018 in light of the #MeToo movement that swept Hollywood, just after Franco won a Golden Globe for his film The Disaster Artist.

She tweeted, 'Hey James Franco, nice #timesup pin at the #GoldenGlobes, remember a few weeks ago when you told me the full nudity you had me do in two of your movies for $100/day wasn't exploitative because I signed a contract to do it? Times up on that!'

In an interview on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Franco said the sexual misconduct stories swirling were highly inaccurate, adding 'If I've done something wrong, I will fix it. I have to.'

In their initial 2019 lawsuit Tither-Kaplan and Gaal said that he, 'sought to create a pipeline of young women who were subjected to his personal and professional sexual exploitation in the name of education.'

The ladies also alleged that Franco and his production company - RabbitBandini Productions - and Studio 4 partners Vince Jolivette and Jay Davis (who are listed in the lawsuit as defendants) were guilty of 'humiliating female students and actors.'

Tither-Kaplan cited that on multiple occasions she had witnessed Franco removing vaginal guards, while Gaal claimed she was denied entry to a master class level of the sex scene class due to her concerns.

The suit claimed Gaal was 'told by a male employee to 'grow thicker skin' and stop being so sensitive.'

Dailymail.com has contacted representatives for both Franco and Rogen (pictured) for comment

YI played designer Safowa Bright-Asare in Oscar-nominated The Disaster Artist (pictured)

Franco's attorneys, called the claims 'false and inflammatory', and 'legally baseless,' adding that the class action suit was brought about with the intention of 'grabbing as much publicity as possible for attention-hungry Plaintiffs.'

His team added that Tither-Kaplan had previously expressed gratitude for the opportunity to work with Franco.

In a social media post she wrote, 'Thanks for censoring my nip jamesy. Looooveeee these maniacs.' In another she had written, 'James is a gem. I'm lucky to be part of this big ol weird fam.'

James and his camp spoke out about her claims, saying that she and all students had signed waivers of consent.

'The casting director and others involved with those films have confirmed that all actresses, including Tither-Kaplan, were aware of the nudity scenes ahead of time, that they were constantly checking to make sure the actresses felt comfortable, that they signed nudity waivers, and that no one  including Tither-Kaplan  ever complained.'

On February 11 both sides filed a joint status report in Los Angeles Superior Court telling the judge that a settlement had been reached between both parties, but the settlement had not been previously reported.

The sides had reportedly been working towards a settlement for month's halting the lawsuit while they were in discussion; the settlement amount has not been publicized at this time.

The agreement outlined that the women had dropped their individual claims and that their sexual exploitation allegations were being 'dismissed without prejudice,' meaning they could re-file in the future.

Additionally, the document said that the fraud allegations brought by them would be 'subjected to limited release,' though no further detail was given in the report.

He has kept a relatively low profile since the allegations first arose, and whether or not he will make a statement in lieu of the settlement news is unknown at this time.
A Chattanooga man who was one of three men charged in connection with a July 4, 2016, shooting that left a 31-year-old woman with critical injuries has been sentenced to serve 27 months in federal prison on a gun charge.

Dequan Kentrel Fuqua, 23, appeared before Judge Curtis Collier.

Fuqua had been arrested by federal agents on a charge of possessing a firearm while under indictment for a felony.

A federal agent said the Drug Enforcement Administration and Chattanooga Police executed a search warrant at 4683 Fall Creek Road last July 9.

Numerous people were detained, including Fuqua.

A white Chevrolet SUV was backed into the driveway.

Warren Muir, who was one of those detained, said it was his rental. A small backpack was located in the front passenger floorboard. Inside were documents with Fuqua's name on it and a Glock 17 9mm pistol with an extended magazine that would hold up to 31 rounds.

Fuqua said the gun was his and that he had purchased it two to three weeks earlier from "a white boy."





In the 2016 attempted murder case, Fuqua was charged along with Antonio Watkins and Leuane Norris with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault.

The woman was in a car that was shot up around 2 a.m. She was able to drive herself to the hospital, though she had what were described as life-threatening injuries.

Fuqua is set to appear before Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman on May 24.
New Delhi: Domestic traders' body Confederation Of All India Traders (CAIT) on Sunday (April 11) urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to impose night curfew or lockdown amid rising COVID-19 in the country. As an alternative, they asked him to adopt staggered working time for different sectors.

In a communication to PM Modi, the CAIT said it would be more appropriate if alternate measures may be adopted at district levels all over the country.

"Instead of night curfew or lockdown which have not proved a worthy step so far to combat escalation of COVID-19, it would be more appropriate if alternate easy measures may be adopted at district levels and staggered working time for different sectors," it said.

CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that a closer analysis of the COVID-19 statistics over the last one week have made it ample clear that night curfew and lockdown in different states have not brought the desired results of bringing down the cases.

In an important communication sent to @PMOIndia Shri @narendramodi, extending complete support of 40,000 Trade Associations and 80 million Indian traders to fight the #COVIDSecondWave, @CAITIndia has urged the PM to adopt alternate measures other than #NightCurfew & #lockdown. pic.twitter.com/sbASBcKv74  Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) (@CAITIndia) April 11, 2021

It suggested that working hours of different verticals of trade and commerce should be revised.

"We suggest that government offices, private offices and other all kinds of offices may work from 8 am to 2 pm whereas the markets and shops may be allowed to work from 11 am to 5 pm," it said.

The sudden hike in COVID-19 cases have forced state governments to impose restriction, lockdowns and curfews in affected districts.

Live TV
Srinagar: At least three unidentified terrorists have so far been killed and two jawans injured in an ongoing encounter in south Kashmir's Shopian district. Two back to back encounters between terrorists and a joint team of security forces began in Anantnag and Shopian districts of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday (April 10) evening.

The police recovered one AK-47 and a pistol from the spot. The Shopian operation was over following the elimination of all three terrorists. Meanwhile, the identity and group affiliation of the slain terrorists are being ascertained, an official said.

Police said the first encounter started at Hadipora area of south Kashmir's Shopian district while the second began at Semthan Bijbehara area of the Anantnag district. The firefight between terrorists and security forces at both the places took place after joint teams of the police and the army cordoned off the areas and launched search operations on the basis of specific information about the presence of terrorists.

As the security forces zeroed in on the spots where terrorists were hiding, they came under a heavy volume of fire that triggered the encounters. Security forces had launched a cordon and search operation at Baba Mohalla after receiving inputs about the presence of terrorists.

Live TV

Meanwhile, another gunfight that erupted in Anantnag district on Saturday evening is currently underway. The gunfight broke out at Semthan in Bijbehara area of the south Kashmir district after security forces launched a cordon and search operation based on an intelligence input about the presence of militants, the official told PTI. He said further details were awaited.
Plumes of ash rise from the La Soufriere volcano as it erupts on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent, as seen from Chateaubelair, Friday, April 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Orvil Samuel)

People who ignored an initial warning to evacuate the area closest to a volcano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent raced to get clear Saturday, a day after it erupted with an explosion that shook the ground, spewed ash skyward and blanketed the island in a layer of fine volcanic rock.

The eruption Friday of La Soufriereits first large one since 1979transformed the island's lush towns and villages into gloomy, gray versions of themselves. A strong sulfur smell was unavoidable Saturday and ash covered everything, creeping into homes, cars and noses, and obscuring the sunshine that makes the island so popular with tourists.

Chellise Rogers, who lives in the village of Biabou, which is in an area of St. Vincent that's considered safe, said she could hear continuous rumbling.

"It's exhilarating and scary at the same time," she said. "(It's the) first time I am witnessing a volcano eruption."

Scientists warn that the explosions could continue for days or even weeks, and that the worst could be yet to come.

"The first bang is not necessarily the biggest bang this volcano will give," Richard Robertson, a geologist with the University of the West Indies' Seismic Research Center, said during a news conference.

About 16,000 people have had to flee their ash-covered communities with as many belongings as they could stuff into suitcases and backpacks. However, there have been no reports of anyone being killed or injured by the initial blast or those that followed. Before it blew, the government ordered people to evacuate the most high-risk area around the 4,003-foot (1,220-meter) volcano after scientists warned that magma was moving close to the surface.

A road is blanketed in volcanic ash at the international airport in Kingstown, on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent, Saturday, April 10, 2021 due to the eruption of La Soufriere volcano. (AP Photo/Orvil Samuel)

Ralph Gonsalves, the prime minister of the 32 islands that make up the country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, said on local station NBC Radio that people should remain calm, be patient and keep trying to protect themselves from the coronavirus. He said officials were trying to figure out the best way to collect and dispose of the ash, which covered an airport runway near the capital of Kingstown, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south, and fell as far away as Barbados, about 120 miles (190 kilometers) to the east.

"It's difficult to breathe," the prime minister said, adding that although the volcano was venting less, a big plume of ash remained. "What goes up, must come down."

Although Gonsalves said it could take up to four months for life to return to normal, he's confident it will.

"Agriculture will be badly affected, and we may have some loss of animals, and we will have to do repairs to houses. But if we have life and we have strengthwe will build it back better, stronger, together," he said.

A cruise ship sits docked waiting for passengers to be evacuated in Kingstown, on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent, Friday, April 9, 2021 due to the eruption of La Soufriere volcano. (AP Photo/Orvil Samuel)

People who didn't heed the initial evacuation order hurried to do so Saturday. At least a few ash-covered evacuees escaped in small boats and headed to other parts of the main island, which makes up 90% of the country's total land.

About 3,200 people took refuge at 78 government-run shelters, and four empty cruise ships stood ready to take other evacuees to nearby islands, with a group of more than 130 already taken to St. Lucia. Those staying at the shelters were tested for COVID-19, with anyone testing positive being taken to an isolation center.

Nearby nations, including Antigua and Grenada, also offered to take in evacuees.

On Saturday, some people swept outside their homes and taped their doors and windows shut in the hopes of keeping out the ash.

"We're hearing rumbling from here and witnessed the lightning flashes last night," said Rukersha Jackson, a 22-year-old marketing specialist who lives with her family a little outside the mandatory evacuation zone. That zone covers the northern third of St. Vincent and is on the opposite side than Kingstown, where most of the country's more than 100,000 people live.

Ash rises into the air as La Soufriere volcano erupts on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent, seen from Chateaubelair, Friday, April 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Orvil Samuel)

The ash has forced the cancellation of several flights, and poor visibility limited evacuations in some areas. Officials warned that St. Lucia to the north and Grenada to the south could get light ash fall, though most of it was expected to head northeast into the Atlantic Ocean.

Although the ash can seem scary, it won't harm healthy people in the short term, said Claire Horwell, a professor at Durham University in the United Kingdom who will be analyzing the ash emitted by La Soufriere. She recommended that people wear face masks, long sleeves and pants to avoid irritation.

"Volcanic ash looks really scary, and it is really terrifying to people who have never been exposed to it before, but for most healthy people, it is more of a nuisance," said Horwell, who is also director of the International Volcanic Health Hazard Network.

Plumes of ash rise from the La Soufriere volcano as it erupts on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent, as seen from Chateaubelair, Friday, April 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Orvil Samuel)

Soldiers and residents stand next to a car covered in volcanic ash in Kingstown, on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent, Saturday, April 10, 2021, due to the eruption of the La Soufriere volcano. (AP Photo/Orvil Samuel)

A man rides his bicycle past fields covered with volcanic ash a day after the La Soufriere volcano erupted, in Kingstown, on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent, Saturday, April 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Lucanus Ollivierre)

A woman and a girl walk wearing protective head coverings walk on a street covered with volcanic ash a day after the La Soufriere volcano erupted, in Kingstown, on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent, Saturday, April 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Lucanus Ollivierre)

A cloud of volcanic ash hovers over Kingstown, on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent, Saturday, April 10, 2021, a day after the La Soufriere volcano erupted. (AP Photo/Lucanus Ollivierre)

A cloud of volcanic ash hovers over Kingstown, on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent, Saturday, April 10, 2021, a day after the La Soufriere volcano erupted. (AP Photo/Lucanus Ollivierre)

Plumes of ash rise from the La Soufriere volcano as it erupts on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent, as seen from Chateaubelair, Friday, April 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Orvil Samuel)

However, she warned that the ash and gases, particularly sulfur dioxide, could affect asthmatics and others with chronic health conditions.

La Soufriere last had a sizable eruption in 1979. An eruption in 1902 killed roughly 1,600 people.

The volcano had a minor eruption in December, which led regional experts to fly in to analyze the formation of a new volcanic dome and changes to its crater lake, among other things.

The eastern Caribbean has 19 live volcanoes, including two underwater near Grenada. One of those, Kick 'Em Jenny, has been active in recent years. But the most active volcano of all is Soufriere Hills in Montserrat. It has erupted continuously since 1995, razing the capital of Plymouth and killing at least 19 people in 1997.

Explore further St. Vincent awaits new volcanic explosions as help arrives

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
(Newser)  Iran has described a blackout at its underground Natanz atomic installation on Sunday an act of "nuclear terrorism." No injuries or leaks were caused by the problem with the power distribution network, the BBC reports. The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization didn't accuse anyone of being the culprit, but Israeli media outlets said it was a cyberattack, suggesting Israel was the attackerwhich would only increase tension between the two nations. One Iranian statement blamed sabotage. Power across the Natanz plant was cut, an official said on state TV, per the AP. A fire that Iran blamed on a cyberattack damaged the site last year. Ali Akbar Salehi, the atomic energy official, said Iran "emphasizes the need for a confrontation by the international bodies"including the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency"against this nuclear terrorism."

story continues below

On Saturday, Iran inaugurated uranium enrichment centrifuges at the Natanz plant, per the Guardian, in an event attended by President Hassan Rouhani and shown live on TV. The centrifuges can be used in producing enriched uranium for making reactor fuel, as well material for nuclear weapons. The 2015 international nuclear treaty barred Iran from using that type of centrifuge. The US and Iran are beginning indirect negotiations about reviving the treaty, which former President Trump abandoned three years ago. US sanctions are part of the negotiations. Blaming terrorism, Salehi said Sunday that Iran will work "to seriously improve nuclear technology on the one hand and to lift oppressive sanctions on the other hand." US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel on Sunday for talks, per the AP; Israel's government is unenthusiastic about the US effort to revive the nuclear deal. (Read more Iran nuclear facilities stories.)
London, April 11 : Despite Covid-19 restrictions, mourners have continued to travel to Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle to pay tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh who passed away on Friday at the age of 99.

Britain's Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II's husband, died at Windsor Castle on Friday morning.

All British government buildings have been told to fly official flags at half-mast in tribute to the duke on the day after the his funeral, Xinhua news agency reported.

Gun salutes have been fired across Britain on Saturday, on land and at sea in memory of the duke, the BBC reported.

Saluting batteries began firing 41 rounds at one round every minute from midday on Saturday in cities including London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, as well from Royal Navy warships.

The royal family website has asked people not to leave flowers and tributes at royal residences. The website encourages members of the public to consider making a donation to a charity instead of leaving floral tributes.

No official details have been announced yet about the duke's funeral, but it is understood the Duke of Edinburgh will be given a royal ceremonial funeral rather than a state funeral according to his wishes, Sky News reported.

The Buckingham Palace is expected to release during the weekend details about the days to come and the duke's funeral.

Prince Philip was born on the Greek island of Corfu on June 10, 1921. He married Princess Elizabeth in 1947, five years before she became Queen, and was the longest-serving royal consort in British history. The couple had four children, eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

In May 2017, the 96-year-old duke retired from his own program of royal duties after carrying out more than 20,000 solo public engagements.

The duke left hospital last month after a month-long treatment. He underwent a procedure for a pre-existing heart condition, according to Buckingham Palace.
People who received the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine reported more side effects than those who got the Pfizer/BioNTech shot, according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The studypublished online in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on April 5looked at data collected from over 3 million participants vaccinated from Dec. 14, 2020, through Feb. 28, 2021, in the CDCs v-safe active surveillance system. However, only 1,920,872 participants reported getting the second vaccine dose.

More than 46 million Americans had gotten at least one dose of the vaccine by Feb. 21.

The participants were asked about their postvaccination experience, including occurrences of adverse events within seven days after being vaccinated. The report included only local or systemic reactions and did not include severe side effects like anaphylactic shock, which will be addressed in a later study.

Of those who received one dose of the messenger RNA vaccine, 74 percent of Moderna recipients reported injection site reactions of pain, swelling, redness, and itching, as opposed to 65.4 percent of the Pfizer/BioNTech recipients.

Furthermore, 52 percent of those who received the Moderna vaccine said they had a generalized reaction like fatigue, headache, and body pain, compared to 48 percent of recipients who had the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

Both local and systemic reactions occurred more frequently after the second dose for both vaccines: Moderna recipients reported 82 percent and 74 percent, while Pfizer/BioNTech recipients reported 69 percent and 64.2 percent, respectively.

For both doses of both vaccines, the percentage of v-safe participants who reported local and systemic reactions was highest on day 1 after vaccination and declined markedly through day 7, the authors said.

In addition, people aged 65 and older were less likely to experience adverse reactions than those younger than 65, regardless of which vaccine was given.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said that most adverse reactions occur between 15 to 45 days following vaccination.

Its very, very, very unlikely that youre going to have an effect, 5 or 10 years down the pike, Fauci said in an interview on March 13. The reason we say that is that we have decades of experience in the field of vaccinology and virtually all of the effects if they even occur, and theyre very rare, occur within 15 to 45 days following the dose.

Fauci was addressing concerns of whether people may file a lawsuit against the vaccine manufacturers if they experience adverse reactions five or 10 years after receiving an inoculation. He said that there is a fund that allows the compensation for injury.

Pharmaceutical companies are granted immunity from liability by the federal government under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act (pdf) that was passed in 2005.

People injured or who die from a COVID-19 vaccine must instead file a claim and prove their injury or death within a year after receiving the shot under the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program, a federal government program established as a result of the PREP Act.

Two days after the publication of the CDC study, the NIAID announced that it was funding a Phase 2 trial to examine whether people with a history of allergic reactions or who have a mast cell disorder are at increased risk of an immediate, systemic allergic reaction to the Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines.

The public understandably has been concerned about reports of rare, severe allergic reactions to the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines, Fauci said in a statement. The information gathered during this trial will help doctors advise people who are highly allergic or have a mast cell disorder about the risks and benefits of receiving these two vaccines.

Signs of severe allergic reactions include throat tightness, nausea, dizziness, agitation, and a sudden increase in secretions from the eyes, nose, or mouth.

Symptoms of anaphylaxis often occur within 15 to 30 minutes of vaccination, though it can sometimes take several hours for symptoms to appear.

More than 114 million people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and over 68 million people have been fully vaccinated as of April 9, according to the CDC.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Moderna for comment.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.

From The Epoch Times
Adoption of disinfection robots has increased rapidly after the outbreak of COVID-19. There has been an increase in the sale of disinfection robots by 400-600% across the globe. The novel coronavirus outbreak has also highlighted the inability of conventional techniques in disinfecting and sanitizing a facility, and this factor has rapidly driven the adoption of disinfection robots, as these robots can effectively disinfect hospitals and other public areas with minimal human interference.

Many companies have got a stamp of approval for their products to fight the COVID-19 battle. Approvals for different products further enhances the attention given by end users. Many providers of disinfection services have entered the disinfection robots market, and many more are coming in with their innovative and advanced technologies and software. With the coronavirus outbreak, manufacturers of disinfection robots will be able to cash in on vast opportunities to make their business stand out from competitors by coming up with a broad range of products.

As per PMR analysis, the global disinfection robots market is set to surge at a high CAGR of 27% over the next ten years, expanding 10X in value over the same period of time.

Get Going With Sample Of Disinfection Robots Market Report! https://www.persistencemarketresearch.co/samples/22822

Companies covered in Disinfection Robot Market Report

Xenex Disinfection Services, LLC

Nevoa Inc.

Ultraviolet Devices, Inc.

Rubedo Sistemos

Blue Ocean Robotics ApS

Bioquell, Inc.

Skytron, LLC.

The Clorox Company (Procter & Gamble)

OMRON Corporation

Fetch Robotics, Inc.

Geek+

Akara Robotics Ltd.

FINSEN TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

TMI Robotics Co., Ltd

SESTO Robotics

OTSAW

How About Re-Inventing The Methodical Wheel In The Disinfection Robots Market? Switch Over To The Methodology Tab! https://www.persistencemarketresearch.co/methodology/22822

Key Takeaways from Disinfection Robots Market Study

Based on product, with market value share of over 3/4 , UV light robots will be the most profitable segment, due to higher adoption coupled with superior disinfection efficacy as compared to hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) robots.

, UV light robots will be the most profitable segment, due to higher adoption coupled with superior disinfection efficacy as compared to hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) robots. In terms of technology, fully autonomous robots is the leading segment, owing to higher efficiency and low human interaction while disinfecting as compared to semi-autonomous robots.

North America is the most lucrative region in the global disinfection robots market, with around 45% of the market share, owing to higher adoption of these devices in the region.

of the market share, owing to higher adoption of these devices in the region. As end users, hospitals is most profitable segment with around 2/3 of the market value share, due to higher demand for disinfection robots in order to reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infections.

Increasing demand for disinfection robots to reduce the spread of healthcare facility-associated infections, increasing technological advancements, and growing concerns about maintaining environmental hygiene after the COVID-19 outbreak are some of the factors expected to contribute in propelling the growth of the global disinfection robots market for years to come, says a PMR analyst.

Keeping A Tab On Key Players In The Disinfection Robots Market? Go To Purchase Now To Decipher The Competitive Analysis In Our Disinfection Robots Market Report! https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/22822

Key Strategy amongst Market Players

Key players in the disinfection robots market focusing on strengthening their market presence through a variety of advanced technologies and software with the development of new platforms. Manufacturers are highly focusing on developing products to meet every budget of end users. Leading players are trying to provide their products in middle and lower income countries, and local players are focusing on increasing their product reach with the launch of various types of disinfection robots. Market players are focusing on launching facility-specific disinfection robots in order to enhance the efficacy of disinfection procedures and increasing the adoption of their products.

Growing Trends in Disinfection Robots Market Space

Manufacturers in the disinfection robots market space are highly focusing on developing facility-specific disinfection robots for reducing the cost of manual cleaning, such as robots for commercial spaces and offices. Companies are understanding the demands of various end users and are effectively providing their services based on applications. Manufacturers are modifying predesigned medical robots, such as with the use of UV technology. UV light can be combined with mobile robots to make disinfection services autonomous and more efficient. These trends are expected to boost the growth of the disinfection robots market over the forecast period of 2020 to 2030.

What else is in the report?

Persistence Market Research offers a unique perspective and actionable insights on the disinfection robots market in its latest study, presenting historical demand assessment of 2015  2019 and projections for 2020  2030 based on product (hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) robots and UV light robots), technology (semi-autonomous robots and fully-autonomous robots), and end user (hospitals, clinics & emergency care centers, diagnostic laboratories, pharmaceutical & biotech companies, airports, railway stations, shopping malls, production facilities, office buildings, and others), across seven key regions.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Zoe Ventoura is being hugely apologetic. Im so sorry, I feel really awful about this is how she starts our chat. We were meant to be doing this interview in person at the Sunday Life photo shoot but a bug has kept Zoe house-bound, so due to a pressing deadline we are speaking over the phone about her new role in Nines Doctor Doctor prior to the shoot instead. Pre-COVID, it was frustrating when a snuffly actor requested a phoner instead of a face-to-face interview in which its easier to gain insight into him or her as a person  dissecting a bored gaze or welcoming a warm smile. But if theres a takeaway lesson from the pandemic, its this: if sick, stay home. Zoe, 41, has an even more forgivable reason to not meet up. She not only has herself to look after, but also her one-year-old son, Austin. Hes had a bit of a bug, the poor little thing, she explains, before adding, but thats just part and parcel of having a toddler. Cue parents of small children everywhere nodding their heads. As a new mum, and specifically a single mother (Zoe separated from husband and fellow actor Daniel MacPherson late last year) resting up while taking care of a little one is a near impossible feat. You think, I just need to stay in bed all day but its not really an option any more, she says. But Im lucky that I have a really great support network around, so Ive been able to rest when I can. Although not being able to cast eyes on Zoe for the interview, her classically angular and striking face is easy to bring to mind, having become a firm fixture in Australian television since appearing as Melissa Bannon in the popular Seven series, Packed to the Rafters (and she definitely sounds more the warm smile than bored gaze type over the phone). Its the character I still get most recognised for. Considering its been 10 years since I left Rafters, its a testament to the show. Nominated for a Logie Award for Most Popular Actress in 2011, the true popularity of her character was demonstrated by the outpouring of grief  and downright anger  when Melissa met an untimely death. Highlighting the dangers of dialling and driving more than any road safety campaign, more than two million people tuned in to watch, and her death made front page news.

Advertisement

Those numbers were pretty big at the time but now, looking back, they are even more mind-boggling, says Zoe, reflecting on not only the shows success but the pre-Netflix era when commercial television ruled. The enduring affection for the series  and the character of Melissa  is one Zoe is often reminded of. Yep, its the character I still get most recognised for, she says with a laugh. Considering its been 10 years since I left Rafters, its a testament to the show. At the end of her three-year contract, and with the option to extend, Zoe made the bold decision to not renew and chose instead to pursue opportunities in Los Angeles. But her next major role would be on home turf as a lead in another Seven series, Wild Boys, where she met her co-star and future husband, Daniel. Zoe wears Michael Lo Sordo jacket, vest and pants, from Net-a-Porter. Louise Olsen choker from Dinosaur Designs, New Balance sneakers. Credit:Hugh Stewart In a time when many celebrities announce their babys births on social media within minutes of the umbilical cord being clamped, Zoe and Daniel have been conspicuously quiet when it comes to their private lives. Their wedding, her pregnancy and the birth of Austin were notable for their ASIO-level secrecy. Loading Ive always been a private person, says Zoe. I just feel that there are some things that are worth protecting, that I want to keep for myself and for my family and my close friends. Zoe even managed to film a lead role in soapy staple, Home and Away, while visibly pregnant. For the first couple of months I looked pretty normal, but by the end of my contract I was starting to show quite a bit, so there were some big bags and some very big jackets, she says. I was playing a doctor, so I was hiding behind folders quite a lot!

Advertisement

Its understandable to conceal a pregnancy when it doesnt fit with a characters storyline, but why the secrecy in real life? It wasnt that I was hiding it, she says. If someone had gone, Oh god, shes pregnant I would have been yeah, but it never came out. So it was really quite nice to go through that privately and share it with my family and friends. It was a really lovely time. Ive always been a private person. I just feel that there are some things that are worth protecting, that I want to keep for myself and for my family and my close friends. However, the major life milestone the couple did choose to share to their respective social media followers was their separation. In December last year, Daniel and Zoe posted near identical announcements to Instagram. She wrote, With the greatest respect for each other, Dan and I have separated. Together, we will continue wholeheartedly to raise our beautiful boy Austin. He is, and will forever be, our greatest priority. Bianca Spender Copper Suiting Gaia coat, $895, and Copper Suiting Encompass jacket, $775. Credit:Hugh Stewart Speaking with Zoe, its clear that family has always been a priority. Growing up in Perth, she describes her formative years as idyllic and says she had an uneventful childhood in a lovely way. She is particularly close to her older brother, Adam Ace Ventoura, an accomplished bass guitarist who has recently completed a tour with Midnight Oil. I couldnt be prouder of him. Hes had an incredible career and hes really played with the whos who of Australian music royalty in this country, she says, repeating, I couldnt be prouder of him. Her father, Terry Ventoura, is also a musician and her mother, Ruth Osborne, is a choreographer and artistic director of a dance company, and a 2018 Australian of the Year award nominee. Ruth ran a dance school in Perth, and as Zoe says, obviously I had to go to that school. So was it dance mum pressure that led Zoe to a career in the arts?

Advertisement

It was quite the opposite, I can tell you, she says. They actively encouraged us to get more stable vocations. Have you thought about being a lawyer?, theyd say. They were very much Please, please dont do this! Go get yourself a stable life!  But it was too late  Zoe was hooked. I loved dancing and it was a huge part of my life, she says. She graduated from high school and moved to Melbourne to study a Bachelor of Dance at the Victorian College of the Arts with the goal of becoming a contemporary dancer in a company. While dancing, she fell into musical theatre almost by accident. Shed joined a dance agency to earn some extra money while auditioning for companies and they sent her to try out for the 70s disco-themed musical, Oh! What a Night. She surprised everyone  no one more than herself  by landing a role. But shes quick to cut down any suggestion of being an acting, dancing and singing triple-threat, insisting, I could sort of hold a tune but I certainly wasnt up the front singing! After six or seven years of touring the country in various stage musicals, Zoe made her transition to the small and big screen. While best known for her television roles here, she has also appeared in US films such as See No Evil (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017).

Her latest role in season five of Doctor Doctor sees Zoe playing Kassie, a young, terminally ill mother. Her character has requested a specific end-of-life plan in consultation with Dr Hugh Knight, played by the series lead, Rodger Corser. Bianca Spender Storm Satin Crepe Ciel jacket, $845 and Storm Satin Carter pants, $465. Credit:Hugh Stewart This is the first time Zoe has played the role of a mother since becoming one herself. Has it made it easier to get into character? Listen, I want to say no, because actors can do it all, she says, laughing, But I have to say that, as a parent, suddenly everything becomes a little more potent when youre dealing with those storylines. It all comes a little closer to the surface.

Advertisement

Its clear motherhood has created a shift in Zoes outlook, not only to roles like this, but life in general. I hate to say it, but all the cliches are true, she says. It used to annoy me when people were like, Its the hardest thing but its the best thing. I used to think it didnt mean anything. But its so magnificent and Ive just never loved as big as this before. As a parent, suddenly everything becomes a little more potent when youre dealing with those storylines. It all comes a little closer to the surface. Loading Sharing her first year of motherhood with a global pandemic has had its challenges, but Zoe admits that in some ways the timing has been beneficial.

COVID hit and I was parenting a very small child, so it kind of just felt like an extension of new parenthood anyway, she says down the phone, from her living room to mine. Everyone was stuck at home too! Doctor Doctor airs from Wednesday, April 28 on Nine. Photography by Hugh Stewart. Styling by Penny McCarthy. Hair by Keiren Street. Make-up by Nicole Thompson. This article appears in Sunday Life magazine within the Sun-Herald and the Sunday Age on sale April 11. To read more from Sunday Life, visit The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Israels Mossad intelligence agency was behind a cyberattack that sparked a blackout in Irans Natanz atomic facility, sources told Israeli media outlets. Although Israel isnt actually confirming anything, its giving some hints that are leading many to say it amounts to a veritable confirmation that it was behind the attack that Iran described as an act of nuclear terrorism. Israeli media uniformly reported that Israel was behind the attack as the government didnt impose any censorship restrictions on covering the incident. Even public radio said the Mossad intelligence agency played a key role in the attack, notes the Guardian. For some, the Israel connection was just a question of common sense. On the basis of past media reports, one can infer that this was caused by an Israeli cyberattack, Amos Harel writes in Haaretz.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi also made a statement Sunday that many saw as a strong hint, as the Jerusalem Post puts it, that Israel was involved in the attack. The IDFs actions throughout the Middle East are not hidden from our enemies vision, who are observing us, seeing our capabilities and carefully considering their next steps, he said.

The apparent attack took place shortly after Iranian officials said more than 150 new uranium enrichment centrifuges were going to be launched at Natanzs underground facility, which would speed up the production of enriched uranium. Although details of the attack were scant, Irans Atomic Energy Organization acknowledged the attack had damaged the sites electrical grid. Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the agency, didnt go into details about what happened but his comments on state television suggested a serious disruption, reports the Associated Press. The action this morning against Natanz enrichment site shows the defeat of those who oppose our countrys nuclear and political development and the significant gains of our nuclear industry, Salehi said. Israeli officials also said the attack was more serious than Iran was letting on and local outlets reported the power outage caused severe damage.

The apparent attack took place a day after Iran celebrated its National Nuclear Technology Day and as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel at a time when President Joe Biden is attempting to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that was a centerpiece of former President Barack Obamas administration. Last week, there was an explosion on an Iranian Revolutionary Guard ship, which Tehran blamed on Israel.
New Delhi: Actor Manoj Bajpayee recently opened up on his painful path to recovery from COVID-19 to a leading daily.

Bajpayee who was in the middle of a shoot for film 'Despatch' when he tested COVID positive and unfortunately passed on the infection to his family as well, said to Hindustan Times in an interview, Its been a tough ride. I got the infection home, me and my wife were down with all the symptoms, which were quite pronounced while protecting our 10-year-old daughter. Our condition was worsening, I must say that we are recovering well."

During the days when he was in pain, he watched tons of movies and read scripts to keep his mind distracted.

The 51-years-old is immensely grateful to film industry friends like Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Anupam Kher and others who were constantly in touch with him and asking about his health.

I was getting messages on my phone and social media, they were enquiring throughout. I am really grateful to them. People such as (filmmakers) Neeraj Pandey and Anubhav Sinha, (actors) Abhishek Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan ji, Anupam Kher ji, so many have been constantly in touch, monitoring my progress, almost on a day to day basis. It really touched me. I will be grateful to these guys, they were really concerned about my and my wifes health, revealed the actor.

Fortunately, the actor has emerged victorious after successfully defeating COVID-19 and is slowly regaining his health.

On the work front, Manoj Bajpayee was last seen in the digital film 'Silence... Can You Hear It', where he played a police officer named ACP Avinash and will next be seen in Satyameva Jayate 2, Kurup and Despatch.
WASHINGTON - If President Joe Biden doesn't take notice of his case, Tony Lewis Sr. could die in prison.

He knows this. He fears this.

"This life without parole sentence I have, it's really a slow death sentence," he tells his son, Tony Lewis Jr., over the phone on a recent night. "That's a reality that I know. And every time I think about it, it's scary."

On that night, the older Lewis calls from a federal correctional institution in Maryland and the younger Lewis sits in his home in Washington D.C., the city that raised him and that he has spent half his life helping.

I asked him to tape their conversation and he agreed because he wants people to hear what his father has to say. He wants people to see that his father is no longer the man law enforcement officials arrested 32 years ago and charged with running a massive crack cocaine operation in the city.

Drug kingpin is the title most people associate with the older Lewis. But that describes the 26-year-old-who owned luxury cars and designer clothes when he was arrested and not the 58-year-old who has spent decades in government-issued jumpsuits mentoring young prisoners, the younger Lewis says.

"My dad is the model for someone who is worthy of a second chance," he says. "He's remorseful. He's rehabilitated."

He is also the son of someone the government depends on to help people who leave prison and return to the nation's capital.

Lewis, who is 40, works for CSOSA, a federal agency that supervises adults on probation and parole in the city. He is also a community activist who has handed out food in neglected neighborhoods, encouraged young people to stop shooting one another and helped create a day to honor Washington natives. He coined the term #DCorNothing.

"Anything I've done, my dad has to get credit for," says Lewis who published a memoir titled "Slugg" about his father and what happened after he went to prison. "He could have been a dad who promoted me ascending into his position. He did the exact opposite."

He encouraged his son to help the city he hurt, the younger Lewis says.

Help versus hurt. Federal employee versus federal inmate. Lewis is used to standing in contrast with his father. He recognizes that is a part of their story - how one went this way and the other went that way. But he also knows how that story ends and he is trying desperately to change that.

On Saturday afternoon, he and others were scheduled hold a "Free Tony Lewis Sr." rally at Black Lives Matter Plaza. The event marks the most visible in-person display yet of support for Lewis's release and follows the creation of an online petition that calls on Biden to "Free Tony Lewis." As of Friday, that petition had drawn nearly 20,000 signatures.

At the rally, Tony Lewis Jr. plans to speak not only about his father but also on behalf of other people who remain behind bars because of mandatory minimum prison sentences that were put in place as part of the nation's "war on drugs."

"This is not a moment, this is a movement," reads a description of the rally. "The goal here is to not just free Tony Sr., but ask the Biden administration to establish a robust clemency program immediately to reunite all American families victimized by this era."

Biden has faced criticism for his past support of the "war on drugs" and mass incarceration. As a senator, he crafted legislation that authorized stricter penalties for drug offenses. "Later, a little-noticed provision in the law came to be viewed as one of the most racially slanted sentencing policies on record: a rule that treated crack cocaine as significantly worse than powder cocaine and ended up disproportionately punishing African Americans," reads a 2019 Washington Post article.

"I feel this administration has more responsibility around this issue than any other," the younger Lewis says. He describes his father's case as a chance for Biden to start righting his wrongs. BLM Plaza is located in front of the White House. "My hope is somebody in the White House is peeking out of the blinds on Saturday and looks into the situation."

Deciding if a person deserves clemency is not an easy or enviable task. It carries high stakes. Give it to someone unworthy and more harm than good can come. Deny it from someone who deserves it and injustice prevails.

But Lewis lays out a strong enough case for his father that, at minimum, it warrants the administration's attention.

His father hadn't served time in prison before his conviction for the nonviolent conspiracy charge, he says. He also point out that his father is the last of the more than two dozen people who were arrested in that operation to still be serving a sentence for it.

In February, a federal judge reduced the sentence of Rayful Edmond III, whom authorities at one time described as the city's largest cocaine importer. Edmond was characterized as partnering with Lewis. The judge reduced his sentence of life without parole to 20 years, citing Edmond's cooperation as an informant for the government. That cooperation reportedly began after Edmond and his mother were charged with dealing drugs while he was in prison.

Lewis says his father has a stellar record from his time in prison. He sent me a "progress report" dated Dec. 31, 2020, that the family requested from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

"He is currently assigned to the position of Orderly," it reads. "He receives good work evaluations on a monthly basis: quick to learn, little to no supervision required, completely dependable, gets along well with everyone, and does good work."

It describes him as receiving "two Moderate Severity Incident Reports during his entire term of incarceration." Under discipline reports, it describes those as "possession of a nonhazardous tool" and "being insolent to a staff member."

One of the people who plans to attend the rally met Lewis at the Federal Correctional Institution Cumberland in 2013. Jerome Bradley says he had been in and out of prison several times when a drug charge landed him at the facility. He shared with me a picture of Lewis standing at his side, with a hand on his shoulder.

"He started mentoring me, just basically showing me what's important in life, "Bradley says. "When you grow up in the hood, you don't pay attention to politics or climate change or different law and bills that get passed. He taught me to pay attention."

He says Lewis encouraged him to take classes and after completing one on business management, Bradley started teaching other inmates. He was released in 2019. He now works for a towing company and has plans to start his own business. He bought his first home with his wife last year.

"Society looks at you when you get arrested like you can't change," Bradley says. "But that's what incarceration is for, it's rehabilitation for people to change."

Lewis turned 9 shortly after his father was arrested. He recalls visiting him in prison as a child. Now, he takes his two young daughters inside those secured walls to visit their grandfather.

"My father was not innocent," Lewis says. "My father should have went to prison, but not for this long. My father shouldn't have to die in prison."

That night on the phone, his father tells him that he is proud of him. He also expresses remorse when his son relays to him a question I had asked: Why does he believe he should be released?

"I understand the harm and the damage that I caused to my community and my city," he says. "It's not a day that goes by that I don't recognize and see that. At the same time, I paid 32 years of my life to society for my debts."

If he gets out of prison, he wants to work alongside his son to help the community and try to improve public safety, he says. He also wants something more basic.

"I want to be the grandfather that I haven't been able to truly be to my two beautiful grandbabies," he says. "That's what I want to spend my years doing if I get the opportunity for freedom."
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
By the time the calendar swings around to April, awards season is usually well and truly behind us - but this year is different.

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, ceremonies including the Academy Awards, the British Academy Film Awards and the Golden Globes have been pushed back by months.

The Baftas are due to finally take place this weekend, split over two days (10 and 11 April).

Taking place at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the event will feature awards, live musical performances, and more, with nominees attending virtually alongside a virtual audience.

Leading the pack with seven nominations each are Nomadland and Rocks followed by The Father, Mank, Minari and Promising Young Woman, which all have six.

You can click here for a full list of the nominees, or you can click here for a list of the biggest snubs and surprises among the nominations.

Heres a brief rundown of everything you need to know about the Bafta Film Awards 2021....

What is the Opening Night ceremony?

The EE Bafta Film Awards Opening Night ceremony, which took place on Saturday, was hosted by Clara Amfo, and saw films including Tenet and Sound of Metal take home awards.

Noel Clarke was also awarded for his special contribution to British cinema, while Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr performed the single Speak Now from the Bafta-nominated film One Night in Miami...

Read the full list of winners here.

Clara Amfo is set to host the 74th Bafta Film Awards Opening Night event (BAFTA/Iona Wolff)

How can I watch the Opening Night ceremony?

The hour-long event can be watched on BBC iPlayer

What will happen during Sunday Nights ceremony?

Sundays ceremony will be hosted by Edith Bowman and Dermot OLeary.

Throughout the event, the remaining 17 awards will be announced, including the EE Rising Star award, which is voted for by members of the public.

Edith Bowman and Dermot OLeary will serve as hosts of Sundays main ceremony (BAFTA/Jamie Simonds)

Among the presenters on the night are Asim Chaudhry, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sophie Cookson, Phoebe Dynevor, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cynthia Erivo, Hugh Grant, Richard E. Grant, Tom Hiddleston, Felicity Jones, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, James McAvoy, David Oyelowo, Pedro Pascal and Jonathan Pryce.

Others, including Rose Byrne, Andra Day, Anna Kendrick and Renee Zellweger, will be appearing at the ceremony from a studio in the US.

Who is nominated?

Nominees for this year include British indie drama Rocks, and the Frances McDormand-starring drama Nomadland.

Sir Anthony Hopkins, Vanessa Kirby, Riz Ahmed, Frances McDormand, Chadwick Boseman, Clarke Peters, Alfre Woodard, Daniel Kaluuya and Sir David Attenborough are also among those in contention for awards.

(AP)

You can find a full list of this years nominees here .

Meanwhile, Life of Pi director Ang Lee is set to be honoured on the night with the Bafta Fellowship.

How can I watch it?

Sundays Bafta ceremony will be televised on BBC One on Sunday, 11 April, beginning at 7pm BST.

The ceremony will last two hours.
Anthony Hopkins speaks onstage during an event for 'The Two Popes' on November 18, 2019. (Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for Netflix)

Sir Anthony Hopkins has won his fourth acting Bafta  and his third for Best Actor in a Film  for his portrayal of a man living with Alzheimer's in The Father.

The 83-year-old acting legend pulled off a surprise victory in the category, ahead of frontrunner Chadwick Boseman, who was posthumously nominated for his work in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.

The other nominees in the category were: Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal), Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger), Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round) and Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian).

Read more: Full list of Bafta winners

Hopkins has previously won for The Silence of the Lambs and The Remains of the Day, as well as for his work in the 1972 BBC adaptation of War & Peace.

In 2008, he was also given the BAFTA Fellowship  the organisation's highest honour.

The Father (Credit: Lionsgate)

In The Father, Hopkins stars as Anthony  a retired engineer struggling with the loss of his independence due to the onset of dementia.

The film uses trickery involving its set and editing to thrust the audience into the character's disorientation and his increasing lack of trust in what his own mind is telling him.

Read more: Hopkins earns Oscar buzz as The Father trailer is unveiled

As well as scooping the Best Actor prize, writers Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton picked up the award for Best Adapted Screenplay in recognition of their innovative take on an illness that affects so many people.

Zeller collected the Best Actor prize on Hopkins' behalf via video link, reading out a message from the star.

Sir Anthony Hopkins with the Academy Fellowship award during the 2008 Orange British Academy Film Awards. (Photo by Joel Ryan/PA Images via Getty Images)

Hopkins is also nominated for the Best Actor prize at this month's Oscars, but the bookies are still backing Boseman to emerge victorious.

The Bafta Film Awards took place over two nights this weekend, with Clara Amfo fronting the first half before handing over to Edith Bowman and Dermot O'Leary for the second evening.

Read more: Baftas pay tribute to Prince Philip

Nomadland was the big winner on the night, leaving with four awards  including Best Film and Best Director for Chloe Zhao.

Story continues

The Father scored two wins, along with Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Sound of Metal, Promising Young Woman and Soul.

Watch: Trailer for The Father, starring Anthony Hopkins
Kohima, April 11 : The Nagaland government has urged the doctors to withdraw their agitation scheduled to begin from Monday in support of their long pending demand to increase the retirement age.

Demanding the increase of age of superannuation for doctors to 65 for clinical and 62 for administrative, the Nagaland In-Service Doctors' Association (NIDA) earlier announced to start mass casual leave from Monday to Wednesday, followed by an indefinite cessation of works.

A Nagaland health department official on Sunday said that Chief Secretary J. Alam along with senior officials held a meeting with representatives of NIDA and explained that the state cabinet in its last meeting on April 7 had deferred the matter for further consultation and that the matter was not closed, but still under consideration.

According to an official statement said that the cabinet sub-committee headed by the Deputy Chief Minister Yanthungo Patton consulted the matter with the concerned stakeholders.

"It was also impressed upon NIDA that Nagaland, like the rest of the country, was battling the Covid pandemic for over one year while the second wave was staring at us.

The Chief Secretary also pointed out that the need to intensify the vaccination drive, testing, tracking and treatment of Covid cases without any disruption.

Since the Disaster Management Act, 2005 was still in force and the health services being an essential service under the Nagaland Essential Services (Maintenance Act, 1978) such disruptive action will be illegal," the statement said.

The Chief Secretary said that the disruption in health services would be extremely detrimental for the general public at this point of time.
Take de Havilland, for instance. The British company has been in the business of producing airplanes since the 1920s, and its engineers spared no neurons when trying to come up with catchy names. This is how we got things like the Mosquito, Vampire, or Chipmunk Back in the early days of aviation, and particularly in the years of the Second World War, the company made a name for itself by producing biplane trainers for pilots. Theres a long list of them, but the Tiger Moth occupies a special place.Manufactured between 1931 and 1944, the Tiger Moth invaded the western skies in large numbers, as close to 9,000 of them were made. Despite being primarily used by the British Royal Air Force, it ended up being deployed by about 40 other nations around the world, including the United States and Canada.Capable of seating two, the Tiger Moth was able to fly at speeds of up to 109 mph (175 kph) and at a maximum altitude of 13,600 feet (4,100 meters). It was designed as a trainer, but given how it had to live through the war years, it was also capable of carrying bombs.Despite so many of them being made, finding one in working condition today is not an easy task. The one we have here is one of those few, showing 4,335 total time since new and a fresh face given by restoration work done not long ago.Wrapped in the colors of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), the plane is selling on Platinum Fighters for $79,500.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 11, 2021 - 22:03 | All, Coronavirus, Japan

A hospital worker in central Japan who has received two vaccine shots was confirmed Sunday as infected with the novel coronavirus, as the country reported 2,777 daily cases with Tokyo and Osaka Prefecture continuing to see a rebound in infections.

Local authorities said the temporary staffer at a hospital in Ishikawa Prefecture had received doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. on March 13 and April 3. The person has not shown any symptoms yet, they said.

"In general, it takes time before antibodies are produced following vaccination," a prefectural government official said.

Japan started vaccinations for health care workers in February. The U.S. pharmaceutical company's vaccine is administered twice, three weeks apart.

The worker took a test after coming into contact with an infected person. According to the hospital, the person does not deal with patients.

Also Sunday, Tokyo reported an additional 421 coronavirus cases, a day before the metropolitan government imposes stricter measures to prevent the spread of the virus.

Osaka Prefecture confirmed 760 daily cases, lower than its record 918 marked the previous day, amid worries that the western prefecture and the wider Kansai region is experiencing a surge of more contagious coronavirus variants.

In Tokyo, the latest figure brought the cumulative total in the capital to 125,978 and the seven-day rolling average of infections to 468, up 20.1 percent from the previous week.

The metropolitan government will start imposing tougher prevention measures in many parts of Tokyo on Monday, including asking restaurants and bars in densely populated areas to close by 8 p.m.

But the steps will be implemented without the central government declaring a state of emergency. Japan last month fully lifted a second coronavirus state of emergency that had been in place since January in Tokyo and other areas.

The quasi-emergency measures were introduced on April 5 in Osaka, Hyogo and Miyagi prefectures. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga decided Friday to add Tokyo, Kyoto and Okinawa to the list of areas covered.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

More than 32,000 heads of sheep, cows and camels are in stock to meet the increased demand during Ramadan, a top Works Ministry official said. Dr Khaled Ahmed Hassan, the Undersecretary for Livestock at the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning, said the Livestock agency had completed all necessary measures to ensure sufficient quantities of meat market ahead of Ramadan.

Bahraini traders imported a total of 32,725 thousand heads of sheep, cows and camels, Dr Hassan said. This includes 30 thousand heads of sheep, 2,681 heads of cows and 44 heads of camels.

Around 8 thousand tons of red meat, 4 thousand tons of poultry meat are in stock. More livestock and frozen meat are to arrive in the coming days, said Dr Hassan. Bahrain, he said, experiences an increased demand for meat during the holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr. This promoted the Livestock Agency to make early arrangements to meet the local demand, Dr Hassan added.

The shipments of live arrival arrived in the Kingdom from Oman, Jordan, Lebanon and Somalia. Merchants rely on imports from these countries due to low cost, which provides an opportunity for competition among the traders themselves.

Dr Hassan also pointed out that the Animal Control Department has doubled its working hours to verify the animal dispatches that reach Bahrain. Veterinary quarantine is the first line of defence to ensure the safety of imports whether live or slaughtered. There are highly experienced veterinarians to take care of this.

The meat shipments to gain entry must carry two certificates, the first is a health certificate, and the other is a halal certificate issued by an approved authority in the country of origin. However, attaching health certificate to meat shipments does not replace jobs of the Animal Control Department. We inspect every shipment and verify them thoroughly to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases and to preserve the health of the consumer.

This is the main focus of our work, and no shipments violating law and regulations pass through official gates, Dr Hassan assured. Dr Hassan also valued the efforts made by livestock dealers in adhering to the health conditions and appreciated their constructive cooperation in ensuring prices affordable for everyone.

The Undersecretary also urged citizens and residents to approach only the two approved slaughterhouses, one located in the Hamala and the other in the Sitra. It is important to stay away from random places of slaughter for they pose great danger to health.
The first five of flydubais 14 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft have completed their operational readiness flights and have been approved by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to return to service.

They join other MAX aircraft that returned to service in the fleets of operators in Europe, the UK, North and South America.

On April 8, flydubai operated its first flight with its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft from Dubai International (DXB) to Sialkot International Airport (SKT). The flight FZ 327 departed at 06:30 and landed at 10:12. The four additional Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operated flights to Karachi, Multan and Tehran during the course of the day.

Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer of flydubai, said: With the return to service for the Boeing 737 MAX, this marks the end of 22 months of diligent work undertaken by the global community of regulators and the uncompromising efforts of the flydubai team in preserving and returning the aircraft to passenger service. Now is the time for our MAX aircraft to fly once again.

The remaining nine MAX aircraft will continue to join the fleet with one aircraft scheduled to rejoin the fleet every 10 days. The aircraft will supplement and support the existing flight schedule serving flydubais network of 76 destinations.

Hamad Obaidalla, Chief Commercial Officer of flydubai, said: The primary objective for everyone involved has been to safely return the aircraft to passenger service and we were pleased to see our passengers once again enjoy the exceptional product on our MAX fleet. They offer unrivalled comfort on a narrow-body aircraft in both our Business and Economy cabins.

In addition to the enhancements and modifications to the aircraft and its systems, the GCAA has mandated additional pilot training as part of the stringent requirements for the aircrafts return to service. 233 of flydubais pilots have now completed the additional classroom and simulator training and are now ready to fly the MAX aircraft. The training programme continues as every one of flydubais pilots will receive this regulator-approved MAX aircraft training. - TradeArabia News Service
From learning online to in the classroom to a little bit of both, Lowcountry students have experienced it all this school year.

In March 2020, when Gov. Henry McMaster ordered all schools to close, students were launched into a world of online learning, forced to navigate Zoom, virtual classroom platforms and self-paced courses  all without their teachers physically there to help them.

While students were able to return to the classroom in the fall, they had to be flexible since many districts were not able to offer a full-time return for all students until the second semester. Even inside those classrooms, teachers and students were separated by plexiglass barriers and 6-foot distancing. The world of education looked very different from the way it was in 2019.

Almost no one finds the situation ideal, but many felt it was necessary. As officials look ahead to the next school year, there is one goal in mind: Get students in the classroom.

On the state level, that goal is reflected in a bill passed by the Senate requiring all school districts to offer full-time in-person learning to students. If the measure clears the House and is signed into law, districts that don't offer full-time learning in the classroom will start doing so as early as April 12.

On the local level, tri-county school districts are piecing together the puzzle of what school will look like when students return in September. While district officials are committed to in-person learning, they are looking to create virtual options as it seems online learning is here to stay.

Heres what tri-county families need to know about school for the remainder of the year and beyond:

Charleston County

After opening in-person school to more students throughout the year, the Charleston County School District now offers in-person learning five days a week to all students.

As of April, the district reported about 75 percent of students are learning in person, spokesman Andy Pruitt said.

Students also have the option to temporarily participate in remote learning as well as study in a virtual academy. Students in the temporary remote option have the opportunity to move to in-person learning five days a week, while the virtual academy is a yearlong commitment.

Next school year, the district plans to continue offering in-person learning, with the goal of having 95 percent of students back in classrooms.

The district is eliminating the temporary remote learning option for the next school year. Instead, students in kindergarten through eighth grade can apply for the districts virtual academy.

The academy will offer instruction that is both face to face and taken at the student's own pace, Superintendent Gerrita Postlewait said.

Were hoping that a very small percentage of our students will choose that option, Postlewait said. We know that its in the kids' best interest to get back in school if theres any way possible to do that.

The district's application period for the virtual academy is open through April 11.

Berkeley County

Berkeley County School District offered in-person learning for the 2020-21 school year, with families having the option to opt for virtual programs.

At a school board meeting March 9, the districts virtual learning coordinator, Jenna Wells, said over 1,700 students are attending one of the districts two virtual options.

Going into the next school year, the district is proposing a virtual high school and an online learning program for third through eighth grade. The virtual schools would be limited to 75 students per grade. However, a community survey showed that 2,211 families in grades three through 12 said they would be interested in a virtual option next year.

Because of the high demand, the district will be admitting students through an application and lottery process. Students will have to commit to a minimum of one school year in virtual learning.

"The goal is to minimize the pathways that teachers have to teach so they are not teaching blended distanced learning and traditional at the same time," said Kelli Roberson, the district's interim executive director of curriculum and instruction, at the meeting.

District officials have not indicated a deadline to apply for the program as many details are still being ironed out.

Dorchester District 2

Students in Dorchester District 2 have had the opportunity to participate in full-time, face-to-face instruction since the end of February.

However, the district has offered a virtual academy option to all students and families who are not comfortable with in-person instruction. At a board workshop meeting March 8, Superintendent Joseph Pye said the district is ending the school year with nearly 8,000 students in the virtual academy.

"We threw together our virtual school in the ninth hour," Pye said. "It's probably one of the most successful in South Carolina."

Next school year, the district is offering the academy once again. This time it will be reserved for sixth through 12th grades. As with Berkeley and Charleston, families have to commit to a year of virtual school with the option for students in special cases to transition to in-person learning halfway through the year, virtual academy Director Greg Harrison said at the meeting.

The classes in the virtual academy are taught by district teachers who are dedicated to the virtual academy.

The deadline to enroll in next year's academy was March 25.
Paul Maxwell, former contributor to John Piper's hugely popular apologetics website Desiring God, has announced he is no longer a Christian.

Maxwell has a PhD in philosophy from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and is a former professor of philosophy at the Moody Bible Institute. He currently works for Tithe.ly, a church tithing app.

He wrote dozens of articles for Desiring God between 2014 and 2017, many of them on dating, relationships and issues affecting Christian men.

But in an emotional Instagram Stories video, he revealed that he is no longer a Christian.

In the video, he fought back tears as he told his friends and followers that he is happy and contemplating his next step.

"What I really miss is connection with people," he said.

"What I've discovered is that I'm ready to connect again. And I'm kind of ready not to be angry anymore. I love you guys, and I love all the friendships and support I've built here.

"And I think it's important to say that I'm just not a Christian anymore, and it feels really good. I'm really happy.

"I can't wait to discover what kind of connection I can have with all of you beautiful people as I try to figure out what's next.

"I love you guys. I'm in a really good spot. Probably the best spot of my life. I'm so full of joy for the first time. I love my life."

He also revealed that some people had told him he's going to go Hell now, but he added that he's not angry with them.

"I just say, 'I know that you love me.' I know, and I receive it as love," he said.

"I know you care about the eternal state of my soul and you pushed through the social awkwardness of telling me this because you don't want me to suffer. And that is a good thing. That's a loving thing to do.

"And I hear where you're coming from, and I respect your perspective."

A number of high profile Christians have given up the faith in the last few years, including I Kissed Dating Goodbye author Joshua Harris, Hillsong worship leader Marty Sampson, and more recently Hawk Nelson frontman Jon Steingard.

When Harris left the faith, he said: "Many people tell me that there is a different way to practise faith and I want to remain open to this, but I'm not there now."

In 2019, Sampson wrestled publicly with his Christian faith before shocking the global church with his decision to call it quits.

"It was amazing being one of you, but I'm not any more," he said at the time.

"I love you all, and I always will. I won't forget how much I love Christians, even if they don't love me, I will always love you. Sorry for any bad words I have ever said about any of you. Forgive me. I love you all."

Steingard now describes his spirituality as "curious", and hosts a video discussion series on his Instagram page in which he discusses life, faith and Christianity.



On Twitter, he recently posted: "I no longer call myself a Christian but I've never been more deeply fascinated by the Bible. Anyone else have this experience?"
As students at the Humanitarian Disaster Institute, we have studied the story of Nehemiah as an example of people of faith engaged in social work as a community. His leadership, faithfulness, and trust in the Lord has set an example for us as future humanitarian practitioners and we hope that the story of Nehemiah will give people of all professional backgrounds motivation for remaining steadfast in Jesus even when faced with opposition.

Nehemiah 4:1-6

When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, [2] and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubbleburned as they are?

Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, What they are buildingeven a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!

Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. [5] Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.

So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.

Reflection:

As Christians, we are called to be active in our faith; transformed by the power of the Gospel and mobilized through good works to serve the marginalized in our communities. Because of the state of our sinful world, we are promised that we will receive opposition for the good that we try to do each and every day. In these moments of opposition, it is easy to want to back down, submit to the pressure and save ourselves from further harm and persecution. However, in doing so we choose ourselves and our own protection, losing focus on what we are ultimately called by God to do.

In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah leaves his position of privilege to be an advocate for the poor and defenseless in Jerusalem. By listening to Gods calling and the needs of His people, Nehemiah set forth to practically help and empower those in Jerusalem from the harm and persecution they had been facing in their vulnerable state. In chapter 4, the Israelites set a great example of perseverance and staying true to the good work that God had called them to do, even in the face of threats from those in opposition. In verse 4, they turn to God in petition, asking for His justice to manifest on their behalf while continuing the work they set out to do. Their trust in the faithfulness and power of God as well as their recognition that they were a part of something much greater than themselves led them to persevere in the midst of difficulty.

Being a follower of Christ is an ongoing challenge because of the daily battle we face with sin. It is easy to choose ourselves and our own security when it comes to these moments of difficulty, but as the church we must come together, with eyes set ahead on the God who gives our lives meaning and hope, to complete the good work that God has set before us. Following in the footsteps of Nehemiah and the Israelites, we must not back down for fear of judgment or persecution, but instead be bold in our faith, knowing that the redemptive work of God is so much bigger than ourselves.

Prayer:

God, we come before you confessing our selfish tendency to prioritize ourselves above your plan for redemption. We seek our own security rather than trusting in your justice and promise to protect us as we pursue your will. We ask that you would guide us, molding our hearts and steps towards the things that break your heart. We ask that you would give us a spirit of humility, recognizing that the work we do is not for ourselves but for your glory. Protect us from harm and the work of the devil that threatens our relationship with you. We thank you that your name is victorious and in you, all things will come to fruition. Let your will be done in our hearts and on earth as is in Heaven.

Personal Reflection:

Reflect today on the entirety of the redemptive story of God. Where do you see yourself fitting into this story, recognizing that your agency only plays a small role in the larger picture of Gods plan for His creation? How can you recognize your work as Gods work and not your own?

Elli Halloran is on track to receive an M.A in Humanitarian and Disaster Leadership from Wheaton College after earning her B.S. in Psychology and minor in Bible & Theology in May of 2020.

Gabbie Froiland is an accelerated M.A. student at Wheaton Colleges Humanitarian and Disaster Institute. She earned her B.S. in Applied Health Science and minor in Psychology in May of 2020 from Wheaton College.
Vigils are set to be held this weekend to mark the second anniversary of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange being detained in prison.

Assange, 49, was dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London after seeking refuge there for seven years.

Supporters demanding his release will join events on Sunday outside the embassy, at Westminster Magistrates' Court, and at Belmarsh prison in London where he is being held.

Assange lived inside the embassy for several years before being forcibly removed and arrested by police on April 11, 2019.

Assange, 49, was dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London after seeking refuge there for seven years

A bid by the United States to extradite him was rejected at Westminster Magistrates' Court earlier this year but he has remained in prison until the outcome of an appeal.

WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said that Assange's continued imprisonment was an 'outrage and a travesty of justice'.

He said: 'April 11 marks two years since one of the world's most important journalists was silenced when Metropolitan Police officers stormed into the Ecuadorian embassy and subsequently arrested and imprisoned Julian Assange on the United States' behalf.

'It has now been two years of incarceration, isolation and psychological torture, all for exposing war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, the same journalism for which Julian has been applauded all over the world for and nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Supporters demanding his release will join events on Sunday outside the embassy, at Westminster Magistrates' Court, and at Belmarsh prison in London where he is being held

Assange lived inside the embassy for several years before being forcibly removed and arrested by police (pictured) on April 11, 2019

'It's long past time for this injustice to end and we continue to appeal to the United States and the Department of Justice to drop the appeal and all the charges against Julian.

'In January, a judge in London ruled that Julian should not be extradited and so we are today calling for him to be released from Belmarsh prison and be a free man to be able to spend his time with his young family.'

Mr Hrafnsson added that dozens of human rights and media organisations are supporting the case for Assange to be freed, saying: 'This gross injustice must come to an end.'

It was recently revealed that Pope Francis sent a personal message to Assange, whose partner Stella Moris said: 'After a hard night, Julian woke up this morning to a kind, personal message from Pope Francis delivered to his cell door by the prison priest.'
Raw, ground turkey that may have caused salmonella sicknesses in 12 states was the subject of a USDA Food Safety Inspection Service Public Health Alert that posted to the agencys website Saturday night.

The USDA didnt ask Plainville Brands to issue a recall for the 211,406 pounds of raw, ground turkey packs because they all should have been out of grocers poultry coolers in January. But they might be in consumers freezers, thus the alert.

This alert concerns:

 3-pound packs of Wegmans 93% lean 7% fat Ground Turkey with use or freeze by dates of 1/3/21, 1/4/21, 1/8/21 and 1/10/21.

 1-pound packs of Wegmans 94% lean 6% fat Ground Turkey with use or freeze by dates of 1/3/21, 1/4/21, 1/8/21 and 1/10/21.

Wegmans ground turkey in 1-pound packs

 1-pound packs of Natures Promise, Hannaford supermarkets store brand, 94% lean 6% fat with use or freeze by dates of 1/1/21/, 1/3/21, 1/4/21, 1/8/21 and 1/10/21.

Natures Promise ground turkey included in the public health alert

 1-pound packs of Plainville Farms Ground White Turkey, 93% lean 7% fat with a use or freeze date of 1/10/21.

Plainville Farms ground turkey

The salmonella outbreak hit 12 states with 28 illinesses from December through March.

By the CDCs count, salmonella strikes 1.35 million Americans each year, hospitalizes about 26,500 and kills 420. Most at risk for the worst effects are senior citizens, children under 5 and those with damaged immune systems. Most people get fever, vomiting, stomachaches and diarrhea for four to seven days.

Consumers can return the turkey to the store of purchase, toss it or, if they use it, make sure its been cooked to 165 degrees. Take the temperature with a food thermometer.

Questions about this alert can be directed to TK Communications Yusef Robb, 323-384-1789 or ysef@tkcommunicationsllc.com.

Sabra hummus recalled in Florida, California and 14 other states might have salmonella

Protein powders, cookie recalled for a potential serious or life-threatening problem
London, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Apr, 2021 ) :Chelsea boosted their bid to finish in the Premier League's top four as Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic starred in a 4-1 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Thomas Tuchel's side blew Palace away with a swaggering first half display inspired by Germany forward Havertz.

Chelsea are up to fourth place and sit two points clear of fifth placed Liverpool.

West Ham, also two points behind the Blues, would reclaim fourth if they beat Leicester on Sunday.

Havertz has endured a difficult time since his close-season move from Bayer Leverkusen, but he gave a rare glimpse of his quality with the opening goal in south London.

The 21-year-old turned provider to set up Pulisic for the second goal before Kurt Zouma put Chelsea three up after 30 minutes.

Christian Benteke got one back for Palace in the second half, but Pulisic netted again as Chelsea cruised to their first win in three league games.

Tuchel suffered his first defeat in 15 matches since replacing the sacked Frank Lampard when West Bromwich Albion claimed a 5-2 win at Stamford Bridge last weekend.

That stunning setback was followed by a training ground bust-up between Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger and reserve keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

But Chelsea had eased fears of a late-season collapse with a composed 2-0 win against Porto in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.

This was another confident step in Chelsea's revival under Tuchel, who faces a big week as the Blues take on Porto in the second leg on Tuesday before playing Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-finals on Saturday.

Tuchel recalled Pulisic, Zouma and Callum Hudson-Odoi, with the misfiring Timo Werner among those to miss out.

"On form and on work rate. We used Timo Werner lots and are close to overuse," Tuchel said of his decision to rest the struggling German forward.

Thanks in large part to Havertz, who started in the central striker's role Werner has failed to fill, Chelsea tore Palace to shreds in a blistering start.

- In the groove - Havertz has arguably fared even worse than Werner in his first season, but in the eighth minute the German showed why the Blues paid 71 million ($97 million) to sign him.

Taking Hudson-Odoi's pass on the right-hand side of the Palace area, Havertz advanced with intent before stroking a fine finish in the far corner from an acute angle.

It was only his second league goal for Chelsea and his first in any competition since January.

Pulisic is another of Chelsea's forwards who has slogged through a difficult season marred by injuries.

But the United States winger joined forces with Havertz to double Chelsea's lead 102 seconds later.

Havertz was the creator with a cutback that Pulisic took in stride before smashing a rising drive past Vicente Guaita from close-range.

Havertz looked in the groove at last and he showed sublime touch to control Mason Mount's lofted pass, looping it over bewildered Palace defender Gary Cahill for a low strike that forced a superb save from Guaita.

Chelsea hadn't scored more than two goals in any of their previous 16 matches under Tuchel in all competitions.

Zouma ended that streak in the 30th minute as Mount swung in a free-kick and the French defender rose above Cahill to power his header past Guaita.

Palace's work rate improved in the second half as Chelsea moved into game-management mode with the points in the bag.

Benteke reduced the deficit in the 63rd minute with a thumping header from Jeffrey Schlupp's cross.

But Chelsea had the last word when Pulisic bundled home James' deflected cross in the 78th minute.
Prince Philip was a cautious moderniser, and the co-architect with the Queen of the renovation of the monarchy that allowed it to retain the respect and loyalty of a large majority of the British people over the 73 years of their marriage. The public reaction to his death, of grief mixed with affection, is some measure of his success.

His death leaves a void not just in our national life but at the heart of the family that is such a powerful symbol, still, of our national unity. One of the significant moments of that modernisation was the decision, guided by the prince, to allow the filming of the 1969 documentary Royal Family.

Conservatives in the royal household were opposed, on the grounds that it would let in daylight upon magic, in Walter Bagehots phrase, but it was an awkward step in the right direction. The instinct behind the decision was sound, in that it showed that they were a real family  hardly a normal family, but a real one.
(CNN)  Vaccinations are ramping up across the US. More than 175 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered, according to CNN's vaccine tracker, a rate of about 53 doses per 100 people.

But some developments have dampened the excitement: This week, a few vaccination sites across the US paused operations after some patients reported adverse reactions following the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The vaccine has also been linked to blood clots in four people who received the vaccine. One of the cases was fatal, European health officials confirmed.

Incidents of "breakthrough infections" have caused some concern, too: A few people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 have still been infected with the virus and, in some cases, have died.

Both issues raise valid concerns, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. But the risks of getting vaccinated -- severe reactions remain incredibly rare -- are outweighed by the risks of Covid-19 infection, he said.

All three vaccines continue to work well

Health experts in the US and beyond agree: All three Covid-19 vaccines currently authorized in the US continue to be safe and highly effective at preventing Covid-19 infection.

Moderna and Pfizer, which in clinical trials were found to be between 94% to 95% effective at preventing Covid-19 infection, have recently been studied under "real-world conditions" following their authorization in the US and other countries. A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that followed fully vaccinated health care workers found that both vaccines were 90% effective at preventing infections.

But 90% isn't 100%, so "breakthrough infections," or cases of Covid-19 that occur in fully vaccinated people, are to be expected and don't mean the vaccines are less effective, said Dr. Anthony Fauci at a White House briefing on Friday.

"That number of individuals who were breakthrough infections is not at all incompatible with a 90 plus percent vaccine efficacy. So I don't think that there needs to be concern about any shift or change in the efficacy of the vaccine," Fauci said in response to a question from CNN's Kaitlan Collins.

Johnson & Johnson is not a 'second-class' vaccine

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was linked to four cases of blood clots, one case in a clinical trial and the remaining three during the vaccine's rollout in the US, the European Medicines Agency confirmed Friday. In one of the cases, the person died.

Vaccination sites in Iowa, Colorado, Georgia and North Carolina this week paused vaccinations after a few people reported adverse reactions from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. In Colorado, two of 11 people who complained of nausea and dizziness were taken to a hospital for evaluation but were released without hospitalization, health care provider Centura Health told CNN on Friday. The other nine people recovered with juice and water.

In a statement released on Friday, CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund told CNN, "CDC is aware of several incidents of vaccine recipients experiencing dizziness, light headedness, feeling faint, rapid breathing, and sweating (vasovagal or anxiety-related) symptoms following COVID-19 vaccines in Iowa, Colorado, Georgia, and North Carolina."

At this time, CDC and FDA "are not recommending health departments stop administering any lots of COVID-19 vaccine," the statement says. "CDC has performed vaccine lot analyses and has not found any reason for concern."

CDC officials take reports of adverse events seriously and "constantly analyze" the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, Schaffner said. Even considering those reports of adverse reactions, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is still considered a safe and important tool to combat Covid-19.

Health experts worry, too, about the stigma that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a lesser vaccine than Moderna and Pfizer's offerings. Trials of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine showed it was 66% effective at preventing moderate to severe illness compared to the 90% effectiveness of Moderna and Pfizer.

But Johnson & Johnson's one-shot vaccine is not a "second-class" vaccine, Schaffner said. It was evaluated under different circumstances -- it was tested later in 2020 than the other two, and one of its primary trial locations was South Africa, where a highly contagious variant began to dominate. The vaccine was found to be effective in preventing severe disease there, and no patients who received the vaccine were hospitalized or died.

Why some vaccinated people still get sick and even die

In Friday's briefing, Fauci noted that the few deaths seen among the 200-plus breakthrough infections predominantly occurred in elderly people. That's not unexpected, he said.

Older people are more likely than the rest of the population to have underlying conditions. Older people were also among the first to be vaccinated, in addition to health care workers, Schaffner noted.

Schaffner noted the fully vaccinated elderly are already at a heightened risk of death due to their age and health status.

"Those are populations that are enriched with people who have underlying illnesses," he said. "We know that, on a day-to-day basis, adverse events in that population are going to occur."

To determine whether the vaccine directly causes adverse reactions, health experts at the CDC and other agencies compare vaccinated people to unvaccinated people within the same demographics to find if adverse events occur more commonly in the vaccinated group. If they occur at similar rates, Schaffner said, the adverse events are likely not related to the vaccine.

Side effects aren't rare, but severe reactions are

Minor side effects after receiving a vaccine aren't uncommon. In the case of the Covid-19 vaccines, an estimated 10% to 15% of volunteers in clinical trials developed noticeable side effects, a former Operation Warp Speed official said late last year.

The most common complaints for the Covid-19 vaccine include arm soreness, fatigue, body aches and, in some cases, a low-grade fever. Nausea, like the 11 patients in Colorado experienced, headaches and swelling at the injection site may occur, too, according to the CDC.

Severe side effects, like an allergic reaction, are far less common, occurring around every two to five per million people, Baylor College of Medicine dean Dr. Peter Hotez told CNN earlier this month.

Severe adverse reactions are extremely rare, but they're commonly associated with vaccines, and in most cases, health agencies say the benefits outweigh the risk. The rare disorder Guillain-Barre syndrome, which can cause muscle weakness and is thought to follow infection with a virus, occurs in about one or two cases per million flu vaccines. But the vaccine is still considered an essential tool in preventing unnecessary deaths: In the 2017-2018 flu season, of the estimated 45 million Americans diagnosed with the flue, around 61,000 of them died.

The risk from the Covid-19 vaccine is miniscule compared to the risk of severe illness from Covid-19 itself, Schaffner said. As case numbers surge once again in the US, even as millions of people are vaccinated, it's hugely important that those who can get vaccinated do, he said.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to accurately characterize Dr. William Schaffner's comments about vaccine risks. He said the risk of Covid-19 infection outweighs the rare risk of adverse reactions to vaccines.

This story was first published on CNN.com "The Covid-19 vaccines are highly effective, and the chance of an adverse reaction is rare."
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
Nastasia Snape, 23, of North Lauderdale, was driving erratically on Ocean Boulevard in Boca Raton on Friday morning when she struck two pedestrians, killing one of them

A woman from Florida who went by the name Harry Potter and whose last name resembled that of another character from the stories struck and killed a federal judge from Long Island on Friday in a hit-and-run.

Federal Judge Sandra Feuerstein, 75, from Islip, New York, was mowed down by the woman's car in the Boca Raton crash along with a six-year-old boy who was also hit.

Nastasia Snape, 23, from North Lauderdale, Florida was behind the wheel at the time of the accident.

It appears there was very little Judge Feuerstein could have done to avoid being hit as Snape's car veered across the road from the northbound lane of North Ocean Boulevard across to the southbound lane before mounting the sidewalk and striking her.

But Snape didn't stop after the collision and instead continues for a further five miles to Delray Beach, where she crashed.

A Delray Beach police officer reported that she appeared to be convulsing or having a seizure despite Snape telling them she was okay.

Judge Sandra Feuerstein, who was from New York originally, was nominated to the federal bench by President George W. Bush in 2003. She was killed in a hit-and-run on Friday

Paramedics were soon on scene whereupon Snape screamed and fought with them as she claimed to be Harry Potter. Severus Snape is a character in the Harry Potter tales.

She was able to be calmed with an anesthetic called ketamine.

Once Snape was out of the vehicle, an officer attempted to question her but she would not respond to him and 'stared into space.'

Snape did not make eye contact or move around as a typical person would be who had just been involved in a crash.

Police searched her car and found a designer drug called 'T salts', known to cause erratic, delirious behavior.

Snape was convulsing or having a seizure in her car when cops found her. Medics were forced to give her an anesthetic to calm her down after she was found to be high on a drug called T salts. She is pictured here in an image from her Facebook account

Snape is set to be charged with vehicular homicide, hit-and-run involving death, and leaving the scene of an accident with injury.

Feuerstein, who was from New York originally, was nominated to the federal bench by President George W. Bush in 2003.

'Judge Feuerstein was a treasured member of our Eastern District bench,' District Court Executive Eugene Corcoran said in a statement. 'Her eccentric style and warm personality lit up the courtroom. She will be missed by her colleagues and litigants alike.'

Before sitting on the federal bench, she was a state court judge for 16 years and was sworn in as a New York Supreme Court judge by her mother, Immigration Court Judge Annette Elstein.

The pair were believed to be the country's first mother-daughter judges, according to the New York Daily News.
Two teenagers have been charged following the fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old boy.

The pair were arrested in Brisbane's CBD on Sunday after Yannis Leulusoo was stabbed.

Yannis was knifed in the stomach while walking in Emma Miller Place at 8pm on Thursday, police say.

A 16-year-old from Mango Hill was charged with murder while a 17-year-old from Wooloowin was charged as an accessory after the fact.

Two boys have been arrested following the stabbing of Yannis Leulusoo at about 8pm on Thursday night

The alleged victim was stabbed at about 8pm on Thursday night in Brisbane's CBD

The two boys who were arrested have been denied police bail and are in custody before they will appear in the Brisbane Children's Court.

After Mr Leulusoo was stabbed he staggered 200m to King George Square before he collapsed, police say.

A bystander called an ambulance but he later died in hospital.

Detective Superintendent Tony Fleming says there is an ongoing investigation and he has made an appeal for more information.

'I'd definitely call on people, if there is tensions simmering there, to cool it,' he said.

Mr Leulusoo was seen talking to the boys about 30 minutes before the stabbing.

It is also alleged that they are members of two rival gangs in Brisbane.

Police have alleged that the victim and the accused are from rival gangs in Brisbane

Detective Superintendent Tony Fleming has warned that any form of revenge style gang behaviour is not the answer.

'Retaliatory action is not going to benefit anyone; everyone loses out of that,' he said.

'The allegation is that one person has killed another person. If a person is found guilty of that, that is a life-imprisonment offence.'

The victim staggered 200m to King George Square before he collapsed in a pool of blood, police say

'This is an aberration, a young man is dead.'

One of the victim's close friends described him as footy-mad who was 'kind and caring.'

'He always made sure his friends were right before himself, he always put them before himself,' the friend said.

'He was kind, caring...and he knew how to crack jokes.'
Just after midnight on Sept. 11, 2017, three shots ripped through the front door of a Black family's Sandy Ridge Drive home. The next night a Black man was fatally shot at a Florida Street bus stop. Another Black man was shot to death two nights later walking to his shift at Louie's Cafe.

Kenneth Gleason, a White man who lived on Sandy Ridge Drive in Baton Rouge, was quickly booked and indicted in the homicides and attempted killings, and on Monday morning jury selection is set to begin in the alleged serial killer's long-anticipated trial.

Gleason, 27, is being tried on a first-degree murder count in the second of the killings, but evidence relating to the other homicide and the non-fatal shooting also will be introduced into evidence.

+4 For alleged serial killer Kenneth Gleason, judge says 'integral acts' can be used as evidence Nine hours after three shots were fired into a black family's Sandy Ridge Drive home just after midnight on Sept. 11, 2017, a worker at a Cour

He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison if convicted as charged. The verdict must be unanimous.

The trial is expected to last two weeks, including several days of jury selection. State District Judge Beau Higginbotham will preside over the trial.

East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III said Friday his office is confident that after a full presentation of the evidence  subject to cross examination and inspection  "justice will prevail."

"We are prepared to present the state's case against Mr. Gleason and bring justice and closure to the families who have been tragically affected," he added.

Gleason's attorney, Ashly Van Earl, said his client maintains his innocence.

"I believe the state has a heavy burden in this case, and this will be a great judge of whether you're innocent until proven guilty," Earl said.

Gleason was indicted on two counts of attempted second-degree murder in the Sept. 11, 2017, incident in which he allegedly fired several shots into the home of the only Black family on the Sandy Ridge Drive block where he lived several doors down with his parents.

Two men were inside the house but not injured. One of the bullets traveled through a couch, under a chair, out a back window and through a wall into a back storage shed.

Gleason also was indicted with second-degree murder in the Sept. 12, 2017, killing of Bruce Cofield, a homeless man, and first-degree murder in the Sept. 14, 2017, slaying of Donald Smart. The homicides occurred five miles apart.

Authorities have said the three shootings were apparently random and possibly racially motivated.

Cofield, 59, was shot as he sat at a bus stop on Florida Street near South Acadian Thruway.

+2 Homicide victim Bruce Cofield recalled as well-dressed man with a song in his heart Employees and clients at a Baton Rouge drop-in center for the homeless remember 59-year-old Bruce Cofield as a private, well-dressed man who w

A Baton Rouge police detective testified in 2019 during a hearing in the case that a witness told police a White male got out of his car and shot Cofield, who then rolled into the street. The shooter then stood over Cofield and fired more shots. The detective, Saundra Watts, said 10 bullets were recovered from the victims body, and 13 shell casings were recovered from the scene.

Smart, 49, was killed at the Alaska Street BREC park near the north side of the LSU campus while walking to his overnight shift at Louie's, where he was a dishwasher.

Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Two LSU students in the park at the time told police a man drove up in a red car and shot Smart. The shooter then got out of his car, walked over to the victim and continued shooting. Four bullets were taken from Smarts body, Watts said, and 10 shell casings were discovered at the scene.

Authorities have said Gleason is linked to Cofield's killing and the nonfatal shooting through DNA evidence, and to both fatal shootings and the nonfatal incident through ballistics evidence.

Prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty against Gleason after consulting with Smart's family.

The Louisiana State Police Crime Lab determined that the casings recovered from all three shooting scenes were fired from the same 9 mm gun. The firearm used in the shootings has not been found.

An East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's detective testified at the 2019 hearing that nine hours after the Sandy Ridge shooting, a worker at a Coursey Boulevard Jiffy Lube a half-mile away saw a White man in a red car remove a gun from a mulched area at the store.

Lt. Scott Henning said the worker later identified the man as Gleason.

Watts testified at the same hearing that nine hours before Cofield was gunned down, employees of a surveillance firm spotted a White man with a gun in a parking lot removing the license plate from a red car and putting duct tape over the car's identifying markings.

When Gleason was taken into custody, the red car he was driving had the same dent in the back bumper and an American flag sticker shown on the Custom Security surveillance video, Moore said previously.

Gleason is not charged with a hate crime, but prosecutor Dana Cummings said last week during a hearing that his cellphone records, which will be used at the trial, contained "repeated references" to Adolf Hitler and to cleansing.

Gleason's lawyer said during the hearing that Gleason studied German at LSU.

A sketch of a swastika was found in Gleason's holding cell in 2017, but Cummings said the drawing won't be shown to the jury because it had been misfiled in the case record and was only recently handed over to the defense.

+3 Swastika can't come up at alleged Baton Rouge serial killer's trial; Hitler references can A sketch of a swastika found in a suspected Baton Rouge serial killer's holding cell won't be used at the upcoming trial of the White man accu

The Associated Press reported in September 2017 that law enforcement found a copy of a Hitler speech during a search of Gleason's home. The wire service attributed that information to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing at the time.

Gleason grew up in Baton Rouge and graduated cum laude from Baton Rouge Magnet High School, a selective program often referred to as the city's flagship public school.

He became an Eagle Scout in 2012, completing a construction project at St. John's United Methodist Church to earn the title  an achievement shared by only about 5% of all Boy Scouts, according to the organization.

Gleason attended LSU for one year starting in the fall of 2012.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Derek Chauvin's defense attorney was questioning George Floyd's girlfriend about the couple buying drugs when he abruptly shifted gears for what seemed an innocuous question: He presumed the couple had pet names for each other. Under what name, he asked, did she appear in Floyd's phone?

Courteney Ross first smiled at the question, then paused before replying: Mama.

The fleeting exchange called into question the widely reported account that Floyd was crying out for his deceased mother as he lay pinned to the pavement. And it appeared to be one in a series of moves aimed at undermining a dominant narrative of Floyd's death  established through bystander video and saturation news coverage and commentary  of a reckless, arrogant cop ignoring a man's I can't breathe cries as his life is snuffed out.

At another moment in the trial, Nelson asked a paramedic if he had responded to other overdose calls before quickly correcting himself to say overdose calls  perhaps a simple mistake, or an attempt to plant the idea that Floyd's death was an overdose.

Expert witnesses for the prosecution have asserted drugs did not kill Floyd.

Nelson has repeatedly called the bystanders at Floyd's arrest a crowd and unruly and suggested there were more people present than seen on camera. He drilled a fire department captain on taking 17 minutes to reach the scene when an ambulance called first arrived much sooner. And he persistently suggested Chauvin's knee wasn't on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds as prosecutors have argued  suggesting instead it was across Floyd's back, shoulder blades and arm.

Many times as an attorney, youve got some facts that are just  bad for you. But you either want to downplay them or create another narrative, said Mike Brandt, a Minneapolis defense attorney who is closely watching the case.

Any good defense attorney has to try and take what you can get, Brandt said. Sometimes we say in a trial, you want to throw as much mud on the wall as you can and hope some of it sticks.

Nelson, 46, handles cases ranging from drunken driving arrests to homicides, and is one of a dozen attorneys who take turns working with a police union legal defense fund to represent officers charged with crimes. One of his bigger cases involved Amy Senser, the wife of Joe Senser, a former Minnesota Vikings tight end, who was convicted in a 2011 hit-and-run death.

Nelson has joked with witnesses at times and, perhaps to connect with the jury, made light of his occasional fumbles with technology or mispronunciations of words. He's a Minnesota native who, during a break in the trial, chatted up Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, asking whether he remembered the fight song for Minneapolis Roosevelt  the high school both attended.

Away from the lighter moments, Nelson has appeared well-prepared even as he goes up against a prosecution team many times larger. He has gone hard and consistently at his chief message: that Floyd's consumption of illegal drugs is to blame for his death, rather than something Chauvin did. An autopsy found fentanyl and methamphetamine in Floyd's system.

In the trial's second week, Nelson played a snippet of officer body-camera video and asked two witnesses whether they could hear Floyd say, I ate too many drugs. The audio was hard to make out, but Nelson got a state investigator to agree with his version of the quote. Prosecutors later played a fuller clip and the investigator backtracked, saying he believed Floyd said I ain't do no drugs."

As the state paraded medical experts to testify that Floyd died because his oxygen was cut off, not because of drugs, Nelson challenged the substance of their findings that the amounts detected in Floyd either were small or that people had survived significantly higher levels. But he also frequently framed questions to include the phrase illicit drugs," pointed out there's no legal reason for a person to have methamphetamine in their system, and asked one witness whether he agreed that the number of deaths of people mixing meth and fentanyl had risen.

This is a typical tactic that wed say good defense attorneys do, David Schultz, a law professor at the University of Minnesota who is watching the trial closely, said. Not all of them are as subtle or gifted as Eric Nelson.

When the paramedics first to the scene testified, Nelson's questions included asking them why they did a load and go  that is, putting Floyd in their ambulance and moving a few blocks away before beginning treatment. It implied a delay in potentially life-saving treatment, but also fed into another recurring Nelson theme that prosecutors reject: the officers were distracted from caring for Floyd by a threatening crowd.

Video of the scene worked against the argument, showing about 15 people watching as Floyd was restrained, including several teens and girls, though several were shouting at the officers to get off Floyd and check him for a pulse.

Nelson has at times taken aim at the mountain of bystander, surveillance and body-camera video offered by police, suggesting it only tells part of the story and can be misleading. At one point, Nelson used the phrase camera perspective bias to suggest that Chauvin's knee was not where the camera appeared to show it.

He has also argued that Chauvin was merely following the training he'd received throughout a 19-year career, even as several police supervisors  including Arradondo  testified otherwise. Nelson showed jurors an image from department training materials of a trainer with a knee on the neck of an instructor playing a suspect, and got some witnesses to agree generally that use of force may look bad but still be lawful.

Brandt said anything Nelson can do now  while the state is presenting its case  is huge, and will only serve as building blocks that he can use when he starts presenting his own case.

Schultz said attorneys have to be careful. He noted how Nelsons questioning of Donald Williams, one of the most vocal bystanders, sparked a backlash on social media. Users accused Nelson, who pressed Williams on whether he was angry and repeated his profanities in court, of perpetuating an angry Black man trope.

Some jurors might have felt the same, Schultz said.

You as the attorney have to sell yourself to the jury, Schultz said. And an attorney who risks pushing too far risks being disliked by the jury, and thats damaging to the case, too.
Tehran, April 11 : The Iranian parliament has filed charges against President Hassan Rouhani, in an intensifying power struggle between hardliners and moderates in the country.

The deputies accuse him of having disregarded laws passed by parliament. Citing the Fars news agency, DPA reported on Sunday that 190 of the 235 lawmakers present voted in favour, without providing any further background or detail.

Observers see a connection between the vote and the renewed nuclear negotiations in Vienna, which may require a compromise with the hardliners' arch-enemy, the US.

Shortly after their victory in parliamentary elections in February 2020, the hardliners and conservatives have pressured the moderate president to be called in and ultimately resign.

They argue that Rouhani distanced the Islamic Republic from its ideological goals with pro-Western policies and the 2015 Vienna nuclear agreement.

Rouhani for his part accuses the hardliners in parliament of sacrificing national interests for domestic power struggles ahead of the presidential election in June.

Rouhani himself may not be able to run again after two terms in office, but according to observers, the hardliners also want to minimize the chances of the other moderate candidates.
Bengaluru, April 11 : Even as the indefinite strike by the employees of the Karnataka transport corporation over wage hike entered fifth day, 2,663 buses were operated across the state, as some drivers and conductors returned to work, an official said on Sunday.

"We have 2,663 buses from across the state on intra-state and inter-state routes during the day with some employees reporting for duty," said the official of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) in a statement here.

Though the state government banned the strike under the Industrial Dispute Act on April 9 and detained the employees' union leader Kodihalli Chandrashekar at Belagavi in the state's northwest region on Saturday, majority of the 1.37-lakh defiant workers stayed away from work.

"Salary for March will be given on Monday to those employees returning to work despite threat by their striking colleagues," said the official.

Request for inter-corporation transfer of striking staff will not be considered and those who were already transferred will be sent back to their original depot.

"Duration of student and monthly passes will be extended during the strike period," said the official.

In addition to state-run buses, state-run road transport corporations of Andhra Pradesh operated 342 buses, Kerala 32, Tamil Nadu 552 and Telangana 39.

"KSRTC operated buses to and from select cities and towns in all the neigbouring southern states," added the official.
 Close BAFTA supporting-actress winner thanks 'snobbish' British people

Tonights Bafta Film Awards saw Nomadland and Promising Young Woman take home the major wins in a ceremony that took place almost entirely over Zoom.

Edith Bowman and Dermot OLeary hosted the show from Londons Royal Albert Hall, and were occasionally joined in person by presenters such as Hugh Grant and James McAvoy. All the nights winners and nominees were based elsewhere, leading to a night of live-streamed speeches.

Among the more memorable moments of the night were delightful acceptance speeches by Rocks actor and EE Rising Star winner Bukky Bakray, as well as the Minari star Yuh-Jung Youn. The latter sparked hilarity by referring to the British people as snobbish while collecting her gong for Best Supporting Actress.

There was also a bizarre musical number by former One Direction member Liam Payne, who performed alongside a computer-generated double of himself.

The full list of tonights winners can be found here, while below you can find six of the nights major talking points.

Barely any of these movies have come out yet!

Britain has valiantly steered clear of making at-home releases a new standard during the pandemic, out of the hope that cinemas will re-open to high demand momentarily. But its meant that something like Promising Young Woman, which was released on-demand in January in the USA, remains unavailable to (legally) see in the UK  though it will finally be released on Sky Cinema on 16 April. Almost all of the nights major winners are in a similar boat, from The Father to Nomadland to Sound of Metal. It left this Baftas feeling oddly insider-y. Sure, those lucky enough to work in the media have been able to view these movies via private screeners, but what of everyone else?

Bukky Bakray (BBC)

Bukky Bakray and Yuh-Jung Youn proved that Zoom speeches arent inherently tedious

Probably due to the circumstances, tonights winners speeches were a typically stiff affair. So thank you to Rocks star Bukky Bakray and Minaris Yuh-Jung Youn, both of whom were funny, endearing and, in Youns case, brilliantly caustic. With awe-inspiring elegance, she called the British people very snobbish, leading everyone at home to presumably evaporate out of shame.

Promising Young Woman was the safe choice to make

Improved voting procedures and a wider pool of Bafta voters made this years nominees list one of the most interesting in years. It was therefore a bit disappointing to see Promising Young Woman scoop both Outstanding British Film and Best Original Screenplay  particularly when it was up against Rocks, His House and Saint Maud in the former category, while the films script is among its weaker elements.

A Hopkins win was one of the nights big surprises

Sir Anthony Hopkins acting pedigree has long been beyond doubt  so why was it such a surprise to see him collect the Best Actor award? Well, for one thing, he beat out a handful of strong competitors, including Riz Ahmed, whose turn in Sound of Metal has been hailed as a career-best, and Chadwick Boseman. Bosemans posthumous performance, in the Netflix-released period drama Ma Raineys Black Bottom, had been widely tipped for Oscar glory. Hopkins previously won Bafta awards in 1992 and 1994 for The Silence of the Lambs and The Remains of the Day, and was later awarded the Fellowship in 2008. He was, before the result was announced, seen as almost a too-obvious choice  someone whose talents had already been thoroughly appreciated, who had, in a sense, already had their turn in the spotlight. Its a testament to the strength of his work in The Father that he was able to transcend such a thing. What ramifications this could have for the Oscars in two weeks time remains to be seen. In this strange awards season, though, nothing is a given.

Daniel Kaluuya during his Best Supporting Actor speech at tonights Baftas (BBC)

Edith Bowman and Dermot OLeary werent half bad

Bafta has an almost supernatural ability to make even the most charismatic stars  among them Joanna Lumley and Graham Norton  completely die on stage when they host these things. So kudos to Edith Bowman and Dermot OLeary, two safe pairs of hands who successfully steered this understandably odd semi-virtual ceremony. Bafta bosses were also smart to make this a remarkably efficient two hours, which somehow even managed to finish early. There was minimal fuss, few moments of cringe, and little time wasted. More of this, please, even when there isnt a pandemic on.

Liam Payne was a choice

The Bafta producer who pitched an opening duet between Liam Payne and a virtually augmented version of himself? Honestly the bravest person in the UK. Give them a medal. Then sack them.

Relive all of tonights major moments in our live blog below...
The United States is giving out about three million shots a day, an increase from roughly two million in early March.

New Hampshire has administered the highest percentage of covid-19 vaccines it has received, according to the CDC's covid-19 vaccine distribution and administration data tracker. Oklahoma and New Hampshire are the latest states to announce they will open up vaccine eligibility to nonresidents.

Vaccinate out-of-state residents

In New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, said on Wednesday that officials were confident that there would be enough shots to vaccinate out-of-state residents by April 19

Oklahoma began allowing nonresidents to get vaccinated in the state on Thursday, nearly two weeks after it expanded eligibility to all in-state residents 16 or older. Experts hope that more will soon follow suit as the production and distribution of vaccines ramps up.

Biden's deadline

As the US supply of covid-19 vaccines continues to grow and states plan to meet or beat President Bidens April 19 deadline for expanding eligibility to all adults, some states have begun dropping one of the last barriers to vaccine access: residency rules.

The CDC's data tracker compiles data from healthcare facilities and public health authorities. It reports the total number of covid-19 vaccines that have been distributed to each state and the total number each state has administered.

As of 6 a.m. EDT April 10, a total of 237,791,735 vaccine doses had been distributed in the US, and 183,467,709 had been administered, or 77.15 percent. Additionally, 117,142,879 people had received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 70,692,645 had been fully vaccinated. That means 35.3 percent of the US population had received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 21.3 percent had been fully vaccinated.

New Hampshire leading the way



Below are some of the states ranked by the percentage of covid-19 vaccines they've administered of those that have been distributed to them. Some numbers may not reflect the actual number of vaccines administered, as coding problems and data lags have hindered efforts to accurately count and publicly report how many doses are administered daily in some states.

New Hampshire

Doses distributed to state: 1,003,555

Doses administered: 922,666

Percentage of distributed vaccines that have been administered: 91.94

Wisconsin

Doses distributed to state: 3,999,985

Doses administered: 3,558,061

Percentage of distributed vaccines that have been administered: 88.95

North Dakota

Doses distributed to state: 547,170

Doses administered: 484,807

Percentage of distributed vaccines that have been administered: 88.6

Minnesota

Doses distributed to state: 3,777,940

Doses administered: 3,312,268

Percentage of distributed vaccines that have been administered: 87.67

New Mexico

Doses distributed to state: 1,710,565

Doses administered: 1,477,908

Percentage of distributed vaccines that have been administered: 86.4

New Jersey

Doses distributed to state: 6,362,455

Doses administered: 5,495,689

Percentage of distributed vaccines that have been administered: 86.38

Maine

Doses distributed to state: 1,037,000

Doses administered: 883,051

Percentage of distributed vaccines that have been administered: 85.15

Utah

Doses distributed to state: 1,954,460

Doses administered: 1,662,200

Percentage of distributed vaccines that have been administered: 85.05

Rhode Island

Doses distributed to state: 803,105

Doses administered: 680,525

Percentage of distributed vaccines that have been administered: 84.74

Massachusetts

Doses distributed to state: 5,331,330

Doses administered: 4,461,283

Percentage of distributed vaccines that have been administered: 83.68

The three slowest states in US



Mississippi

Doses distributed to state: 2,074,625

Doses administered: 1,337,659

Percentage of distributed vaccines that have been administered: 64.48

Wyoming

Doses distributed to state: 450,525

Doses administered: 289,340

Percentage of distributed vaccines that have been administered: 64.22

Alabama

Doses distributed to state: 3,278,980

Doses administered: 2,065,327

Percentage of distributed vaccines that have been administered: 62.99

Follow our live vaccines updates on AS English.
New Delhi:

India's Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar who is on a visit to Bhutan held talks with senior government officials on Wednesday amid reports of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) deploying fresh troops near the highly strategic Doka La region.

The fresh citing of PLA troops in the strategic Doklam region comes weeks after the long drawn stand-off that ended following Prime Minister Narendra Modis meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Xiamen.

The standoff began on June 16 after the Indian side stopped the construction of a road by the Chinese Army on June 16 in Doklam. On August 28, Indias External Affairs Ministry announced that both sides have decided on expeditious disengagement of their border troops from the disputed area.Days after the face-off ended, Army Chief Bipin Rawat had said China has started flexing its muscles and warned that the situation in Indias northern border could snowball into a larger conflict.

India had announced the disengagement of its troops from Dolkam on August 29 after a prolonged, 74-day standoff. Prime Minister Modi had met President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the ninth Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa group summit on September 5.

The sources said the top commanders are also likely to discuss the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The conference will be addressed by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Hyderabad, April 11 : Telangana's Cabinet Minister and working president of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) K.T. Rama Rao on Sunday said it's the collective responsibility of all to take the current surge in Covid-19 cases seriously.

"It's the collective responsibility of all of us to take Covid seriously. Get your mask on and stay safe," he tweeted.

KTR, as the Minister is popularly known, replied to a wide range of questions posed by Twitter users during AskKTR programme, which lasted for 90 minutes.

"Personally, I don't think so," he quipped when asked about any chances of complete lockdown in the state.

"I don't think it's a good idea," KTR said when asked can we expect full time lockdown in Telangana due to spike in Covid cases.

Replying to questions about Covid-19 vaccine shortage, the minister for industry, information technology, municipal administration and urban development pointed out that there is shortage all over India.

"Not that I am aware of," he wrote when asked whether Telangana received any reply from the Centre about the request for more vaccines.

A follower wanted to know his mantra to fight increasing communal violence in the society. "Get people to focus on real issues; employment, infrastructure, healthcare and education," replied KTR.

"End of the day, democracy should win," the TRS leader said when asked who will win polls in West Bengal and Kerala.

He exuded confidence that TRS will win the by-election to Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly seat in Telangana. He stated that the contest is between a leader who represents the past (Jana Reddy of Congress) and a young man who represents the future hope (Nomula Bhagat of TRS).

A follower wanted to know if India is competing with china in terms of infrastructure. "Nope. If we have to compete, we need to think on scale. Unfortunately no support coming through for India's largest textile park (Kakatiya mega textile park) or Hyderabad pharma city project." Replying to a question on status of Hyderabad Pharma City, KTR said that land acquisition is almost completed and allotment of lands to investors will start soon.

"Don't think there's much we can do as it's just an advisory body. Just hope prudence will prevail and states are supported on merit and not political considerations," he replied when asked if states can do anything to get the recommendations of NITI Aayog implemented by the central government.

On the planning to prevent flooding in Hyderabad during upcoming monsson, KTR said there is need better storm water drains 'But it won't happen within a short span Working on strategic Nala development program (SNDP). Have recently sanctioned Rs 858 crore towards the same." "Your communication skills are excellent. What's the secret? Any tips for beginners," asked a follower. "Clarity in thoughts is important to be able to express well. Always focus on improving vocabulary," replied KTR.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Press Release

April 11, 2021 Drilon calls for transparency in pork importation Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon called for full transparency in the country's pork importation scheme and urged the Department of Agriculture (DA) to disclose the list of meat importers under the minimum access volume or MAV scheme. "I call for complete transparency. If we are transparent, we can avoid people's perception that there is corruption in pork importation," said Drilon, citing various allegations of "tongpats" or kickbacks in pork importation. "Sino ang makikinabang? Saan manggagaling ang imported pork? Sino ang importer?" added Drilon in an interview with radio station DzBB. Drilon made the remarks as the Senate Committee of the Whole convenes on Monday to inquire into the food security crisis caused by the outbreak of African Swine Flu. Last month, the Senate adopted Resolution No. 97 urging the President to declare a State of National Emergency due to the severe impact of the African Swine Fever and opposing the proposed reduction in tariff and increase in MAV. Amid allegations of corruption, Drilon said the DA should disclose the recipients of meat import certificates under the MAV scheme. He cited how a similar scheme in the country's rice importation scheme is also plagued with corruption allegations. "Noong panahon ng rice importation control, marami kang naririnig na commission na galing doon sa mga bansa na binibilhan natin ng bigas. The same situation here. Sino ba ang importer at saan manggagaling?" Drilon said. The President issued Executive Order 128 which orders the reduction of tariffs on fresh, chilled, or frozen pork meat under quota or the minimum access volume (MAV) to 5 percent for the first three months of the order's validity and to 10 percent for the fourth to 12 months of the order's effectivity. For pork imports outside the MAV, EO 128 reduces the tariff rate to 15 percent on the first three months and 20 percent on the fourth to 12th month of effectivity. The government also wants to increase the minimum access volume (MAV) to 350,000 metric tons from the current 150,000 metric tons. "How would the additional MAV be allocated? What are the guidelines?" Drilon asked. The Senate minority leader said the Senate should weigh the effects of the lowered tariff rates on pork and increased MAV on the local hog industry. He cited reports that the move could adversely affect local hog raisers. He also pointed to around P11 billion in revenues that could be foregone as a result of the reduction of tariff rates on pork import amid the country's depleting resources due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. Drilon said fixing tariff rates, while Congress is not in session, is within the power of the President. He, however, said the President may amend or revoke the EO once it is shown that lowering tariff on pork imports and increasing MAV will be harmful to local hog raisers and result in foregone revenues.
A push for students to learn more problem-solving skills will be a central focus of proposed changes to the Australian maths curriculum, with a major review expected to reignite wars over how best to turn around declining academic results.

Leading maths and science groups briefed on the proposed changes have called for problem-solving to be central to how maths is taught ahead of the public release of the draft new national curriculum at the end of the month.

A push by leading maths groups for more emphasis on problem-solving in the national curriculum is expected to reignite the maths wars when a draft new curriculum is released later this month. Credit:Louise Kennerley

In a joint statement titled why maths must change, the groups said teaching maths content was no longer enough.

It is not enough to have knowledge  they must have the skills to take that knowledge and apply it to solve unknown problems, and do it quickly, the statement said.
Nicole Murphy decided to put her stunning curves on full display for a trip to the gas station on Saturday afternoon.

The 53-year-old fitness influencer, who was seen pumping fuel in West Hollywood, slipped into a a body-hugging black dress.

Murphy's enviably toned arms and legs were made visible in the short, fitted garment, which happened to coordinate with her face mask.

Stunner: Nicole Murphy decided to put her stunning curves on full display for a trip to the gas station on Saturday afternoon

Nicole sported a pair of red-striped heels for the trip to accentuate her sculpted stems, and kept on a pair of sunglasses to combat the sunshine.

She accessorized with a sole pair of hoop earrings to compliment her perfectly coiffed short 'do.

Murphy's unknowingly drew attention to her pert derriere as she carefully bent over to fill up her car's tank.

Her skin glowed in the warm Los Angeles weather as her striking cheekbones made an appearance while getting out of her vehicle.

Casual: The 53-year-old fitness influencer, who was seen pumping fuel in West Hollywood, slipped into a a body-hugging black dress

The mother of five took all the necessary precautions amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, putting on her face mask once she got outside her vehicle.

Murphy wrapped a clean towel over the pump's handle as she filled up the tank and wiped her hands with sanitizer once she was finished.

Her hourglass figure comes as no surprise considering her frequent treks to the gym and the numerous workouts she shares on social media.

Color coordinated: Murphy's enviably toned arms and legs were made visible in the short, fitted garment, which happened to coordinate with her face mask

Fitness fiend: The reality television personality posted a video to her Instagram account last month showing her lying on the gym floor while alternating between an assisted bench press maneuver and a leg-focused exercise

The reality television personality posted a video to her Instagram account last month showing her lying on the gym floor while alternating between an assisted bench press maneuver and a leg-focused exercise.

The post's caption, which she also added in the video, read 'What if you devoted this year to loving yourself more?'

She has also been busy with her skincare company YFOY, which touts itself as as a service 'providing you with the tools and resources to help you live your best life and look and feel damn good doing it!'

Beauty mogul: She has also been busy with her skincare company YFOY, which touts itself as as a service 'providing you with the tools and resources to help you live your best life and look and feel damn good doing it!'

Former flames: This latest appearance came weeks after her ex Eddie Murphy praised the children they share, saying none of them are Hollywood 'jerks'; the former couple are seen here in 1994

This latest appearance came weeks after her ex Eddie Murphy praised the children they share, saying none of them are Hollywood 'jerks.'

The former pair have five children - daughters Bria Murphy, 31, Shayne Murphy 26, Zola Murphy, 21, and Bella Murphy, 19, and son Miles Murphy, 28.

Speaking on Marc Maron's WTF podcast, he said: 'I am so blessed with my kids. I don't have one bad seed. I don't have any like Oh you are the one. I don't have any of that. My kids are so great, normal people - and nobody is like the Hollywood jerk kid. My kids are smart and are trying to do stuff. I am blessed with my kids. I really, really got lucky.'

Co-parenting: The two (here in 2005) share five children - daughters Bria Murphy, 31, Shayne Murphy 26, Zola Murphy, 21, and Bella Murphy, 19, and son Miles Murphy, 28.

The Hollywood star - who has five additional children with other women - also opened up about fatherhood, admitting it has completely changed how he approaches his career now.

He shared: 'I am going to be 60 in April and I have all these babies. I love fatherhood. The whole idea of being out there and doing three movies a year, that s**t is over ... I found over and over again and along the way I realized that if you put your children first you never make a bad decision. When you hit a crossroads moment or you have got some s***, you think, "Well, what is best for my children?" If you go that route then you never make a bad decision.'

Nicole and Eddie wed in 1993 after dating for nearly five years, and divorced in 2006 citing irreconcilable differences.

The Coming 2 America star maintained that he is on good terms with his ex-wife, as well as the other mothers of his children: 'Everybody's really cool with each other and it's all love all the way around everybody gets along that's a good thing. It's a love fest at the house.'
A man cover a skeleton in a 3,000-year-old lost city in Luxor province, Egypt, Saturday, April 10, 2021. The newly unearthed city is located between the temple of King Rameses III and the colossi of Amenhotep III on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor. The city continued to be used by Amenhotep III's grandson Tutankhamun, and then his successor King Ay. (AP Photo/Mohamed Elshahed)

Egypt's best-known archaeologist on Saturday revealed further details on a Pharaonic city recently found in the southern province of Luxor.

Zahi Hawass said that archaeologists found brick houses, artifacts, and tools from pharaonic times at the site of the 3,000-year-old lost city. It dates back to Amenhotep III of the 18th dynasty, whose reign is considered a golden era for ancient Egypt.

"This is really a large city that was lost... The inscription that found inside here says that this city was called: 'The dazzling Aten'," Hawass told reporters at the site.

Archeologists started excavating in the area last year, searching for the mortuary temple of boy King Tutankhamun. However, within weeks they found mud brick formations that eventually turned out to be a well-preserved large city.

City walls and even rooms filled with ovens, storage pottery, and utensils used in daily life are said to be present. Archeologists also found human remains that were visible to reporters and visitors on Saturday.

"We found three major districts, one for administration, one for the workmen to sleep, one for the industry and (an) area for dried meat," said Hawass, who spoke to reporters at the site while wearing his iconic Indiana Jones hat.

Dr. Zahi Hawass talks to media in a 3,000-year-old lost city in Luxor province, Egypt, Saturday, April 10, 2021. The newly unearthed city is located between the temple of King Rameses III and the colossi of Amenhotep III on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor. The city continued to be used by Amenhotep III's grandson Tutankhamun, and then his successor King Ay. (AP Photo/Mohamed Elshahed)

He said he believes that the city was "the most important discovery" since the tomb of Tutankhamun was unearthed in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor nearly fully intact in 1922.

Hawass also rejected the notion that the city's remains had already been discovered previously, as has been suggested in posts circulating on social media. "It's impossible... that I discover something that was previously discovered," he said.

Betsy Brian, professor of Egyptology at John Hopkins University, agreed that the find was new, calling it "exceptional in scale and organization."

"There's no indication that I am aware of that this town section had been found before, although clearly it represents a new part of an enormous royal city, that we can appreciate far more now," she said.

The newly unearthed city is located between the temple of King Rameses III and the colossi of Amenhotep III on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor. The city continued to be used by Amenhotep III's grandson Tutankhamun, and then his successor King Ay.

A 3,000-year-old lost city in Luxor province, Egypt, is seen Saturday, April 10, 2021. The newly unearthed city is located between the temple of King Rameses III and the colossi of Amenhotep III on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor. The city continued to be used by Amenhotep III's grandson Tutankhamun, and then his successor King Ay. (AP Photo/Mohamed Elshahed)

Workers stand in a 3,000-year-old lost city in Luxor province, Egypt, Saturday, April 10, 2021. The newly unearthed city is located between the temple of King Rameses III and the colossi of Amenhotep III on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor. The city continued to be used by Amenhotep III's grandson Tutankhamun, and then his successor King Ay. (AP Photo/Mohamed Elshahed)

People stand in a 3,000-year-old lost city in Luxor province, Egypt, Saturday, April 10, 2021. The newly unearthed city is located between the temple of King Rameses III and the colossi of Amenhotep III on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor. The city continued to be used by Amenhotep III's grandson Tutankhamun, and then his successor King Ay. (AP Photo/Mohamed Elshahed)

Worker stands in a 3,000-year-old lost city in Luxor province, Egypt, Saturday, April 10, 2021. The newly unearthed city is located between the temple of King Rameses III and the colossi of Amenhotep III on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor. The city continued to be used by Amenhotep III's grandson Tutankhamun, and then his successor King Ay. (AP Photo/Mohamed Elshahed)

People stand in a 3,000-year-old lost city in Luxor province, Egypt, Saturday, April 10, 2021. The newly unearthed city is located between the temple of King Rameses III and the colossi of Amenhotep III on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor. The city continued to be used by Amenhotep III's grandson Tutankhamun, and then his successor King Ay. (AP Photo/Mohamed Elshahed)

Some mud bricks bear the seal of King Amenhotep III's cartouche, or name insignia.

Amenhotep III, who ruled ancient Egypt between 1391 B.C. and 1353 B.C., built the main portions of the Luxor and Karnak temples in the ancient town of Thebes.

Egypt has sought publicity for its archaeological discoveries in the hopes of reviving its tourism sector, which was badly hit by the turmoil following the 2011 uprising, and now the coronavirus pandemic.

The announcement came a few days after Egypt moved 22 of its prized royal mummies in a gala parade to their new resting placethe newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo.

Explore further Archeologists unearth an ancient pharaonic city in Egypt

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

For decades, Leigh-Anne just wanted someone, anyone, to listen.

Instead, she said, she was placed in a mental hospital, silenced and ignored until she fell into a yearslong spiral of drug addiction, self-doubt and destruction.

The 39-year-old was finally going to get her chance to confront Sabine Griego  the former priest who she says raped her repeatedly from ages 7 to 9.

But six weeks before he was to go on trial, Griego was found dead on a bathroom floor in a home near Las Vegas, New Mexico. Paramedics determined the 82-year-old had been lying there for hours, and the cause of death was listed as cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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

At first, I felt like a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders. And then, I just got really sad, Leigh-Anne said, choking up.  Because I never got to stand up in front of a room of people and say that he did this and it was wrong. And he never fully got to be held accountable.

Attorney General Hector Balderas shares the sentiment.

I am angered that the survivors of his abuse will not get their day in court, but our office will continue to advocate and investigate institutions and individuals who inflict abuse and harm to others, he said in a statement.

Griego was accused of sexually abusing dozens of children, but Leigh-Annes was the only criminal case authorities pursued because it had no statute of limitations. The AGs Office found Leigh-Anne through a lawsuit she filed against the church, and the office sought her help in prosecuting Griego.

She said she was hesitant  at first.

There were 38 other victims, and none of them had the opportunity to press charges. And I did.  I felt it was my moral obligation, she said.

The Journal doesnt generally publish names of sexual assault victims, but Leigh-Anne, who contacted the Journal to tell her story, asked to be identified by her middle name.

Griego was charged in 2019 with eight counts of first-degree criminal sexual penetration. The alleged crimes occurred when Leigh-Anne was a student at Queen of Heaven grade school in Albuquerque .

The Attorney Generals Office alleges that Griego repeatedly raped the girl. In one instance, she told agents, he became angry with her and broke her nose.

Griego, who hadnt practiced as a priest since the 1990s, denied the allegations. His trial was set to begin Nov. 16.

Former Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan called Griegos abuse abhorrent and heinous in a 2004 letter to the Vatican asking that Griego be stripped of his authority. Griego is one of 79 clergy members identified as credibly accused by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

Archbishop John C. Wester said in 2017 that of the 74 people then on the list of clergy members who had been accused, those who were still living had been permanently restricted from public ministry or removed from the priesthood.

Archdiocese spokeswoman Leslie Radigan said the archdiocese continues to pray for healing for all abuse victims, especially for those who suffered at the hands of former priests and members of the religious community.

Nobody heard me

Leigh-Anne said she once saw church as a safe space.

There was a time when she loved singing hymns on Sundays and looked forward to her first Communion. Then, she said, that was all ripped away.

Now, there is no God. I mean, I got that taken away from me, she said.

She said she started having extremely bad nightmares at 13 and began using heroin to avoid them.

Leigh-Anne said she finally told her parents about the abuse a year later.

When they didnt believe her, she cut her wrists and downed a whole bottle of pills she had stolen from a guidance counselors purse.

I didnt want to die; I just wanted the nightmares to stop. If death happened  whatever, she said.

Her parents admitted her to Charter Heights, a behavioral health center, for three weeks. She mentioned the abuse to her parents one other time, but their attitude was you need to get over it, and she fell silent again.

At 19, Leigh-Anne said, she turned to the church for help.

I figured that if I could just get someone to listen to me and believe me, Id be OK. No one was listening at home, she said, adding that she thought the church would take her seriously.

Leigh-Anne said she approached a priest at Risen Savior and told him everything. She said the priest was blase about her account but said he would talk to the higher-ups and see about counseling.

The only thing he said before hanging up the phone was that he didnt want me accusing him of anything, Leigh-Anne said. She later added: I felt awful, and then I was questioning myself  Was it as bad as it was? 

Leigh-Anne said an archdiocese chancellor met with her afterward and asked why she didnt report the abuse when it happened and told her that if it really happened and was as bad as she claimed, she would have come forward sooner.

She said the chancellor set her up with a therapist who consistently steered Leigh-Anne away from discussing the abuse. She said she brought it up at least once a session for three years but was shot down every time by the therapist.

Basically, it was just like, I needed to not talk about it ever. It was made abundantly clear that  it was something I wasnt to bring up. And it was casually swept under the rug, she said.

Leigh-Anne quit therapy and confided to a religious sister at Risen Savior that she was considering a lawsuit. Word got out, and the congregation turned on her, she said.

When I filed my  lawsuit, I was the criminal, Leigh-Anne said.

With the help of attorney Bruce Pasternack, Leigh-Anne got a $1.5 million settlement payable over 40 years and was required to sign a nondisclosure agreement. But she said money didnt solve her problems, and without therapy, her life took a turn for the worse.

I was trying to get to like the core of it, and just to work it out. And I really needed to talk about it, and nobody heard me, she said.  It was like, Well, nobody wants to hear me  I might as well just not say anything. And I went on a really bad downward spiral after that. Im not proud of it.

At one point, Leigh-Anne said, she was contacted by a social worker with the archdiocese due to her acting out. This time there was no therapy offered, just the message: You need to knock these behaviors off.

Radigan wouldnt say whether any of the church officials Leigh-Anne sought help from were still employed by the archdiocese. But she issued a statement from leadership noting that the archdiocese has changed the way it handles accusations of abuse.

As for the allegation that the church failed to provide Leigh-Anne with the help she needed, Radigan said, Twenty-one years ago, church employees would likely have  considered that, as an adult, she would have reported to authorities had she desired to do so, if her recollection of not being specifically advised to do so is accurate.

And while there was no mandated reporting requirement at that time, with societal advances of understanding traumatic stress and how memories of such violations can be suppressed, we now report all abuse to the authorities, regardless of who is reporting and when the abuse took place.

Radigan said the church welcomes any conversation with Leigh-Anne should she choose to speak with us.

Leigh-Anne said the way the church treated her led to years of questioning her mental health, if the abuse was as bad as she thought, and wondering whether she was absolutely crazy.

In the years that followed, Leigh-Anne said, she stopped talking about the abuse, got married, then divorced, replaced drugs with binge drinking and moved to Chicago.

What could have been

An arrest for identity theft in 2017 changed everything.

I had gotten to a really, really, dark, low period.  It was mandatory that I had to have counseling twice a week. And honestly, that saved my life, she said

Since getting help, Leigh-Anne said, she is living a much happier and productive life. She is using her archdiocese settlement to go to law school and become an attorney. She wants to be able to help others when nobody else will listen.

I think in any environment when somebody comes to you, telling you that anyone hurt them  they do need help, and it does need to be reported, she said.

Leigh-Anne thinks back to the 7-year-old girl whose life could have been different. Then she thinks about the adolescent and adult who came forward for years and who had nobody who would listen to her.

Honestly, if somebody had reported it to the authorities from the get-go, my life would have gone in a completely different trajectory, she said. Im still in therapy, and Ive been working this (expletive) out. Ive been having to deal with a lot of (expletive) after Griego died, and this is like the one thing I cant wrap my head around  why nobody said anything.
Coronavirus Coverage

Because of health and safety concerns, the Herald-Republic is allowing unlimited access to our COVID-19 stories and resources. If you are able to support local news by subscribing, support our journalism. Click here to begin your subscription and access all of our local coverage.
Act with responsibility, public told By Kumudini Hettiarachchi and Ruqyyaha Deane High risk of COVID-19 spread during New Year, so take all precautions, urge health officials View(s): View(s):

A strong call went out once again for everyone to be extra careful and take the basic preventive measures against COVID-19 as the week of the New Year celebrations dawned.

Expressing concern about crowds gathering in many places for shopping, Health Promotion Bureau Director, Dr. Palitha Karunapema, told a media briefing that even though the country is seeing a decline in the COVID-19 infections and there is control of the disease, avadanama (risk) has not reduced.

Safeguard yourself and your family by not going to crowded places and when you have to leave home wash your hands frequently, wear a face-mask and keep a distance from others, he said.

The same sentiments were echoed by the Deputy Director-General (Public Health Services I), Dr. S.M. Arnold who sought peoples support to prevent another COVID-19 wave striking the country.

Picking up the guidelines issued by the Director-General of Health Services with regard to celebrating the New Year in a safe manner, he said these guidelines are meant to make people aware about what behaviour would prevent the spread of disease during the festivities. They have been issued under the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance and if anyone flouts them, they can face legal action.

People may think it is just a guideline, but it has legal teeth. Limit numbers at celebrations and both organizers and participants in the festivities should ensure that the guidelines are followed, said Dr. Arnold, adding that health officials are unhappy about large crowds gathering when shopping etc. which is kohomathma honda ne (not good at all).

He said that the health authorities alone cannot prevent the spread of COVID-19 and sought public support.

Act with responsibility, urged the DDG, appealing to people to prevent large infections occurring two-three weeks after the New Year. It is better to prevent it. Otherwise, we may regrettably have to say, We told you so!

He added that there is a drop in infections due to control measures and public support, but if safeguards are loosened, there will be a rise in numbers. There is collective responsibility to prevent this. Uthsava samaya avadanam kalayak (The festive season could become a risky time for the spread of COVID-19).

Slight rise in numbers due to Jaffna cluster There were 221 COVID-19 positive patients on Wednesday, while on Tuesday the number was 177, said Chief Epidemiologist, Dr. Sudath Samaraweera, stressing that people should not be alarmed over this slight increase as they were found among the first contacts in the Jaffna cluster who are in home quarantine and not in the community. This may be a trend we see for some time in the Jaffna cluster as we continue to perform RT-PCR tests on the contacts, he told the media on Thursday. All these people are in home quarantine, so there is no danger of a spread of COVID-19, added Dr. Samaraweera. Quarantining guidelines for returning Sri Lankan children With confusion over the quarantining procedure for vaccinated Sri Lankans returning to the country with unvaccinated children, the Sunday Times found the following guidelines issued by the Director-General of Health Services on April 6. Currently many countries are not vaccinating children below 18 years as the vaccines have not been tested on them yet. Quarantine measures for fully-vaccinated Lankan travellers If there are any children below 12 years, they can be discharged with fully-vaccinated travellers by adhering to the following measures: Children in the age-group 2 to 12 years should be subjected to on-arrival (Day One) PCR testing and should have negative test results.

Children below 2 years will not be subjected to PCR testing after arrival in Sri Lanka and will be discharged with fully vaccinated caretakers.

However, if the on-arrival (Day One) PCR testing of an accompanying traveller of the child is positive for COVID-19, the child below two years will also be subjected to PCR testing subsequently.

All children 12 years and above should undergo quarantine at a designated Quarantine Hotel/Centre/Safe and Secure Certified Level 1 Hotel after arriving in Sri Lanka even if the caretakers are fully vaccinated. These children may have come with an adult who is not vaccinated or is fully vaccinated and eligible for exemption of quarantine. If a fully- vaccinated adult enters a Quarantine Hotel/Centre/Safe and Secure Certified Level 1 Hotel after arriving in Sri Lanka as a caretaker of a child or an adult, that person should remain in the Quarantine Hotel/Centre/Safe and Secure Certified Level 1 Hotel until the quarantine period of the care recipient (child or adult) is completed. A fully-vaccinated caretaker of a child or an adult who is eligible for exemption of quarantine will not be subjected to exit PCR testing, unless they have symptoms or the person cared for (child or adult) becomes positive/asymptomatic.
The Police Command in Zamfara State has said it has secured the release of 11 kidnapped victims in the state. The Public Relations Officer o...

The Police Command in Zamfara State has said it has secured the release of 11 kidnapped victims in the state.

The Public Relations Officer of the command, SP Muhammad Shehu, announced this in a statement issued in Gusau on Saturday, NAN reports.

We have secured the release of 11 kidnapped victims by a group who took them to a forest near Gobirawan Chali in Maru Local Government Area.

10 out of the 11 victims are natives of Kyakyaka, Tungar Haki and Gidan Ango villages of Gusau Local Government Area of Zamfara, while the other victim is from Kaduna State.

All the rescued victims have been debriefed by the police and later handed over to the Ministry for Security and Home Affairs that will reunite them with their families.

Investigation regarding the abduction of the victims has begun and the outcome will be made public, Shehu said.

He further revealed that the command also repelled an attack by suspected bandits on Yarkala village in Rawayya District of Bungudu Local Government Area of Zamfara and recovered weapons.

On April 8, police operatives attached to operation Puff Adder deployed to Rawayya-Yarkala axis mobilized and dislodged the bandits, as a result, they fled to the forest with possible gun shot wounds.

An AK-47 rifle marked 1983NI2328 and a magazine containing 10 rounds of live ammunition belonging to one of the fleeing bandits was recovered and is now in police custody, he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 17:32:03|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

KAMPALA, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian President Samia Hassan Suluhu on Sunday arrived here to witness the signing of a tripartite deal that will kick off the construction of a crude oil pipeline from Uganda to the Tanzanian seaport of Tanga.

Uganda's ministry of foreign affairs in a statement issued earlier said during Suluhu's visit, the Agreement for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline Tripartite Project will be concluded.

A number of Tanzanian ministers arrived in the country ahead of the scheduled signing of the agreement that will be witnessed by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Suluhu.

Uganda last month suspended the signing of the agreement to mourn the death of then Tanzanian president John Pombe Magufuli.

The signing of the agreement is expected to pave way for the construction of the 1,440 km crude oil pipeline from Uganda's Albertine region to the Tanga.

The 3.55-billion-U.S.-dollar pipeline will be the longest electrically heated pipeline in the world. It is heated because of the waxy nature of Uganda's oil. Uganda has so far discovered over 6.5 billion barrels of oil. Enditem
The slaying of three young children at a Reseda apartment complex Saturday left the neighborhood stunned by the violence and in mourning.

Elizabeth Cuevas, who lives in an apartment above the one where the crime took place, said she met one of the children, a sweet little girl who asked if she could pet her Chihuahua mix.

She was a perfect little angel, she said. She was precious beyond what you could imagine.

She said the girl was the middle child and that she believed the other two children were boys.

The crime doesnt make any sense to her. She said the children appeared well loved.

They were beautiful, she said.

The little girl was soft-spoken but not overly shy or afraid, she said.

An angel shouldnt ... go that way, Cuevas said.

The childrens grandmother returned from an overnight shift at work Saturday and found the children dead and their mother missing, police said.

Liliana Carrillo, the mother, was taken into custody in Tulare County after leading authorities on a long-distance chase in which she allegedly carjacked a pickup truck in Bakersfield, authorities said.

Cuevas said she never heard any yelling coming from the apartment, only the sounds of cartoons, which she said could be heard at all hours, sometimes as late as 10 p.m. She also never saw police respond to the unit before Saturday.

Somebody snapped there, and they snapped in the wrong direction, she said.

Cuevas said she cant shake the memory of the polite little girl asking to pet her dog.

Im going to be processing this for quite some time, she said.

Melody Yepez and her husband, Edward, both 64, who have lived in the building across the street for 10 years, said the slayings shocked them. The couple had gone to the bank Saturday afternoon and returned home to find the neighborhood flooded with police.

We knew something was terribly wrong, Edward Yepez said.

Resident Corina Huertas, 28, said she has lived across the street for two years and was also shocked to hear about the slayings.

Who does that to innocent kids? she said. They didnt ask to be born.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

___

(c)2021 the Los Angeles Times

Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th April, 2021) Paraguay has decided to stop administering the first shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine to people under the age of 55, the country's Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare informs.

"The measure to stop immunization with this vaccine in people under 55 years of age is due to the precautionary principle, and absolutely does not undermine the safety of this vaccine," Dr. Hector Castro, director of the Expanded Immunization Program, said as quoted in the health ministry's Saturday release.

Paraguay's health ministry said that people who have already received the first dose of AstraZeneca can get their second shot as planned.

Castro advised that those under the age of 55 who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 at all, should get inoculated with Russia's Sputnik V or India's Covaxin coronavirus vaccines.

On Friday, the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it had started a review to assess reports of capillary leak syndrome in people vaccinated with Vaxzevria (previously COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca) and was also investigating thromboembolic events after vaccination with Johnson & Johnson's Janssen coronavirus vaccine.

Earlier this week, the EMA said that, according to its findings, blood clots could be a side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine but the "reported combination of blood clots and low blood platelets is very rare, and the overall benefits of the vaccine in preventing COVID-19 outweigh the risks of side effects."

Following EMA's revelations, the WHO said that the "causal relationship" between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the occurrence of blood clots "is considered plausible but is not confirmed."

AstraZeneca said on Wednesday that it was working to establish the causes of blood clots in people inoculated with its coronavirus vaccine, but emphasized that these were very rare cases.

Several countries have already halted the use of AstraZeneca shots in younger people amid reported cases of blood clots.
Somali refugees break the Ramadan fast at the Al Amal Orphan Society in Amman, Jordan.  UNHCR/Benoit Almeras

As the Islamic world prepares to welcome the holy month of Ramadan, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, urges greater support for millions of refugees and internally displaced people hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.

People forced to flee their homes must be included on an equal footing in global vaccination programmes and economic recovery plans. Greater efforts are also needed to address their educational needs, mental health and psychosocial welfare, child protection risks, and in preventing and responding to gender-based violence.

At this time of deep reflection and generosity, our solidarity with the worlds forcibly displaced is needed more than ever, said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. In the spirit of solidarity during the Holy Month, Im appealing for greater support for vulnerable people.

Around 85 per cent of the worlds refugees are hosted in low- and middle- income countries that are facing financial challenges and often have fragile health systems. As a result of the pandemic, refugees and the displaced have lost livelihoods and been thrust into extreme poverty, with disastrous and far-reaching consequences.

UNHCR estimates that three in four refugees worldwide can only meet half or less of their basic needs. Families have cut spending on food, are no longer able to pay rent, have fallen deeper into debt, or have been forced to stop children from attending lessons, even where schools have remained open.

Coinciding with the holy month of Ramadan, UNHCR has launched the Every Second Counts global fundraising campaign. Donations received as Zakat, Sadaqah, or general giving can ease the burden for forcibly displaced families that are away from home and their loved ones.

Together we can help refugees and the internally displaced have a roof over their heads, a warm meal for iftar, clean water, and hope for a better and safer future, said Grandi.

Financial support is urgently needed for UNHCR to continue providing life-saving assistance and support to vulnerable families, orphans, single mothers, and older people.

The campaign will also provide funds for UNHCRs regular programming and help meet the mounting needs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For more information, please contact:

In Amman, Rula Amin, [email protected] , +962 790 04 58 49

, +962 790 04 58 49 In Amman, Andreas Kirchhof, [email protected] , +962 791 825 473

, +962 791 825 473 In the UAE, Raefah Makki, [email protected] , +971 508 13 0594

B-roll available:

About UNHCR

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, leads international action to protect people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution. We deliver life-saving assistance like shelter, food and water, help safeguard fundamental human rights, and develop solutions that ensure people have a safe place to call home where they can build a better future. We also work to ensure that stateless people are granted a nationality.

About the Ramadan Campaign

Every year, UNHCR appeals to the public during the month of giving and generosity to help raise awareness and funds for refugees and internally displaced people in need. Every Second Counts is UNHCRs third global Ramadan campaign, and focuses on the incredible impact individuals can create within seconds, in the lives of refugee and displaced families whose lives turned upside down within moments and who have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety. The campaign aims to raise US$10 million globally, through donations including Zakat and Sadaqah, to help provide lifesaving support such as shelter, food, clean water and monthly cash assistance, to the most vulnerable refugee and internally displaced families from Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria, countries in the Sahel region, and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

You can donate here.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10)  The decision to temporarily stop giving AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccines to Filipinos under the age of 60 may last for two weeks as local health authorities await recommendations from the World Health Organization.

According to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, local health experts will study the issue hounding the COVID-19 vaccine made by the British-Swedish firm.

In a virtual briefing, Vergeire stressed the decision was a "precautionary measure" only since the Philippines has yet to note a case of unusual blood clots with low platelet count.

The measure "may last for two weeks for us to have all of these recommendations," she added.

RELATED: EU agency finds AstraZeneca vaccine can cause rare blood clots, as UK advises other shots for under-30s

READ: PH pauses use of AstraZeneca vaccine for those below 60 years old

If the WHO will provide a positive recommendation, Vergeire said the Philippine government will continue using AstraZeneca's vaccines.

For those who already received their first AstraZeneca shots, the second doses may be administered by "around the end of May or June."
EDWARDSVILLE  The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Engineering (SOE) is hosting its third SIUE Energy Symposium at noon Wednesday, April 21. This years theme is Sustainable Campuses.

We have focused on creating an annual event to become the top-of-mind institution when people talk about energy, climate change, and sustainability topics in the region said Serdar Celik, PhD, professor and graduate program director in the SOE Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering. We hope to increase understanding of regional and global energy issues and promote awareness on various energy topics. With this years theme focusing on sustainable campuses, we decided to bring together experts in sustainability from both U.S. and European sides.
The Royal Family have shared a touching off-duty photograph of the Queen and Prince Philip on the Balmoral Estate in 1972.

In the snap, which was shared to the Queen's official Instagram page today, the Duke of Edinburgh, then 51, could be seen beaming as he posed with the Queen, 94, in front of a herd of Highland Cattle.

The image was captioned: 'For much of his married life, The Duke of Edinburgh was closely involved in the management of The Queens Private Estates: Sandringham and Balmoral, as well as Windsor Great and Home Parks.

'The Duke worked with Estate workers, farmers and conservationists to maintain the Estates for future generations, through wildlife conservation and biodiversity initiatives.'

It comes as Prince Edward, 57, and Prince Andrew, 61, were joined by Sophie Wessex, 56 and Lady Louise Windsor, 17, to thank the members of staff after a service at The Royal Chapel of All Saints, in Windsor this morning.

The royal family shared a touching picture of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh taken in front of Highland Cattle at Balmoral in 1972, when she was 46 and he was 51

Lady Louise Windsor, 17, accompanied her parents Prince Edward, right, 57 and Sophie Wessex, 56 at a morning service at The Royal Chapel of All Saints, in Windsor today

The official family account shared the archive picture, which showed the Queen, then 46 looking relaxed she posed with the Duke of Edinburgh in front of some Highland cattle at Balmoral in 1972.

Prince Philip looked equally at ease, wearing a black jumper and a light brown pair of trousers and carrying a walking stick.

The post detailed the Duke's dedication to the royal estates over the years, ending: 'Over recent years, His Royal Highness received regular updates and took a keen interest in developments on the Estates.'

Sharing pictures of members of the royal family at this morning's service in Windsor, the post went on to say they had thanked the Windsor Estate workers for the support they demonstrated since the announcement of Prince Philip's death.

On Instagram, the royal family paid tribute to Prince Philip's dedication to the royal estate throughout his life

It continued: 'After attending morning service at The Royal Chapel of All Saints, The Duke of York, The Earl and Countess of Wessex, and Lady Louise met Windsor Estate workers to thank them for their support, particularly over the last few days.'

The Duke of Edinburgh spent his final days at Windsor Castle with his wife the Queen who he lovingly called Lilibet throughout their long life together, after a 28-night stay in hospital having been admitted in mid-February for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition.

Her Majesty announced her husband's death at midday as the Union Flag was lowered to half-mast outside Buckingham Palace and on public buildings across the UK and Commonwealth.

Speaking outside the church today, Prince Andrew revealed the Queen has described the loss of the Duke of Edinburgh as 'having left a huge void in her life'.

Prince Andrew, left, thanked Windsor Estate workers for their support in the last few days this morning while attending church

Prince Andrew said the Queen is 'an incredibly stoic person', but said Philip's death had left her grieving and 'she is feeling it more than anyone'. He said: 'She described his passing as a miracle and she's contemplating, I think is the way that I would put it.

'She described it as having left a huge void in her life but we, the family, the ones that are close, are rallying round to make sure that we're there to support her.'

Andrew added of his father: 'He was a remarkable man. I loved him as a father. He was so calm. He was always someone you could go to. We have lost the grandfather of the nation.'

The Queen is 'thinking of others before herself', the Countess of Wessex said as she left the church service.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex, with their daughter Lady Louise Windsor, attend the Sunday service at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor

Addressing a mourner, Sophie added: 'You know it's going to happen but when it happens it's just this massive, massive hole.'

She said the tributes left by the public have been 'amazing', but claimed Covid is 'preventing people from doing what they naturally want to do which is coming together, which is hard'.

Prince Edward added: 'It's been a bit of a shock. However much one tries to prepare oneself for something like this it's still a dreadful shock. And we're still trying to come to terms with that. And it's very, very sad.

'But I have to say that the extraordinary tribute and the memories that everybody has had and been willing to share has been so fantastic.

Speaking of her father-in-law's last moments, Sophie (pictured with Lady Louisa) added: 'It was so gentle. It was just like somebody took him by the hand and off he went. It was very very peaceful and that's all you want for somebody isn't it'

'And it just goes to show, he might have been our father, grandfather, father-in-law, but he meant so much to so many other people.'

The Earl of Wessex also said his heart goes out to all those who worked at royal residences, who will feel a 'very personal' loss after the Duke of Edinburgh's death.

He added: 'He means so much to so many people here, and it's the same for those who lived and worked at Balmoral and Sandringham. For all those past and present.'

He said: 'They've all had their own personal memories and stories. Our hearts go out to all of them as well.'

The Countess of Wessex, attends the Sunday service at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor, following Prince Philip's death

Prince Philip died peacefully in his sleep at Windsor Castle on Friday, two months before his 100th birthday, leaving the Queen and the royal family 'mourning his loss'.

Philip's funeral at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, next Saturday will be like no other, with the Queen and her family wearing face masks and socially distancing as they gather to say their final farewell amid coronavirus restrictions.

Buckingham Palace announced yesterday that Prince Philip's ceremonial royal funeral will take place on April 17 at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, and a national minute's silence will be observed as it begins at 3pm. The funeral service will be broadcast worldwide.
Armenia ex-Ambassador to Vatican on Armenians' emigration and reasons

Catholicos of All Armenians takes remains of St. Gregory the Illuminator to Artsakh

Armenian ballet master Vilen Galstyan dies at 80

Putin shares expectations from upcoming meeting with Biden

Armenia 2nd President: Number of people who emigrated without returning has grown, only solution is shift of power

EU bans flights of Belarusian airline companies in its airspace

US deals blow to major Chinese companies

Armenia acting PM: 62% of weapons obtained were obtained between 2018 and 2020

Armenia acting PM: Meghri corridor issue and transfer of villages of Kazakh region were a topic in November 2020

Armenia ruling party MP drops mandate

Citizens of Armenia's Artashat greet acting PM by chanting 'Turk' and 'traitor'

Armenia Ombudsman reminds PM's ex-chief of staff about shortcomings in activities during war

Armenia 3rd President: We must start bringing back people who know everything about troops

Armenia MOD hosts consultation with deputy commanders and battalions' commanders

Armenia Ombudsman says acting PM's plan won't ensure restoration of Armenian citizens' rights

Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan's failure to return POWs is equivalent to war crime

Armenia 3rd President receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Prosecutor General speaks at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum

"Armenia" bloc: We plan to meet with residents of Shirak Province

Armenian water resources come under Azerbaijani control, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, Jun. 4 digest

Armenia acting PM: Health insurance is inevitable

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

Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Heading into an extraordinarily dry summer, fire managers are ramping up efforts to make this years fire season as mild as can be.

One way theyre doing that is by highlighting fire prevention through a new online tool developed by the Southwest Coordinating Group made up of partner agencies in Arizona and New Mexico.

Another is via prescribed burns, which recently resumed in New Mexicos five national forests and Arizonas Tonto National Forest after a temporary protective order for the habitat of the Mexican Spotted Owl was lifted late last year.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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

When everything was under the federal injunction for the Mexican Spotted Owl, it hit pause on forest management activities, which included prescribed burns, said Julie Anne Overton, a spokesperson for Santa Fe National Forest.

The pause lasted from mid-September 2019 to Oct. 27, 2020, when the injunction was lifted.

As a result, Overton said residents of northern New Mexico shouldnt be surprised to see more smoke in the air from prescribed burns this spring.

Were trying to make up for that pause by  get(ting) rid of as much accumulated fuel on the ground before the fire season. Were in a drought. Everything is so extremely dry, she said.

There was a prescribed burn in Pacheco Canyon north of Santa Fe on Easter Sunday in the same area of last Augusts Medio Fire.

Overton credited a previous prescribed burn for helping stop the Medio Fire, which was slowed by the burn scar of the prior burn.

That one could have been gnarly, Overton said of the Medio Fire, which still burned 4,000 acres of forest and threatened watersheds in the Nambe area.

The Santa Fe National Forest also scheduled a prescribed burn this weekend for the east part of Rowe Mesa, about 10 miles south of the village of Pecos, conditions permitting.

Another one is planned for April 12 in the Coyote Ranger District, where smoke may be visible from the communities of Coyote, Gallina, Mesa de Poleo and Youngsville.

Meanwhile, the Cibola National Forest last week announced plans to implement broadcast burns  a prescribed burn in an area with little or no forest canopy  over a total of more than 11,000 acres. The 902-acre Mesita broadcast burn is scheduled to begin in the Canjilon area on April 12 and last for about a week.

The goal, according to a news release, is to protect communities and reduce hazardous fuels before the 2021 wildland fire season.

Map-based tool

In addition to fighting fire with fire, forest officials are introducing what they call a new map-based tool they hope will help prevent forest fires.

While the Medio Fire and many others were caused by lightning, Overton said many others are caused by people, often due to abandoned campfires. So, in an effort to reduce and prevent human-caused fires, officials have created an interactive map that can be accessed from the website NMFireInfo.com and provides information about fire restrictions.

So, before they go camping in the Jemez Mountains, they can check the app to make sure there are no fire restrictions, Overton said.

Click any place on the map and a box pops up that identifies the ranger district and which stage of fire restrictions are in effect.

By providing a resource with accurate and timely information, the goal is to educate and increase compliance, therefore reducing preventable human-caused fires, says a news release from the Bureau of Land Management.

Other agencies involved include the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management and the New Mexico Forestry Division.

Overton said with conditions so dry, this is the time of year everyone should be thinking about fire prevention.

Were looking at extreme drought across the state and all signs are pointing to an active fire season, she said. Were also encouraging folks to take care of their own property, especially if they live in a wildland fire interface.
Overall global fintech funding across M&A, PE and VC was $105 billion across 2,861 deals in 2020: the third highest level of investment in fintech ever, said professional services firm KPMG in a new report.



With the exception of M&A  which saw deal value drop over 50 percent (from $130 billion in 2019 to $61 billion in 2020)  the overall fintech market proved remarkably resilient in 2020 despite a broad array of uncertainties, from the global pandemic to the US presidential election, according to the Pulse of Fintech H2'20, the bi-annual report on global fintech investment trends.



Following a short COVID-19 driven pause in H1'20, fintech investment bounced back strongly in H2'20, more than doubling from H1'20 ($33.4 billion) to H2'20 ($71.9 billion). The US was the dominant benefactor for fintech investment in 2020, while the payments space continued to dominate investment from a sector perspective.



Despite global uncertainty, VC investment was strong in all regions of the world. Global fintech-focused VC investment reached $42 billion in 2020, including $20.5 billion in H2. Both the Americas ($23 billion) and EMEA ($9.2 billion) regions saw record highs of annual fintech-focused VC investment. US-based wealthtech Robinhood raised the most VC funding in H2'20: $1.3 billion across two rounds ($600 million and $668 million). Several digital banks also raised funding rounds greater than $500 million, including Sweden-based digital bank Klarna ($650 million), UK-based Revolut ($580 million), and US-based Chime ($533 million).





Manav Prakash, Partner, Advisory services, KPMG in Bahrain, said: Given the uncertain backdrop, Fintech Investments have been strong globally in H2. Overall, we see the pace of digitalization in the Financial Services Sector gather significant momentum wherein many players are bringing forward their digitalization plans, including in Bahrain. This also includes a serious evaluation of potential Fintech partners who can speed up entry into specific product segments or help reimagine the customer experience. We are also seeing a growing interest from Fintech firms wanting to establish partnerships with other institutions in Bahrain.





Mahesh Balasubramanian, Partner, Financial Services, KPMG in Bahrain said: Bahrain offers an excellent ecosystem for Fintech players to establish their regional base and we are witnessing increasing interest from Fintechs wanting to expand their presence in the region. With the introduction of the Open Banking regulations and use cases, we believe this space will see more innovation and collaboration in the immediate future.



2020 Key Highlights



 Global fintech investment was $105 billion in 2020  the third highest year on record despite a significant drop compared to $165 billion in 2019.

 While M&A deal value dropped in the first half of 2020 ($10.9 billion), it rebounded to over $50 billion in H2'20, led by the $22 billion acquisition of TD Ameritrade by Charles Schwab and the $7.1 billion acquisition of Credit Karma by Intuit.

 VC investment in fintech globally rose year-over-year  from $40 billion over 2,834 deals to over $42 billion investment across 2,375 deals. Median VC deal sizes grew significantly for all deal stages between 2019 and 2020, including angel and seed ($1.3 million to $1.7 million), Early Stage ($5 million to $5.8 million), and Late Stage ($10.5 million to $15 million).

 Total fintech investment in the Americas was robust with over $79 billion in investment, including $58 billion in H2'20. The US accounted for $76 billion of this total, including $55 billion in H2'20. EMEA saw $14.4 billion in fintech investment in 2020, including a record $9.25 billion in VC funding. Meanwhile, fintech investment in the Asia-Pacific region dropped to the lowest level since 2014: $11.6 billion.

 Corporate-participated venture investment in fintech was incredibly strong in 2020 at $21 billion, with both the Americas ($9.7 billion) and EMEA ($4.8 billion) seeing record annual levels of CVC investment.

 Global investment in cybersecurity quadrupled  from $500 million in 2019 to over $2 billion in 2020.  TradeArabia News Service
Copperas Cove, TX (76522)

Today

Rain showers in the morning with numerous thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. High 79F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
Nguyen Kim Ngoc, 45, and Nguyen Cong Luan, in Long An, got married in 1999 and gave birth to a healthy son, Nguyen Hoang Phuc, one year later.

Nguyen Hoang Phuc (right) and his younger sister

But when Phuc was six months old, Ngoc discovered that he still could not sit. Worried, she brought her son to hospital for medical examination and was informed that he suffered from cerebral palsy.

Ngoc said she felt desperate, as if someone had pushed her into an abyss. She asked herself what she had done wrong and why this had happened.

When her son turned three, Ngoc had to accept the fact that he had cerebral palsy because of asphyxiation at birth. She told her husband that they needed to give their child a peaceful life at any cost.

The parents went everywhere to ask for medical help and spent time going out with their son.

She shed tears when remembering the suspicious looks she received from people. Some people asked me why we still brought our son in such a bad state to play, she recalled.

Ngoc said from the time when the son was six months to six years old was the most difficult period for her family. Because of cerebral palsy, Phuc became sick more easily, suffering from pneumonia, bronchitis or diarrhea.

As Phuc could not sit on his own, Ngoc had to use a cloth to tie him to a plastic chair so that he could play games on a computer.

They also bought a mobile phone so he could exercise his fingers on the keyboard, and a bicycle to practice using his feet.

Ngoc also had to travel 50 kilometers from Long An to HCMC to the hospital nearly every week.

At that time, we spent most of our time at hospital and my husband and I only met each other when we looked after the child in shifts."

Ngoc and her husband were both teachers at a vocational school, but they resigned their posts to have time for their child. They used all the money they saved to buy computers and opened an informatics class at home to earn money.

When Ngoc was at home, she created handmade flowers for sale. She was willing to do anything to get money for her child's treatment.

Late happiness

Phuc says that he believes there is nothing in life more precious than his family  his grandmother, parents and sister Phuong.

When Phuc was six years old, they heard about Prof Nguyen Tai Thu, who had cured many people with acupuncture. Luan and his son then left Long An for Hanoi for treatment, bringing with themselves all the money they had.

After the treatment for 10 consecutive days at the Central Acupuncture Hospital, Phuc was exhausted. He was brought home.



Three days after returning from Hanoi, Phuc surprised family members when typing the words Me oi, Ha noi co hoi nghi APEC (Mom, APEC conference is taking place in Hanoi) on a computer.

Every time after going out, Phuc could remember all the sign boards, names of streets and phone numbers. At home, he typed what he had seen on the streets.

Because of his health, we never thought of teaching him. But he could learn himself, Ngoc said.

Phuc is now a 21-year-old man who can use computers well and is very good at English.

He writes novels and once won a prize for the most impressive work in a competition for stories about Doraemon, and he finds passion in movies and television shows as a member of a movie reviewing group.

Ngoc and her husband are happy as their son is leading a peaceful and healthy life, and their second child, a girl, was born healthy.

The daughter also helps her parents and brother. The parents said they decided that they needed to be strong to serve as support for their children.

Phuc says that he believes there is nothing in life more precious than his family  his grandmother, parents and sister Phuong.

Tu Anh

Participation rate of Vietnamese disabled people in labor force remains low The overall labor force participation rate of people with disabilities (PWDs) in Vietnam remains low compared to the total population, with 31.7% of PWDs joining the labor force compared to 82.4% of people without disabilities between 2016-2019.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 15:25:31|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

PHNOM PENH, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Sunday confirmed 157 new COVID-19 cases and three more fatalities in the last 24 hours, the country's Ministry of Health (MoH) said in a statement.

The new infections included 156 local cases and one imported case.

The imported case was found on a 43-year-old Nigerian man arriving in the kingdom on Friday from Nigeria via a connecting flight in South Korea.

The statement said the new deceased patients included a 36-year-old man in Phnom Penh, a 48-year-old man in Kandal province and a 72-year-old woman in Svay Rieng province.

According to the MoH, since the start of the pandemic in January last year, the Southeast Asian country has officially registered a total of 4,238 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 29 deaths and 2,152 recoveries.

In the latest move to curb the virus spread, the Phnom Penh Municipality halted dine-in services in all food stalls, restaurants, cafes and soft drink shops from April 11 to 24.

The Phnom Penh Municipality also banned all markets, shopping malls, restaurants, food stalls, cafes and soft drink shops from selling alcoholic beverages during the above-mentioned period, according to a decision signed by Phnom Penh Municipal governor Khuong Sreng on Saturday. Enditem
The natural gas-fired Pittsfield co-generating power plant on Merrill Road. Environmentalists and local groups are pushing for so-called 'peak' plants to switch to cleaner energy use.

Local Environmentalists Demand Cleaner Berkshires Power Plants

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Local environmentalists are taking a stand against air pollution from power plants that are hardly used.

A Berkshire Environmental Action Team campaign "Put Peakers in the Past" is demanding that the three peaking power plants located in Berkshire County revert to only renewable and clean alternatives. "Peaking" plants are used to meet periods of high energy demand.

The decades-old plants at Pittsfield Generating Co. on Merrill Road, the Eversource substation on Doreen Street and the EP Energy plant on Woodland Road in Lee run off fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil, and kerosene. Pittsfield Generating is a co-generating plant that also provides steam energy.

Rosemary Wessel, program director for BEAT's "No Fracked Gas in Mass" campaign, said this sparks concern from environmentalists because the fuels emit excess nitrogen oxides and contribute to the region' s greenhouse gas emissions.

Pittsfield Generating Co. reportedly accounts for over 15 percent of Pittsfield's stationary emissions despite only running for a few days out of the year.

"We started last year when we were looking into emissions for the city of Pittsfield and found out that the Pittsfield Generating only runs about 5 percent of the time but it makes 15 percent of the stationary emissions for Pittsfield every year," Wessel said.

"So even though these plants don't run often, they only run when there's a peak demand on the grid when the regular power plants are starting to max out, they tend to be older plants and they're very inefficient and put out a tremendous amount of pollution for the number of megawatts they generate."

Most peaker plants in the state run 5 percent of the time or less, she added, but the Doreen Street and Lee plants run less than 1 percent of the time, which makes the total emissions numbers alarming to the group.

"Very little run time, still substantial pollution, " Wessel said.

The campaign's first actions are obtaining signatures on their virtual petition and talking to plant owners and see if they already have plans to switch over to clean energy solutions. Wessel said that they haven't heard back from the plant owners yet and are hoping to get legislators involved to facilitate that communication.

She cited the state's climate change legislation to reduce gas emissions that was signed by Gov. Charlie Baker last month. This bill codifies into law the Baker-Polito administration's commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and furthers the state's efforts to combat climate change and protect vulnerable communities.

"The state, of course, just signed the next-generation climate bill, which means we' re going to be going for net zero very quickly, so these plants are facing, sort of a change or die kind of situation," Wessel explained. "And we're interested in finding out if they're planning to retire, or if they have plans to change to clean energy, or how they're going to deal with the fact that they' re not going to be able to burn fossil fuels for very much longer. "

Alternatives to peakers include demand response or "peak-shaving" in which customers avoid energy use during peak demand, grid storage that uses solar plus storage to produce and store clean energy to use by the grid, and Mass Save's "Connected Solutions" program that allows electric customers to use battery storage alternatives to replace power plants.

A peaker opposition coalition is also being formed of local organizations, neighborhood groups, and businesses who are opposed to the continued use of fossil fuels for peak demand. The coalition is reaching out to plant owners and urging them to convert to clean energy storage options.

Their goal is to create public opposition to Pittsfield Generating's October air permit renewal before the owners apply for it, which Wessel said they will have to file "any day now" for an October approval.

Members advocating for these plants to switch to cleaner energy solutions include the Berkshire Brigades, the Berkshire Women's Action Group, Indivisible Pittsfield, and Lee's Board of Selectmen and Greener Gateway Committee.

Wessel said she has found that many residents are not even aware of the plants' activities in their neighborhood. The Doreen Street plant, she said, is hardly visible because of vegetation yet is close to many residential areas and Pittsfield Generating is right in the center of the city.

"Public outreach we figured was a way to get people to realize that this may be what's contributing to their asthma or other health issues," she said. "And to see who' s interested in seeing the business model change, or the plants shut down one way or another. "

Throughout the pandemic, BEAT has been able to continue monthly Green Drinks meetings through the Zoom platform. Before the pandemic, the meetings were in-person, informal sessions where people who work in the environmental field could grab a drink or snack and converse.

BEAT now welcomes a guest speaker each month to talk for about 30 minutes on topics ranging from wildlife tracking, local economies, environmental education, and more. Having the sessions virtually has reportedly increased attendance for Green Drinks.

"Our first talk about it was actually addressing demand response, which is one of the ways one of the other ways to meet peak demand," Wessel said.

"We're starting to talk about you know, as things are starting to open up, do we want to go back to a real person one or not and we're thinking we'll probably do hybrid, once things are open enough. We're in no rush to open up too soon, but probably do in person, but still find a way to get it up on Zoom as well. "
RTHK: Iran nuclear facility loses power in 'terrorist' act

Iran's atomic energy organisation said on Sunday the Natanz nuclear facility was hit by a terrorist act, hours after it said an "accident" had caused a power failure there.

The episode came a day after the Islamic republic said it had started up advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges at the site, in a breach of its commitments under a troubled 2015 deal with world powers.

Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Iran Atomic Energy Organisation (IAEO), condemned a "futile" act, while urging the international community to "confront this anti-nuclear terrorism", in a statement carried by state television.

The attack was carried out by "opponents of the country's industrial and political progress, who aim to prevent development of a thriving nuclear industry," he said, without specifying what country or entity might be behind the alleged sabotage.

IAEO spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi had earlier reported an accident at the enrichment facility caused by a "power failure". No-one was injured and there was no radioactive release, the official Fars news agency reported, citing the spokesman.

Kamalvandi said there had been "an accident in part of the electrical circuit of the enrichment facility" at the Natanz complex near Tehran.

"The causes of the accident are under investigation and more details will be released later," he added, before the later statement put out by the agency's chief.

He did not say whether power was cut only in the enrichment facility or across other installations at the site.

Malek Chariati, spokesman for the Iranian parliament's energy commission, took to Twitter to allege sabotage.

"This incident, coming (the day after) National Nuclear Technology Day, as Iran endeavours to press the West into lifting sanctions, is strongly suspected to be sabotage or infiltration," Chariati said.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani had on Saturday inaugurated a cascade of centrifuges for enriching uranium and two test cascades at Natanz, in a ceremony broadcast by state television.

An Israeli public broadcast journalist, Amichai Stein, said on Twitter "the assessment is that the fault" at Natanz is the "result of an Israeli cyber operation", without elaborating or providing evidence to corroborate his claim.

Iran's president had on Saturday also inaugurated a replacement factory at Natanz, after an explosion at a facility making advanced centrifuges there last July.

Iranian authorities likewise blamed the July incident on "sabotage" by "terrorists", but have not released the results of their investigation into it.

The equipment inaugurated Saturday enables quicker enrichment of uranium and in higher quantities, to levels that violate Iran's commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal it agreed with the five permanent United Nations Security Council powers, plus Germany.

The administration of then-US president Trump unilaterally withdrew from this multilateral nuclear accord in 2018 and re-imposed biting sanctions on Iran.

Iran later responded by progressively rolling back its own commitments under the agreement.

Trump's successor Joe Biden has said he is prepared to return to the deal, arguing it had -- until Washington's withdrawal -- been successful in dramatically scaling back Iran's nuclear activities.

Iran's latest move to step up uranium enrichment follows an opening round of talks in Vienna Tuesday with representatives of the remaining parties to the nuclear deal on bringing the US back into it. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2021-04-11. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
: government on Sunday



said its in certain northern districts of the State would function from 8 AM to 1.30 PM from April 12 till May- end because of the summer heat.

The new timings would be applicable to Vijayapura district in Belagavi division, and all the districts in Bagalkote and Kalaburagi divisions, according to an order from the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR).

The order has been issued after considering the representations from the State Government Employees Association.

Stating that the timings have been changed from 10 AM - 5.30 PM to 8 AM - 1.30 PM in these districts in view of the severe summer in April and May, the order asked the government employees to discharge their duties in the changed hours without causing any inconvenience to the public.

The change would not be applicable for employees who have been instructed to do emergency work, especially related to COVID-19, by the district's Deputy Commissioners or CEOs of the Zilla Panchayats.

(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.)
Sri Lankan rupee faces depreciation pressure despite foreign currency swaps By Bandula Sirimanna View(s): View(s):

A significant depreciation pressure on the Sri Lankan rupee was observed since the dates of entering into currency swap agreements with India and China.

The rupee has come down sharply and it has fallen to Rs.187.86 per dollar on July 31 from Rs.188.02 on July 24 2020 in six days since signing the currency swap with India, Central Bank data showed.

According to a financial analyst, a sufficient inflow of foreign exchange is needed to reverse rupee depreciation and its down fall after the Indian currency swap equivalent to US$400 million didnt meet this requirement.

The recent China Yuan swap with Sri Lanka was unlikely to meet this requirement of boosting foreign reserves as it was a Chinese currency facility and not a dollar one, he pointed out.

Since the swap is in Yuan the Government can only use that money to pay import bills. This is useful since China is one of the biggest import destinations with Sri Lanka regularly importing about $ 3.5-4 billion in goods, he added.

But it will not top up reserves and that is what Sri Lanka really needs, another economist told the Business Times on conditions of anonymity.

On March 10 2021, the State Minister of Finance Ajith Nivard Cabraal had announced that the Peoples Bank of China had approved 10 billion Yuan currency swap with Sri Lanka.

The rupee has depreciated to Rs. 203.50 against the US Dollar on April 8 from Rs. 198.66 on March 10 in 10 days after entering into the Chinese currency swap agreement, Central Bank data showed.

Up to now the Central Banks intervention in the domestic foreign exchange market through supply of foreign exchange and sell/buy swaps with local commercial banks has contributed to enhancing the foreign exchange liquidity in the market.

Minister Cabraal expressed his confidence that fresh foreign exchange inflows are on the way and government policies are in place for creating the right environment to attract them.
Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!

Your notification has been saved.

There was a problem saving your notification.

{{description}}

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  The Oregon Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the Legislature will have until Sept. 27 to complete the redistricting process, giving lawmakers more time to draw political boundaries following a delay in crucial census data.

The unanimous decision by the justices will give legislative leaders nearly three extra months to do their work.

Redistricting, the process where lawmakers redraw legislative and congressional districts, occurs every 10 years following the census. Districts must be equal in population to each other.

Although theres a set number of state legislative districts, due to Oregons population growth in the last decade it is likely that the state will receive an additional seat in the United States House of Representatives.
Opinion Article

9 April 2021

The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is currently accepting public comments on a provision in the recently enacted Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) which requires some privately-held business entities to disclose ownership information directly to a law enforcement agency. Interested parties should consider commenting before the May 5th deadline, and companies who may be impacted should take this opportunity to review their anti-money laundering compliance programs. Vince Farhat and Samuel Buchman of JMBM's White Collar Defense and Investigations Group have written an article detailing this legislation below.

Advertisements

FinCEN Seeks Comments on Ownership Disclosure Requirements in New Federal Anti-Money Laundering Law by Vince Farhat, Chair and Samuel Buchman, Associate JMBM's White Collar Defense & Investigations Group

On April 1, 2021, the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN") published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking giving companies and individuals the chance to comment on the new beneficial ownership disclosure requirements contained in the recently-enacted Corporate Transparency Act ("CTA"), which is part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 ("AMLA") included in the National Defense Authorization Act ("NDAA"). Under the CTA, some privately-held business entities will be required, for the first time, to disclose ownership information directly to a law enforcement agency. FinCEN is accepting public comments on the CTA disclosure requirements through May 5, 2021, and companies and other interested parties should consider commenting by this deadline to help shape the anticipated rulemaking process at this early stage. This article focuses on two specific legislative changes which could lead to an uptick in federal anti-money laundering enforcement: (1) the CTA beneficial ownership disclosure requirements; and (2) enhanced whistleblower incentives and protections under the AMLA. It is critical for companies to stay abreast of regulatory developments in order to maintain proper compliance with these changing enforcement rules.

Background

Congress enacted the NDAA on January 1, 2021. This year's iteration of the NDAA gained notoriety when former President Trump vetoed the bill, taking issue with the bill's failure to repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. However, following a veto override, the NDAA became law, marking the 59th consecutive year in which some form of the NDAA has been passed. This Section 230 scuffle diverted attention away from the AMLA, a separately named Act within the NDAA. The AMLA represents the most significant reform to anti-money laundering laws in two decades since the 2001 USA PATRIOT Act.

Among the AMLA's sweeping reforms are efforts to strengthen FinCEN, extend the reach of the Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA"), and expand the Department of Justice and Treasury Department's ability to subpoena foreign financial institutions.

In its advance notice of proposed rulemaking ("ANPR"), FinCEN requested comments on the new CTA beneficial ownership disclosure requirements. The comment period will last until May 5. The ANPR solicits comments on a variety of topics, including: definitions of the various ambiguous terms in the law; the disclosure procedure; determining the scope and content of the disclosures; the means by which entities will seek an exemption from the reporting requirements; and how the disclosures will be shared with state and local law enforcement and financial institutions.

CTA Beneficial Ownership Registry

For years, federal regulators have grappled with the issue of so-called "shell companies" utilized by bad actors, such as money launderers and terrorists, to funnel money into illicit activities. The Treasury Department estimates that $300 billion is laundered through the United States each year.

Financial institutions have been tasked with the responsibility of discerning the true ownership of business entities under "know your customer" guidelines, instituted as part of the 2001 PATRIOT Act. The CTA attempts to shift this burden from financial institutions to companies themselves. For the first time, the CTA requires certain companies to disclose ownership information directly to a government agency.

Widely considered to be a crackdown on shell companies, Section 6403 of the CTA, a separately named Act within the AMLA, introduces new disclosure requirements, under which "reporting companies" must disclose their "beneficial owners" to FinCEN.

Paired with this new disclosure requirement is the establishment of a beneficial ownership registry, also maintained by FinCEN. This new registry furnishes law enforcement with added capabilities to lift the shroud of anonymity underlying the true ownership of certain business entities. The new registry also raises privacy concerns, especially for the many legitimate businesses which will nonetheless be tasked with complying with the new disclosure requirements.

A "beneficial owner" is one who either "exercises substantial control over the entity" or who "owns or controls not less than 25 percent of the ownership interests of the entity."

The key issue for businesses is determining whether they are a "reporting company" required to disclose their beneficial owner(s). A "reporting company" is defined broadly to include a "corporation, limited liability company, or other similar entity" registered under state law, or, formed under the laws of a foreign country and registered to do business in the United States.

However, the CTA includes numerous exemptions, the most significant of which include:

Publicly traded companies;

Banks, bank holding companies, and credit unions;

Securities brokers or dealers;

Investment companies and advisors;

Insurance companies;

Public accounting firms; and

501(c) and political organizations

The rationale for these exemptions is that these types of companies typically already disclose beneficial ownership information pursuant to other state and federal laws.

There is another, more general exemption geared towards rooting out suspected shell companies. An entity is exempt from the reporting requirement if it:

Employs more than 20 full-time employees; Files taxes demonstrating more than $5,000,000 in gross receipts or sales; and Has an operating presence at a physical office in the United States.

If an entity does not fall within a statutory exemption, then it must disclose the full legal name, date of birth, current residential or business address, and unique identifying number (driver's license number, passport number, etc.) for each of its beneficial owners.

FinCEN is required to promulgate implementing regulations on the beneficial ownership provisions no later than January 1, 2022. As noted above, FinCEN issued the ANPR on April 1 seeking public comments on the forthcoming regulations. Entities formed prior to the regulations will have two years to comply with the disclosure requirements, but those entities formed after the regulations are promulgated will have to disclose immediately.

Regulations should hopefully clarify a number of significant ambiguities in the law, and consequently, the regulations will dictate the content and scope of the disclosures.

Notably, the regulations should pinpoint the definition of "beneficial owner" which may require disclosures that probe the often complicated ownership structures of privately-held businesses.

Particularly, FinCEN is seeking comments on what it means to exercise "substantial control" over an entity, and whether the regulations should include a definition of the terms "own" and "control." The regulations should also determine what entities would qualify under the "other similar entities" catchall, and FinCEN is soliciting comments as to how the regulations should define this phrase. Further, the regulations should clarify the full extent of the statutory exemptions, as well as how entities will ultimately seek to qualify under these exemptions.

Regardless of the regulations, another test of the importance of these beneficial ownership provisions will be their enforcement by the new Biden Administration. These provisions, indeed the entire law, arrived at the same time as the new Administration. It will take some time for the DOJ's new priorities to take root. Any assessment of these new provisions' importance will necessarily follow how the Administration chooses to direct the DOJ more broadly.

Enhanced Whistleblower Incentives and Protections

The AMLA enhances incentives, as well as protections, for whistleblowers who provide information leading to a successful money laundering enforcement action under the Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA").

Whereas the Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") whistleblower program has led to more than 40,200 tips (6,900 in FY 2020 alone), over $2.7 billion in monetary sanctions, and approximately $562 million in whistleblower awards, the comparable BSA whistleblower program  which existed 26 years prior to its SEC equivalent  has hardly been utilized.

One explanation for the BSA program's lack of traction was the relatively paltry awards available to whistleblowers. To start, awards, which have been and will continue to be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, were entirely discretionary, meaning a whistleblower could have walked away with no award at all. Furthermore, the awards were strictly capped at the lesser of $150,000 or 25 percent of the net amount of the fine, penalty, or forfeiture collected. Considering that whistleblowers sometimes risk their careers to disclose potentially explosive information, a maximum award of $150,000 (and potentially nothing given the discretionary element of the award) had offered little security, especially given the potential firestorm following disclosure.

Modeled after the SEC's program, the BSA's reinvigorated whistleblower program reflects a more robust approach to whistleblower incentives and protections.

Now, whistleblowers will be eligible for awards when they volunteer "original information" to the DOJ, the Treasury Department or the whistleblower's employer, and when that information results in a successful enforcement action and monetary sanctions exceeding $1 million.

"Original information" is defined as information that is derived from one's own knowledge or independent analysis, not known to the DOJ or Treasury Department, and which does not derive from an allegation made in a judicial or administrative hearing, a government report, hearing, audit or investigation, or from the news media (unless the whistleblower is the source of the information).

The BSA whistleblower incentive structure also has been entirely overhauled under the AMLA. The $150,000 cap on awards has been eliminated. Instead, awards can reach up to 30 percent of the total monetary sanction collected  a potentially multi-million dollar award (for an example of just how large these sanctions can be, consider the recent $390 million civil penalty assessed against Capital One).

Moreover, the Secretary of the Treasury now has no discretion as to whether to award the whistleblower ("the Secretary . . . shall pay an award"), although the Secretary does retain discretion to determine the amount of the award. Only in limited circumstances may whistleblowers be denied an award, such as when they are convicted of a criminal offense related to the violation they disclose, or when they are an employee at DOJ, the Treasury Department, or other law enforcement agency.

The AMLA also bolsters whistleblower protections. First, the program permits whistleblowers to both report a BSA violation and qualify for an award anonymously. The AMLA directs the Treasury Department and DOJ to maintain whistleblower confidentiality, unless necessary to disclose to a defendant or respondent and in accordance with the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C.  552a).

Additionally, the AMLA contains staunch anti-retaliation measures, strictly forbidding employers from discharging, demoting, suspending, threatening, blacklisting, harassing, or in any other manner discriminating against a whistleblower in the terms and conditions of employment or post-employment.

The AMLA also creates a private right of action, whereby whistleblowers can seek relief by filing a complaint with the Secretary of Labor, or if the Secretary of Labor fails to reach a final decision within 180 days, then the whistleblower can bring an action in federal district court.

The reinvigorated BSA whistleblower program is not without its critics. Some commentators have argued that the lack of a minimum award could continue to dissuade potential whistleblowers from coming forward. For instance, the SEC equivalent sets a minimum of 10 percent of the monetary sanctions, whereas the BSA program only establishes a maximum of 30 percent. In addition, the monetary sanctions used to determine the award include penalties, disgorgement, and interest, but notably exclude forfeiture, restitution, or victim compensation payments. Some contend that this could diminish potential awards and further dissuade whistleblowers, especially depending on the type of violation they are thinking of reporting.

Regardless, it appears that the AMLA's updates to the BSA whistleblower program, bringing it closer in line with the highly successful SEC program, should spur more anti-money laundering enforcement.

Next Steps: Comments and Compliance

The reinvigorated BSA whistleblower program, together with the beneficial ownership reporting requirements, will alter the anti-money laundering enforcement landscape moving forward. How these new provisions fit into the broader anti-money laundering enforcement regime is dependent in part on their respective treatment under the new Administration. Given these sweeping new rules, it is important for companies to stay abreast of regulatory developments in order to maintain proper compliance. Interested parties should consider providing comments to FinCEN by the May 5 deadline to address any concerns regarding ambiguities in the new beneficial ownership registry. In addition, companies potentially impacted by the new rules should take this opportunity to review their AML compliance programs and consider whether to update their programs to reflect changes in the law.

JMBM's White Collar Defense & Investigations Group is keenly focused on our clients' business objectives and is committed to minimizing the disruption, anxiety, and public scrutiny that can arise from criminal and civil investigations and litigation. We are leaders in the representation of companies, boards of directors, management, and individuals in connection with a broad range of government investigations, enforcement actions, remediation and compliance, administrative proceedings, internal investigations, and white collar criminal investigations and prosecutions.
Representative Mikie Sherrill, Democrat of New Jersey, wants to tackle the Gateway rail tunnel under the Hudson River. Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader, has suggested that surely the functionally obsolete Brent Spence Bridge in his state should receive funding. And progressive lawmakers have a five-part wish list that includes lowering drug costs and providing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers.

If you want to get broad, bipartisan support, you invite other people to have some input into the process, said Senator Thomas R. Carper of Delaware, who leads the Environment and Public Works Committee. Every senator has shared with us the priorities of their states. Were getting good ideas.

Representative Peter A. DeFazio of Oregon, the chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the committees top Republican, Representative Sam Graves of Missouri, are also asking lawmakers to identify priorities in their districts.

Ive been called the tunnel-obsessed congresswoman, Ms. Sherrill said in an interview. The Gateway Tunnel is the nations most important piece of infrastructure given the amount of people who go through the Hudson River tunnels, how decrepit they are and the economic blow we would take if those tunnels collapsed in any way.

While infrastructure has long been hailed as the policy area with the ripest prospects for bipartisan cooperation, Congress has failed in recent years to agree on legislation that would fund long-term transportation projects beyond routine reauthorization of funding.

With Democrats newly in charge of both chambers of Congress and the White House, Mr. Biden is thinking much bigger. His proposal includes not just trillions in spending for highways, bridges and other physical facilities, but also huge new investments in areas that have not traditionally been seen as infrastructure, such as paid leave and child care.

That view, which critics say is too expansive and some progressives say needs to be bigger, has emboldened lawmakers in both chambers to try to use the package to accomplish all manner of policy priorities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a terrifying warning to the West as the military forces have been directed towards the border it shares with Ukraine, said media reports citing the emergence of shocking footage that shows Russian troops being ferried to Ukraines eastern border. The clip was reportedly shared online just a few days after German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Putin to retract troops from the front line and the European Union (EU) foreign policy chief vowed support for Ukraine.

The footage was shared by Defence analyst Babak Taghvaee showing the Russian military convoy with other weapons heading towards Ukraine while writing, After deploying armoured equipment & weapons toward the #Ukraine's borders, now #Russian Army is deploying its troops to the borderline. This video is recorded today shows a group of trucks carrying #Russian Army troops toward the #Crimea in Krasnodar Krai for incoming exercise.

After days of deploying armoured equipment & heavy weapons to #Crimea, finally the #Russian Army has deployed them toward the borderline with #Ukraine. Video recorded yesterday shows a group of tanks & BMP-3 Infantry Fighting Vehicles of #Russia Army next to the border yesterday! pic.twitter.com/7ZyzFbxAuB  Babak Taghvaee -   -   (@BabakTaghvaee) April 10, 2021

EU Vows Support To Ukraine

Meanwhile, European Union (EU) foreign policy chief on April 4 vowed the blocs unwavering support for Ukraine and expressed concerns over Russian troop movements around Kyiv. On Sunday, Borrell talked with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on phone and both leaders exchanged views on the military activity by Russia. As per a Twitter update by Kuleba, Borrell expressed support by saying EU is behind you. EU foreign policy chief also expressed support for Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity.

However, the reports of buildup have emerged amid an escalation of armed clashes between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists in the east of the nation. The year-long conflict has claimed over 13,000 lives since 2014, as per the United Nations (UN) tally. Apart from Borrell, several Western leaders including US President Joe Biden has voiced support for Ukraine.

Russia had sent its troops into Crimea and annexed the European peninsula in 2014 while backing the separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine in a six-year war that has reportedly killed thousands of people. However, since July 2020, an uneasy cease-fire has been in effect.

Image credits: AP
Advertisement

Hundreds of 'anti-fascist' protesters gathered in the Orange County, California town of Huntington Beach on Sunday to face off against a 'White Lives Matter' rally that saw heated scuffles and a heavy police presence.





Skirmishes broke out as at least 300 protesters gathered to meet the handful of 'White Lives' marchers, and by 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time, police had declared an 'unlawful gathering' and told all sides to disperse as they confronted what they said was an unruly crowd.





It appeared police didn't initially keep the two sides apart, the Orange County Register reported, leading to heightened tensions as the groups intermingled.





A man and a teenager on the 'White Lives' side who waved a flag pole topped with an American flag, a 'Don't Tread on Me' flag and a Trump flag were chased around an intersection by protesters - and then were surrounded.

Huntington Beach police rode into the crowd on horseback to scoop up the men and took them away in an SUV, the Register reported.

In another instance, a middle-aged woman approached a protester who was chanting 'Black Lives Matter,' and mocked her. She eventually threw her coffee in the protester's face, the newspaper said.

The 'anti-fascist' protest had started peacefully, the Register reported. By the time the crowd was dispersed, multiple arrests on both sides had been made.

ORANGE COUNTY: Aman and a teenager who waved Trump and 'Don't Tread on Me' flags as part of a 'White Lives Matter' event in Huntington Beach, California, were chased around an intersection by protesters - and then were surrounded. Police rode into the crowd on horseback to scoop up the men and took them away in an SUV, the Orange County Register reported

ORANGE COUNTY: Protesters in Huntington Beach try to snatch a pole displaying a Trump flag and other symbols as the crowd explodes after police fail to keep the two sides apart. The 'anti-fascist' protest was said to start peacefully

ORANGE COUNTY: Police in Huntington Beach arrested a 'White Lives' protester whose face was shielded by a mask

ORANGE COUNTY: Police eventually stepped in to try to keep the two sides apart and by 2:30 pm Pacific Time had declared the gathering unlawful as things became 'unruly'

ORANGE COUNTY: Protesters tried to snatch the flag of a 'White Lives' demonstrator as the scene got more chaotic

ORANGE COUNTY: The 'White Lives' demonstrator in the grey T-shirt wore a Trump hat as others carried 'Don't Tread on Me' and Trump flags. They were surrounded by 'anti-fascist' protesters

ORANGE COUNTY: A Huntington Beach police officer pins down a woman during the chaotic scene

ORANGE COUNTY: The protest started peacefully, as people against the 'White Lives' rally gathered in Huntington Beach

ORANGE COUNTY: People made signs, including this man holding an anti-KKK poster, during the Huntington Beach protest

ORANGE COUNTY: The protest eventually got out of control, police said, as they ordered the two sides to disperse

ORANGE COUNTY: Skirmishes broke out throughout the city center area of Huntington Beach as the two sides clashed

The 'anti-fascist' protesters had gathered in Orange County and also in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington state, New Mexico and Ohio on Sunday to rally against 'White Lives Matter' marches that had been expected but largely never materialized, except in California.

Cities nationwide had been preparing for the White Lives Matter rallies that were scheduled for Sunday.

In Huntington Beach, residents had received KKK propaganda at their homes advertising a planned march.

In New York, a small group of protesters in New York stood across the street from a single man holding up a Nazi salute in front of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, a large group gathered in the city's center to rally against the expected 'White Lives' demonstration.

In Seattle, 'White Lives Matter' demonstrators didn't show up to a local park, but 'anti-fascist' protesters were there to meet them, anyway.

In Philadelphia, a few protesters gathered for a 'Picnic Against Hate.'

And in Columbus, Ohio, so-called 'anti-fascists' patrolled a city park where a white-power march was expected to have been held, but didn't happen.

NEW YORK CITY: A single person arrived at Trump Tower for a 'White Lives Matter' march and performed a Nazi salute in front of a small crowd of counterprotesters

NEW YORK CITY: A group of 'anti-fascist' protesters stand across from Trump Tower on Fifth Ave in Manhattan

PHILADELPHIA: A small group of protesters attend a 'Picnic Against Hate'

COLUMBUS, OHIO: 'Anti-fascists' patrol Schiller Park on the lookout for 'White Lives Matter' incidents

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO: Anti 'White Lives Matter' protesters gathered in the city's center

SEATTLE: 'White Lives Matter' demonstrators didn't show up, but 'anti-fascist' protesters were there to meet them anyway

The proposed 'White Lives Matter' rally in Huntington Beach attracted perhaps the most attention.

Among the arrests police made were one for an 'anti-fascist' protester who was taken into custody for using amplified sound, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Images from the demonstration showed at least one man being taken to the ground by police officers before he was handcuffed.

DEVELOPING: Police in Huntington Beach, Calif. declare unlawful assembly as protesters clash at 'White Lives Matter' rally@johnschreiber @CBSLA



pic.twitter.com/bPZXppHG2E  Breaking911 (@Breaking911) April 11, 2021

ORANGE COUNTY: An 'anti-fascist' protester is detained by police officers while preparing for a counter demonstration against white supremacists who never showed

ORANGE COUNTY: The 'anti-fascist' demonstrator is held by Huntington Beach Police during a demonstration to protest the 'White Lives Matter' march on Sunday in Huntington Beach, California

The rallies around the country had been organized by ultra-right wing groups that had called for April 11 to be a national day of 'White Lives Matter'.

Investigators have not been successful in determining who exactly organized the events, which were advertised via social media.

The Anti-Defamation League said the demonstration in California was one of several scheduled across the country. The rallies were said to have been organized through the messaging app Telegram.

ORANGE COUNTY: A demonstrator is seen holding a 'Black Lives Matter' sign during a counter demonstration on Sunday

ORANGE COUNTY: Several people were seen holding signs, with one saying: 'F**KKK white supremacy' in Huntington Beach

ORANGE COUNTY: Another counterprotester was seen holding a 'death to the klan' sign during the demonstration

ORANGE COUNTY: The rally was organized by ultra-right groups that have called for April 11 to be a national day of 'White Lives Matter'. Counterprotesters are seen during the event on Sunday

The rally also comes after fliers with KKK propaganda were delivered to homes in Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Long Beach, according to the LA Times.

However, police do not believe that the same people are responsible for the fliers and the rally.

A 'Day of Unity' was also scheduled at the same time as the White Lives Matter event.

Other cities where rallies were supposed to occur include Fort Worth, Texas and Chicago, Illinois.

A rally was also planned in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a counterprotest was planned in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Columbus, Ohio.

In Philadelphia, a small group of counter-protesters attended a 'Picnic Against Hate', where free food was offered from a box to attendees.

NEW YORK CITY: A man doing a Nazi salute is escorted past counteprotesters by police on Fifth Avenue in New York
Ecuador goes with conservative banker in presidential vote View Photo

QUITO, Ecuador (AP)  Voters in Ecuador appeared to turn to a conservative businessman in Sundays presidential runoff election, rebuffing a leftist movement that has held the presidency for over a decade marked by an economic boom and then a yearslong recession, while in neighboring Peru a crowded field of 18 candidates was virtually certain to result in a second round of presidential voting in June.

Voters in Ecuador and Peru cast ballots under strict public health measures because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has recently strengthened in both countries, prompting the return of lockdowns and heightening concerns over their already battered economies. Peruvians also were electing a new Congress.

The Electoral Council in Ecuador had not declared an official winner in the contest to replace President Lenin Moreno next month, but results released by the agency showed former banker Guillermo Lasso with about 53% of votes and leftist Andres Arauz at 47%, with just over 90% of votes counted. Arauz had led the first round of voting with more than 30% on Feb. 7, while Lasso edged into the final by finishing about a half a percentage point ahead of environmentalist and Indigenous candidate Yaku Perez.

Arauz was backed by former President Rafael Correa, a major force in the South American country despite a corruption conviction that sent him fleeing to Belgium beyond the reach of Ecuadoran prosecutors. Moreno was also an ally of Correa but turned against him while in office.

Correas negatives outweighed the expectation of a new, unknown candidate who had no career and who did not campaign very well, said Grace M. Jaramillo, an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia whose research includes Latin America. He did not speak for all audiences  for the entire population, and he could not respond to human rights accusations of the Correista era.

Correa governed from 2007 to 2017 as an ally of Cubas Fidel Castro and Venezuelas Hugo Chavez. He oversaw a period of economic growth driven by an oil boom and loans from China that allowed him to expand social programs, build roads and schools and pursue other projects.

But Correa increasingly cracked down on opponents, the press and businesses during his latter stage in office and feuded with Indigenous groups over development projects. Ecuador also hit an economic slowdown in 2015, largely driven by the drop in oil prices.

Lasso finished second in the previous two presidential contests. He favors free-market policies and Ecuadors rapprochement with international organizations. During the campaign, he proposed raising the minimum wage to $500, finding ways to include more youth and women in the labor market and eliminating tariffs for agricultural equipment.

For years, I have dreamed of the possibility of serving Ecuadorians so that the country progresses, so that we can all live better, Lasso said before a room full of supporters despite social distancing guidelines. Today, you have resolved that this be so.

Accompanied by his wife, Maria de Lourdes Alcivar, Lasso said that from May 24 on he will dedicate himself to the construction of a national project that continues to listen to everyone, because this project will be yours.

Despite his declared conservative position on issues such as marriage equality, he promised to accept other points of view.

Elections officials did not plan to officially declare a winner Sunday, but at least one head of state congratulated Lasso on the elections outcome. Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou tweeted that he had spoken with Lasso to congratulate him on his success and to get to work together on the issues that our countries have in common.

Ecuador is deep in a recession that many fear will worsen as lockdowns return because of a spike in COVID-19 cases. Ecuador has tallied more than 344,000 cases and over 17,200 deaths as of Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University in the United States.

The new presidents main task will be to depolarize the country, Jaramillo said. There will be no signs of governance if the new government does not reach out and generate a platform where agreements with the (National) Assembly are possible.

Perus election turned into a popularity contest in which one candidate even addressed how he suppresses his sexual desires. The crowded field of presidential hopefuls came months after the countrys political chaos reached a new level in November, when three men were president in a single week after one was impeached by Congress over corruption allegations and protests forced his successor to resign in favor of the third.

All former Peruvian presidents who governed since 1985 have been ensnared in corruption allegation, some imprisoned or arrested in their mansions. One died by suicide before police could arrest him.

Claudia Navas, a political, social and security risk analyst with the global firm Control Risks, said the fragmented election was the result of a political system that has 11 parties lacking ideological cohesiveness. She said Peruvians overall do not trust politicians, with corruption being a key driver of the disillusionment toward the political system.

Navas said the congressional elections would likely result in a splintered legislature, with no party holding a clear majority and political alliances remaining short lived. She said the new Congress also was likely to continue to exercise its impeachment authority to reinforce its own influence and block any initiative that threatens its own power.

So, well likely continue to see significant legislative populism. This implies moves that seek to satisfy the public short-term needs and demands to the detriment of medium- and long-term sustainability, Navas said. Regardless of who wins, we believe that the president is somewhat unlikely to complete his or her term in office because of the of the populist-type of stance of the Congress and the risk of political instability is likely to persist through the administration.

To avoid a June runoff, a candidate would need more than 50% of the votes, and an exit poll indicated the leading candidate would get only about 16% support. The poll had conservative leftist teacher Pedro Castillo as the frontrunner, followed by right-wing economist Hernando de Soto and Keiko Fujimori, the opposition leader and daughter of the polarizing former President Alberto Fujimori.

The country is among the hardest hit by COVID-19, with more than 1.6 million cases and over 54,600 deaths as of Sunday.

___

Associated Press writer Regina Garcia Cano reported this story from Mexico City and AP writer Gonzalo Solano reported from Quito.

By REGINA GARCIA CANO and GONZALO SOLANO

Associated Press
Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue.

The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website:

We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service.
Scores killed in Myanmar crackdown

Protesters with homemade rifles and fireworks behind a makeshift barricade in Bago. Photo: AFP

Reports emerged on Saturday of more than 80 killed in the latest bloodletting by Myanmar's military, as the country's own ambassador to the United Nations called for "strong action" against the junta.



Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February, with protesters refusing to submit to the junta and demanding a return to democracy.



After over two months of military rule, efforts to verify deaths and confirm news of crackdowns have been curtailed by the junta's throttling of mobile data within the country - shunting most of the population into an information blackout.



Details of a brutal crackdown in the city of Bago, 65 kilometres northeast of Yangon, took a full day to emerge, as residents told of continued violence by the army which forced them to flee to nearby villages.



By Saturday evening, the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners - a local monitoring group tracking deaths - confirmed "over 80 anti-coup protesters were killed by security forces in Bago on Friday".



Footage shot early on Friday showed protesters hiding behind sandbag barricades wielding homemade rifles, as explosions could be heard in the background.



Authorities had refused to let rescue workers near the bodies, said a resident.



"They piled up all the dead bodies, loaded them into their army truck and drove it away," he said.



State-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Saturday blamed the crackdown on "rioters", and reported only one dead.



The United Nations office in Myanmar tweeted late on Saturday night that it was following the bloodshed in Bago, where medical treatment had been "denied' to the injured.



"We call on the security forces to allow medical teams to treat the wounded," it said.



Bago's violence will add to AAPP's current death toll of 618 civilians killed since the coup.



The junta has a far lower number: 248, according to a spokesman on Friday.



Unrest also erupted on Saturday in the northwestern town of Tamu, near the Myanmar-India border, where protesters fought back when soldiers tried to tear down barricades erected to protect their community.



Two civilians were killed when soldiers started randomly shooting, said a local, with protesters retaliating by throwing a bomb that exploded and overturned a military truck, killing over a dozen soldiers.



"Some are in hiding - we are worried that our people will be hurt as a reprisal" said one woman, adding that all Tamu's residents are calling for is "down with the dictatorship".



Despite the daily bloodshed, protesters have continued to take to the streets, with demonstrators manifesting their discontent in pointedly creative ways.



In commercial hub Yangon, crimson paint - representing the blood already spilled - was splashed across the streets in view of the historic Shwedagon Pagoda.



Flyers with the words "They will not rule us" were scattered across Yangon neighbourhoods.



State-run media announced on Friday night that 19 people had been sentenced to death for robbery and murder under a military tribunal - with 17 of them tried in absentia.



Human Rights Watch condemned the sentences on Saturday as a way to sow fear in the anti-coup movement, as Norway's foreign minister called the use of capital punishment "unacceptable".



The mounting bloodshed has also angered some of Myanmar's 20 or so armed ethnic groups, who control swathes of territory mostly in border regions.



Unrest erupted on Saturday in northern Shan State, as Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), an ethnic rebel group, mounted a pre-dawn attack on a police station, said TNLA's Brigadier General Tar Bhone Kyaw, who declined to say more.



Local media reported more than a dozen police officers were killed, while TNLA said the military retaliated with air strikes on their troops, killing at least one rebel soldier.



State-run television reported in the evening that "terrorist armed groups" attacked the police station with heavy weaponry and set it on fire.



The attack comes the same day TNLA's ally, the Arakan Army (AA) - also a prominent rebel group based in western Rakhine state - issued a statement reiterating their support for the anti-coup movement.



Two other outfits - the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) - have stepped up attacks on military and police in recent weeks.



The military has retaliated with air strikes in KNU's territory, which the rebel group said has displaced more than 24,000 civilians in Karen state by Saturday.



"Your collective, strong action is needed immediately," Myanmar's Ambassador to the UN Kyaw Moe Tun told a Security Council meeting on Friday, proposing a no-fly zone, an arms embargo and more targeted sanctions against members of the military.



An independent analyst with the International Crisis Group, also warned the council that Myanmar was "at the brink of state failure".



"(The junta's) actions may be creating a situation where the country becomes ungovernable," said Richard Horsey.



China and Russia wield veto power at the Security Council and generally oppose sanctions.



But Beijing - the top ally of Myanmar's military - has voiced growing concern about instability, and has said it is speaking to "all parties". (AFP)
Moscow, April 11 : A Russian MiG-31 fighter has intercepted a US reconnaissance plane above the Pacific Ocean, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

Russian airspace control systems detected an air target approaching the Russian state border and a MiG-31 of the Eastern Military District took off in response, the ministry said on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The crew of the Russian jet identified the air target as an RC-135 strategic reconnaissance aircraft of the US Air Force and escorted it over the Pacific Ocean.

After the US aircraft flew away from the Russian border, the MiG-31 returned safely to its home airfield.

The Russian fighter strictly complied with international rules for the use of airspace during its flight, the centre added.
Constantia, N.Y.  One person was killed late Saturday after a car crashed into a stretch of trees in Oswego County.

Deputies were on patrol in Constantia at 10:52 p.m. when they discovered the crash on Route 49, said the Oswego County Sheriffs Office. The driver of the 2004 Ford Mustang  the only car involved in the accident  died at the scene, deputies said.

The sheriffs office said the drivers name will be released after the persons family is notified.

The accident happened around 10:50 p.m.  likely moments before deputies found the crashed car, deputies said.

The westbound Mustang had veered off of Route 49 near Adrian Circle and crashed into multiple trees, deputies said. The driver was the only person in the car.

The deadly accident remains under investigation.

Along with the sheriffs office, North Shore Ambulance, the Constantia Volunteer Fire Department and the New York State Police responded to the Constantia crash.

Staff writer Samantha House covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Reach her at shouse@syracuse.com.
Steady progress is being made on Oman's country pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai with nearly 89 per cent of the work fully completed, reported Oman Observer.

Located in Expos Mobility Thematic District, the Oman Pavilion will showcase the country southward-looking nature, talent, expertise, innovative spirit, and youthful population, as well as its valuable resources and stunning natural beauty.

The sultanate's country pavilion will bring to life its story of national progress through an exploration of frankincense, said the report.

The design of the pavilion is inspired by Boswellia sacra, the tree from which the precious resin is harvested.

With an asymmetrical flowing form that is reminiscent of the trees low, shade-giving branches, the structure appears to envelop and protect life, it stated.

Visitors to the pavilion will pass through five zones, illuminating how frankincense contributed to Omani advancements in transportation, knowledge, manufacturing, sustainability, and exploration.

Designed to connect minds across time and space, this journey will feature both large-scale, high-impact moments, as well as subtle interactive experiences created using Oman-developed augmented and mixed reality technology.

Recently, the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism and the commission responsible for Oman Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai has signed up Al Raqi Business and Services Company to manage and operate the tourism services and information centre at the pavilion.

As per the deal, Al Raqi Business and Services Company will provide all information, services, offers, and tour packages about the sultanate to visitors at the pavilion.
This is the moment a violent drug dealer jumped out of his truck and shot a father-of-three cop dead during a routine traffic stop before dying in a hail of bullets after a 40-mile chase.

Sickening footage shows violent criminal Omar Felix Cueva, 39, stepping out of the driver's side of his Chevrolet pick-up truck with an AR-15-style rifle before firing one shot at New Mexico officer Darrian Jarrott over the rear of the vehicle.

Jarrott, 28, fell to the ground, at which point Cueva walked over to him and shot him several more times, including once point-blank in the head. He then took off in his truck on a 40-mile police chase that saw him die in a hail of bullets.

Seconds before the officer had asked Cueva - who was on his way to a drug deal - to hand over his rifle, which appears to have sparked his murderous act.

Sickening footage shows violent criminal Omar Felix Cueva, 39, jump out the driver's side of his Chevrolet pick-up truck with an AR-15-style rifle before firing a shot at officer Darian Jarrott

Cold-blooded killer Cueva (left) and Jarrott (right), who was described by colleagues as a 'hero'

Jarrott stopped Cueva, who police say had a 'violent criminal history' including drugs charges involving cocaine and meth, on February 4 on the eastbound Interstate 10 between Deming and Las Cruces after noticing his windows were tinted.

After walking over to the passenger-side window of Cueva's white pick-up, footage shows the officer saying politely: 'Good afternoon, sir. My name is Darrian Jarrott. I'm with New Mexico State Police. The reason for the stop is your window tint is a little too dark.'

Cueva then mutters something intelligible - lapel and patrol car video released by police shows.

Jarrott, a father of three small children whose partner was pregnant at the time of his death, says: 'Yeah, mind if I open the door? Or if you want to roll down the window more.'

In a brief conversation lasting around three minutes, the officer asks if Cueva had insurance, to which he replies 'yes', and confirms his name, before asking the criminal to come over to his patrol car so he could run checks.

Cueva opens his door, at which point Jarrott notices his rifle and asked, 'You have a firearm on you, do you mind if I take that off you, for my own safety?'

The officer then says, 'Let's go to my vehicle OK', at which point Cueva gets out from the driver's seat holding the rifle - which Jarrott is unable to see because his view is blocked by the pick-up.

The moment before the shooting, showing Cueva opening the driver's door of his truck with Jarrott on the other side. Source: Police Activity YouTube

As both men slowly walk parallel with each other towards the patrol car, Cueva suddenly draws the rifle, with Jarrott shouting 'oh s***' before being hit

The criminal then shoots him several more times off the camera and slowly pulls away, leaving the officer's dead body by the side of the road (right - obscured by pixelation)

As both men slowly walk parallel with each other towards the patrol car, Cueva suddenly draws the rifle, with Jarrott shouting 'oh s***' before being hit.

The criminal then shoots him several more times off the camera and slowly pulls away, leaving the officer's dead body by the side of the road.

Less than a minute after Cueva fled, a Homeland Security Investigations agent arrived on the scene and notified dispatch that Jarrott was down.

A 40-mile chase ensued, during which Cueva exchanged fire with officers from New Mexico State Police, the Cruces Police Department, the Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office, and US Border Patrol.

Cueva's truck is seen reversing wildly down the highway after being spun out by a patrol car.

Cueva leaps from the truck with his pistol drawn and crouches behind the hood of a police car as an officer kneels opposite him behind the trunk.

After a chase, Cueva leaps from his truck with his pistol drawn and crouches behind the hood of a police car as an officer kneels opposite him behind the trunk (left) and Cueva then backs off towards his truck as an officer aims his gun over the roof of the squad car (right)

Dozens of shots are fired before Cueva is eventually seen lying beside the door of his truck as dozens of armed troopers crowd around aiming their weapons at him.

Las Cruces police officer Adrian De La Garza was wounded in the final shootout and was flown to the hospital by helicopter but his injuries were not life-threatening.

Shooter's violent criminal history with first arrest aged 13 The complete list of crimes for which he was found guilty included: 06/1994 Vandalism 06/2000 Possession of a controlled substance 09/2001 Possession of Controlled substance 10/2002 Importation of a controlled substance 4/2004 Importation of Cocaine 8/2006 Fictitious Check, False check, Burglary 3/2007 Probation Violation 3/2008 Import of a controlled substance 9/2010 Possession with intent of Crystal Meth or ICE Source: ABC-7 Advertisement

NMSP Chief Robert Thornton fought back tears at a press conference as he mourned officer Jarrott who he called 'our fallen hero.'

Jarrott had been on the force since 2015 after working as a Transportation Inspector for the New Mexico Department of Public Safety.

The chief said Cueva was a man with a 'violent criminal history that included drug trafficking and other felonies.'

He was first arrested age 13 for vandalism, then for drug trafficking at 21, and possession with intent to distribute crystal meth at age 29.

This final arrest saw , Cueva and two other men led police on a chase  at times exceeding 100 miles per hour  on the interstate before crashing into a fence and fleeing into a nearby ravine, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.

The men were arrested and found to have a loaded assault rifle and a duffel bag containing 15 pounds of methamphetamine, worth about $252,000.

Police have not yet commented about what was found in Cueva's pick-up or during a search of his home after he killed Jarrott.

Democrat New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham ordered flags across the state to fly at half-mast following the tragedy in February.

'I am shocked, heartbroken and enraged by the loss of this public servant. I am praying for the local officer who was also shot and injured,' the governor said in a statement.

'I am horrified as we grieve another life cut down, another family crushed by senseless violence in our state.

'Violent crime is a scourge on New Mexico, and the men and women who step up and put on the badge to protect our communities fight it with everything they've got every day.'

Cueva is seen aiming at cops behind the hood of a patrol car (left) and officers crowding around his body after he was gunned down (right) on the I-10 in New Mexico Thursday

Greg Baca, the Republican leader of the state Senate, joined the Governor in condemning the shooting.

'The senseless violence gripping our state has taken the life of a devoted public servant and law enforcement officer,' he said in a statement.

'Tonight, we send our prayers and deepest condolences to the family members and friends of Officer Darian Jarrott.

'Words cannot express the depth of gratitude we owe to those who risk their lives for our protection, and we stand with the entire law enforcement community in grieving this tragic loss.'
He allegedly told police he originally went into the rooms of women he knew. He explained he was doing it to relieve stress, sometimes it was stress from homework. He stated he also does it after girls refuse to have sex with him, according to court documents.
No question about it, when you go to vote in Louisiana your ballot is going to look a lot different from those in most other states.

That isnt just about the nicknames  T-Bob, LaLa, Bubba. Its about the sheer number of, er, statesmen offering to sacrifice themselves on the altar of public service. Not to mention salaries and legislative per diems.

Louisianas system is the opposite of what the political scientists call the Australian ballot, the shortlist of parties that voters in other countries face.

What we call the open primary is a misnomer to the political scientists. It is more properly called an all-party primary because all candidates run together, regardless of party affiliation or lack thereof.

With brief interruption in the 2008-10 election cycles for congressional races only, Louisiana has not had closed party-only primaries since 1975. One of Gov. Edwin W. Edwards innovations, he did not want to run essentially three elections as he did in 1971-72, a Democratic primary, a runoff and then a general election.

The open primary fueled the growth of the Republican Party, as it removed any penalty for registering with the GOP, so the partys adherents could vote in all state and local elections. Only presidential primaries are open only to registered party voters.

Now, the Republican Party is the dominant force in state politics but still trails the Democrats in overall registration, probably a result of many GOP-leaning voters not bothering to change registrations because they dont need to for most elections. And both parties want to cut into the growth of unaffiliated "independent" voters.

In both parties, there are leaders who believe that closed primaries, as those held in most other states, will give voters sharper general-election choices filtered through the party primary.

We question whether this change is needed and even if it were adopted, if it would change that much in todays Louisiana.

From the U.S. Capitol to the State Capitol in Baton Rouge, voters are increasingly sharply divided in terms of party identification. Voters are partifying, to coin a word, by themselves.

For strongly committed conservatives in the GOP, or liberals among the Democrats, there are calculations that party primaries  often, lower in turnout than general elections  will allow election of purer partisans.

No system is perfect. In Louisiana we've lived through cases in which a slew of candidates in the open primary tended to draw votes from moderate voters, thus favoring the more extreme ends of the political spectrum: the unspeakable David Duke and the comeback kid of 1991, Edwin Edwards. Runoff from hell, indeed.

Louisiana really does not need party primaries, that we can see. And we wonder if voters, who now get a colorful political buffet, want legislators to limit their choices to please the limited constituencies of the party organizations.
Even as departure of the AIUDF Assembly poll candidates to Rajasthan has raised eyebrows in political circles, the party claimed that the groups visit to the western state is only for purpose of vacation and added that there is no apprehension about any of its members falling prey to horse-trading.

Speaking to The Assam Tribune over the phone from Jaipur, AIUDF floor leader in the Assembly Hafiz Bashir Ahmed asserted that all the partys nominees are loyal and none of them will switch sides.

We are here (in Rajasthan) basically on vacation. We had made a plan to go somewhere for a few days after conclusion of voting. Generally we always go for Umrah after polling is completed during every election. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have been now placed on the pilgrimage (by the government of Saudi Arabia). Therefore, we have come here for rest and a bit of sightseeing. It is sort of a get-together for all of us, Ahmed said.

The AIUDF leader also said the party is not apprehensive of losing its candidates to horse-trading by the BJP.

There is no reason for having any such doubts. Some news reports have been flashed during recent days in the media in this regard, but they have no basis. There is no fear or apprehension on our part of falling victim to horse-trading. There is no possibility of any member of our party going over to the other side, he said.

Ahmed is a three-time AIUDF legislator from the Bilasipara West constituency and is seeking re-election for a fourth consecutive term. Elected first to the Assembly in 2006, he is also the senior-most MLA of the party. Ahmed is also one of the general secretaries of the AIUDF and is considered to be very close to party boss Badruddin Ajmal.

He said three Assembly poll contenders of the Congress party are also staying with the team of AIUDF leaders at a premium segment hotel in Jaipur.

There are 18 of us from our party here. In addition, three from the Congress are also here We have been doing a bit of sightseeing. Besides, we have also made a programme to visit Ajmer soon, the senior AIUDF leader said.

Ahmed said the group will return to Assam before May 2. We will make a decision about our return in a day or two. We have not fixed any date. We will definitely be back before the day of counting of votes, he added.

The senior AIUDF leader exuded confidence about the partys prospects in the Assembly elections. Our overall result will be very good. As per the feedback from the ground our party should win from all the seats where we are in fray. But there is always a margin for error and we may face some challenge in one or two constituencies, he said.

Meanwhile, sources in the Congress party told this newspaper that the entire operation, from airlifting the AIUDF candidates by a chartered flight to arranging their accommodation in the high-end Jaipur hotel for the duration of the sojourn, has been managed by the All India Congress Committee (AICC).

Our candidates Manoj Dhanowar (Lahowal), JP Das (Lakhimpur) and Nurul Hooda (Rupohihat) reached Jaipur on Saturday and are now with the AIUDF team. Our three candidates are there for coordination, a senior State Congress office-bearer said.
The CBS daytime discussion show The Talk is returning to screens on Monday following a month-long hiatus after Sharon Osbourne left the program amid controversy.

Osbourne's departure came following a heated exchange between herself and co-host Sheryl Underwood over a debate that saw her spring to the defense of her friend, and fellow Brit, Piers Morgan, over accusations of racism.

Monday's show featuring Sheryl Underwood, Carrie Ann Inaba, Amanda Kloots, and Elaine Welteroth is to resume featuring a discussion about race and healing.

Sharon Osbourne left The Talk after defending her friend Piers Morgan's criticism of Meghan Markle. She demanded her black co-host, Sheryl Underwood, explain her claim that Morgan's criticism was racist

On The Talk, Osbourne defended Morgan in an on-air debate with co-host Sheryl Underwood, which turned heated as Osbourne demanded 'educate me' on how Morgan is racist

An expert on how to have difficult conversations about diversity, equity, inclusion and justice is offer advice to the group along with experts on how to heal after a difficult conversation.

The advice comes too late for Osbourne who forced to leave the show following the fallout on March 10th, after which the show was placed on hiatus.

CBS said Osbourne had decided to leave the show after a review that found in part that 'Sharon's behavior toward her co-hosts during the March 10 episode did not align with our values for a respectful workplace.'

The network said its internal inquiry said the show's co-hosts, including Osbourne and Sheryl Underwood, were not properly prepared by the show's team for a discussion on race. But it said there was no evidence found to support Osbourne's claim CBS ordered she be confronted about her support of Morgan.

Osbourne (far right) and Underwood (second from left) got into a heated exchange over Osbourne's support for her friend Piers Morgan (third from left), who has come under fire for comments he made about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Morgan posted this photo in February 2020 of the show's former panel from last year. From left to right: Carrie Ann Inaba, Underwood, Morgan, Marie Osmond, and Osbourne

Morgan, who is a friend of Osbourne's, left Good Morning Britain after saying he didn't believe Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, when she said in an interview that she had considered suicide when unhappy with her life in Britain's Royal Family.

During the discussion of Morgan, Underwood asked Osbourne, 'What would you say to people who may feel that, while you're standing by your friend, it appears that you gave validation or safe haven to something that he has uttered that is racist, even if you don't agree?'

Osbourne replied angrily, using words that were bleeped out, and said she felt like she was being placed on 'the electric chair' for having a friend that some people think is racist.

'I very much feel like I'm about to be put in the electric chair because I have a friend, who many people think is a racist, so that makes me a racist?' she said.

Underwood, who is black, pushed back and accused Osbourne of downplaying Morgan's comments.

'Educate me, tell me when you have heard him say racist things,' Osbourne said.

The Talk has been on a month-long hiatus following the heated on-air debate but Osbourne was essentially forced to quit the show

After a commercial break, the discussion continued with Osbourne telling Underwood at one point: 'Don't try to cry. If anyone should be crying, it should be me.'

Osbourne later issued an apology for her 'panicked' defense of Morgan.

CBS said it had conducted workshops and training 'about equity, inclusion and cultural awareness for the hosts, producers and crew.'

'We acknowledge the network and studio teams, as well as the showrunners, are accountable for what happened during that broadcast as it was clear the co-hosts were not properly prepared by the staff for a complex and sensitive discussion involving race,' a statement revealed.

'During this hiatus, we are coordinating workshops, listening sessions and training about equity, inclusion and cultural awareness for the hosts, producers and crew. Going forward, we are identifying plans to enhance the producing staff and producing procedures to better serve the hosts, the production and, ultimately, our viewers,' CBS said.

Earlier this week, Piers Morgan praised Osbourne for defending his right to an opinion even at the cost of her job, accusing CBS of 'hypocrisy' for forcing her out at The Talk

'When it really mattered, when the chips were down for me, she was there, she was a loyal friend. And my God has she paid for that loyalty,' Morgan said of Osbourne (with him above)

After The Talk went on hiatus allegations emerged that Osbourne had made racist or otherwise crass remarks about co-hosts behind the scenes at the show.

Former co-stars Julie Chen and Leah Rimini publicly came out to complain that Osbourne once referred to Chen as 'a wonton' and Rimini as being 'ghetto'.

A report from Yashar Ali also alleged that Osbourne called former co-host Sara Gilbert a 'fish eater,' among other things; Gilbert is a lesbian.

CBS extended The Talk's hiatus for yet another week after Osbourne was accused of frequently calling former co-host Julie Chen a 'wonton' and 'slanty eyes'

Osbourne furiously denied the allegations in an interview with DailyMail.com, calling the claims 'all c**p'.

'In situations like this, you're always going to get people who you've had disagreements with in the past, people who've got axes to grind, who come out of the woodwork and they'll come out with their BS and that's it. It doesn't surprise me at all. It doesn't surprise me,' she said.

'Of course, it's a pile on. People want to add fuel to the fire and it comes with the territory and that's fine,' Osbourne said.

She added: 'Being accused of racism is no joke. Now they get their sweet revenge. I can't even address it because it's kids in a schoolyard.

'Coming out with stupid, childish comments  it's like really? That's all you've got?'

Asked if she had ever called Chen a wonton, she added: 'It's all c**p. It's all c**p. I don't want to go there with her. She makes her living out of outing people. So, it's like come on.

'It's got no real foundation. Allegations of calling a Chinese lady a wonton, it's like  is that all you've got? It's like really?'

Osbourne gained TV fame with the 2002-2005 reality show The Osbournes which she produced and starred in alongside her heavy-metal rock star husband, Ozzy Osbourne, and two of their three children.

Sharon Osbourne, a manager for her husband and other musicians, was a judge on the British talent show The X Factor and on America's Got Talent.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 21:00:37|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Photo taken on April 10, 2021 shows a damaged school building after a 6.1-magnitude quake in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. Six people were killed, another one was seriously injured, and scores of buildings were damaged after a 6.1-magnitude quake rocked Indonesia's western province of East Java on Saturday, officials said. (Photo by Bayu Novanta/Xinhua)

JAKARTA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Six people were killed, another one was seriously injured, and scores of buildings were damaged after a 6.1-magnitude quake rocked Indonesia's western province of East Java on Saturday, officials said.

The earthquake struck at 2 p.m. Jakarta time (0700 GMT) with the epicenter 96 km south of Kepanjen town of Malang district with a depth of 80 km, Andry Sembiring, an official at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, said.

The National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Raditya Jati said that three people died in Lumajang district, two were killed in the border between Lumajang district and Malang district, and another one was found dead in Malang district.

The damage was classified from moderate to serious categories in the area. The risk assessment on the quake was undertaken in the districts of Lumajang, Malang, Blitar and Tulungagung, he said in a statement.

The earthquake also forced residents to flee home and the number of the evacuees was still under calculation, spokesman Jati said. Enditem
A Scranton man who police said admitted he sexually abused a teenager wants his incriminating statement kept from a jury because he claimed it was coerced, according to a motion filed in federal court.

The U.S. attorneys office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania said John L. Kramers claims are without a scintilla of evidence and his admission should see a courtroom.

Kramer, 36, of 829 N. Lincoln Ave., was arrested by Scranton police March 29, 2020, on charges he raped a girl for years, beginning when she was 14, after his wife discovered photographs on his cellphone of the child engaged in sex acts, authorities alleged.

The Times-Tribune does not identify victims of sexual assault.

Police charged Kramer with rape of a child and related sex crimes. During an interview with Detective Christian Gowarty early March 30, 2020, Kramer said he had sex with the teenager because he was too weak to stop himself, according to a criminal complaint the detective filed. He is awaiting trial in Lackawanna County Court.

On June 23, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Kramer with sexual exploitation of children for allegedly producing images of child pornography, prosecutors said. Kramer pleaded not guilty.

On March 29, U.S. Assistant Public Defender Leo Latella, Kramers lawyer, wrote in a motion that Kramers statement was not voluntary and cannot be used as evidence because it would violate his Fifth Amendment rights.

When he was arrested, Kramer was taken to the departments headquarters in a transport vehicle, handcuffed and without safety restraints, Latella wrote. He was jostled during the ride and hit his head against the wall of the vehicle, possibly giving him a concussion, he claimed. At headquarters, he was held for hours in a tortuously cold holding cell that exacerbated his arthritis, according to the motion. Though he needed to use the restroom, the cells toilet did not work and he was denied access to a bathroom until after his interview.

After the interview had concluded, and Mr. Kramer made incriminating statements, he was given access to a bathroom and placed in more comfortable conditions, Latella wrote.

Kramers claims lack evidence, federal prosecutors countered.

In a reply filed Wednesday, lawyers for the government argued the vehicle he was transported in was equipped with video cameras and, while the ride may have been somewhat bumpy, there is no evidence he hit his head on anything and never appeared to be unsteady on his feet.

Federal prosecutors also wrote that the holding cell actually did have a working toilet. Prosecutors also contend Kramer never showed any sign of being cold, though he did mention to the detective its really cold in that cell and its hard to use the bathroom with no toilet paper. He was given toilet paper after asking for it.

The temperature in the holding cells is the same as the temperature in the departments roll call room, captains office and lieutenants office, prosecutors said.

Kramer suffers from photosensitivity and needs to wear prescription sunglasses when exposed to light, his lawyer argued, which made the environment particularly harsh because the cell is lit by bright fluorescent lights. There was no indication on surveillance video it bothered him during his time at headquarters or when he and his prior attorney, Ernest Preate Jr., met with the FBI on Oct. 28 in an interview room to discuss evidence the government intends to present at trial.

In court paperwork, prosecutors called his claims frivolous and borderline libelous.

To the contrary, all the evidence demonstrates that the (Scranton Police Department) acted with professionalism, followed the law and never came close to violating Kramers constitutional rights, acting U.S. Attorney Bruce D. Brandler argued.

Police Chief Leonard Namiotka characterized the allegations as a false statement.

On March 16, the same federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging Kramer with attempted witness tampering on allegations he sent a letter to his wife threatening to have her jailed, according to prosecutors.

In a separate motion, Kramer argued he should be tried separately on the counts because they relate to two separate incidents with two separate victims involving different types of conduct separated by nearly a years worth of time.

Federal prosecutors argued the witness intimidation charge overlaps the sexual exploitation count because his letter specifically references the criminal case.

Kramer is scheduled for trial in federal court May 10. A hearing on his motion to toss his statement to police is scheduled for Wednesday and a reply brief on his motion to sever the case is due April 22.
European Union leaders no longer meet around a common oval summit table to broker their famed compromises. Instead, each of the 27 watches the other heads of state or government with suspicion via a video screen that shows a mosaic of faraway capitals.

This is what COVID-19 has wrought.

Lofty hopes that the crisis would encourage a new and tighter bloc to face a common challenge have given way to the reality of division: The pandemic has set member nation against member nation, and many capitals against the EU itself, as symbolised by the disjointed, virtual meetings the leaders now hold.

Leaders fight over everything from virus passports to push tourism to the conditions for receiving pandemic aid. Perhaps worse, some attack the very structures the EU built to deal with the pandemic. Last month, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz decried how vaccine-buying in the bloc had become a bazaar, alleging poorer countries struck out while the rich thrived.

"Internal political cohesion and respect for European values continue to be challenged in different corners of the Union," the European Policy Center said in a study one year after the pandemic swept from China and engulfed Europe.

In some places, there have been demands for political accountability.

In the Czech Republic on Wednesday, Prime Minster Andrej Babis fired his health minister, the third to be sacked during the pandemic in one of Europe's hardest-hit countries. Last week, Slovakia's government resigned over a secret deal to buy Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, and in Italy, Premier Giuseppe Conte was forced to resign over his handling of the economic fallout of the pandemic.

But overall, political upheaval across the EU has been muted, considering that half a million people have died in the pandemic. At the EU level, there has been no serious call for the ouster of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the bloc's chief executive, despite her acknowledgment that serious mistakes were made.

It is clear that the EU has not risen to the occasion so far - and it's not clear if it can. The European Policy Center noted that there is no immediate end in sight to the health crisis, not to mention the inevitable structural economic challenges.

The EU and its countries, of course, fell victim to some events beyond their control, as other nations around the globe did. Good arguments can be made that part of the the bloc's problems are due to delayed deliveries from Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. But some of the crisis was plainly self-inflicted.

The typical complaint is that there is no united EU health structure to tackle the pandemic and that largely health is still a national domain. But for years, the bloc has had a common drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency. And since last summer, the EU decided to pool vaccine purchases and spread them equitably among the 27 nations, big and small, richer and poorer.

But while some non-EU nations were speeding ahead with emergency use authorizations, the EMA moved more slowly, at least in part because it followed a process that was largely similar to the standard licensing procedure that would be granted to any new vaccine. The agency's first vaccine greenlight came some three weeks after one was OK'd in the United Kingdom - the first country to authorize a rigorously tested COVID-19 shot.

The bloc never caught up. On Friday, the UK, for example, had given 46.85% of their citizens at least one dose, compared to 14.18% in the EU.

The EU also made the mistake of overly equating securing vaccines with getting shots in the arms - and underestimating the difficulties involved in mass producing and distributing such a delicate product. While EU negotiators were focusing on liability clauses in a contract, other nations were thinking about logistics and pushing for speed and volume.

And while nations like the United States were sealing their borders to vaccine exports, the EU took the high moral ground and kept exports flowing - to the extent that over the first quarter of the year almost as many doses left the bloc for third countries as were delivered to the clamoring EU member states.

On top of missteps with the vaccine rollout, the EU will be slow to disburse money from its 750 billion-euro (USD 890 billion) rescue package, which will share debt and give out grants to poorer members in an unprecedented way. But bickering among leaders over some clauses and intricate rules have made it anything but a speedy process. What's worse, the German constitutional court could still torpedo or further delay the whole initiative.

The nature of the crisis may be different from past ones, but familiar obstacles arose: onerous bureaucracy, unnecessary delays as legalistic and technical disputes overshadowed the bigger picture, and bickering politicians putting self-interest before the common good.

This past week was a case in point. The EMA reiterated its advice for all member nations to stand together - this time to keep on using the AstraZeneca jabs for all adults despite a possible link to extremely rare cases of blood clotting.

Instead, hours after the announcement, Belgium went against that recommendation, barring AstraZeneca for citizens 55 and under, and others issued or kept similar restrictions.

(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 Deep State has done its best to portray Black Lives Matter as a moderate movement. Wikipedia describes BLM as "a decentralized political and social movement protesting against incidents of police brutality and all racially motivated violence against black people." Wikipedia says its loose structure has contributed to confusion in the press. The confusion is convenient because it allows BLM to disavow any comments by its members the public finds offensive. Wikipedia claims BLM, "protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful; when violence does occur, it is often committed by police or by counter-protestors. Despite this, opponents have falsely portrayed the movement as violent." House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer doesn't "accept" the premise that Antifa and BLM are violent. ABCs Sunny Hostin maintains that violent protests are "manufactured by the Trump campaign." All branches of the Deep State assert that BLM is a respectable non-violent movement.

BLM leaders were invited to the White House by President Obama. The Democratic National Committee has adopted a resolution expressing its support for the Black Lives Matter movement. In November of 2014, Charles Wade, a BLM activist, traveled to Geneva, Switzerland to speak before the United Nations on the subject of police brutality. Black Lives Matter leader, DeRay McKesson, taught a course on Transformational Leadership in the BLM Movement at Yale Divinity School funded through a $120,000 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. Washington, D.C.'s Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that part of the street outside of the White House had been officially renamed to Black Lives Matter Plaza. Nearly 300 major U.S. corporations have pledge literally hundreds of millions of dollars to BLM and other "racial justice" causes. Bank of America has pledged a $1 billion donation to the cause of fighting "racial inequality." According to The Economist, between May 2020 and December 2020, donations to Black Lives Matter related causes amounted to 10.6 billion dollars. How could BLM be anything other than a respectable mainstream movement?

It does not require a great deal of investigation to discover that BLM is not the respectable organization the media portrays. BLM was founded in 2013 by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi. Cullors stated, Myself and Alicia [Garza] in particular are trained organizers. We are trained Marxists. We are super-versed on, sort of, ideological theories. She also is involved with some extremely bizarre occult practices. All criticism of BLM can be refuted. Because of its "loose structure" any objectionable act can be denied by the "real" BLM.

BLM is famous for its catchy chants like Pigs in A Blanket, Fry 'Em Like Bacon!

CNN has explained that this chant was used by a local group not affiliated with the national Black Lives Matter. Police claimed the chant promoted death to police. Rashad Turner, a founder of the St. Paul Black Lives Matter group, said "no one is promoting violence." The chant "was simply a demand for police officers who kill people to be treated the same as civilians who kill people." Other chants may be more difficult to explain. What do we want? Dead cops! When do we want it? Now!; Every City, Every Town, Burn the Precinct to the Ground; and "Death to America" may be more difficult to explain. 359 officers died in the line of duty in 2020. Excuses should not be made for chants about the killing of police officers.

There are undoubtedly moderate members of BLM. However, there are a considerable number of extreme radicals in the organization. BLM Activist Samantha Shader has admitted to throwing a Molotov cocktail at a vehicle containing four officers in New York City. Black Lives Matter Toronto co-founder Yusra Khogali has tweeted asking Allah for strength to not cuss/kill these men and white folks out here today. The intolerance of these radicals has led to excesses like the killing of an Indianapolis 24-year-old mother of a three-year-old for saying "All lives matter."

A Princeton University study links BLM to 91% of riots during the summer of 2020. Of course, this study will be disputed, but the fact that BLM is a violent movement cannot be denied. They will never be satisfied. New York Black Lives Matter President Hawk Newsome: "if this country doesn't give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it. Prominent Black Lives Matter activist Maya Echols predicted the results of the Derek Chauvin trial: If George Floyds murderer is not sentenced, just know that all hell is gonna break loose. Dont be surprised when buildings are on fire. Just saying. As Vice-President Harris has stated, "They're not going to stop . . . they're not going to let up, and they should not, and we should not.
Apr. 11ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute will host its annual spring sale from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, April 15, and Friday, April 16.

The sale will feature a variety of chile peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, tomatillos and herbs  all grown by Chile Pepper Institute staff and NMSU students. It will take place outdoors, following COVID-19 safety protocols, and customers must wear face masks and adhere to social distancing guidelines at all times.

"We will have a wide variety of chile peppers, including super-hots like Bhut Jolokia and Trinidad Moruga Scorpion peppers, as well as traditional New Mexico varieties such as the medium-heat Heritage Big Jim, the mild Heritage 6-4 and the hot Sandia Select," said Liza Lopez, program coordinator for the Chile Pepper Institute in a news release. "We also have a very nice assortment of tomato plants, with several varieties suitable for container growing, along with herbs, eggplants and tomatillos."

Lopez said now is the perfect time to plant chiles and tomatoes in home gardens.

All proceeds from the sale, located at the Fabian Garcia Science Center, 113 W. University Ave. in Las Cruces, will benefit chile pepper research and education at NMSU.

For more information, contact 575-646-3028 or cpi@nmsu.edu.
Our advice columnists have heard it all over the years. Each Sunday, we dive into the Dear Prudie archives and sharing a selection of classic letters with our readers. Join Slate Plus for even more advice columnsyour first month is only $1.

Dear Prudence

Ive been with my boyfriend for about six months. Hes been wonderful with my 4-year-old son (who has started calling him daddy!), and we recently started living together. The problem is he just told me he considers me only an 8.5 on the hotness scale and doesnt think our sex life is the best hes ever had but that hes happy to settle based on the whole package. I think were very well-matched (hotness-wise), but I dont compare him to other men in that way. Ive also tried to improve our sex life, without much luck. My question is: How should I feel about his revelation? Do I deserve more from a partner, in terms of feeling sexy and loved? Or should I stick with it for the sake of my son?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Im trying to imagine how this came up in conversation. Darling, Ive been thinking about this for a long time, and Im so happy to be able to tell you  youre a solid 8.5 out of 10. Very nearly a 9. I understand if you want to take a minute and call your parents. Also, Ive had better sex in the past. I wont bother you with the details but  its been better. Im not going to dump you over it. Its definitely good enough for me. Anyhow. An 8.5. A solid 8.5. I dont think its a requirement that a happy, fulfilling relationship also provide the best sex of all time, but I do think its incredibly odd and casually cruel that your partner thinks its necessary to a) rank you on a 10-point scale of hotness, b) inform you of your ranking, and c) describe your sex life as something hes happy to settle for.

Advertisement

It sounds like your boyfriend is interested in making sure you feel like youre not quite good enough and that hes doing you a favor by overlooking your physical and sexual inadequacies. These are some deeply damaging and manipulative games hes playing. Meeting your child and moving in together at six months is awfully fast. I dont think it should be a point of pride that your son has taken to calling him daddy so quickly. You deserve more from a partner, and your son deserves more from a potential co-parent. A longer screening period will go a long way towards protecting both you and your child from guys like this.Danny M. Lavery

From: Help! My Boyfriend Is Great to My Son but Says Im Only an 8.5. (March 15, 2016)

Advertisement

Dear Prudence,

My amazing girlfriend of four years has been told that she will never have biological children. It was devastating to both of us. She is coming to terms with it and saying things like, We can look into adoption. While Ive been trying to support her, the truth is, Im now wondering if our relationship can make it. The more I think about adoption, the more uncertain I feel, and it would be unfair to adopt a child without being sure. Ive researched a bit on surrogacy and donor eggs and all, and it sounds very complicated and expensive, and theres no guarantee. I know this sounds cold and callous, but the whole infertility issue is beginning to look like a deal breaker for me. Am I being a jerk?

Advertisement

If you were married, would you divorce her? If you would, there would be general agreement that you were quite the cad. If the situation were reversed and you both discovered you will never be able to father children, would you understand if she said adoption or donor sperm wasnt for her and she was moving on? Despite being together for four years, you two apparently arent engaged, even though youve discussed having children, so youve left it ambiguous just what your articulated intentions were to your girlfriend. Youve both just received devastating news, and the blow is infinitely heavier for her. If you do love her, you will take some time to absorb this news and slowly explore the consequences for both of you. This is made easier by the fact that youre a guy, so you have more leeway to ponder questions of reproduction. Your girlfriend needs to find a support group so that she can talk about whats happened to her with others who have been there. And before you run off you should honor your relationship by going together to a therapist who specialized in these issues. But you are entitled to your feelings and though you recognize theyre not noble, they are understandable. Pretending you dont have them wont do either of you any good in the long run. But with more knowledge and time, you may find this is not the fatal blow to your relationship it feels like now. Do keep in mind that if you leave her for more fertile pastures, you wont actually know about your ability to have children with someone until you start trying.Emily Yoffe

Advertisement

Advertisement

From: Help! Should I Leave My Infertile Partner? (March 19, 2012)

Dear Prudence,

I have been with my boyfriend for four years, and he is my best friend as well as the man I love. He has a friend of 10 years who is extremely flirtatious, a massive womanizer, handsome, and charming. I had no interest in him, although we got along really well. A little over a year ago, he appeared at my apartment door drunk one night. He said he couldnt afford a cab. I let him in so he could call my boyfriend to pick him up. After I rejected several of his advances, he raped me in my apartment. Before he left, he said if I told anyone, everyone would think it was consensual, given his reputation and my friendship with him. I never told anyone, and my boyfriend has never found out. The friend has since moved away. Over the last year, I have had repeated nightmares and panic attacks. Im haunted by the other women this man may assault. My boyfriend only knows Ive been going through a rough patch, but he doesnt know why. Hes still in touch with this friend. I love my boyfriend so much, and I know he adores me, but I cant tell him. He will believe his friend over me, and I will lose him forever. Not to mention that I was the one who let the man into my apartment. I feel I am close to cracking all the time. Since that night, my body wont respond sexually at all. Although we have sex sporadically, I often have to go to the bathroom to cry afterward. My boyfriend is understandably frustrated and has offered to come with me to see a doctor. Im horrified of the idea of anybody, therapist or otherwise, probing into my sex life. It would be kinder to finish the relationship so the wonderful, kind, and funny man Im with can find somebody who can make him happy again, but I dont want to lose him. I dont know what to do, and Ive paid a high price for my stupidity. Please help me.

Advertisement

Advertisement

You did nothing wrong. Let me repeat: You did nothing wrong. Anyone in your situation would have let in a friend. But it turns out this man is a stone-cold rapist, a woman-hater, and likely a psychopath. You were violently assaulted and traumatized by this monster. But now its time for you to stop blaming yourself and get the professional assistance that will help you heal. First, call the hotline at RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. They will put you in touch with a local rape counseling center, where you can start the process of talking about what happened and finally being released from the state of trauma youve been in. You say the idea of talking about your rape is horrifying to you. But you wrote to me because you realized you could no longer carry this burden alone. Of course it will be painful to discuss, but it will be the beginning of feeling youre getting your life back. Think how much it will mean to have professionals reassure you that none of thisnone of thisis your fault. Next, you should talk to the police. It may be that its impossible now to prosecute your assaultagain, that is not your faultbut the police should look into what happened, and at the least a file will have been opened on this man. Youre absolutely right that you werent his first victim, and he will strike again until someone is able to stop him. You also have to tell your boyfriend. If this prospect seems too overwhelming, a counselor can help you explain to him what happened. As horrifying as your story is, there will be a kind of terrible relief for him in understanding, finally, whats been going on with you. If your boyfriend is the wonderful, caring person you say he is, he will be devastated to think he unwittingly brought this criminal into your life and you were too afraid to tell him what happened. If he doesnt believe you and thinks you had some kind of consensual encounter with his creep of a friend, then your boyfriend is not the man you thought he was, and its time you moved on. You were attacked by a beast. Lets hope he can be stopped so he wont hurt anyone else.EY

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

From: Help! I Was Raped by My Boyfriends Friend. How Do I Tell My Boyfriend? (Oct. 10, 2013)

Dear Prudence,

I recently moved departments at work. My previous department had a traditionally masculine, business bro attitude that I was not comfortable with, and I was excited to move to my new departmentits not ENTIRELY because my new department consists of primarily women (which will become relevant), but the environment in this department is much more focused and efficient, more supportive, progressive, friendly, and just generally a great place to work. The problem is that Im a man, and although I absolutely love this new environment and fit in well with all of my colleagues who are women, there are one or two other men in this department who are constantly trying to befriend me because Its nice to have another guy around with all this estrogen, and other similar (and, I think, insulting) reasonsparticularly, one who makes a lot of effort trying to hang out with me or monopolize conversation with me at group meetings or events. I dont want to be mean or overly dismissive to this co-worker, but he represents everything that I intentionally left behind in my old department. Hes rude, aggressive, insensitive to any but the most blatant problems that anyone else is having, and so on. I dont want to judge him too harshly (maybe hes a nice guy at heart!), but I really dont want to get sucked into being his work buddy when, to be honest, I would much rather caucus with the women and the more thoughtful men of the office and help put an end to this type of behavior. Im worried Ill have to deal with him aggressively seeking me out at group events to the point that others in my office might start to associate me with his behaviors and not with my own efforts to blend into this departments status quo. What can I do to separate myself from the few old school business bro men in my office?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Its a delicate proposition, declining to take a co-worker up on his offer of friendship, because the type of person who insists upon becoming chummy despite your lack of enthusiasm is also, often, the type who takes offense when you try to stay professional. Your best bet with this man, I think, is to become a blank wall, upon whose surface he can find no purchase. When he says things like, Its nice to have another guy around with all this estrogen, smile blandly and say, Im sorry to hear that. I have no problem with estrogen. When he seeks you out, answer his questions, but dont ask any in return beyond the polite bare minimum, and dont encourage his conversational gambits. Always be the first to excuse yourself from your talks with him: Excuse me, but I think I see Sandra over there, and Ive been meaning to ask her something. Nice talking to you. Decline any requests he makes to socialize outside of work, and remain as neutral as possible whenever he speaks to you. Whether or not he gets the hint is outside of your control, but allow yourself to cut conversations with him short as often as necessary. Its not rude to refuse to become besties with an overeager co-worker.DL

Advertisement

Advertisement

From: Help! Id Rather Hang Out With the Women at Work Than the Other Men. (Nov. 8, 2016)

More From Dear Prudence

My friend is pregnant with her first and probably only child. This was a complete surprise, as she thought she couldnt have children. The father is someone she dated for a few weeks. She has decided not to tell him about the pregnancy based on his behavior when they were dating. He made comments that she was dirty because she wanted to have sex. (He was OK with them having sex, however.) He talked creepily about how he wanted to protect and save her. Then she went on a camping trip with a group of friends, which included some guys, and he got very jealous. He called her a slut, said he wished her puppy would die, and hoped one of her friends got cancer. She ended the relationship then found out she was pregnant and shes having the child. Her family supports her decision not to ever tell the father. But she asked my advice, and Im torn. I think the guy is crazy, but she could use the financial support. Also, in the future the child will have many questions, and my friend will have to say she barely knew the father of her child. What do you think she should do?
Julia Mines didnt want to get vaccinated against COVID-19, fully aware of the nations history of medical experimentation on African Americans. But she did it anyway.

I needed to set an example, said Mines, director of a drug and alcohol recovery center for Black Portlanders.

But, in the end, only two of her seven employees at The Miracles Club have gotten shots, she said, even though they had early access because they work face-to-face with people of color.

Mines and her coworkers are among the hundreds of thousands of non-white Oregonians who health officials and community groups are trying to help vaccinate, organizing specialized clinics, giving local groups money to educate the public and allocating hundreds of vaccine doses a week with special access for people of color.

There have been some distinct successes.

People in some communities who were initially hesitant about the vaccine are now coming around. Dozens of groups are signing up immigrants and refugees who might otherwise likely not know where to turn. And one Native American group is already well on the way to vaccinating everyone who wants a shot.

But challenges remain, and no accurate measure of the states success so far appears to exist.

The Portland Somali population has struggled to get the county to send in a mobile clinic, a leader in the community said, weeks after he first asked for help. Many Black people continue to fear getting a shot, some leaders said. And undocumented immigrants worry about vaccination, too, even if theyre told that getting a shot wont put them at risk of deportation.

Some are pointing to insufficient access  whether its transportation barriers or registration windows that open only when people are working  as a key obstacle to raising vaccination rates for people of color.

Ensuring vaccines are available in an equitable and fair way to our communities of color is critical, said Kasi Woidyla, a spokeswoman for a health network serving majority Latinx patients. The Latinx communities are being vaccinated at a rate far below other groups despite the fact their positivity rates are three to four times those reported by the state  and its not due to hesitancy, its due to access.

A broad view of the Portland areas efforts to vaccinate groups disproportionately affected by the coronavirus reveals a panoply of concerted efforts to give access to vaccines, impeded at least in part by hesitation and resistance that community groups are continuing to fight.

Oregon has stressed vaccine equity as a central component of its battle to end the pandemic, describing its vaccination drive as an opportunity to reshape the states health care system to make up for historic injustices. It created a committee composed of people representing numerous people of color, which recommended counties take special care to vaccinate those groups.

In the approximately two months since then, Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties have been deliberate in allocating doses to clinics geared toward Black, Indigenous and other people of color, and making sure people have access to them.

Combined, they have held or helped organize more than 110 community clinics dedicated to BIPOC populations or underserved groups. Two of the three metro-area counties, Washington and Multnomah, have administered or allocated more than 14,000 doses through these clinics.

The Oregon Health Authoritys metric for determining success is broad, the goal being that about the same percentage of Asians, Pacific Islanders, Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans get shots as their overarching populations. The agencys publicly disclosed data suggests thats happening in some cases.

But the reliability of those measures is questionable, Portland State University researcher Charles Rynerson said, almost certainly inflating vaccination rates for Pacific Islanders and Hawaiian Natives and Native Americans, while making rates for whites look lower than they really are.

The Oregon Health Authority did not confirm or deny its calculations are incorrect. The agency did say it erroneously relied on U.S. Census Bureau population data and would use Portland State University numbers going forward. The universitys Population Research Center, however, also uses Census data for its race and ethnicity population estimates.

Marty Johnston of Troutdale received the vaccine Friday at Garlington Health Center. The center, run by Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare in Northeast Portland, was offering COVID-19 vaccinations to qualified individuals Friday. Event organizers were also hoping to reach Portlands homeless population. March 19, 2021 Beth Nakamura/StaffThe Oregonian

The agency also has not released ZIP-code level vaccination data, which could reveal whether neighborhoods with large populations of people of color are getting vaccinated at rates comparable to those that are predominantly white.

Still, for some, its clear that county-organized clinics focused on reaching non-white populations have been a lifeline.

So Son-jong, 72, spent three days trying to sign up for a shot for herself and her husband at the Oregon Convention Center in Northeast Portland, with no luck. Immigrants from South Korea, So Byung-kon speaks hardly any English and So Son-Jong had trouble navigating the websites.

Calling the state got her nowhere, either.

Then, she got a call from the Korean Society of Oregon, a non-profit advocating for the thousands of South Korean people in the state. So Son-jong was on their list of immigrants, and she learned Washington County had organized a special clinic, where about 500 doses are typically set aside for historically marginalized groups before being opened to the general public.

So Son-jong happily signed up for shots.

About a month later, she and her husband walked through a conveyor-belt-like set up at St. Anthony Catholic Church, in Tigard. They received their second doses of the vaccine and sat down for 15 minutes in a waiting area to make sure they didnt have a bad reaction to their shots.

Everything is OK, So Byung-kon said.

Specialized health clinics have also been instrumental in vaccinating communities of color. Virginia Garcia serves more than 52,000 majority Latino patients in Yamhill and Washington counties, and is one of seven Oregon health centers permitted to vaccinate any patient over 16 and older  not just those eligible under state guidelines.

Robert Ford of Portland chats with Janis Cleveland, director of nursing at Cascadia Behavioral Health, before receiving his vaccine Friday at Garlington Health Center. The center, run by Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare in Northeast Portland, was offering vaccinations to qualified individuals Friday. Event organizers were also hoping to reach Portlands homeless population. March 19, 2021 Beth Nakamura/Staff

Many non-white people are, on average, younger than the rest of the population. The average Latino Oregonian is 24 years old, compared to 41 for the average white Oregonian.

If you want equitable access to the vaccine, you shouldnt be going by age, said Woidyla, a Virginia Garcia spokeswoman.

Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties have also focused on a combination of community clinics and health networks similar to Virginia Garcia, sending out registration links to community groups who then help people sign up.

Of the approximately 4,800 people who got shots at those clinics in Multnomah County, and whose race the county knows, about three in four identified as people of color.

At least one community leader said Pacific Islanders have been eager to get shots because of how hard the coronavirus has hit the population. State data has consistently indicated Pacific Islanders have the highest COVID-19 infection rates of any ethnic or racial group in Oregon.

We all know someone who died or whos been sick, said Manumalo Alailima, co-chair of United Territories of Pacific Islanders Alliance Portland. We see this as a way to have the protection that we need so we can safely be together.

Maria Durnford of Portland chats with Robert Snyder, nurse manager at Cascadia Behavioral Health, before receiving the COVID-19 vaccine Friday at Garlington Health Center. The center, run by Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare in Northeast Portland, was offering vaccinations to qualified individuals Friday. Event organizers were also hoping to reach Portlands homeless population. March 19, 2021 Beth Nakamura/StaffThe Oregonian

But even among Pacific Islanders and others, obstacles remain, counties and community leaders say, primarily surrounding education and communicating across dozens of languages and cultures.

Health officials and community groups have flooded the zone with information translated into dozens of languages, posted videos on social media, held virtual discussions about the vaccine and set up booths to answer questions and help people sign up.

Multnomah County has been reaching non-white Portlanders with five handouts translated into 28 languages and ads with vaccine information on Facebook in Vietnamese, Russian, Spanish and Chinese. Jennifer Vines, the countys health director, goes on the Spanish-language TV station Univision once a week.

In Clackamas County, Karlo Valle has been trying to build on the relationships he developed over the last year to help Latino farmworkers decide whether to get a shot, and how.

A farmworker outreach educator with Northwest Family Services, Valle drives out to small farms in the county, sets up a booth, and signs willing people up for shots and answers everybodys questions.

The things he said hes heard have run the gamut, from a rumor that the vaccine can make a person infertile to the conspiracy theory that the shots contain a microchip. He said hes seen a gradual progression from extremely outlandish questions to more rational ones, such as concerns about long-term effects.

You cant blame these people, Valle said. Sometimes fear takes over.

But he has seen substantial progress.

In one case, a group of farmworkers who had decided to get shots started joking with the lone hold-out -- a woman in her 40s who said she wasnt going to get vaccinated because she didnt want to die, Valle said.

The other workers burst out laughing, Valle said, sarcastically congratulating her on being the only one among them who would live.

Later, Valle thought he had signed up everyone who wanted a shot and was about ready to pack up and go. Thats when the woman came up to him and put her name down for a shot.

Everything is looking better, Valle said. But there is still a lot of work to be done.

Marty Johnston, left, and Tamara Johnston of Troutdale received the vaccine Friday at Garlington Health Center. The center, run by Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare in Northeast Portland, was offering vaccinations to qualified individuals Friday. Event organizers were also hoping to reach Portlands homeless population. March 19, 2021 Beth Nakamura/StaffThe Oregonian

Meanwhile, at least one community leader in Portland is afraid he is losing the narrative on vaccines.

Musse Olol, chairman of the Somali American Council of Oregon, said that virtually unmanageable rumors have spread through the Somali community.

So far, he has not convinced all of the Somali Imams to tell congregants the vaccine is safe. One of them, he said, has been saying that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine contains pork  something the predominantly Muslim immigrants and refugees are forbidden from putting in their bodies.

While some vaccines do contain gelatin, federal health officials say none of the COVID-19 vaccines do.

Olol also said Multnomah County hasnt acted on his request for a Somali-focused vaccination clinic, further hampering his efforts to convince people to sign up for shots. He has stopped putting people on his list of Somalis who want to get vaccinated, he said, considering it a pointless exercise while there is nowhere for them to go.

County health officials confirmed theyve been in talks with Olol about a closer partnership and pointed to clinics that have served an overlapping population, including one event organized with Africa House.

Hesitation also exists in Portlands non-immigrant Black community.

One community worker, Bretto Jackson, said he is against vaccines. Jackson counsels people who come to the Rosewood Initiative, a community group representing neighborhoods at the Portland border with Gresham.

Jackson said he doesnt try to sway people one way or the other on whether they should take the vaccine. He helps those who want a shot, he said, and doesnt intervene for those who dont.

Personally, though, Jackson said he isnt getting vaccinated anytime soon.

I stand behind them 100%, Jackson said of those who decide not to get a shot. I dont trust this government from a can of paint.

17 Gov. Brown visits vaccination clinic at Oregon State Fairgrounds

That fear of the vaccine is concerning to some in the community, even if they have their own reservations.

Mines, the director of The Miracles Club, said she is afraid that her unvaccinated staff could get infected with the coronavirus. The five employees who decided not to get shots regularly interact with people who come to the club for Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and peer support.

One of the clubs workers who decided against getting vaccinated, Wilfred Johnson, said he takes the coronavirus seriously. He wipes doorknobs down regularly, wears two masks and keeps six feet of distance as much as possible.

But the vaccine appears to scare him no less than the disease it can prevent. He knew how fast the vaccines were developed and a personal acquaintance of his had a bad reaction to a shot, he said, so hes opted to wait.

In the interim, Johnson has continued what he said is an immune-boosting regimen he began when the coronavirus first came to Oregon: lots of kale, garlic and exercise, less meat, and extra attention to how stressed he is.

Johnson might still get the vaccine, depending on how people he knows fare.

Is this a tried, true and tested product? Johnson said. Or is this more so experimentation?

That same concern has stalled progress in Warm Springs, one of the hardest-hit communities in Oregon.

On the whole, the Warm Springs reservation has been exceedingly successful getting people vaccinated, the reservations top health official said, thanks to the 200 doses a week delivered from the federal Indian Health Services agency and a one-time batch of 500 doses from the state.

Nearly half of the population 16 and older is now vaccinated, Caroline Cruz said, including 79% of people 75 and older.

Johnson Bill stands at his mothers grave in Warm Springs, Oregon. She died Feb. 5, Oregon's 2,198th coronavirus death. Beth Nakamura/StaffThe Oregonian

But the overall vaccination rate is far below the 80% Cruz said she wants to reach to ensure the unvaccinated are safe, too. Younger people in their 20s and 30s have been declining the vaccine, she said, many of them concerned that the shots were developed too fast to be reliable.

But like in other communities, time could be Cruzs greatest advocate.

The reservations elders weathered any vaccine side-effects theyve had, Cruz said, sending a message to the younger people that the shots are safe.

The grandparents are saying, We made it through, Cruz said. You can, too.

-- Fedor Zarkhin
Mobile Emergency Care Service (SAMU) workers Gabrielle Carlos, top, and Joao Vericimo, move a COVID-19 patient to an ambulance as he is transferred to a municipal hospital dedicated to COVID-19 in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Tuesday, April 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

April is shaping up to be Brazil's darkest month yet in the pandemic, with hospitals struggling with a crush of patients, deaths on track for record highs and few signs of a reprieve from a troubled vaccination program in Latin America's largest nation.

The Health Ministry has cut its outlook for vaccine supplies in April three times already, to half their initial level, and the country's two biggest laboratories are facing supply constraints.

The delays also mean tens of thousands more deaths as the particularly contagious P.1 variant of COVID-19 sweeps Brazil. It has recorded about 350,000 of the 2.9 million virus deaths worldwide, behind only the U.S. toll of over 560,000.

Brazil's seven-day rolling average has increased to 2,820 deaths per day, compared with the global average of 10,608 per day, according to data through April 8 from Johns Hopkins University.

The death toll is forecast to continue rising in the next two weeks to an average of nearly 3,500 per day before receding, according to the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

Public health experts blame President Jair Bolsonaro for refusing to enact strict measures to halt infections and for clashing with governors and mayors who did.

Failure to control the spread has been compounded by the Health Ministry betting big on a single vaccine, AstraZeneca, then buying only one backup, the Chinese-manufactured CoronaVac, after supply problems emerged. Authorities ignored other producers and squandered opportunities until it was too late to get large quantities of vaccine for the first half of 2021.

Mobile Emergency Care Service (SAMU) worker Elias Anjo, right, checks a patient suspected of having COVID-19 at her house in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Tuesday, April 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

With extensive experience in successful, massive vaccination programs, Brazil should have known better, said Claudio Maierovitch, former head of Brazil's health regulator.

"The big problem is that Brazil did not look for alternatives when it had the chance," he said. "When several countries were placing their bets, signing contracts with different suppliers, the Brazilian government didn't even have vaccination on its agenda."

For months, Bolsonaro's administration ignored pleas to sign more than one contract for vaccines. The president publicly questioned the reliability of other shots and scoffed at contractual terms, suggesting that recipients of the Pfizer vaccine would have no legal recourse were they to transform into alligators. He insisted he wouldn't force anyone to get vaccinated and only recently said he might get a shot himself.

In this March 15, 2021, file photo, a health worker applies a dose of the Sinovac vaccine from the door of her vehicle, in the Kalunga Vao de Almas community, a rural area on the outskirts of Cavalcante, Goias state, Brazil. April is shaping up to be Brazil's darkest month yet in the pandemic. Hospitals are struggling to absorb a crush of patients, deaths are on track to hit record highs and there are few signs of a reprieve from problems besetting the country's vaccination program. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)

Denise Garrett, vice president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute that advocates for expanding global vaccine access, said she despaired at the government strategy. Brazil has been far and away Latin America's immunization front-runner, so much so that she hadn't seen it in the same league as the region's other countries.

Given the problems in vaccine development and distribution, "it's definitely not a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket," she said from Washington.

Stalled supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine in January amid pressure for Brazil to begin its vaccination campaign prompted the Health Ministry to acquire tens of millions of shots from Sao Paulo state's Butantan Institute, which is mixing an active ingredient from China with a sterile solution and bottling it. The shots were the fruit of the state's negotiations with Chinese company Sinovac and went ahead despite Bolsonaro's criticisms.

In this March 24, 2021, file photo, a healthcare worker shows the syringe to a woman after injecting her with a dose of the Sinovac vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination point for seniors in Duque de Caxias, Brazil. April is shaping up to be Brazil's darkest month yet in the pandemic. Hospitals are struggling to absorb a crush of patients, deaths are on track to hit record highs and there are few signs of a reprieve from problems besetting the country's vaccination program. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo, File)

Brazil's government also dragged its feet in signing on to the World Health Organization's COVAX initiative providing vaccines to poorer nations. It ultimately bought the bare minimumenough for 10% of its population of 210 million.

"I was so anxious when that was going on; I couldn't believe they weren't going to sign it," said Garrett, who is Brazilian. "When I heard they signed, I was relieved. We were all relieved. But they signed for the minimum amount possible. ... Brazil isn't in a better vaccination position now because of the incompetence or inactivity of the federal government."

In February, Brazil began signing contracts with other pharmaceutical companies, but none of their shots have been administered. Of the 10% of people who received one dose so far, the vast majority received Butantan's shot and the rest got the AstraZeneca shot, which government health institute Fiocruz is bottling.

People attend the burial of a relative who died from complications related to COVID-19 at the Vila Formosa cemetery in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Wednesday, April 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Both Brazilian labs face supply problems. Butantan said Wednesday it was suspending production while it awaits shipments of the active ingredient from China. Fiocruz has produced only 4 million of the 50 million doses it agreed to deliver by the end of April.

That threatens to reduce the speed of vaccinations, which finally hit 1 million doses per day last week, according to a consortium of local media that compiles data from state health secretariats.

Intensive care units for COVID-19 patients in most Brazilian states are above 90% capacity. Seven of every 10 hospitals in the country risk running out of supplemental oxygen and anesthetic in the next few days, the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo reported April 8.

At the municipal hospital of Sao Joao de Meriti, a city in Rio de Janeiro's metropolitan area, the ICU ward is almost full, with many patients sharing space and oxygen bottles while being treated. Hospital director Altair Soares Neto said health professionals scarcely find time to sleep.

Patients waiting for test results are treated in a temporary room before being moved to a COVID-19 area of the municipal hospital in Sao Joao de Meriti, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Thursday, April 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

"Will we have the medicines, the oxygen, the conditions to care for this patient accordingly? Today we do. But, if cases keep growing, sometime we will fight chaos," he said.

The surge of deaths has brought widespread outcry. Brazil's Association of Collective Health, which has nearly 20,000 members including doctors, nurses and health experts, published an open letter this week demanding a three-week national lockdown, echoing increasingly urgent calls from others.

Bolsonaro has refused proposed lockdowns, arguing their economic impact would be even more devastating than the virus. He even took three states to the Supreme Court last month for adopting such restrictions.

"If we just wait for the vaccine to reach all risk groups, many people will die," said the health association's president, Gulnar Azevedo e Silva. "There is no national coordination. And if we don't have that, what happens? Chaos."

Wearing a mask to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro arrives for a ceremony to deliver affordable homes built by the government, in a neighborhood of Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, Apr. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

People wait in line for a meal donated by the Leao Xlll Foundation amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, April 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

A health worker collects a nasal swab sample for a COVID-19 test in the Mare Complex favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, April 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

In this March 24, 2021, file photo, a man gets his dose of the Sinovac vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination point for seniors in Duque de Caxias, Brazil. April is shaping up to be Brazil's darkest month yet in the pandemic. Hospitals are struggling to absorb a crush of patients, deaths are on track to hit record highs and there are few signs of a reprieve from problems besetting the country's vaccination program. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo, File)

Cemetery workers lower the coffin of a COVID-19 victim into his grave at the Vila Formosa cemetery in Sao Paulo, Brazil, late Wednesday, March 31, 2021. Because of the increased number of deaths in the city, the burial service in some public cemeteries has been extended to the hours of the night. (AP Photo/Nelson Antoine)

Cemetery workers wearing protective gear lower the coffin of a person who died from complications related to COVID-19 into a gravesite at the Vila Formosa cemetery in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Wednesday, April 7, 2021. The city of Sao Paulo started the daily addition of 600 graves in its municipal cemeteries on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

A man helps as Mobile Emergency Care Service (SAMU) workers carry an elderly COVID-19 patient to an ambulance in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Wednesday, April 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

The body of a COVID-19 victim lies in a body bag at the ICU of the Sao Jose municipal hospital in Duque de Caxias, Brazil, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

An agreement for FioCruz to acquire AstraZeneca's technology would allow Brazil to produce an entirely locally made vaccine and make the nation less vulnerable to constraints on imported active ingredients. Fiocruz forecasts deliveries will start in September. But that date could be pushed back due to the complexity of the process and strict quality control, its press office said in an emailed response to questions.

While visiting Fiocruz on Friday, health minister Marcelo Queiroga told reporters there are other countries that are also experiencing problems with their supply of active ingredients, and that vaccines won't remedy Brazil's high level of COVID-19 deaths in the short-term. He said the government doesn't have a "magic wand to fix all the problems."

Carla Domingues, former coordinator of Brazil's national immunization program, praised the country for approaching 1 million doses per day but said it had the infrastructure for a stronger campaign if only the government had secured the vaccines.

"Of course, we would like to vaccinate more, like in the U.S., but we can't," she said. "We're going to have to live with this virus for a long time."

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Democracy activist Min Ko Naing, who has has spent more than half of his 58 years opposing military dictatorship in Myanmar, has been on the run following the military coup on February 1 that overthrew the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. A key leader of the student led protest on Aug. 8, 1988 at Yangon University, he spent 15 years in jail after his arrest in 1989, and founded the 88 Generation Students Group to pursue the goal of democracy. Arrested again in 2007 for organizing peaceful demonstrations in support of the Buddhist monk-led Saffron Revolution, he was sentenced to 65 years in prison in 2008, but was released under a mass pardon in 2012. Nearly two months after the current military junta charged Min Ko Naing and six others under section 505(b) for inciting unrest against the state, he spoke to Khin Maung Soe of RFAs Burmese Service about the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a group of elected lawmakers from the ousted National League for Democracy government that has emerged as country's "shadow government" to coordinate opposition to the military regime that has killed more than 700 people in the 10 weeks of protests across the country.

RFA: I hear you are now working with the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH). Since when you were working together with CRPH and what are you doing?

Min Ko Naing: We have worked together with the MPs before the coup. After the coup, we have become determined to work together more closely. There are cases that the militarys State Administration Council and their informers are fabricating stories to make people distrust the CRPH. They are making deliberate attacks to damage the reputation of the CRPH. The CRPH has been rejuvenated with members of new generations. The CRPH is marching on under a collective leadership and holding collective responsibility. It is different from organizations built on the fame of a single leader. This collective leadership and responsibility have given us the robustness and the ability to think broadly. I am very pleased about that. I believe that we will see more concrete results soon. I want to ask everyone to have faith in them.

RFA: As the fight against the coup has been prolonged, the people, especially young people, are now becoming exhausted physically and mentally. They are financially starved and every day they are wondering what to do next. What advice do you have for them?

Min Ko Naing: I am very sympathetic to them. I have experienced the same things over 30 years ago. The revolution we pursued faced a brutal crackdown. They shot and killed so many people that the bodies were piling up in the street. At that time, we felt that we were totally lost. Now, I see the same things happening to young people. They dont even have 500 or 1000 kyats in their pockets, but they are scraping by to keep things going. Ive heard about them all. As I have said earlier, the CRPH should first consolidate a public administration. Then, they should work on the peoples security and then their defense. They should go to the territories where they can be safe. There are all kinds of training available in these territories. These territories will become free zones where they can continue the fight against the military together with ethnic minorities. Those who remain in the cities will continue their fight by guerilla protests. The important thing is to keep showing our resistance.

RFA: Now, many young people are waiting to see the plan for a federal army materialize. What can you tell me about that?

Min Ko Naing: As we are establishing a federal union, the forces we employ should be federal army forces. How will we get there? We should take several steps. We dont want that to take a long time. But we cannot skip the necessary steps. We should be quick and, at the same time, should meet certain standards. Thats why these young people should travel to the safe zones I have mentioned and they should join training programs. I think you know what kind of training I am talking about. They need to join hands with ethnic armed groups in these free zones. I cannot lay out the route to get to these safe zones on the map of Myanmar. They should check out what is the closest zone in your area and decide how to get there by themselves. Speaking from my experience, what we have learned about these places in prison is not very reliable because there are many informers among the detainees. We know the price to pay is high because we want to see enormous changes. So I want to reiterate that the processes of forming a federal army will not be lengthy, but we cannot skip the necessary steps.

RFA: The employees who are participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) are also holding out as much as they can now. What do you think they should do next?

Min Ko Naing: Mainly, they need a guarantee for their future. I am sympathetic. The guarantee should be for both long-term and immediate needs. They need accommodations and food supplies, at the least. We are trying to meet these needs as much as we can. The CRPH has dedicated committees to address these issues. For the long term, we need to know how long we should be providing to these CDM employees. It depend on how much donors in the country and abroad can contribute. In fact, the government bureaucracy is in ruin now and they cannot function anymore. Thats why the military authorities are using both intimidation and incentives to break up the CDM movement. They have lost and the CDM movement has already won. Currently, the CRPH is assisting these employees. But our channels have been blocked at times. We are using all available channels to support them. If these CDM employees no longer feel safe living in their homes, they can go to one of these safe zones. People like Dr. Zaw Wai Soe or Dr. Win Myat Aye are helping them. We are all working to make the changes happen before the end of April. Take a look at the banks. Even if they are all reopened, they cannot be operational. People are withdrawing all the money they have in the bank.

RFA: How do you view international support for Myanmar?

Min Ko Naing: There are only two kinds of countries in the world: those who condone the dictatorship and those who support democracy. Take a look at the allies who support democracy. It is not just one or two countries that are supporting the movement in Myanmar. Many countries are teaming up to back up the fight for democracy in Myanmar. Now, there will be a hearing at the United Nations. Zin Mar Aung will be attending to testify. The UK, one of the permanent members of UN Security Council, is organizing that meeting. They invited her as an acting minister of the CRPH. UNSC members will hear the voice of the CRPH and they will carry it to other members. This is very important. It means that UNSC members have recognized the legitimacy of CRPH. The meeting will pressure the UNSC to take appropriate actions. The allied countries who support democracy are trying to prove that they have done everything they can. If they dont succeed, they will use a different strategy. There are mechanisms like the IIMM (Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar). They have requested evidence from the public. I learned that they have recorded over 270,000 pieces so far. They are archiving the strongest evidence.

RFA: What can we expect out of the movement in coming days?

Min Ko Naing: In the next few days, we are going to announce the formation of a National Unity Government (NUG). We have a shared vision of removing this terrorist military council. All sorts of organizations will be included in this government. We have been busy bees in the past few days. We have been negotiating with all the groups at home and abroad. In addition to the widely known ethnic armed groups, we are recruiting civic groups, and prominent actors, and so on. When it comes out, you will see how strong it is and how much support we have from our allies around the world. We also have plans to broadcast public TV programs. We have plans to disseminate the information through SMS messages even if internet connections are totally shutdown.

RFA: People are very concerned about the prospect of China influencing ASEAN to intervene in Myanmar. What do you think about that?

Min Ko Naing: Our people can clearly distinguish who are good friends and who have been exploiting us. We can see what the U.S. is doing now. They have teamed up with the Philippines, Malaysia and other countries to launch naval exercises. The dictators will not have good days forever. They will have bad days also. There will be good days for the truth of democracy. We have seen the militarys State Administration Council attempting to take control of our UK embassy. This is such a terrorist act. Everything they have done is wrong. Besides, take a look at the press tour they arranged with the CNN reporter. The world got to know more about their persecution. I strongly believe that the world will see the truth and the people will prevail. In the meantime, we have to persist and not break off the joining of hands.

Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung for RFAs Myanmar Service.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 14:13:02|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

An Australian national flag, Australian Aboriginal flag and Torres Strait Islander flag fly at half-mast to show condolences over the death of Britain's Prince Philip in Canberra, Australia, April 10, 2021. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Saturday paid tribute to Britain's Prince Philip for his life of "duty and service." The British royal family announced on Friday with "deep sorrow" that Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, died aged 99. (Photo by Chu Chen/Xinhua)

CANBERRA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Saturday paid tribute to Britain's Prince Philip for his life of "duty and service."

The British royal family announced on Friday with "deep sorrow" that Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, died aged 99.

On Saturday morning Morrison extended Australia's "deepest sympathies" to Queen Elizabeth II, to whom Prince Philip was married for 74 years.

"On behalf of the Australian people, and the Australian government, I extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to Her Majesty and the Royal Family for the passing of His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh," he said.

"The Duke's life was one of duty and of service, of loyalty and honor. Memories of him will of course tell stories of his candour, and a unique and forceful and authentic personality. But above all, he was a man who was steadfast, who could be relied upon, always standing by his Queen."

Flags across Australia will be flown at half mast on Saturday and Morrison announced that a 41-gun salute would be fired outside the Parliament House to mark the Duke's death.

According to report of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Prince Philip visited Australia more than 20 times in an official capacity, and officially opened the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.

Prince Philip's death was announced in Australia by Governor-General David Hurley, who acts as the representative of the reigning monarch.

"As we mourn, we should also reflect and give thanks for His Royal Highness' lifetime of service, devotion and commitment," he said in a television address on Friday night.

"His impact was profound - not least on the more than 775,000 young Australians who have participated in The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award since it began here in 1959." Enditem
Strict production discipline by OPEC and its partners is the #1 reason why oil prices have managed to stage a remarkable recovery and stay relatively high after plunging to historical lows in 2020. Early this month, oil prices reacted positively after OPEC and its non-OPEC partners, aka OPEC+, reached a favorable agreement to start gradually curbing production cuts beginning in May. Starting next month, OPEC+ will allow an additional 350,000 barrels per day to join the markets, with another 350,000 coming in June and June and 450,000 barrels per day slated for July. Currently, OPEC is holding back just over 7 million barrels per day, with Saudi Arabia voluntarily cutting an additional 1 million barrels per day.

Indeed, the OPEC kingpin has since taken on voluntary cuts of 1 million barrels per day from the beginning of February.

That marks a sharp turnaround from the Kingdoms stance just a year ago when Riyadh and Moscow failed to agree to deep supply cutbacks in a bid to cope with falling oil demand leading to a supply glut and oil prices descending into negative territory for the first time in history.

And it certainly appears like overkill bearing in mind that Saudi Arabia has some of the lowest production costs anywhere in the world.

However, Saudi Arabia could be eyeing an even bigger prize with its generous cuts.

Related: Italian Oil Heiress Arrested In Major Mafia Bust



Diversifying the economy

Whereas Saudi Arabia, the regions largest economy of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) boasts the largest economy and the lowest production costs of any Arab nation, the harsh reality is that the country needs significantly higher oil prices than the current WTI price of $59.50 per barrel to balance its books.

Indeed, Saudi Arabias fiscal breakeven price of $76.10 per barrel means that it remains heavily in the red, with only Qatar being able to record a surplus thanks to its low breakeven point of $39.90 per barrel.

Budget deficit

Source: Reuters

Saudi Arabia desperately needs higher oil prices not only to balance its books but also to lower its dependence on crude.

That goal is even more critical now that Saudi Arabia is pushing a 7.2 trillion-dollar plan to diversify its economy, essentially requiring state companies to cut dividends they pay the government in order to boost spending.

For a company like Saudi Aramco--whose $75 billion dividends last year were the highest for state revenues--any reduction in dividends would need to be compensated by higher oil prices to boost transfers to the sovereign through taxes and royalties instead.

Saudi Arabia has a target to boost domestic spending to 27 trillion riyals ($7.2 trillion) by 2030 as the worlds biggest oil exporter seeks to tame a huge deficit caused by lower oil revenues and weak demand due to the pandemic.

Related Video: Irans Oil Exports Render Sanctions Irrelevant

To achieve its goal, Saudi Arabia needs to curb supply over the coming years in a bid to boost oil prices.

The fiscal benefits of higher oil prices can easily outweigh the impact of lower oil production on the economy.

Whereas Saudi companies participating in the new programme have the liberty to decide how to fund their investments, the most likely avenues are dividends, soft loans, debt, and other financial instruments.

Further, Saudi Arabia desperately needs to boost investments coming into the country (FDI) by nearly 100x, from $5.5 billion last year to FDI flows of over $500 billion over the next decade.

Betting on clean energy

On the energy front, Saudi Arabia is clearly committed to moving from crude to cleaner energy sources.

The Saudi government has announced plans to build a $5 billion green hydrogen plant that will power the planned megacity of Neom when it opens in 2025. Dubbed Helios Green Fuels, the hydrogen plant will use solar and wind energy to generate 4GW of clean energy that will be used to produce hydrogen.

But heres the main kicker: Helios could soon produce hydrogen thats cheaper than oil.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) estimates that Helios costs could reach $1.50 per kilogram by 2030, way cheaper than the average cost of green hydrogen at $5 per kilogram and even cheaper than gray hydrogen made from cracking natural gas. Saudi Arabia enjoys a serious competitive advantage in the green hydrogen business thanks to its perpetual sunshine, wind, and vast tracts of unused land.

In fact, Saudi Aramco has told investors that it has abandoned immediate plans to develop its LNG sector in favor of hydrogen. Aramco has said that the Kingdoms immediate plan is to produce enough natural gas for domestic use to stop burning oil in its power plants and convert the remainder into hydrogen. Blue hydrogen is made from natural gas either by Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) or AutoThermal Reforming (ATR), with the CO2 generated captured and then stored. As the greenhouse gasses are captured, this mitigates the environmental impacts on the planet.

Saudi Arabia clearly has its eyes on a future whereby the economy will stop relying too heavily on oil. Whether or not it will remain committed enough to achieve its long-term goal is another question.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Biden launches commission to look into packing Supreme Court

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

Presiden

President Biden has created a 180-day commission to consider adding seats to the U.S. Supreme Court or setting term limits for justices, a move that some have warned could lead to irreversible damage.

The president acted under pressure from activists pushing for more seats to alter the ideological balance of the court after President Donald J. Trump appointed three justices, including one to a seat that Republicans had blocked his predecessor, Barack Obama, from filling for almost a year, The New York Times reported.

The purpose of the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court is to provide an analysis of the principal arguments in the contemporary public debate for and against Supreme Court reform, including an appraisal of the merits and legality of particular reform proposals, The White House said in a statement.

The topics it will examine include the genesis of the reform debate; the Courts role in the Constitutional system; the length of service and turnover of justices on the Court; the membership and size of the Court; and the Courts case selection, rules, and practices, the statement added.

The co-chairs are Bob Bauer, Barack Obamas former White House counsel, and Cristina Rodriguez, a former official in the Obama Justice Department, The Wall Street Journal noted in an editorial.

The commission will have an unwieldy 36 members, who tilt markedly to the political left, the editorial added. Caroline Fredrickson is a former president of the American Constitution Society, the left-wing legal lobby. Michael Waldman runs the Brennan Center for Justice, the highly partisan legal shop at NYU that wants to restrict political speech. Laurence Tribe is the Harvard professor whose Twitter feed hasnt helped his reputation for judgment or reason.

While a few legal conservatives are part of the commission, they will lend a bipartisan patina to a commission that by its very existence is meant to pressure the Supreme Court, it added. The threat of court-packing is intended to make the Justices think twice about rulings that progressives dislike. Many of our legal friends think the threat has already had a notable impact on Chief Justice John Roberts on gun rights and abortion cases.

Earlier this week, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, a Democrat, warned during a speech at Harvard that packing the court will diminish confidence in the courts, and in the rule of law itself.

In 2019, Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democrat, spoke against the idea of packing the Supreme Court. My worry is that the next time the Republicans are in power they will do the same thing, I think that is not the ultimate solution, Reuters quoted him as saying.

A 2020 survey by The New York Times and Siena College showed that a majority of Americans oppose the idea of packing the Supreme Court.

Among likely voters, 58% said Democrats should not look to increase the size of the Supreme Court, while only 31% said they were in favor of it, Fox News reported that the time.

Mike Davis, founder and president of the Article III Project, called Bidens move alarming, saying it must be met with the harshest of denunciations from both sides of the aisle as it could lead to irreversible damage.

Packing the Supreme Court would destroy centuries of hard work from Democrat- and Republican-appointed justices to insulate the high court from partisan politics, The Daily Wire quoted Davis as saying. It also raises serious red flags as to what unconstitutional actions President Biden is planning that a more favorable Supreme Court might tolerate.
Copies of Bill Duncans book are still available from his wife, Ada Duncan, at 541-673-1073 as well as at While Away Books in Roseburg.
At the meeting (Source: VNA)

Jakarta  The 11th meeting of the ASEAN-Australia Joint Cooperation Committee was held in the form of a videoconference on April 8, to review the bilateral cooperation in the previous year and discuss orientations in the coming time.

Ambassador Nguyen Hai Bang, head of Vietnams Permanent Mission to ASEAN, in his capacity as chair of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Task Force, spoke highly of Australias aid worth 2.8 million USD for the implementation of the IAI Work Plan III (2016-2020).

He requested Australia to further assist ASEAN in carrying out the IAI Work Plan IV (2021-2025) which was adopted during the 37th ASEAN Summit held in late 2020.

At the event, participating ambassadors applauded cooperation results obtained in all fields, especially a decision to turn the ASEAN-Australia Summit into an annual event since this year.

Australia is the seventh largest trade partner of ASEAN and an important foreign investor with 2.77 billion USD in total as of October 2020.

The sides agreed to collaborate in implementing the 2020-2024 Plan of Action (PoA) in a strategic and practical manner, prioritising activities and projects in keeping with COVID-19 developments.

Australia affirmed its support for ASEANs central role in contributing to maintaining peace and stability in the region. The country is committed to continuing its support for the bloc in building the ASEAN Community and the IAI implementation.

It also announced the provision of 1 million AUD (764,200 USD) to a ASEANs fund for COVID-19 response; 21 million AUD for the ASEAN Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases; and another 1 million AUD for the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework.

ASEAN highly valued the ASEAN-Australia strategic partnership, especially Australias assistance like the ASEANAustralia Development Cooperation Programme Phase II, the ASEAN Australia New Zealand Free Trade Agreement and the New Colombo Plan.

Both sides pledged to deepen the ASEAN-Australia strategic partnership and noted the importance of enhancing cooperation in areas such as maritime security, cyber security, the fight against transnational crime, trade and investment, connectivity, smart city, development gap reduction, education, people-to-people exchanges, health, and sustainable development.
April 11, 2021

The MoA Week In Review - OT 2021-027

Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama:

---

Other issues:

Myanmar / Fake news:

> At least 82 people were killed in one day in a crackdown by Myanmar security forces on pro-democracy protesters, according to reports Saturday from independent local media and an organization that keeps track of casualties since the February coup.

...

The Associated Press is unable to independently verify the number of deaths. The death toll of 82 was a preliminary one compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which issues daily counts of casualties and arrests from the crackdown in the aftermath of the Feb. 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Their tallies are widely accepted as highly credible because cases are not added until they have been confirmed, with the details published on their website.

...

The online news site Myanmar Now also reported that 82 people had been killed, citing an unnamed source involved with charity rescue work. <

---

Ahh, the Myanmar version of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in Britain:

The "Assistance Association for Political Prisoners" is run from Thailand by Ko Bo Kyi who is a fellow of the CIA offshoot National Endowment for Democracy. Myanmar Now does not say who finances and runs it but its donation account is with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. The National Endowment for Democracy lists 77 current grants for organizations related to Myanmar / Burma with an average grant size of some $75,000. That's a hell lot of money in a rather poor country.

The whole anti-government protests are now obviously a 'regime change' operation run by the CIA. It includes 'moderate rebels' who are killing soldiers. But the real target is not Myanmar but China's Belt and Roads projects in Myanmar like pipelines, railways and harbor operations in the country. That is why Chinese companies in Myanmar are set on fire. There is no chance for this operation to win against the ruling military so all this will just fuck up another country 'because we can'.

How Bellingcat Launders National Security State Talking Points into the Press - Alan Macleod / MintPressNews

Covid-19:

If you get Covid ask your doctor to prescribe budesonide (a steroid asthma spray). It obviously helps in light and medium cases and may prevent serious ones.

- Inhaled budesonide in the treatment of early COVID-19 (STOIC): a phase 2, open-label, randomised controlled trial - Lancet

- Inhaled budesonide in the treatment of early COVID-19 (STOIC): a phase 2, open-label, randomised controlled trial - Lancet The Gaslighting of Science - Zeynep Tufecki

Brexit:

I am on the record saying that Brexit will blow up North Ireland and that it is likely to leave the Union.

The Brexiteers made three promises with regards to Brexit and North Ireland:

Leaving the single market and custom union with the EU



No border between North Ireland and Great Britain



No border between North Ireland and the Republic of Ireland

These three promises are logically incompatible. Only two of the above can get fulfilled at a time.

Media:

The New York Times knew of an upcoming Israeli attack on an Iranian ship but did not publish about it,<

Defense officials call to probe leak of alleged Israeli op. against Iran - Jerusalem Post

> Haaretz and others have reported that an individual who leaked the operations details asked the reporter to wait with its publication, after the defense establishment had decided to postpone it by one day.

...

Eventually, the operation was successfully carried out a day after its original date. Its details were then published by the media outlet that originally received the leaked information  presumed to be The New York Times. <

Use as open thread ...

Posted by b on April 11, 2021 at 12:23 UTC | Permalink

Comments

next page 
After a full year of interruptions and expenses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the local school districts, an additional stimulus package was slated to be provided to districts across Texas but has since been delayed at the state level.

According to the American Rescue Plan stimulus funding package, LISD and UISD are expecting to receive $115,268,000 and $126,222,000, respectively. These funds would have compounded the federal funding districts expected to receive last year that were instead used by the state throughout its budget to soften the impact of the pandemic and not on school districts.

Laida Benavides, UISD Asst. Superintendent for Business and Finance, said that while the state did develop other programs and means for districts to get reimbursed, not all of the pandemic-induced costs were covered. Reimbursements included a portion of the cost for the Chromebooks, but UISD was still out $6 million that the district awaited to get reimbursed.

During the early months of the pandemic, UISD placed orders to receive personal protective equipment prior to the state-provided PPE, but a majority of the federal stimulus funding stayed with the state.

From the money they kept, they sent us masks, they sent us some things, but that wasnt until later in the summer, but we needed to get those things early on, Benavides said.

At the Coffee with Cuellar press event, UISD Superintendent Roberto Santos said that school districts like LISD and UISD received almost nothing from the Cares Act relief fund as the state replaced their funds with the federal relief money sent for the districts.

For this, the federal government issued a guideline on the new stimulus funds in order to reach school districts faster, but that did not stop the delays, and many school districts still have not received the funds that were promised. The ARP relief funds are planned by both districts to prepare for the next school year and help in building a budget for the following years.

These guidelines state that the Texas Government would be required to award the K-12 funds to school districts no later than 60 days after receipt, they must address the young people homeless situation, fund after-school initiatives, help those that are a part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and award grants for private K-12 schools.

Additionally, the ARP funds are expected to fund the investments in infrastructure improvements such as water, sewage, internet and air filtration systems. As another guideline for the state government and districts, the relief funding is not allowed to be deposited into a pension fund or offset, directly or indirectly, any tax cut made since March 3, 2021.

It is believed that the delay was caused by the states agency for additional guidance from the U.S. Department of Education. Regardless, Benavides said that the district hopes the state releases the funds soon as UISD needs to start planning how it will allocate those funds through until the 2022-23 school year.

With the $126 million, Benavides said that there are all manners of items that need to be addressed.

The same is true at LISD as Superintendent Dr. Sylvia Rios said that there are multiple upgrades and programs planned for the next several years using the $115 million slated to be received.

As a means to mitigate the spread of COVID, we will also be working to assess and upgrade air filtration systems in all LISD facilities, Rios said. In line with our district COVID mitigation protocols, modifications to classroom settings will be studied and implemented as part of our priorities plan.

The procurement of personal protective gear such as face coverings, sanitizing resources and equipment will also be critical as we move forward to increase the number of students physically attending our schools. We will also be working with our community partners to ensure that all students and their families are provided with the necessary resources to transition successfully into our schools.

As a result of both LISD and UISD serving a majority of economically disadvantaged students, the funding correlates with the rate of economically disadvantaged students at each school district. That is why at both LISD and UISD , the amount provided by the federal relief package reaches over $100 million.

As an example, Benavides said that UISD has an approximate rate of 75% of economically disadvantaged students, or 3 out of 4 students are economically challenged. The $126 million is an answer to that rate, and during the first Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund back in March 2020, $14 million would have been given to UISD if the state did not use that to reduce the state revenue by the amount.

In December, ESSER 2 had the same rules as ESSER 1 but promised double the amount of ESSER 1, and Benavides said that UISD had still not seen any of the funds planned for school districts. The current ESSER 3, or the $126 million currently held by the TEA, and its guidelines were meant to be more straightforward for the process of funding school districts.

Unfortunately for Texas school districts, state officials continue to hold on to the funds as they wait for additional guidance from the federal government on top of the guidance already provided.

We are just here waiting to see what the state is going to decided to do with this money, Benavides said. What I understand, they are asking for some kind of waiver, but I dont know if it will get granted.

As both LISD and UISD incurred costs in order to accommodate students throughout the region such as Wi-Fi buses stationed in rural areas, the grab-and-go meal services and colonia meal service routes. These additional pandemic-induced costs are necessary but costly. The districts will also have to overlook any additional needs each school department has until September 2023 when all of the ARP funds should be exhausted by each district.

Everybody is planning in their area based on these guidelines that the federal government did provide, and well put all that together and prioritize. I mean, I dont know if it will be $126 million, but its not something we are going to spend overnight, Benavides said.

With ESSER 3, the expectations are now to reopen schools and bring in more students for on-campus instruction.

We are going to open our doors to our students four months from next Friday, Benavides said. Theres a lot of work to do before that. Were going to have a summer school program for those kids identified that are way behind, and thats just something separate. We cant wait to know if we are going to get these funds or not. We are going to do summer school, we are going to do a budget. I know the state is still doing their budget, but we have to keep on going.

LISD is in the same boat as Rios stated that the district will focus on ensuring those students who need help with instruction get the attention and help they deserve.

Along with our Board of Trustees, Laredo ISD staff is working to further identify priorities and initiatives that will address the academic, technology and facility needs of our district, Rios said. Academic interventions to close the learning gaps created by the pandemic will certainly rank towards the top of our priorities. Restructuring our instructional delivery platforms and district curriculum during the pandemic has rendered insightful consideration of academic systems that will address the individual needs of our students.

Like Benavides said, school districts cant just wait to receive additional help as both students and staff are also affected by the pandemic. With districts coming up to the end of the school year, plans are already being made for summer programs that target struggling students.

As seniors are closing in on their graduation and many other students are going through their first years in a new school level at home, similar initiatives are laid out for the remaining six weeks. Both LISD and UISD will be inviting students to take part in on-campus instruction to avoid a summer school session and to catch up if the student struggled.

Both districts have stated that with a majority of their staff vaccinated and safety guidelines in place on all campuses, the choice is now on students and their families to see if the return will be safe and to their benefit.

As for the ARP funds, districts across Texas are hoping the TEA makes the decision to release the funds sooner rather than later.

cocampo@lmtonline.com
It has been beaten to death by banking analysts and economists through intense discussion and dissection.

Four days after it was announced, writing on the Reserve Bank of Indias (RBIs) monetary policy is a predicament akin to that of Larry Fortenskys, a US construction worker who was the seventh and last husband of Elizabeth Taylor (by her eighth marriage; she married Richard Burton twice). Fortensky knew well what he was expected to do on their honeymoon in 1991 at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch but his challenge was how to be different from Taylor's ...
Athens: A veteran Greek crime reporter was gunned down near his home in southern Athens, police said.

Giorgos Karaivaz was found dead early in the afternoon on Friday (Greek time) with several gunshot wounds beside his car in the Alimos suburb, police said.

A police truck carries the car of veteran Greek crime reporter Giorgos Karaivaz, who was gunned down in southern Athens. Credit:AP

Private Star TV, for which he worked, said Karaivaz had just returned from work. It said two men on a motorcycle drew up beside him and the passenger fired at least 10 shots.

The Greek government, opposition parties and the countrys main journalists union strongly condemned the attack.
People in Peru were getting ready on Saturday for the country's presidential and congressional elections, to be held on Sunday amidst strict public health measures due to the pandemic's upsurge in the South American nation.

The country's health ministry has reinforced safety protocols, such as a new extended voting schedule of 12 hours, the use of masks, which may exceptionally be removed for 3 seconds in case of doubts about the identity of the voter, temperature control, and disinfection.

The election comes as the prolonged public health crisis has exposed long-existing inequities, most recently when a list that included former President Martin Vizcarra revealed that hundreds of wealthy and well-connected individuals secretly received COVID-19 vaccines before anyone else.

In November, Vizcarra was impeached by Congress over bribes that he allegedly took from a construction company while he was a state governor.

He was replaced by congressional president Manuel Merino, who lasted less than a week in office as big protests forced him to resign. Congress then appointed Francisco Sagasti as president.

Peru has had just over 1.6 million confirmed cases of coronavirus infections, with more than 54,000 reported deaths related to COVID-19 according to data provided by Johns Hopkins University.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 11)  Another batch of Sinovac vaccines arrived in the country on Sunday.

The 500,000 doses bought by the government arrived at Terminal 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at around 5:10 p.m., as confirmed by Philippine Airlines in a tweet.

President Rodrigo Duterte was not at the event after the Palace said he would not be attending ceremonial turnovers anymore.

This is the second batch of government purchased CoronaVac vaccines, the first one arrived on March 29.

Prior to this, two batches of donated vaccines were brought in.

According to a timeline from Galvez, a total of 5.5 million vaccines are expected to arrive in April. Apart from Sinovac, vaccines from Gamaleya and COVAX are also expected.

On Sunday, Senator Bong Go said an initial 20,000 of Gamaleya's Sputnik V vaccines will arrive this week.

Go said the first batch is up for a "pilot logistics run" since there are unique requirements for the first and second doses of the vaccine.
Some of Australias top universities have called in a Chinese Communist Party expert to detect foreign interference risks, including auditing academics from at least one institution to see if they have secret secondary jobs.

The universities of Sydney, New South Wales, Monash and Queensland have all engaged former journalist and government adviser John Garnaut through consultancy firm McGrathNicol in a move designed to reassure the federal government they are taking the issue seriously.

McGrathNicol senior risk adviser John Garnaut (far left) speaks at a panel with his former boss Malcolm Turnbull (right). Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Mr Garnauts appointment follows the introduction of the Foreign Influence Transparency Register, which requires people acting for overseas governments to declare their activities, and the refusal of several academic funding grants by the Education Minister last year on security grounds.

There have been growing fears in the West, including Australia, that the Chinese government is using academic talent programs to acquire intellectual property that can be put to military use.
The South African variant of the novel coronavirus can break through Pfizer-BioNTechs COVID-19 vaccine to some extent, claimed an Israeli study that has not been peer reviewed. The researchers have found out that the novel coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa managed to penetrate the protection offered by the double-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to some degree even though it still remains unclear just how much efficacy of the shots is lost. The study released on April 10 is based on the comparison of nearly 400 people who tested positive for COVID-19 after two weeks or more of receiving the jabs, against same number of unvaccinated patients with the disease while matching age and gender and other characteristics.

In a first-of-its-kind global study, it was found out that the South African variant named B.1.351 made up nearly 1% of all the COVID-19 cases studied across all the people. The study was carried out by Tel Aviv University and Israels largest healthcare provider, Clalit. Moreover, for the patients who had received two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19, the South African variants prevalence rate was nearly eight times greater than in those who did not receive the jabs, that is, 5.4% versus 0.7% suggesting that the vaccine is less effective against B.1.351.

Based on patterns in the general population, we would have expected just one case of the South African variant, but we saw eight, Prof. Adi Stern, who headed the research, told The Times of Israel. Obviously, this result didnt make me happy. She also said that the results reveal the South African variant when compared to the original strain as well as the British strain is able to break through the vaccines protection but added that the sample size is small and thus figure can not be put on its increased ability.

Pfizer Seeks Covid-19 Vaccine Authorization For 12-15-year Olds

Meanwhile, New York-based Pfizer and BioNTech SE of Germany have asked the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow usage of jabs on adolescents between 12 to 15 years of age. They have planned to request a similar ruling from other regulatory authorities worldwide. The companies said in a statement, our hope is to make this vaccine available to the 12-15-year-old age group before the start of the 2021 school year.

BREAKING: Today, with @BioNTech_Group, we submitted a request to US FDA to expand emergency use of our COVID-19 vaccine to adolescents 12 to 15 years of age. pic.twitter.com/AHjc2khnUj  Pfizer Inc. (@pfizer) April 9, 2021

Image credits: AP/Pixabay
A woman attacked with an axe in a 'domestic incident' in Ilford is fighting for her life in hospital.

A victim, aged in her 50s, was found seriously injured and was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital where she remains in a critical condition.

Police have arrested a man, 47, on suspicion of attempted murder and said the victim and the man are known to each other.

Officers have started investigations after the the incident in Princes Road, in east London, on Friday

A number of suspects are believed to have left the address prior to the arrival of police, and detectives are appealing for witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage to come forward.

Police and the London Ambulance Service rushed to the scene, a house on Princes Road, on Friday, April 9 at 2.08pm.

A police spokesman said: It is believed that the incident is primarily domestic in nature."

A crime scene remains in place and urgent enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call police on 101 quoting reference 3935/09Apr, or to remain anonymous contact Crimestoppers.
Advertisement

Prince Andrew yesterday paid tribute to his father Prince Philip, calling him 'the grandfather of the nation' as he revealed how the Queen said the loss of her husband had 'left a huge void in her life'.

The Duke of York spoke about his father's death outside the Royal Chapel of All Saints at the Royal Lodge in Windsor after attending a service with the Earl and Countess of Wessex and their daughter Lady Louise.

Andrew said the Queen is 'an incredibly stoic person', but said the Duke of Edinburgh's death aged 99 at Windsor Castle on Friday had left the 94-year-old monarch grieving and 'she is feeling it more than anyone'.

'She described his passing as a miracle and she's contemplating, I think is the way that I would put it,' the duke said. 'She described it as having left a huge void in her life but we, the family, the ones that are close, are rallying round to make sure that we're there to support her.'

The Queen is understood to have attended the private mass in Windsor Castle and was later spotted arriving at Windsor Castle after taking her pet corgis out for a walk. Along with the rest of the royal family, they are currently in a two-week mourning period and will only carry out engagements if appropriate.

Andrew's tribute to his father is thought to have been the first time he has spoken in public since his disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019 about his friendship with convicted billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. He stepped down from public duties shortly after the 'car-crash' showdown with Emily Maitlis.

The duke added of his father: 'He was a remarkable man. I loved him as a father. He was so calm. He was always someone you could go to. We have lost the grandfather of the nation.'

While leaving the church service, Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, said that the Queen is 'thinking of others before herself'. Addressing a mourner, the royal, who was Philip's daughter-in-law, added: 'You know it's going to happen but when it happens it's just this massive, massive hole.'

Speaking of the Duke of Edinburgh's last moments, she added: 'It was so gentle. It was just like somebody took him by the hand and off he went. It was very very peaceful and that's all you want for somebody isn't it. I think it's so much easier for the person that goes than the people that are left behind. We're all sitting here, looking at each other going: 'This is awful'.'

She said the tributes left by the public have been 'amazing', but claimed Covid-19 is 'preventing people from doing what they naturally want to do which is coming together, which is hard'.

Prince Edward, Philip and the Queen's youngest son, added: 'It's been a bit of a shock. However much one tries to prepare oneself for something like this it's still a dreadful shock. And we're still trying to come to terms with that.

Prince Philip died peacefully in his sleep at Windsor Castle on Friday, with Prince Andrew revealing the impact of his father's death on the Queen

The Queen has described the loss of the Duke of Edinburgh (pictured with the Queen in 2007) as 'having left a huge void in her life', according to Prince Andrew

The Queen's car is seen arriving at Windsor Castle after walking her dogs at Frogmore. Along with the rest of the royal family, she is observing a two-week mourning period

The Earl and Countess of Wessex, with their daughter Lady Louise Windsor, attend the Sunday service at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor

Prince Andrew said the Queen is 'an incredibly stoic person', but said Philip's death had left her grieving and 'she is feeling it more than anyone'

The Earl and Countess of Wessex, with their daughter Lady Louise Windsor, during a television interview at the Royal Chapel of All Saints, Windsor

The Duke of York (second left) talks with Crown Estate staff as he attends the Sunday service at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge

Speaking of her father-in-law's last moments, Sophie (pictured with Lady Louisa) added: 'It was so gentle. It was just like somebody took him by the hand and off he went. It was very very peaceful and that's all you want for somebody isn't it'

A specially modified Land Rover, Naval procession and royal mourning: Prince Philip's funeral details are released by palace 2.40pm: Coffin emerges from State Entrance of Windsor Castle The duke's coffin, accompanied by the Dean of Windsor and the Lord Chamberlain, will be moved to the State Entrance of Windsor Castle by a Bearer Party of The Queen's Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards. The coffin will emerge and the Bearer Party will place it onto a specially modified Land Rover, which Philip helped to design, to transport it to St George's Chapel. 2.45pm: The procession leaves for St George's Chapel The procession from the state entrance to the West Steps of the chapel will take eight minutes. The Prince of Wales and members of the royal family will take part in the procession on foot, immediately behind the duke's coffin, together with staff from Philip's household. The route of the procession will be lined by representatives drawn from the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the Highlanders, 4th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland and the Royal Air Force. Minute guns will be fired by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery from the east lawn of Windsor Castle for the duration of the procession, and the Curfew Tower Bell will toll. 2.53pm: The Land Rover reaches the West Steps of the chapel A Guard of Honour and Band from The Rifles will receive the coffin at the foot of the West Steps, with the national anthem being played as the coffin enters Horseshoe Cloister. A bearing party of Royal Marines will carry the coffin up the steps and pause for the minute's silence. 3.00pm: National minute of silence Following the minute's silence, the Dean of Windsor, together with the Archbishop of Canterbury, will receive the coffin at the top of the West Steps. In keeping with coronavirus guidelines to limit guests inside the chapel, most of the procession will not enter the chapel, except for members of the royal family, and the duke's private secretary Archie Miller Bakewell. The funeral service will begin as the coffin enters St George's Chapel. Advertisement

'And it's very, very sad. But I have to say that the extraordinary tribute and the memories that everybody has had and been willing to share has been so fantastic. And it just goes to show, he might have been our father, grandfather, father-in-law, but he meant so much to so many other people.'

The Earl of Wessex also said his heart goes out to all those who worked at royal residences, who will feel a 'very personal' loss after the Duke of Edinburgh's death.

Speaking outside the Royal Chapel of All Saints, Edward said: 'He means so much to so many people here, and it's the same for those who lived and worked at Balmoral and Sandringham. For all those past and present.' He added: 'They've all had their own personal memories and stories. Our hearts go out to all of them as well.'

Philip, the nation's longest-serving consort, died peacefully in his sleep at Windsor Castle on Friday just two months before his 100th birthday, leaving the Queen and the royal family 'mourning his loss'.

The Duke of York also added: 'It's a terrible loss. My father said to me on the telephone a few months ago, ''We are all in the same boat and we must always remember that, but occasionally we, the family, are asked to stand up and show compassion and leadership''

'And unfortunately, with my father's death, it has brought it home to me, not just our loss, but actually the loss that everybody else has felt, for so many people who have died and lost loved ones during the pandemic. And so, we are all in the same boat - slightly different circumstances because he didn't die from Covid, but we're all feeling a great sense of loss.'

Anne, The Princess Royal and Philip's only daughter, described how 'you are never really ready' for the loss of a close one. In a statement, she called her father 'my teacher, my supporter and my critic'.

'Mostly it is his example of a life well lived and service freely given that I most wanted to emulate,' she said.

'His ability to treat every person as an individual in their own right with their own skills comes through all the organisations with which he was involved. I regard it as an honour and a privilege to have been asked to follow in his footsteps and it has been a pleasure to have kept him in touch with their activities.

'I know how much he meant to them, in the UK, across the Commonwealth and in the wider world.

'I would like to emphasise how much the family appreciate the messages and memories of so many people whose lives he also touched. We will miss him but he leaves a legacy which can inspire us all.'

Canon Martin Poll, chaplain to Windsor Great Park, greeted Edward, Sophie, their teenage daughter and Andrew before the service yesterday.

Looking sombre and reflective, the royal party spoke to workers from the Windsor estate and the congregation when they arrived at All Saints, which the Queen normally attends outside of lockdown.

The royals thanked everyone for their support particularly over the last few days following the duke's death on Friday.

Philip's funeral at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, next Saturday will be like no other, with the Queen and her family wearing face masks and socially distancing as they gather to say their final farewell amid coronavirus restrictions.

Buckingham Palace announced yesterday that Prince Philip's ceremonial royal funeral will take place on April 17 at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, and a national minute's silence will be observed as it begins at 3pm. The funeral service will be broadcast worldwide.

The Archbishop of Canterbury also led a solemn remembrance service for Prince Philip at Canterbury Cathedral yesterday.

The service started at 10.30am with Justin Welby paying tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh after his death on Friday morning.

The Countess of Wessex, attends the Sunday service at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor, following Prince Philip's death

The Earl and Countess of Wessex, with their daughter Lady Louise Windsor, talk to Cannon Martin Poll, Domestic Chaplin to Her Majesty The Queen

The Duke of York (third left) and the Countess of Wessex talk with Crown Estate staff as they attend the Sunday service at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor

Canon Martin Poll, chaplain to Windsor Great Park, greeted Edward, Sophie, their teenage daughter and Andrew before the service

Prince Harry can leave quarantine for funeral on compassionate grounds The Duke of Sussex will be able attend Prince Philip's funeral by a leave quarantine on 'compassionate' grounds. The palace confirmed on Saturday the duke would fly back to the UK for the service, although heavily pregnant Meghan has been advised against flying by her doctor. But as the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral is due to take place next Saturday, Harry would not have time to complete the quarantine period. The rules, however, do allow a person to temporarily leave their place of quarantine on compassionate grounds - which includes funerals. Guidance published on the Government's website states: 'You can leave your place of self-isolation in limited circumstances, including on compassionate grounds. 'This includes attending a funeral of a household member, a close family member or a friend (if neither household member or close family member can attend the funeral).' It adds: 'You must continue to self-isolate at all other times.' Harry will have to return a negative coronavirus test result in the three days before travel, and complete a passenger locator form with details of where he will be spending his quarantine. He will also have to book a travel test package, which involves two tests - one to be taken on or before the second day of his quarantine, and the second on or after his eighth day of quarantine. Harry could also participate in the 'Test to Release' scheme. Under the scheme, if he pays for a 130 private test from an approved supplier five days into quarantine, he may be free to leave if the result is negative. If Harry were to break the quarantine rules, he risks a penalty of up to 10,000, and if he fails to take the tests on day two and day eight, he could be fined a maximum of 2,000. Advertisement

It was a small, socially distanced gathering with the Queen represented by Lady Colgrain, the Lord-Lieutenant of Kent. Also in attendance was the High Sheriff of Kent, the Lord Mayor of Kent, the Sheriff of Canterbury and the chief executive of Canterbury.

Edward Elgar's stirring Nimrod was played, the piece of music that accompanies many British funerals and memorial services and is played annually at the Cenotaph in London to mark the National Service of Remembrance.

In his sermon, the Archbishop said that the Duke of Edinburgh had a 'remarkable willingness' to 'take the hand he was dealt in life'. However, he added that the Duke 'would have been the first to harrumph strongly at over-spiritualisation of himself'.

The Reverend Canon Tim Naish spoke after the Archbishop and added: 'We pray for all those who mourn Prince Philip's death. We pray for comfort and strength for Elizabeth our Queen.'

Marking the third of eight days of national morning, people also gathered at royal palaces to leave flowers despite calls from the palace and the government to stay away to maintain social distancing guidelines.

Paying tribute to the late Duke at the special service, Mr Welby said: 'It is God who creates, God who calls, and God who sends. For His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, there was a willingness, a remarkable willingness, to take the hand he was dealt in life, and straightforwardly to follow its call. To search its meaning, to go out and on as sent, to inquire and think, to trust and to pray.

He added: 'For the royal family, as for every other, no words can reach into the depth of sorrow that goes into bereavement. We all know that it is not simply a factor of age or familiarity. It is not obliterated by the reality of a very long life remarkably led, nor is the predictability of death's arrival a softening of the blow. Loss is loss.'

The archbishop urged prayers for the family and others who are grieving.

He said: 'Our lives are not completed before death, but their eternity is prepared. So we can indeed pray that the Duke of Edinburgh may rest in peace and rise in glory. We may pray for comfort. We may pray and offer love for all who find that a great life leaves a very great gap.

'For the royal family and the millions who have themselves suffered loss, we can know that the presence of Christ will bring peace, and the light of Christ will shine strongly, and it is in that light that we can strengthen one another with eternal hope.'

The Duke will be taken to St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on a Land Rover he helped to design, and will be flanked by pall bearers from the Royal Marines, Regiments, Corps and Air Stations.

The decision to carry Philip in the custom-built car comes after he is said to have told the Queen: 'Just stick me in the back of a Land Rover and drive me to Windsor.'

Immediately behind the Land Rover, the Prince of Wales and other members of the family, likely to be the Duke's other children and some of his grandchildren including Harry and William, will proceed on foot.

Prince Harry will travel to the UK to be with his family for the service, but his wife Meghan will remain at their home in California after being 'advised not to travel' by her doctor.

Official royal mourning will then take place for two weeks after the funeral.

Only 30 people - expected to be the Duke's children, grandchildren and other close family - will attend as guests.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not be among guests, having stepped aside to allow for the attendance of as many family members as possible during coronavirus restrictions, No 10 said last night.

The Land Rover 'hearse' is a fitting tribute to Philip - the nation's longest consort - who was known for his practical skills and his enduring interest in design and engineering.

Flowers and tributes to Prince Philip have continued to be placed outside the gates of both Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, two days after his death

A woman outside of Windsor Castle is seen shedding a tear as she pays her respects to Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II

A note has been left tied to this cap outside Windsor Castle and alongside floral tributes. The note says that the Duke of Edinburgh was 'an example to us all'

'Rest in peace sir': Mourners also visited the gates of Buckingham Palace in order to leave flowers and personal notes

A man bows his head in respect outside of Windsor Castle as he pays tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, who died on April 9

On top of flowers, stuffed toys were also placed outside of royal residences. This one was placed down alongside a personal note

A mourner holds her hands together in prayer as she stands outside the gates of Windsor Castle paying her respects to Prince Philip

Adding to the huge number of flowers lining the gates of Windsor Castle, a young boy is seen gently tossing his own bunch onto the pile

Members of the public gathered to view the floral tributes to Prince Philip who died at age 99 this week

'I will miss my dear papa': Prince Charles pays tribute to his 'very special' father as he praises him for his 'devoted service to Queen and country' and says that the royal family are 'deeply grateful' for moving tributes Prince Charles today paid tribute to his 'dear Papa' as he spoke for the first time following news of his father Prince Philip's death yesterday morning. In a pre-recorded video message, the Prince of Wales said his father had given 'the most remarkable, devoted service' to 'The Queen, to my family and to the country', as well as the Commonwealth. The Duke of Edinburgh was, he said, a 'very special person' who would have been 'deeply touched' by the sorrow felt by millions of people in Britain and across the world at news of his passing. He said he would miss his father 'enormously' and added that his family were 'deeply grateful' for the condolences offered, which he said would 'sustain us' at this 'particularly sad time'. Speaking from his Gloucestershire home, Highgrove, Charles said: 'I particularly wanted to say that my father, for I suppose the last 70 years, has given the most remarkable, devoted service to The Queen, to my family and to the country, but also to the whole of the Commonwealth. 'As you can imagine, my family and I miss my father enormously. He was a much loved and appreciated figure and apart from anything else, I can imagine, he would be so deeply touched by the number of other people here and elsewhere around the world and the Commonwealth, who also I think, share our loss and our sorrow. 'My dear Papa was a very special person who I think above all else would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that have been said about him and from that point of view we are, my family, deeply grateful for all that. 'It will sustain us in this particular loss and at this particularly sad time. Thank you.' Advertisement

The purpose-built Land Rover was specially modified to carry a coffin - in a project that the duke helped with many years ago.

The vehicle will process slowly through the grounds of Windsor Castle ahead of the funeral, draped in his personal standard, a wreath of flowers and his naval cap and sword.

A bearer party from the Grenadier Guards will place the coffin on the Land Rover at the state entrance of the castle, before the vehicle begins the eight-minute journey at walking pace to the west steps of the chapel.

It will be flanked by pall bearers reflecting the duke's special relationships with the military - the Royal Marines, Regiments, Corps and Air Stations.

Immediately behind the Land Rover, the Prince of Wales and other members of the royal family, likely to be the duke's other children and some of his grandchildren, will proceed on foot.

The Land Rover's poignant role in the funeral proceedings always formed part of Operation Forth Bridge - the codename given to the plans following Philip's death.

A senior Palace official said: 'The Duke of Edinburgh had a hand many years ago in the design of these vehicles.' The official added that there were two Land Rovers for 'belt and braces'.

The Queen has approved the Prime Minister's recommendation of national mourning, which began on April 9 and runs until and including the day of the funeral.

Originally 800 people would have been due to gather to pay their respects to the nation's longest serving consort, but Philip is known to have wanted a low key affair.

The first guest confirmed by the palace was the duke's long-standing close aide, his private secretary Brigadier Archie Miller Bakewell, who will be one of the few, and possibly only, non-royals invited to attend.

Brigadier Miller Bakewell had been the Duke's right hand man for 11 years, taking on the role in 2010.

And brothers William and Harry are expected to stand 'shoulder to shoulder' a they come together for the first time since Harry's bombshell Oprah interview.

All public elements of the funeral have been cancelled, and it will be televised but take place entirely in the grounds of the castle, the Palace said.

The Queen has decided the royal family will enter two weeks of royal mourning, and engagements will continue appropriate to the circumstances, a senior royal official said.

The announcement came as Prince Charles paid a poignant tribute to his father, describing his 'dear Papa' as a 'very special person' and 'the most remarkable, devoted' companion to the Queen in an emotional video released this evening.

In a moving address and speaking without notes, the Prince of Wales said his father would have been 'deeply touched' by the sorrow felt by millions of people in Britain and across the world at news of his passing.

He said he would miss his father 'enormously' and added that his family were 'deeply grateful' for the condolences offered, which he said would 'sustain us' at this 'particularly sad time'.

The Earl and the Countess of Wessex spent around an hour with the Queen at the castle on Saturday, with a tearful Sophie telling reporters as she left: 'The Queen has been amazing.'

The duke died peacefully in his sleep at Windsor Castle on Friday, two months before his 100th birthday, leaving the Queen and the royal family 'mourning his loss'.

The Duke of York arrived at Windsor on Saturday, while the Prince of Wales visited his mother there on Friday. Princess Anne left Windsor Castle accompanied by her husband and son Peter Phillips, after visiting her mother yesterday.

Gun salutes have been fired across the UK, in Gibraltar and at sea in tribute to the duke.

Public elements of Operation Forth Bridge - the codename for the duke's funeral plans - were abandoned for fear of drawing crowds including the long held arrangements for military processions through London and Windsor.

Instead, the proceedings will take place entirely in the grounds of Windsor Castle, televised, but away from public view and with no access for royal fans.

A statement on the official Royal Family Twitter page this evening read: 'The plans for the funeral are in line with His Royal Highness's own personal wishes. The occasion will recognise and celebrate The Duke's life and more than 70 years of service to The Queen, the UK and the Commonwealth.'

Confirming that the PM would not be in attendance, a No 10 spokesperson said: 'As a result of the coronavirus regulations, only 30 people can attend the funeral of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

'The Prime Minister has throughout wanted to act in accordance with what is best for the Royal household, and so to allow for as many family members as possible will not be attending the funeral on Saturday.'

The English Football League has also announced that all matches scheduled for 3pm next Saturday will be moved to avoid clashing with Prince Philip's funeral. There are 32 games across the Championship, League One and League Two that were set to get underway at 3pm on the day of the funeral.

On the day of the funeral, the duke's coffin, accompanied by the Dean of Windsor and the Lord Chamberlain, will be moved to the State Entrance of Windsor Castle by a Bearer Party of The Queen's Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.

On the grass in the Castle's Quadrangle will be representative detachments drawn from Philip's military special relationships.

The Quadrangle will also be lined by the Household Cavalry and The Foot Guards. The Band of the Grenadier Guards, of which Philip was Colonel for 42 years, will lead the procession to St George's Chapel.

They will be followed by the Major General's Party, and then the Service Chiefs, reflecting His Royal Highness's close relationship with the military.

The procession from the state entrance to the west steps of St George's Chapel will take eight minutes.

The route of the procession will be lined by representatives drawn from the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the Highlanders, 4th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland and the Royal Air Force.

Minute guns will be fired by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery from the east lawn of Windsor Castle for the duration of the procession, and the Curfew Tower Bell will toll.

A Guard of Honour and Band from The Rifles will receive the coffin at the foot of the west steps, with the national anthem being played as the coffin enters Horseshoe Cloister.

In tribute to Philip's Naval service, a Royal Naval Piping Party of 1 Chief Petty Officer and 5 Ratings will be present.

The piping party will pipe the 'Still' once the Land Rover is stationery at the foot of the steps.

A bearing party of Royal Marines will carry the coffin up the steps and pause for the minute's silence. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Dean of Windsor will then receive the coffin.

In keeping with coronavirus guidelines to limit guests inside the chapel, most of the procession will not enter St George's, except for members of the royal family, and the duke's private secretary Archie Miller Bakewell.

Following his funeral, the Duke of Edinburgh will be privately interred in the Royal Vault of St George's Chapel - but this will not be his final resting place.

When the Queen dies, Philip will be transferred to the gothic church's King George VI memorial chapel to lie alongside his devoted wife of 73 years.

The tiny chapel houses the remains of the Queen's father George VI, her mother the Queen Mother and sister Princess Margaret.

The central feature of the pale stone annexe, which was added on to the north side of St George's behind the North Quire Aisle in 1969, is a black stone slab set into the floor.

It is inscribed with 'George VI' and 'Elizabeth' in gold lettering and accompanied by their years of birth and death.

On Saturday, the Queen and close members of her family will gather privately after the funeral as the duke's coffin is interred in the Royal Vault - a burial place set beneath St George's Chapel - for the time being.

It will be placed on a marble slab in the Quire and lowered into the Vault by electric motor.

The Royal Vault at Windsor was created between 1804 and 1810 for George III, who died in 1820 and is one of three kings buried there.

Also interred in the vault are George IV and William IV.

Others buried there include George III's wife Queen Charlotte and their daughter Princess Amelia, George IV's daughter Princess Charlotte and Queen Victoria's father the Duke of Kent.

Princess Margaret, who died in 2002, was cremated and her ashes were initially placed in the Royal Vault, before being moved to the George VI memorial chapel with her parents' coffins when the Queen Mother died just weeks later.

The princess wanted to be cremated because she found the alternative royal burial ground at Frogmore in Windsor Great Park too 'gloomy'.

Lady Glenconner - a lifelong friend of the princess - said in 2002 that the princess preferred the memorial chapel instead.

'She told me that she found Frogmore very gloomy,' Lady Glenconner said. 'I think she'd like to be with the late King, which she will now be. There's room I think for her to be with him now.'

George VI died in 1952, but was first interred in the Royal Vault and moved to the memorial chapel when it was built 17 years later.
Donald Trump credited himself for the development of several coronavirus vaccines, and said they should instead be called the Trumpcine.

The former US president was delivering an address in front of the Republican partys biggest sponsors on Saturday at Mar-a-Lago, when the remarks about the vaccine were made.

Mr Trump told the crowd that an individual, who he called sir, came to him and said the vaccine should be called the Trumpcine, The Washington Post and CNN reported.

The former president cited Operation Warp Speed, the US government initiative to fast-track the development of Covid vaccines, as a factor.

Only one of the vaccines currently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), made by Moderna, received full funding from Operation Warp Speed.

Pfizer, another maker of a Covid vaccine, received funding from the US government following the development of its vaccine, according to a report by STAT.

Mr Trump on Saturday also went on to attack Dr Anthony Fauci for advising against masks at the beginning of the pandemic, before recommending five masks in recent months.

"Have you ever seen anybody that is so full of crap?, Mr Trump said of the chief medical adviser and infectious diseases expert, according to the Post.

It followed recent remarks by Dr Fauci, who said that wearing a number of face masks was more effective for stopping the spread of Covid, following a study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

It was not the first time Mr Trump has offered criticism of Dr Fauci, who often diverged from the former president on Covid. Nor was it the first time Mr Trump has tried to take credit for the development of vaccines.

The Mar-a-Lago address was part of a weekend of fundraising for the Republican National Committee (RNC), with Mr Trump hosting hundreds of donors at the resort.
(Photo: Team Nigma)

Abu Dhabi-based Dota 2 organisation Team Nigma announced on Sunday (11 April) that they signed Russian player Igor "iLTW" Filatov to complete their roster ahead of the start of the second season of the 2021 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC).

ILTW will be replacing Aliwi "w33" Omar, who was benched by the team on Wednesday (7 April) and is now "free to pursue any opportunity" to join other teams. W33's benching came after a very disappointing run for Team Nigma in the recently-concluded ONE Esports Dota 2 Singapore Major, where they only managed to win one game in the Wildcard Stage and were thus eliminated at 16th place.

While Nigma did play in the Singapore Major without offlaner Ivan "MinD_ControL" Ivanov, who was ruled out of the tournament after contracting the coronavirus, it is still a very disheartening outcome for a team many previously thought could make a deep run in the Major.

ILTW is expected to take over as Nigma's primary carry player, with Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi returning to playing more as the team's midlaner. Nigma is notably famous for flexing the roles for their positions 1 and 2 players, with each able to play as either the carry or midlaner depending on the team's draft for a particular game.

ILTW has long been one of the most talented young pubstars of the CIS Dota scene, having played competitively for a number of stacks as far back as 2015 when he was still 15 years old.

He started rising up the ranks of the CIS scene after being loaned to OG in early 2019, after which he played for organisations such as Team Spirit and Virtus.pro.

ILTW's latest professional appearances came at the end of 2020, when he helped the Live to Win stack finish second at Division 2 of EPIC League Season 2 then stood-in for OG and helped them finish second at the OGA Dota PIT EU/CIS Season 4.

ILTW will make his debut with Team Nigma on 17 April against Team Secret in the last match of the first week of competition in the European regional league's upper division.

Story continues

For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEA and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asias Facebook page.

Check out esports videos from Yahoo TV:
(Citizen)

Police have launched a manhunt following the shooting of a 12-year-old boy in Brooklyn.

The child was out walking in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area, shortly before 10pm on Saturday night, when he was shot in the chest. Authorities are looking for at least one shooter, ABC7 reported.

The boy, who has not been identified by the authorities, is believed to have been fired upon as two groups fought close by, although it was not immediately clear whether he had been accidentally caught in the crossfire or intentionally fired upon by one of the groups.

It is believed the shots were fired from a dark-coloured vehicle.

Police said the boy heard the shots ring out in the street before feeling a pain in his chest and realising he had been shot, the New York Post reported.

Following the shooting, the boy ran into a liquor store for help, CBS News reported. Staff at the store called the emergency services.

The child, who was taken to Maimonides Medical Center is expected to survive the shooting.

Police at the scene managed to collect a number of shell casings, but have not yet mane any arrests.
Here are todays leading news stories:

Politics

-- Vietnamese State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc lauded central Da Nang City and Quang Nam Province for their achievements over the past years during a working session with local leaders on Saturday.

-- State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Saturday sent a message of condolences to Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland over the death of her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

COVID-19 Updates

-- The Ministry of Health on Saturday evening confirmed nine imported COVID-19 cases in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang, raising the countrys tally to 2,692, with 2,429 recoveries and 35 deaths.

Society

-- The testing phase of the second tunnel boring machine was initiated on Saturday to prepare for the construction of the underground section of the Nhon-Hanoi Station urban metro line in Hanoi.

-- Traffic police in the north-central province of Quang Tri confirmed on Saturday they had been able to chase down and arrest the 42-year-old driver of a tractor-trailer for causing a hit-and-run that killed two people on a motorbike earlier the same day.

-- Local residents in the north-central province of Nghe An reported on Saturday they had found a human skeleton that washed ashore along a beach in Nghi Loc District.

-- Two former cellmates and game addicts from the northern province of Bac Ninh have been arrested for breaking into nearly pagodas and stealing money from the venues.

Business

-- Vietnam and Turkey held the Business-to-Business (B2B) Matching Webinar on Products for Supporting Industries 2021 on Saturday, aiming to introduce the potential of Vietnamese electronics and mechanics manufacturers to major Turkish importers, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

-- Shipments of products from the processing industry brought in about US$67.39 billion in the first quarter of this year, representing 87.13 percent of Vietnams total export value during the period, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
A distraught woman is pleading with thieves who broke into her car to return an urn containing her late mother's ashes.

Grace Daley from Richmond in inner Melbourne, issued the public appeal after realising her belongings had been taken.

The 36-year-old's Mazda 3 sedan was parked at the rear of a home on Murphy Street from 7pm on Friday.

She went back to the car about midday on Saturday to find everything she left inside had been taken.

Grace Daley, 36, (pictured) claims her mother's ashes were stolen from her car over the weekend and has issued a public appeal for their safe return

The ashes were inside a small blue container which itself was within a larger white box that had been placed on the backseat.

Also stolen was a box of photos which are irreplaceable.

Several other items of lesser note were also missing.

Ms Daley was able to find one of the stolen boxes a short distance from her Richmond home, its contents scattered across a nature strip.

Her red Mazda 3 Sedan (pictured) was parked at the rear of a building on Murphy street in Richmond inner Melbourne, from 7pm on Friday night

Sadly the box did not contain her mothers ashes.

Ms Daley has launched a public appeal begging the thieves to return the ashes and pictures.

Her mother Jane died of breast cancer at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and didn't receive an official funeral.

The Daley family have been waiting to hold a memorial service for the matriarch, who asked for her ashes to be spread in the Black Spur mountains behind Hillsville.

Her mother Jane (pictured) died of breast cancer at the start of lockdown over a year ago, and didn't receive an official funeral

'I really want the ashes back so I can do that for mum,' Ms Daley told 9 News.

The heartbroken daughter described the 'difficult' phone calls she made to her brother and father to tell them the photos and ashes were missing.

'I was quite inconsolable yesterday and emotionally drained, feeling like I've let mum down a little bit too being the one that was holding onto the ashes'.

Ms Daley said she is 'absolutely distraught' by the thought of never seeing the items again, and asked the thieves to put themselves in her shoes.

The ashes were inside a small blue container which itself was within a larger white box. Police are investigating the matter and released a picture of the urn in the hopes that members of the public might recognise it

'This is a really painful experience, if you can think about it in the context of their own family, how they would feel'.

In a Facebook post to a Richmond community page she pleaded for the safe return of the stolen items.

'If you took them (or know who did) I don't care about miscellaneous things. Keep them!' She wrote.

'But please return my mum's ashes and photos, I'm begging you.'

Police are investigating the matter and released a picture of the urn in the hopes that members of the public might recognise it.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
Prince Philip persuaded Queen Elizabeth to talk about her Christian faith in public broadcasts The Duke of Edinburgh was extremely interested in theology

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

Britains Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh who died on Friday at the age of 99, "persuaded" Queen Elizabeth II, his wife, to talk more about her Christian faith ahead of her Christmas broadcast in 2000, a church leader close to the Duke revealed in a media interview.

[Prince Philip] was the person really who encouraged the queen to talk about her own faith in her Christmas broadcasts, the Rev. Prof. Ian Bradley, the author of God Save the Queen, told Premier Christian News.

He recalled that in the old days, they really used to be more like travelogues, and they would just say where the royal family had been.

The duke, the father of Prince Charles, died peacefully on Friday at Windsor Castle in England.

Bradley, who preached for the duke and the queen as a visiting preacher at the Parish of Braemar and Crathie, said that in her 2000 broadcast, the "queen spoke very movingly and powerfully about her own Christian faith and the impact it had on her."

"And there was a very positive response from viewers," he said. "And ... it was Philip who really persuaded the queen to make more of her own Christian faith. And he said, You should be talking about this.

Bradley also shared that Prince Philip was interested in theology.

He would note down all the details of the sermon. He was extremely interested  in theology. He had a wonderful knowledge of the Bible, and then he would sort of quiz you at lunchtime, ask you about your sermon and really put you on your mettle. And I was amazed at his biblical knowledge.

In her 2016 book ahead of her 90th birthday, the queen reflected on Jesus central role in her life.

I have been  and remain  very grateful to you for your prayers and to God for his steadfast love, the British monarch wrote in the foreword to The Servant Queen and the King She Serves. I have indeed seen His faithfulness.

Mark Greene, the executive director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity who is the co-author of the book, said at the time that the queen has shown a "clear dependence on Christ."

As Ive been writing this book and talking about it to friends, to family who dont know Jesus, to my Jewish barber, Ive been struck how very interested they are to discover more about the Queens faith, Greene stated.

The Queen has served us all her adult life, with amazing consistency of character, concern for others and a clear dependence on Christ. The more Ive read what shes written and talked to people who know her, the clearer that is.
By Kim Won-soo





The human race is facing the biggest threat of an unprecedented self-destructive force created by people. Since last year, a group of world-renowned scientists called the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has set the doomsday clock at only 100 seconds to midnight, which denotes the biblical moment of self-destruction. This is the worst level seen over the last seven decades since the scientists started the clock in 1947.



This worst threat can be attributed to an imminent perfect storm brewing from three different directions: 1) nuclear and other WMD (weapons of mass destruction); 2) climate change; and 3) disruptive new technologies.



Coping with this perfect storm requires a new global compact in which all countries participate. Efforts involving the compact to deal with the second threat of climate change started with the Paris Climate Accords of 2015. Follow-up measures are now back on track with President Joe Biden of the United States returning to the agreement from which his predecessor, former U.S. President Donald Trump, withdrew earlier.



Regarding the first and third threats, however, the international community stands on much shakier ground. The existing compact for the first threat of WMD has regressed. The INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) treaty was nullified during the Trump era and the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) barely survived. No new arms control negotiations between the largest possessors of nuclear weapons, the U.S. and Russia, are on the horizon. Nor are any signs of arms control or confidence-building talks in sight vis-a-vis China, which is keen to catch up in terms of strategic parity.

On top of the weakening ground on the old WMD, the new threat of emerging disruptive technologies may add another layer of WMD, which denotes weapons of mass "disruption." Rapid technological evolution in both cyberspace and outer space brings enormous benefits through hyper-connectivity in our lives. But it also dramatically increases the risks of massive disruption that happens in an instant. Technological advances in artificial intelligence and synthetic bio-technology can be also abused for malevolent purposes to instigate fear threatening human security. The gap in mitigating these emerging risks is growing, as the technology is advancing faster than the normative work.





Furthermore, the nexus of these twin WMDs with terrorism is even more horrifying. It is no longer a fantasy to imagine a scenario in which a terrorist organization steals the first WMD material (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear), using cyber-hacking with the help of an insider, and uses it as a terrible means of indiscriminate terror inflicted on an innocent civilian population. The Nuclear Security Summit process had been pursued by the Obama administration to mitigate this horrifying risk.



Northeast Asia is undoubtedly one of the world's hot spots where the danger of the twin WMDs is present and regional tensions remain unabated. Recently, the security dynamics have been displaying signs of volatility on the Korean peninsula as well as in the East and South China seas. The U.S. and China are at the front and center of this complex equation. The security climate looks likely to become more and more tense as the US and China are widely expected to intensify their strategic competition. Even their appetite for resuming bilateral strategic dialogue seems to be low due to frustration and fatigue with the previous efforts, which are largely perceived as formalistic and insubstantial.



It is evident that the global compact to cope with the twin WMD threats is unattainable without the U.S. and China working together. Their failure to do so would be dangerous, not only for them, but also for the whole region of Northeast Asia and beyond.



Therefore, for their enlightened self-interest and collective global interest, the U.S. and China must find a way to start talking to each other for arms control. The longer it takes, the more they are likely to become the source of the problem pushing the doomsday clock even closer to midnight. This should not be an option. The US and China can pick up from where they left off before. Such examples include reviving the Nuclear Security Summit process and/or discussing ways to help the respective ratification process of the CTBT (Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty). If the U.S. and China begin to talk to each other on arms control, it will serve to restore their working trust that may pave the way for them to manage their differences in other issues in a less confrontational mode.



Working for arms control and disarmament is like riding a bicycle uphill toward an eventual peak of a world free of nuclear and other weapons.



Reaching the peak may be nearly impossible in a zero-sum world composed of sovereign states with divergent interests and mutual suspicion.



On the way to the peak, however, we may reach a hilltop that is lower but replete with ensuing peace dividends, as has been the case with the past milestone instruments such as the NPT, INF and CTBT. Therefore, no matter how challenging it is, we should not stop pedaling for it. Otherwise our bicycle will fall down or slide off the slippery slopes. Efforts toward arms control must resume to prevent the perfect storm of threats from hitting the human race. The world now calls for global leadership more than ever. The U.S. and China must live up to that call.





Kim Won-soo (wsk4321@gmail.com) is the former under secretary-general of the United Nations and the high representative for disarmament. As a Korean diplomat, he served as secretary to the ROK president for foreign affairs. He is now the chair of the international advisory board of the Future Consensus Institute (Yeosijae) and a member of the Group of Eminent Persons for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBTO).


After the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S21 (review), the more affordable Fan Edition of the device will be hitting the market sometime towards the end of 2021. Samsung usually releases an FE (Fan Edition) after the launch of its flagship devices and this year is no different, with the rumoured launch of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE. A reliable tipster on Voice called @OnLeaks has just released a few unofficial renders of the Galaxy S21 FE. From what we can see, the Fan Edition of the Galaxy S21 doesnt look too different from its older sibling. It will likely come with a frosted Glastic rear panel as well as a shiny metal frame.

Samsung Galaxy S21 rumoured features

The rear camera housing unit has also seen some subtle but important changes. On the Samsung Galaxy S21, the camera bump extended from the metal frame while the bump on S21 Fan Edition is smoothly integrated and pops up directly from the rear panel itself. The Samsung Galaxy S21 Fan Edition is also a bit larger than the Galaxy S21. It is also 4mm taller and 3.3mm wider but maintains the same thickness. The Galaxy S21 FE could also come with a 6.4-inch flat display as well as a single punch-hole selfie camera. It could also come with a triple-lens camera setup, which can be found on the Galaxy S21 as well. But, with a cheaper price point, the lenses could be downgraded.

There are no announcements from Samsung but OnLeaks has even gone on the speculate the price of the device. The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE could hit the market at $700 (Rs 53,000 approx converted). Other reports suggest that the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE could be launched sometime around August but again, this is just speculation, at this point.
Plans to develop an apartment complex and shops on the site of Quinns pub in Drumcondra have been rejected as Dublin City Council said its promoters had failed to justify the proposed demolition of the famous northside meeting place.

Council planners ruled the pub, which was once owned by the bankrupt billionaire businessman, Sean Quinn, was a building of architectural and social significance.

They claimed the demolition of Quinns and adjoining shopfronts would contravene the Dublin City Development Plan which seeks to preserve the built heritage of the city as well as to encourage the re-use of buildings of historic and architectural interest which make a positive contribution to streetscapes.

Cork-based development firm, Discipulo Developments, had sought approval for a five-storey mixed-development in three blocks on the site of a row of buildings on Lower Drumcondra Road which would have required the demolition of a several properties including the pub which is familiar to thousands of GAA fans attending matches in nearby Croke Park.

The companys plans provided for 50 build-to-rent apartments as well as a bookmaker, cafe and shop at ground floor level.

However, council planners vetoed the project on a number of grounds including that the proposed development would not provide appropriate residential amenity for future tenants due to the lack of quality private open space as well as the lack of adequately sunlit communal space.

They criticised plans where north-facing balconies, which could only be accessed through bedrooms, were within 10 metres of bedroom windows of opposite units.

The council ruled that the development would have undue and unacceptable impacts on neighbouring properties on St Alphonsus Avenue and Lower Drumcondra Road due to overshadowing.

Design faults

It also found fault with the design and excessive height of the development, which will reach over 17 metres, which it said would be out of character with the existing buildings in the area.

Council planners also agreed with objectors that aspects of the design could also attract anti-social behaviour.

Discipulo claimed the development would bring an existing inaccessible site back into productive use for both residential and retail purposes.

It claimed the variety of apartments met the aspirations of a range of people and households, although the council observed that most units would be unsuitable for children.

The development had been opposed by a large number of local residents and elected representatives including Dublin Central Green Party TD, Neasa Hourigan, with objectors claiming it would have a negative impact on neighbouring properties as well as traffic and parking in the area.

Ms Hourigan said people wanted to see the site developed in an appropriate manner but she believed there was already an overconcentration of build-to-rent accommodation in the city centre.

While there might be a place for some amount of such developments, it is difficult to see that the volume of such applications being approved is the best use of the limited land bank in the inner city.

The Iona and District Residents Association said Quinns had been a focus and landmark in Drumcondra for over 150 years for generations of locals and GAA fans.

Several different communities have an attachment to this building because it is an essential reference point and meeting place, said the associations secretary, Cormac Brown.

Opposing the development, Mr Brown said its design was out of character with the area and would not help to preserve Drumcondras architectural heritage.

Quinns was placed on the market in 2019 by the liquidators of IBRC, the former Anglo Irish Bank with an asking price of 2m.

Discipulo may still appeal the councils ruling to An Bord Pleanala.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said it was an extraordinary sign of confidence that an additional 1000 general medical practices would join the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine from next week.

General practices have flocked to participate, he told reporters at a Sunday afternoon press conference.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt addresses a press conference on the vaccine rollout. Credit:Luis Ascui

Weve reached that figure of 4000 [general practices and Aboriginal-controlled health services administering vaccines] earlier than expected and thats because of the heightened level of participation of our GPs.

I am very thankful to all of the general practices who are coming on board and providing additional options and points of presence for Australians around the country.
Amnesty International Ghana (AI Ghana) has urged the government to institute sufficient measures to protect the rights of women and children.



The global human rights body said the inhuman treatment meted out to women in several instances leading to their deaths called for stringent measures to protect their rights.



Mentioning the death of Madam Akua Denteh, the 90-year-old woman who was lynched to death last year and spousal abuse leading to the killing of some women in Ghana, it said, pointed to the need for government to strengthen institutions mandated to uphold the rights of women.



Mr Samuel Agbotsey, Campaign and Fundraising Manager of Amnesty International Ghana, made the call in an interview with the GNA during a ceremony to launch the annual reports on human rights of Amnesty International for 2020/2021, at Oyoko in the New Juaben North municipality.



Mr Frank Doyi, Acting Director of Amnesty International Ghana who presented a summary of the report noted that existing inequalities had left marginalized communities, refugees, older people and women disproportionately affected by the covid-19 pandemic with gender-based violence worsening the situation, especially in the Africa region.



He said the report showed a marked increase in Gender-based and domestic violence with many women facing increased barriers to protection and support as a result of restrictions on freedom of movement due to the pandemic.



According to the AI report, 21 women and children were killed by intimate partners in South Africa by mid-June, over 3,600 rape cases were recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria whiles in CAR 60 cases of conflict-related sexual violence including; rape, forced marriage and sexual slavery all between June and October 2020.



The situation, he said raised a huge barrier to human rights and dignity of women everywhere and that Ghana was not an exception.



The human rights report is an annual report documented by Amnesty International to raise awareness on infractions of human rights the world over.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Regional

Mnp govt  JNIMS employees reach agreement; duties resume in hospital

File photo of JNIMS Imphal.

Correspondent IMPHAL, Apr 11 | Publish Date: 4/11/2021 1:26:37 PM IST

Agitating employees of the only state-run medical college called off their strike over 7th ROP (Revised of Pay) demand after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with the state government today upon reaching an agreement , on Sunday afternoon.

The doctors and nurses withdrew resignation letters they had submitted en masse three days ago and resumed normal duties with immediate effect, bringing a sigh of relief to the patients of the hospital.

In the MoU, the state government agreed to implement the 7th Pay Commission in JNIMS with notional effect from April 1, 2016 as a special case with actual implementation from April 1, 2021.

The three associations have been pressing the state government to start the actual implementation from April 1, 2020 with notional effect from April 1, 2016 even as the state government offered to start the implementation from April 1, 2021 without notional effect.

The two sides broke their respective stands during a meeting today at chief ministers level. JNIMS is an autonomous body run by JNIMS Society with the state chief minister as chairman.

The MoU was signed after the meeting thoroughly deliberated on the demands of the employees.

The state government agreed to fulfil the demands of the employees considering the special duties performed by the doctors, nurses and other staff of JNIMS, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the MoU, it was stated that This rare exception is made only in the wake of duties performed in tackling COVID-19 pandemic requiring extra hours of work and uninterrupted services, often at risk to personal life.

This may not be cited as a precedent by other autonomous bodies, societies, PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings) under the state government.

The state government also agreed to consider the request of the Trained Nurses Association (TNA) for adoption of MACP (Modified Assured Career Progression) and uniform allowance on priority.

Following the agreement, the Teachers Association JNIMS, Trained Nurses Association and All Non-Teaching Staffs (AANTS) agreed to call off the protests with immediate effect, as per the MoU.

Earlier in the day, state chief N Biren Singh who spoke to reporters on the sideline of Tika Utsav launching function at JNIMS hospital campus denied that healthcare services in the state-run hospital were affected because of the employees strike.

He said that the doctors and nurses of the hospital continued their services even during the strike and submission of resignation letters en masse three days ago (on April 8).
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster visited S.C. National Guard troops stationed at the wall along the U.S.-Mexican border in El Paso and Del Rio, Texas, on April 9 and 10.

About 300 S.C. troops are deployed helping federal law enforcement along the border. State Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Van McCarty joined McMaster in visiting a helicopter unit and a transportation unit.

McMaster, a Republican who is an ally of former President Donald Trump, posted on social media during his visit how he thought it was "unacceptable" that the wall construction has stopped.

"There is a humanitarian crisis on our southern border and inaction is putting our national security at risk," he posted on social media.
YEREVAN -- When Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian signed a Russian-brokered cease-fire in November to end the war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, it created a tumultuous postwar crisis that has eroded public confidence in Yerevan's political establishment.

Opinion polls show the approval rating of Pashinian's government has fallen from about 60 percent in September 2020 to around 30 percent today.

Pashinian's allies -- faced with political upheaval and declining public confidence in politicians -- are now working to change the country's election laws ahead of snap parliamentary elections expected in June.

The 45-year-old Pashinian's My Step alliance is revamping parts of the Electoral Code that were put in place in 2016 by his predecessors, the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), two years before the "Velvet Revolution" that swept him into office.

My Step gained power with 70 percent of the vote in 2018 snap elections after Pashinian led mass protests against the HHK-led government. It was enough for My Step to take a commanding 88 of the 132 seats in Armenia's single-chamber parliament.

By comparison, the discredited pro-Russian HHK of former President Serzh Sarkisian failed to clear the minimum 5 percent threshold needed to win parliamentary seats. That left the Republicans sidelined along with more than a dozen other small parties that remain outside of parliament.

Postwar Crisis

Five lawmakers have quit My Step's parliamentary faction since the end of the war to become nonaligned deputies -- leaving My Step with 83 parliament seats.

Strikingly, the two opposition parties in parliament have not benefited from My Step's evaporating support. Research by the International Republican Institute reveals a simultaneous decline in public support for the opposition Prosperous Armenia and a rival opposition faction, Bright Armenia.

Led by powerful businessman Gagik Tsarukian, Prosperous Armenia had been a member of the Republican Party's governing coalition from 2008 to 2012 --- calling itself a "nongoverning party" after that until 2015, when it formally declared itself in opposition to the Republicans.

Controversial former President Robert Kocharian has also been an influential figure in Prosperous Armenia, which has 24 deputies in the current parliament.

Bright Armenia is led by Edmon Marukian, a Western-educated former ally of Pashinian who is seen to have pro-European leanings. Bright Armenia has 17 deputies in the current parliament.

Rounding out parliament are eight nonaligned lawmakers, including two who vote with the My Step faction on many issues.

Outside of parliament, 17 anti-Pashinian groups with differing political orientations formed a postwar tactical coalition called the Homeland Salvation Movement (HPS).

The HPS is not a separate political entity. But it organized demonstrations that brought thousands of protesters to the streets throughout the winter to demand Pashinian's resignation over his handling of the Nagorno-Karabakh war, which led to Armenian forces losing control of large swaths of territory.

Pashinian responded to the criticism by blaming his predecessors for the country's war losses -- including members of the HPS -- saying they had neglected Armenian's military forces for more than a decade.

Amid the mudslinging and declining public confidence in all political factions, Pashinian announced on March 18 that he will soon resign so the next general elections, originally scheduled for December 2023, can be moved forward to June 20.

Larisa Minasian, executive director of Open Society Fund-Armenia, says Armenia's political crisis has morphed into "a deep societal crisis -- meaning a substantial loss of trust in the government" and "frustration with the opposition, which obviously...feeds off the tragedy" of Armenia's battlefield losses.

"Recent polls show that the frustration is quite widely shared amongst the Armenian population," Minasian says. "An average of 42 percent and, in Yerevan, as much as 50 percent -- half of the population -- are really deeply frustrated with [all] sides.

"After a long back and forth to maneuver through the crisis, finally the government decided to go with snap elections...as the means to get out of this crisis," Minasian says.

Election Law Changes

Political analyst Stepan Grigorian says holding a new election without changing the Electoral Code created in 2016 by the then-ruling HHK will not resolve the deepening crisis.

"If we do not change the electoral code, we will have the same parliament. We will have a newly elected parliament and we will have, again, the current government in place," says Grigorian, who heads the Yerevan-based Analytical Center on Globalization and Regional Cooperation.

"We will be hearing this mutual accusation process again, where one side says, 'You're a traitor,' and the other one says, 'No, you're the traitor.'"

"That's why a transition to a 'multipartisan' system is what we need" to replace a parliament long characterized by the dominance of one party and a divided opposition, he says.

Grigorian says numerous smaller parties left out of parliament need to be brought into the political process so that views emerging across Armenia since the end of the war are also represented in the legislature.

"Our purpose is to get a discussion started so the parliament becomes multipartisan," he concludes.

In fact, the My Step alliance has been using its continued control of parliament to push through election law changes that had been among the promises made during the Velvet Revolution. A key amendment passed on April 1 eliminated so-called "district list" voting for individual candidates. That change to the technical rules of voting transforms Armenia's electoral system into one of fully proportional representation.

Bright Armenia, the party that first warned about faults within the district-list system, is now criticizing its elimination -- saying the move will leave regions outside of Yerevan underrepresented in the next parliament. None of Bright Armenia's deputies participated in the April 1 vote.

The opposition Prosperous Armenia faction boycotted the parliamentary session at which the change was approved.

Lilit Makunts, leader of the pro-Pashinian majority in parliament, says other amendments still could be introduced to the Electoral Code ahead of the June vote. On April 5, Makunts said those changes could include lowering the threshold needed by political parties to win seats -- a move that gives smaller parties a better chance to enter parliament.

She said any additional changes would have the backing of the Venice Commission, an influential advisory body to the Council of Europe on constitutional law. Makunts also said Armenia's Central Election Commission must deem any changes as feasible within the time remaining before the vote and consult other political parties.

The proposed amendments have already been submitted to the Venice Commission for review. They include lowering the threshold for a party to enter parliament from 5 percent to 4 percent of the vote. Another proposed change would raise the threshold for political alliances to 8 percent for two-party alliances, 9 percent for three-party alliances, and 10 percent for alliances with more than three parties.

Political analysts say such reforms could restore public confidence in democracy by encouraging and fostering a multiparty system that represents a wider range of voter views. They say the logic is to ensure political parties are encouraged to participate independently and to reveal their ideologies so that voters understand the party platforms.

With more parties entering parliament, analysts say governing coalitions can be formed to better represent the will of the people when a single party doesn't control a majority.

Leveling The Playing Field

The Electoral Code pushed through parliament ahead of the 2017 parliamentary elections was widely seen as giving unfair advantages to the ruling HHK. That party was described by The Economist magazine in 2007 as a "typical post-Soviet 'party of power' mainly comprising senior government officials, civil servants, and wealthy business people dependent on government connections."

Vardine Grigorian is the coordinator of Democratic Institutions Monitoring at the Vanadzor branch of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly-Armenian Committee. Her NGO has taken part in proposing and drafting changes to the 2016 election laws in an attempt to level the playing field for smaller political parties.

Grigorian explains that the HHK had seen a way in 2016 to gain an advantage by changing technical details of what was then a mixed electoral system -- a blend of proportional representation and races between individual candidates.

For proportional voting, each party presents its party list of potential lawmakers. Voters cast a ballot for the party of their choice and parliamentary seats are distributed according to the percentage of votes received by each party -- provided a party crosses the minimum threshold needed to enter parliament.

In past elections, voters in about half of Armenia's precincts would cast ballots in races between individual candidates. "Before the 2017 parliamentary elections, if two majoritarian candidates were competing against each other the winner would take all. But these votes did not transfer to party votes," Grigorian notes.

"The Republican Party realized this mixed system was not conducive to getting as many votes as they needed," she says. "So they introduced something called 'district lists,' which allowed any candidate running from a party to bring their votes directly to the political party.

"This allowed the Republican Party to get more than 100,000 additional votes in the 2017 parliamentary elections, even though their approval ratings were a lot lower than the years before," she says.

"The district lists were good for the protection of the ruling [HHK] regime because it allowed them to be able to recruit all the influential business and administrative people in the regions that would be able to bring in as many votes as possible," she says. "We saw while looking at the electoral process how violations evolved and became so sophisticated. Before, election fraud had been actual falsification of results, forging protocols, and things like that.

"Then, the violations moved out of the polling stations. It became issues of vote buying, abuse of administrative resources, and forcing people to participate in meetings and to vote in a certain way by threatening them with losing their job," she says.

Political analyst Stepan Grigorian agrees. He notes that district lists are a Western norm that works well in established and affluent democracies. "But Armenia is a poor country. In our situation, the district-list system meant a bigger influence for those with money and administrative resources," he tells RFE/RL. "Removing the district lists was necessary to diminish the serious influence that our oligarchs had on the outcome of elections through their resources and money, and through corruption."

Armenia's district lists also discouraged the development of smaller political parties because of a requirement that all political parties have at least five candidates in all 13 regions of Armenia -- with each paying a high deposit cost.

"All the conditions were there for less political participation, for fewer parties to participate, and for more parities to go into alliances and form alliances before they entered into parliament," Vardine Grigorian says.

"These alliances were not really sustainable. Most of them would fall apart with the next disagreement that appeared in parliament," she says. "Alliances would be a onetime opportunity to be able to pass that minimum threshold. But then the parliament wouldn't reflect the will of the people and what they voted for."

"Meanwhile, the focus was so much on those races with individual candidates that the competition in the election campaign became very apolitical," she says. "They were not focused on the party platforms or contributing to the development of the party system -- which is so needed for trying to establish and work out this parliamentary system in Armenia.

"That's why we've been trying to develop on this process since 2016," she says.

Written and reported from Prague by Ron Synovitz with additional reporting by Suren Musayelian in Yerevan
Looking for more beauty tips, trends and editor-approved tricks and recommendations? Sign up for Yahoo Lifestyle Canadas newsletter!

Glow Recipe

Warm weather is finally here, and for you that might mean changing up your beauty routine. It's time to say goodbye to dull, winter skin and hello to dewy, fresh, lit-from-within glow.

The best part? It's easier than ever to put your money where it counts. With the industry ever expanding, you'd be hard-pressed not to find something you love that's also produced by an inclusive brand. The beauty world has come a long way since being dominated by only a select few brands.

North American consumers have slowly but surely boarded the Korean skincare train. Now that it's in motion, even more space has opened up in the skincare and makeup realm for innovation, affordability, diversity and inclusion. With consumers consistently pushing brands to extend product ranges to include all skin tones and complexions, no one is left out.

ALSO SEE: My skin calmed down right away': This K-beauty serum that soothes irritation and reduces scarring is on sale for 40% off

From up-and-coming brands like Tower 28 to the tried-and-true luxury of Tatcha and Glow Recipe, the Yahoo Lifestyle Canada team has rounded up just some of the best in Asian-owned beauty brands that put inclusivity and honouring age-old recipes and regimens at the forefront.

Did we miss one? Let us know by tweeting @YahooStyleCA!

Bronzino Illuminating Cream Bronzer (Photo via Tower 28 Beauty)

Founded by Amy Liu, this new clean beauty brand has taken the industry by storm with their compact cream products, dewy skin mist that helps fight redness, and their delicious lip jellies. Made for sensitive skin, their products are crafted from non-toxic, non-irritating, good-for-you ingredients, and aren't tested on animals. Even better? They just added more colours to their best-selling Bronzino Illuminating Cream Bronzer line.

OUR PICK: Bronzino Illuminating Cream Bronzer

SHOP IT: Tower28, $26

Story continues

Watermelon Glow PHA + BHA Pore-Tight Toner (Photo via Sephora)

This brand known for helping create ultra-dewy skin is one of the front-runners in Korean skincare. Founded by Christine Chang and Sarah Lee are passionate about making natural, fruit-powered skincare to bring out your inner glow. One of their most popular products is the Watermelon Glow PHA + BHA Pore-Tight Toner, which helps reduce pore size, even out texture, all while giving the skin some much-needed hydration.



OUR PICK: Watermelon Glow PHA + BHA Pore-Tight Toner

SHOP IT: Sephora, $45

Dewy Skin Cream Plumping & Hydrating Moisturizer (Photo via Sephora)

This cult-classic beauty brand was founded by Victoria Tsai after a trip to Kyoto. Inspired by Japan's penchant for holistic beauty, she built Tatcha, now a household name. The brand's Violet-C Brightening Serum is one of their most-purchased items, along with their Dewy Skin Cream Plumping & Hydrating Moisturizer, which comes with the cutest little spatula.

OUR PICK: Dewy Skin Cream Plumping & Hydrating Moisturizer

SHOP IT: Tatcha, $89

Lip Sleeping Mask (Photo via Sephora)

The South Korean sister brand to Amore Pacific, owned by billionaire businessman Suh Sung-whan, is all about hydration. Its name comes from the French word for snow. Their most popular products are their Water Sleeping Mask, a gel moisturizer for overnight hydration, and their Lip Sleeping Mask, which comes in seven mouth-watering flavours.

OUR PICK: Lip Sleeping Mask

SHOP IT: Sephora, $26

Kulfi Beauty Underlined Kajal Set (Photo via Kulfi Beauty)

Kulfi Beauty was born from a desire to celebrate South Asian beauty and empower their community through representation. Founder Priyanka Ganjoo built her brand, named after a type of South Asian ice cream, because she didn't see herself in the beauty industry. Now, she's manufacturing beauty products with her skin tone, under tone and skin concerns in mind. One of their most popular products is called Underlined, their buttery eyeliners that come in all sorts of colours.

OUR PICK: Underlined Kajal Set

SHOP IT: Kulfi Beauty, $85

Click here to sign up for Yahoo Canada's lifestyle newsletter.

Complete Ritual Set (Photo via Aavrani)

Holistic beauty and history are at the core of Aavrani, a beauty brand inspired by ancient Indian skincare rituals and natural ingredients. Founder Rooshy Roy's parents immigrated from Kolkata to Detroit in 1986. Growing up in America, Roy was constantly bouncing between cultures. Aavrani honours her duality by uniting both worlds.

OUR PICK: Complete Ritual Set

SHOP IT: Aavrani, $200

Deodorant Stick (Photo via Meow Meow Tweet)

It doesn't get much cuter than the packaging and a brand name like Meow Meow Tweet. The brand was founded by Tara Pelletier and Jeff Kurosaki, the artist behind the brand's quirky package designs. Starting with making soap at home, the brand has grown to sell natural insect repellant, deodorant and facial products.

OUR PICK: Lavender and Bergamot Deodorant Stick

SHOP IT: The Detox Market, $21

Huestick in Rise (Photo via Live Tinted)

The clean, vegan and cruelty free brand started as an online community for inclusivity and has exploded into an incredibly popular beauty brand after founder Deepica Mutyala went viral with a video showing her using red lipstick to cover dark circles. Her colour-correcting Huesticks are now some of the most popular multi-purpose products on the market today.

OUR PICK: Huestick in Rise

SHOP IT: Live Tinted, $31

Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram and sign up for our newsletter.
Reporter

Ben Zigterman is a reporter covering business at The News-Gazette. His email is bzigterman@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@bzigterman).
KENT COUNTY, MI - Kevin Polston has seen firsthand the digital divide in K-12 education that was exposed by the coronavirus pandemic in Michigan and across the country.

As superintendent of Godfrey-Lee Public Schools  a district where 95% of students come from economically disadvantaged families, and 6% of families are homeless  Polston knows access to reliable internet is not a guarantee for all Michigan students, particularly in urban and rural communities.

With most Michigan schools still conducting some form of remote learning due to COVID-19, the internet has become an essential component of getting a quality education, Polston said. But not every family can afford it.

Having internet access so that children can learn while at home is critical to our operation, Polston said. The cost to internet may be as little as $10 a month, but thats still $10 that a family isnt spending on food or medicine or other basic needs for their family.

RELATED: Michigan State University teams up with elementary school to help teachers with virtual classrooms

Thousands of Michigan students like those at Godfrey-Lee still continue to grapple with remote learning challenges due to unreliable internet connect, even a full year into COVID-19 pandemic learning.

But a donation from AT&T and nonprofit Connected Nation seeks to help close the nations digital divide by providing thousands of at-risk students with free mobile hotspots and internet connectivity to help with remote learning.

Godfrey-Lee is one of 13 schools in Michigan that will benefit from the internet connectivity donation, which is part of a $10 million commitment by AT&T to provide free internet subscriptions and wireless hotspots to 35,000 vulnerable students across the country.

The K-12 program will provide internet connection to 4,109 students across Michigan in both rural and urban communities. More than half of the schools selected are from West Michigan. Students in nine counties will get the free services: Kent, Washtenaw, Wayne, Muskegon, Bay, Charlevoix, Allegan, Ottawa, and Branch.

Kyle Smitley, executive director at Detroit Achievement Academy, said the Wi-Fi hotspots will make learning possible for students no matter where they are.

Internet connectivity is a huge barrier for many Detroit public school students, Smitley said.

Oftentimes, students at the public charter school dont have a stable environment for remote learning, Smitley explained. Some could be doing schoolwork from their car, while others are dropped off at a relatives house for the day where there is no internet connection.

Hotspots are actually a huge deal for us because basically wherever you go, youre able to learn, Smitley said. So, it literally is unlocking learning for every member of our school community.

Smitley said knowing that students will have a reliable source of internet connection will allow school staff to focus on what they do best: Teaching.

It reframes our ability to support and students ability to engage, and takes away some of the chaos, she said. This just sort of levels the playing field and, more importantly, it helps us keep our already really high bar for what we think our students can accomplish.

Maureen Young, instructional technology coordinator at Washtenaw International Academy, said she is grateful that the pandemic has opened up conversations about Michigans digital divide and the educational inequities that exist for many communities across the state.

Young said she sees those inequities play out within her own school, which has a diverse population of students who come from Washtenaw, Wayne, Oakland, and Livingston counties. The sixth through 12th-grade school has around 750 students, all from different socio-economic backgrounds, Young said.

We have a lot of students who are very fortunate and have the means for a device with high-end internet, but we also have a lot of students who are on a free and reduced lunch plan, or are receiving financial assistance, or are struggling with housing instability, she said.

Polston said the donation will help level the playing field for students in communities of color, which have been disproportionately hit the hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.

Godfrey-Lee schools, a district of around 1,800 students, has one of the largest populations of Hispanic students in the state. Around 80% of Godfrey-Lee students are Hispanic/Latino students, 10% are Black and 7% are white.

The pandemic has exacerbated existing inequities, and this is one opportunity where we can say the field is level for our students, Polston said. COVID and its impact has been more profound in communities of color, and were going to make sure their children have access to everything they need to learn at high levels, and thats what this program will help us do.

AT&T Michigan President David Lewis said now more than ever, it is vital for students to have access to reliable internet connection.

By helping to expand connectivity for the students across Michigan, we can play a role in narrowing the homework gap and helping address inequities associated with virtual learning, Lewis said in a prepared statement.

Young said the donation of Wi-Fi hotspots and internet subscriptions will ensure that all students have the tools they need to receive their education.

In these times, with such a reliance on internet connectivity, having that level playing field of ensuring that all students have connectivity, it really makes a difference for making sure those kids have what they need to be competitive with families who arent struggling as much during these times, Young said.

The 13 Michigan schools receiving free internet access are:

Washtenaw International High School and Middle Academy (Washtenaw County)

Charlevoix Montessori Academy for the Arts (Charlevoix County)

Godfrey-Lee Public Schools (Kent County)

State Street Academy (Bay County)

West Michigan Academy of Arts and Academics (Ottawa County)

Covert Public Schools (Van Buren County)

Detroit Achievement Academy (Wayne County)

Allegan Public Schools (Allegan County)

Coldwater Community Schools (Branch County)

Hesperia Community Schools (Muskegon County)

Holland Public Schools (Ottawa County)

Oakridge Public Schools (Muskegon County)

Ravenna Public Schools (Muskegon County)

To help you navigate this complicated school year, were pleased to offer you a simpler way to get all of your education news: Our new Michigan Schools: Education in the COVID Era newsletter delivered right to your inbox. To receive this newsletter, simply click here to sign up.

More on MLive:

High-poverty Michigan school districts awarded $3M to help improve reading, writing skills

Shaky internet access across Michigan poses problems for online schooling

Students must take standardized tests this spring in Michigan, federal government says
Vietnam recorded no new COVID-19 cases in the past 12 hours to 6am on April 11, keeping the total number of infections in the country at 2,692, said the Ministry of Health.

A medical worker at the Military Hospital 121 gets COVID-19 vaccine shot (Photo: VNA)





As many as 37,938 people who had close contact with COVID-19 patients or entered Vietnam from pandemic-hit regions are currently quarantined across the nation, including 523 in hospitals, 21,705 in state-designated establishments and 15,710 at their homes or residences.

According to the Treatment Subcommittee under the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, 2,429 patients have been successfully cured, while the death toll related to the disease remained at 35.

Among active patients undergoing treatment at medical establishments, 22 tested negative to coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 once, 11 twice and 17 thrice.

By the afternoon of April 10, a total of 58,248 people, including medical workers, members of community-based anti-COVID-19 groups and members of the steering committees for COVID-19 prevention and control in localities, have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

To live safely with the pandemic, the Ministry of Health advised people to remain proactive in pandemic prevention and control by continuing to wear face masks when going out, disinfecting frequently, maintaining a safe distance, refraining from mass gatherings, and making medical declarations.

VNA
Srinagar, April 11 : Three terrorists were gunned down on Sunday during an encounter between the terrorists and the security forces in South Kashmir's Shopian district.

While congratulating the police and other security forces for showing patience during the operation, the Kashmir range Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar appealed to all the misguided youths, who have joined the terror ranks, to shun the path of violence and return to mainstream.

He said the society needed them and most importantly their parents wanted them by their side.

"We will welcome and accept them with open arms," he said.

Police said on Saturday on a specific input generated by the Shopian Police regarding the presence of terrorists in orchards of the Reban Bandpawa area of Shopian, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by the police, the Army's 34 RRA and 178 Bn of the CRPF.

During the search operation, as the presence of the terrorists got ascertained they were given an opportunity to surrender. However, they fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party which retaliated leading to an encounter. In the initial retaliatory firing, one terrorist was killed, but the operation was suspended to give the trapped terrorists another chance to surrender.

"The joint teams exercised maximum restraint and facilitated the presence of family members of a holed up terrorist Faisal Gulzar to the encounter site so as to persuade him to surrender. However, despite repeated appeals by his family members and assurances by the security forces, the other terrorists didn't allow him to surrender. Ultimately in the wee hours, during the fierce gunfight both the trapped terrorists were killed and bodies of all the three killed terrorists were recovered from the site of encounter," police said.

They have been identified as Aasif Ahmad Ganai and Faisal Gulzar Ganai both the residents of Chitragam Kalan. However, the identity of the third killed terrorist is being ascertained.

Police said as per its records they were part of groups involved in many terror crime cases and linked with proscribed terror outfit Al Badr.

Arms and ammunition, including one AK-56 rifle, two pistols and other incriminating materials were recovered from the site of encounter. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation and to probe their complicity in other terror crimes.

Police said the last rites of the killed terrorists shall be performed after conducting medico-legal formalities at Handwara and their nearest family members shall be allowed to participate in the last rites.

Police have registered a case under relevant sections of law and investigation has been initiated.
Local banks earn high profits in Q1

In the first quarter of this year, all local banks reported high profit growth amid the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the profit growth does not reflect the complete economic picture, according to banking insiders.



It is reported that about 10 banks announced record profit growth of more than 50 percent, marking a double or triple increase compared to the same period last year.

A customer at a Vietcombank branch in Hanoi. (Photo: antt.vn)





In the first three months, Vietinbank saw profit growth surge by at least 135 per to 7 trillion VND (304 million USD). Military bank (MB) achieved a profit growth of 110 percent to 4.6 trillion VND. It is the highest increase in the last five years.



Meanwhile, MS bank earned a profit growth of 315 percent to 1.2 trillion VND. It is followed by SEAbank (126 percent to 1.931 trillion VND), and ACB (61 percent to 3.1 trillion VND).



The high increase in profit growth early this year was attributed to optimistic results in credit growth and non-interest income compared to the same period last year. Banks also maintained their good profit margins, said experts.



According to the Department of Credit for Economic Sectors of the State Bank of Vietnam, as of late last month, the outstanding loans of the economy reached over 9.46 trillion VND, making an increase of 2.93 percent compared to the end of last year. It was much higher than the 1.3 percent increase in the same period last year.



In the State-owned banking sector, the growth rate of Vietcombank's outstanding loans reached 3.69 percent  the highest level over the same period in previous years. BIDV bank and VietinBank had a credit growth of 2.7 percent and 2.6 percent respectively in the first three months this year. Private banks also have seen a good credit growth in the first quarter.



Vietcombank posted a credit growth of nearly 3.7 percent in the opening quarter of 2021, a record high for many years, Chairman of the Board of Directors Nghiem Xuan Thanh said.



Nguyen Ngoc Thanh, a banking analyst at Rong Viet Securities Company, said the sharp increase in banks profits was due to the decrease in activities of the banks from the second quarter of 2020 until now.



Another expert explained the high profit growth in the first quarter was because the banks had not yet made any credit provisions. That was the reason why profit growth of banks were very high in the first quarter of this year.



Experts said banks would see positive profit growth in the remaining months of 2021. However, they would not easily gain such a high growth rate as they recorded in the first quarter.
Some shocking revelations have become public about the working of the Maharashtra police force, especially in Mumbai. The former Mumbai police commissioner is making charges that indict the elected leadership in the state.

Is this normal? What is happening is most abnormal to the extent of being bizarre. One has never heard of the political leadership in any part of India using the police force as its collectors of funds or agents of extortion from common citizens. Whats even more revolting is they all turn to an officer from their police force to meet their rapacious ...
The 11th round of India China Corps Commander's meeting has ended with good optics and pleasantly worded PIB release, with no concrete agreement (if any) disseminated so far. Post disengagement of troops in Eastern Ladakh from North and South of Pangong Tso, no disengagement in other areas to include Depsang plains, Gogra, Hot Spring, Demchok, and no further de-escalation, was well predicted by most analysts.

In "Two Session" press conference last month, Wang Yi suggested China and India to strengthen cooperation instead of harboring suspicion at each other and earlier indicated to get back to business as usual, sidelining border/LAC issue. The Indian Foreign Ministry seems to be conveying that disengagement at all friction points leading to de-escalation, peace and tranquility on borders are prerequisites to progressing smooth bilateral ties.This rightful Indian stance is adversely affected by indicators like likelihood of Indian permission to progress 45 Chinese projects and 300 Crore contracts to Huawei, which is not in sync with the stance conveyed. The standoff is therefore yet to be resolved, as Indian Army Chief general Naravane puts it "the threat has only abated and it has not gone away altogether", although domestic events in both countries have dimmed the spotlight on borders.

What was China trying? Chinese political aim was and continues to be China centric Asia and forcing Indian subordination, a necessity to achieve it. This aim could not be achieved despite prolonged standoff in Ladakh so far, but will remain unchanged,even in future. Chinese strategic aim to control Eastern Ladakh was to provide depth to its National Highway G-219, Karakoram Pass and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), redraw Line of Actual Control (LAC) as per its perception and negotiate border on its terms thereafter. China can claim to have partially achieved it, with continued presence in extra kilometrage in Depsang plains, Gogra, Hot Spring, Demchok areas, where disengagement is yet to take place.

The Indian aim has been to get Chinese back to pre-standoff positions as of April 2020 in all friction points, not to concede unilateral change of LAC, and pursue talks towards its demarcation, hoping to lead to border resolution. With current disengagement, status quo stands achieved in areas north and south of Pangong Tso, at the cost of losing the crucial leverage of giving up occupation of certain heights on Kailash range and north of Pangong Tso, prior to Chinese vacation of 'Other Areas'.Pursuing disengagement and de-escalation in remaining areas will be an uphill task due to shortage of leverages,given Chinese past track record of junking agreements at will.

China, having marched in areas, where it was not supposed to be, junking all CBMs, as part of overall 'Incremental Encroachment Strategy', exploiting first mover advantage, making unfair use of Indian engagement in combating COVID-19 pandemic.China soon found itself handicapped by strong Indian response, resistance and resolve, with proactive actions resulting newly created vulnerabilities to Maldo Garrison and its launch pad, South of Pangong Tso.Despite disengagement in Pangong Tso area, Chinese discomfort due to Indian dispositions in Sub Sector North including DBO, infrastructure development including DSDBO road, as a threat to crucial Tibet-Xinjiang-Pakistan connectivity remains. Despite proactive tactical, operational and daring actions by Indian military, its strategy was reactive.

Why Speedy Partial Disengagement? After getting locked in the standoff for so long, both countries realized that with such large troop density on both sides, prolonging it further will not achieve any meaningful gains. Escalation to conflict or further standoff was proving costly to both, in terms of human and financial cost, and sustenance, especially in harsh winters at high altitudes, where Chinese troops were not used to living. A very heavy troop concentration within striking distance was prone to accidental triggering of conflict, which both countries wanted to avoid.Disengagement per se, therefore, was certainly a preferred option for both countries to avoid endless standoff, but its sequencing deserves an analysis. The domestic compulsion of getting into "Two Session 2021" with vulnerable Maldo Garrison was also mounting for China. Under such circumstances a disengagement agreement involving Indian's vacation of Heights South and North of Pangong Tso at the cost of pulling back from finger areas to its original positions, with its road intact, gave a much-desired face saver to China and it disengaged with unprecedented speed in Pangong Tso area. It was also on the lines of Indian stance of getting back to pre-standoff positions.

The Two Narratives! Both countries justify disengagement process favourable to them, so far, although disengagement is yet to be done at many friction points. The Chinese narrative to its population up to "Two Session" has been that it has got Indians down from heights north and south of Pangong Tso and ensured no Indian presence from Finger 4 to Finger 8, no patrolling by declaring it as buffer zone, while retaining its presence in Depsang plains, Gogra, Hot Spring and Demchok areas. It can, therefore, claim to have launched a successful incremental encroachment operation and edged forward 1959/60 claim line in 'other areas'. The explainers of Chinese narrative will find it difficult to explain their gain by moving forward from Finger 8 to Finger 4 and then speedily withdrawing back to the same location,indicating weakness of PLA to endure winters in high altitude area, besides making Maldo Garrison vulnerable and risking war, had Indians not obliged by pulling back from heights in Pangong Tso area.

The Indian narrative to its critiques is that it has been able to successfully push Chinese back to status quo ante positions as existed pre standoff in Pangong Tso area, the stance which India maintained throughout. Amongst rest areas, like Gogra, Hot Spring and Demchok, its work in progress to disengage and restore patrolling rights. Depsang is a legacy issue of decades, where patrolling points to limit ITBP/ Army patrols were designated to avoid confrontation. Willy-nilly, nearly two-thirds of Depsang Plateau remained outside the purview of physical domination by us, which allowed PLA to establish intensive infrastructure and habitat in the area.Depsang will therefore, require separate discussion. India can also draw solace from the fact that, while it is being denied patrolling to the patrol points on Depsang Plateau East of the area Bottleneck inside the Raki Nallah, it has also denied PLA patrols movement West of Bottleneck, to Chinese claimed area close to Burtse.

The explainers of Indian narrative will continue to find it difficult to explain why disengagement was not sequenced on 'first in and first out basis', meaning thereby that India should have vacated Kailash Range heights only after China had vacated the areas,where it advanced in Depsang plains, Gogra, Hot Spring and Demchok areas, since April 2020. It is reasonable to believe that negotiators at all levels must have tried their best and may have had their compulsions, but If Chinese do not act on remaining part of the agreement, it will leave India at a disadvantage, due to shortage of worthwhile leverages. Notwithstanding the political debates over legacy of Depsang issue, it remains strategically important and a threat to DBO and DS-DBO Road; hence a concern for military professionals.

Future Options with India The actual worth of disengagement agreement is yet to be seen in light of trust deficit and past track record of Chinese in junking Agreements, when it suits them, as the LAC as well as border remains un-demarcated between both countries.The relative calmness along LAC doesn't mean a smooth ride ahead. With both armies preparing for annual summer exercises and stepping up deployment along LAC in high altitude region, in coming weeks, in addition to the troop deployment in 'Other Areas' doesn't promise de-escalation. It does put entire surveillance plan of India to test, to avoid any 'First movers advantage' to China like 2020. The Indian forces and the country has given a befitting reply to Chinese misadventure, and will do so each time, with added confidence and experience of 2020.

Indian aim should be not to concede Chinese attempt to redraw LAC as LAC-2020. In light of no major breakthrough in 22nd round of China-India border talks, I do not expect any worthwhile development on delineation, delimitation for demarcation of LAC, which, is necessary to prevent repeated standoffs, even if the present one sees some resolution. This is inescapable and must be insisted. A temporary solution/side-lining main issue is recipe for the next standoff, leading to LOC-ization of LAC further.Chinese will like to keep border unsettled, till the time the political cost of Not settling it, becomes higher than doing so, for CCP, China. Its efforts of bilateral border talks with Bhutan and Nepal including trijunctions, are to create further complications in the long term resolution of borders.

India must be prepared for 'Two Front War' as a worst case scenario, and continue capacity building in all domains, including maritime arena. Ongoing infrastructure development along borders should lead to settling of locals in villages along LAC with better facilities, to ward off Chinese design of developing hundreds of new villages along LAC.Strategic partnerships with like-minded democracies and collective naval posturing to create multifront situation for China are efforts in right direction. There is a need for alternative supply chain, trade and technological ecosystem, independent of China for which some initial steps taken by Quad countries need to be pursued on strategic plane.

( Major General S B Asthana is a strategic and security analyst, a veteran Infantry General. He is the Chief Instructor, United Service Institution of India. The views expressed are personal)
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention is well aware of the existing problems with the countrys coronavirus vaccines and is exploring the option of mixing vaccines to improve them. The vaccines that have been manufactured by China dont have very high protection rates, the director of the China Centers for Disease Control, Gao Fu, said at a conference on Saturday. The remarks amounted to a rare instance of a Chinese official acknowledging questions about the effectiveness of the countrys vaccines that have been broadly distributed abroad.

Advertisement

In order to deal with the problems, China is formally considering whether it should mix vaccines in order to improve the effectiveness. Another possible solution could be to change how the doses are doled out and the space between each shot. China had previously tried to raise doubts about the new vaccines, such as the one by Pfizer and Moderna, that use the new messenger RNA technology. But now China is working on its own MRNA vaccine.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Gaos words spread quickly on social media but were later censored. It is the first time . . . a government official publicly admitted that the protection rate is a concern in the vaccination drive, Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, tells the Financial Times. None of the Chinese vaccines have published phase 3 trial data, leading to questions about transparency even as it sells millions of doses abroad. A recent study of the Sinovac vaccine in Chile found that the efficacy rate of one shot of the vaccine was only 3 percent, compared to 56 percent with two shots. The countrys Sinopharm vaccine claims to have a 79 percent efficacy rate after two shots.

Advertisement

After his statement spread quickly around the world, Gao tried to do some damage control by claiming his words were misconstrued. It was a complete misunderstanding, he told Chinas Global Times newspaper, which is aligned with the Chinese Communist Party. The protection rates of all vaccines in the world are sometimes high, and sometimes low. How to improve their efficacy is a question that needs to be considered by scientists around the world, Gao said. In this regard, I suggest that we can consider adjusting the vaccination process, such as the number of doses and intervals and adopting sequential vaccination with different types of vaccines.
(Newser)  A potentially lucrative treasure hunt is being offered to the public, though to crack the entire thing you'll need to know Frenchor at least partner with somebody who does. The latter idea is actually one of the points of the unusual challenge. Artist Michel Becker is the mastermind, and the Guardian lays out the broad strokes: He's put out a book in the UK and another in France. Each contains a series of codes and riddles to be solved, and the answers will reveal the location of a buried key, half of which is in each country. Find both halves, and you win the grand prize: a decorative golden box that the UK gave to France in 1904 to commemorate a peace pact known as the Entente Cordiale. It's valued at about $900,000. The books cost about $30 apiece at the Golden Treasure of the Entente Cordiale website. You can view a "trailer" for the hunt here.

story continues below

"A paper and a pencil will be enough to discover some solutions," write Becker and Vincenzo Bianca, who teamed with Becker to create the puzzles. "For others, you will need to do additional research," though they say the internet should suffice. "This is not an easy treasure hunt," they add. Becker's own track record might prove that point. The Telegraph notes that he teamed with a different partner back in 1993 to create another treasure huntthe riddle of the Golden Owland it remains unsolved. According to Bianca, Becker obtained the golden "casket" being offered in the latest puzzle at auction and "fell in love" with the story behind it and its symbolization of peace. "He doesnt hope to make any money from this operation, but at least he hopes to break even," adds Bianca. "If people are passionate about the adventure, he will have achieved what he wanted." (Read more treasure hunt stories.)
ETATS-UNIS :: USA: Cameroonian fraudsters apprehended by the American police :: UNITED STATES

Owners and Former Employee of Heath Care company Facing Federal Charges for Allegedly Paying Kickbacks to Homeless Patients and Fraudulently Billing Medicaid

Allegedly Recruited and Paid Homeless Individuals in Washington, D.C. to Attend Appointments in Order to Bill Medicaid for Mental Health Services Not Provided to Patients

Baltimore, Maryland  A federal criminal complaint has been filed charging Julius Bakari and his wife Mboutchock Kabiwa a/k/a Eugenie Bakari, both age 43, of Silver Spring, Maryland, with health care kickbacks and conspiracy to receive unlawful kickbacks, in connection with their company Holy Health Care Services, LLC (Holy Health). Dominic Forka, age 56, of Lanham, Maryland, a Community Support Worker (CSW) employed by Holy Health, is charged with health care kickbacks, conspiracy to receive unlawful kickbacks, and health care fraud.

The criminal complaint was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Special Agent in Charge James A. Dawson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Washington Field Offices Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Maureen Dixon, Office of Investigations, Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS OIG); and Inspector General Daniel W. Lucas, District of Columbia, Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Bakari owns and operates Holy Health and is the companys Chief Executive Officer and President. Kabiwa is the Vice President of Holy Health. Dominic Forka was a Community Support Worker (CSW) for Holy Health. Holy Health entered into Medicaid Provider Agreements with the District of Columbias Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF), which permit Holy Health to provide healthcare services to D.C. Medicaid recipients. Holy Health is also certified by the District of Columbias Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) to perform mental health services. After services are performed, Holy Health documents notes for these services utilizing an electronic health record (EHR) system for DBH providers. Holy Health then submits batches of notes in invoices for those services to DHCF, which processes the invoices and pays Holy Health. Holy Health was authorized to provide services from two separate locations in Washington, D.C. (Premises 1 and Premises 2).

The affidavit alleges that beginning in at least April 2017, Holy Health paid homeless people to physically go to Premises 1 and sign in as patients, then fraudulently billed the Medicaid plans of those homeless individuals for mental health treatment services that Holy Health did not provide. According to witnesses, Holy Health allegedly operated a van service to transport the homeless individuals from a park near the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C. to Premises 1. According to witnesses, after signing in, on some occasions, the witnesses saw a doctor who asked general questions about the witnesss health. On other occasions, the witnesses did not meet with a doctor or any other healthcare provider, and instead received payment for signing in on a Holy Health sign-in sheet. Patients allegedly received $25 for attending three appointments during each week. Specifically, they received $10 for each of the first two days and $5 for the third day. The affidavit alleges that Holy Health did not provide mental health services to the homeless individuals and continued to bill Medicaid for mental health services even after the individuals stopped attending appointments.

As detailed in the affidavit, from March 2019 to November 2019, two confidential sources conducted undercover, recorded appointments inside Holy Health at Premises 1. The affidavit alleges that Confidential Source 1 (CS1) attended nine appointments at Premises 1 as part of the investigation and each time, Holy Health billed CS1s Medicaid Plan for unrendered services. In addition, Holy Health allegedly used CS1s personal identifying information (PII) to bill Medicaid for an additional 25 appointments that CS1 never attended. Between September 19 and November 22, 2019, CS2 allegedly conducted 11 appointments at Premises 1 and on several occasions saw an individual who informed CS2 that he was CS2s caseworker. According to the affidavit, after each of CS2s visits, Holy Health billed CS2s Medicaid plan for unrendered services. As was allegedly the case with CS1, Holy Health billed CS2s Medicaid plan for approximately 60-minute treatment sessions, when the video and audio recordings show that the sessions in fact lasted only minutes. According to the affidavit, Holy Health has used CS2s PII to bill Medicaid for an additional 32 appointments that CS2 never attended. According to the affidavit, the electronic health records show that Forka accessed Holy Healths EHR system to input the 32 appointments that CS2 never attended, all for services purportedly rendered by Forka. As detailed in the affidavit, Holy Health also issued two prescriptions to CS2 that were filled at a pharmacy in Hyattsville, Maryland. CS2 did not request or fill the prescriptions.

Finally, the affidavit alleges that Bakari and Kabiwa utilized funds from a non-profit organization to provide kickback payments to patients, which Bakari and Kabiwa referred to as stipends. As detailed in the affidavit, Kabiwa founded and ran the Agatha Foundation, a non-profit organization, which listed Bakari as Vice President. According to its website, Agatha is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Africa that provides various key activities in the U.S.  in order to bring positive changes to the lives of at-risk groups in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and in Africa. Agatha is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland and operates at Premises 1. Kabiwa allegedly transferred money from Agathas bank account to Holy Health employees to provide kickback payments to Holy Health patients.

If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for conspiracy to receive unlawful kickbacks, and a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for health care kickbacks. Forka also faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for health care fraud. 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. The defendants had an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gina L. Simms in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt today. The defendants were released pending trial.

A criminal complaint is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by criminal complaint is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner commended the FBI, the HHS OIG, and the District of Columbia OIGs Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for their work in the investigation. Mr. Lenzner thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Catherine K. Dick and Erin B. Pulice, who are prosecuting the case.
Advice limiting the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in younger Australians would likely be overturned if there was a significant coronavirus outbreak.

Expert vaccine advisers to the federal government have told The Sunday Age and Sun-Herald that Australias near elimination of coronavirus was central to its decision to preference the Pfizer vaccine for those aged under 50.

But they warned this outlook could change.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation warned it was still a possibility that COVID-19 could leak into the community and cause death and disease, despite Australias strict border controls.

Leading epidemiologist Jodie McVernon said the low rate of coronavirus in Australia was the reason experts had chosen a more cautious approach to the UK, which is still giving the green light to AstraZeneca vaccinations for anyone aged 30 and over.
Theater Review: John Cullum: An Accidental Star: A Short Glance at a Long, Happy Career

For someone who has been acting in plays since he was knee-high to a grasshopper, the 91 years-young John Cullum has lost none of his love for performing. That is evident in John Cullum: An Accidental Star.

Conceived by Cullum and Jeff Berger and written by David Thompson, the show is a vehicle for the Tennessee-born Cullum to look back at some of what he calls the lucky accidents which befell him in his career. Offering these recollections with a slightly self-deprecating delivery, these tales both gently envelop and engage the viewer.

After a brief musical intro, Cullum, who arrived in New York in 1956, relates how he got his first theater job in the Big Apple as a spear carrier in an off-Broadway production of Saint Joan.

His second job offer came soon after in a production of Hamlet. Cullum still has the book of Shakespeare plays he bought to study for that audition, though, as he notes wryly, he now uses a magnifier to read it.

In fact, after some early successes, Cullum thought he would end up primarily as a Shakespearean actor. However his agent kept sending him to auditions for musicals, which led him to the field of musical comedy, the theatrical genre for which he is most known.

We can detect a refreshing naivete in Cullums recollections about his early years in New York. Once he was three hours late to an audition after helping a fellow actor commiserate at a local bar. Cullum recalls feeling no pain when he finally showed up to sing for theater royalty Moss Hart, Alan Jay Lerner, and Frederick Loewe.

Name-dropping is common. Cullum speaks glowingly of such talents as Julie Andrews, Robert Goulet, Robert Preston, and Richard Burton. He and Burton began a lifelong friendship which lasted through three Broadway shows and 27 years.

Many of Cullums tales recount backstage stories. These shows include On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, which he auditioned for over a year before being cast. And he was so enthusiastic about We Take the Town that he would have invested money in it if he could have. It closed before reaching Broadway.

While much of the show offers an overriding sense of fun, there are moments when Cullum does choose to go deeper. Especially powerful is a recounting of a deeply personal tragedy, which caused him to put his career on hold for a time.

Theres also his experiences in the Kander and Ebb musical The Scottsboro Boys. Based on a real-life racial injustice, Cullum talks about the problems the show had in trying to connect with its audience when things did not end happily for the unjustly accused.

The one role that has a particularly special place in Cullums heart is Charley Anderson from the Broadway musical Shenandoah. He won a Tony Award for his performance, and explains how he feels closer to that part than any other he has ever played.

John Cullum in 1974, in his Tony Award-winning role in Shenandoah. (Goodspeed Musicals)

The Production

Cullum enthusiastically throws himself into the show, often reciting passages or singing songs from roles he has played or auditions he once gave. His voice is a bit husky at times, but still quite powerful when he wants it to be. Ably assisted Cullum is the shows musical director, Julie McBride, on piano.

Filmed earlier this year, Directors Lonny Price and Matt Cowart show a firm grasp of the material. They allow Cullums recollections to guide the story from start to finish with never a dull moment or awkward pause. Costumes by Tracy Christensen offer a nice homespun touch to the proceedings.

The only real complaint about the production is that it is not long enough. Many of the shows in Cullums resume are not discussed, or are touched on only in passing. He also doesnt mention his wife of over 60 years until 52 minutes into the show. Even though the show is more about his career than his personal life, it would have been nice to see more about this relationship.

Cullum admits that while he never led a totally idyllic life, working in the theater, he says, I came pretty damn close. After seeing what he has to say in John Cullum: An Accidental Star, I would be hard-pressed to dispute him.

John Cullum: An Accidental Star

Presented by Vineyard Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, and Irish Repertory Theatre

Tickets: 212-646-931-7414 or VineyardTheatre.org

Running Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Streaming through May 6

Judd Hollander is a reviewer for stagebuzz.com and a member of the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle.
Simply put, "Harvey" is a very fine, very profound play (you can also see it as a wise meditation on the complexities of alcoholism) and, frankly, it needs a more honest treatment than the farcical performances that dominate De Mayo's uneven production. Kane is very much believable, which leads me to think that De Mayo was going with the idea that he is the only person in the play with any kind of grip on his senses. But I think the play doesn't work as well without a larger world in which you can believe.
The Morrison government is aiming to have all Australians inoculated with at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year.

But Trade Minister Dan Tehan says the world is still under the cloud of a pandemic and things can quickly change.

Last week, the governments vaccine program suffered a major set-back after health authorities recommended the AstraZeneca vaccine should only be given to people above 50 due to the risk of blood clotting.

It was the vaccine the government was relying heavily on, but it has since secured an additional 20 million Pfizer vaccine doses that will be shipped from abroad later in the year.

That is definitely the aim, that is the goal we have set trying to have all Australians have a dose by the end of the year, Tehan told Sky News Sunday Agenda program.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison had originally been working to have all Australians vaccinated by October.

When you are dealing with a pandemic, there is a lot of unknowns and you have just got to make sure you set your goals and are prepared to adjust those as things occur, Tehan said.

The minister is about to embark on a vaccine diplomacy trip to Europe from Wednesday.

He will speak with the European Union and his ministerial counterparts in France, Germany, and Brussels.

I will also be meeting the director general of the World Trade Organisation to talk about what we can do to ensure supply of the vaccine, not only for Australia but globally, Tehan said.

Pacific nations, some experiencing an overloading their health systems, will soon have shots of coronavirus vaccine manufactured in Australia to distribute, with the Morrison government promising to export 10,000 doses a week.

The government says its going to put its domestically produced AstraZeneca product to good use in neighbouring countries, starting with hard-hit Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste.

Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu will also begin to receive doses in the coming weeks.

In a joint statement, Health Minister Greg Hunt, Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Minister for International Development and the Pacific Zed Seselja said: Our regions health security and economic recovery is intertwined with our own.

The new advice on the AstraZeneca vaccine has forced a temporary halt to vaccinations on Queenslands Cape York Peninsula and in the Torres Strait, where the northernmost island is just a few kilometres, or a short dinghy trip, from COVID-hit PNG.

People in those northern reaches whove had a first AstraZeneca jab with no adverse effects have been advised to go ahead with the second follow-up jab.

But the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service says it has no surety around plans for the over-50s, who are the majority of the regions population.

We are yet to receive information from the Commonwealth as to how and when the necessary doses of Pfizer might be delivered to regions such as ours in order to comply with the new vaccination recommendations, the service said on the weekend.

By Colin Brinsden and Tracey Ferrier
Anyone whos driven Route 78 in winter knows that, even though it sounds like a big number, $2 trillion bucks to get our highways, byways and rail lines up to code is a freaking bargain. New Jersey has no exclusive claim on crumbling infrastructure, its a national issue and has been for years.

Its not just roads and bridges that need renovating, our railways, tunnels and, oh yeah, our dams are in dire condition. Thats right, our dams  those big concrete structures that keep the lakes and rivers out of your living room  are failing. Vital economic arteries like the Hudson rail tunnels are a century old and eroding before our eyes. Its time to pony up and pay the price for a functioning economy.

Infrastructure is not a one-time expense. Bridges, tunnels, roads and mass transit require upkeep. Infrastructure is a beast that needs constant care and feeding and for the past 30 years, weve been neglectful owners. You gotta spend money to make money and insuring nobody plunges into the Delaware on their way to work is a sound investment.

Going big on infrastructure makes even more sense when you consider the funding source. Its time for Americas corporate giants to pay their fair share. If you want to run a multi-national corporation that relies on our public infrastructure (Im looking at you Amazon) its time to pitch in.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
A former Archbishop of York said it is a 'pity' the Duke of Edinburgh will be remembered for his gaffes because 'behind those gaffes was an expectation of a comeback' - but people were reluctant to provide one.

Dr John Sentamu said the duke was always looking for robust debate and for someone to challenge him.

But people had sometimes been 'too deferential to Philip' because of his status as the husband of the Queen, he said.

The life of Prince Philip has been celebrated at church services across Britain today - the third of eight days of national mourning.

The Duke of Edinburgh, died at Windsor Castle on Friday aged 99.

The Prince was well-known for his politically incorrect comments, several of which attracted significant attention.

Dr John Sentamu (pictured with the Queen and Philip in 2012) said it is a 'pity' the Duke of Edinburgh will be remembered for his gaffes because 'behind those gaffes was an expectation of a comeback' - but people refused to provide one

Dr John Sentamu (left) said the duke (right) was always looking for robust debate and for someone to challenge him.

But people had sometimes been 'too deferential to Philip' because of his status as the husband of the Queen, he said. Pictured: The Queen, Dr John Sentamu and Philip

'I am sure he regretted some of those phrases, but in the end it is a pity that people saw him simply as somebody who makes gaffes,' Dr Sentamu said.

'Behind those gaffes was an expectation of a comeback but nobody came back and the gaffe unfortunately stayed.'

Dr Sentamu told BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday: 'He would make an off-colour remark but if somebody challenged him you would enter into an amazing conversation.

'The trouble was that, because he was the Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of the Queen, people had this deference.'

Dr Sentamu recalled an incident when he himself had made a joke about racism, and the duke had approached him and demanded: 'Do you think that's fair?'

He said the challenge had led to an in-depth discussion about what Philip was trying to achieve with the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

'It was an eye-opener,' Dr Sentamu said.

'(The award) was in every country he had been to, and when he met young people - whether they were black, whether they were white, whether they were Asian - actually it didn't make the slightest bit of difference, as long as they were given the opportunity to get on in life.'

Joanna Lumley pays tribute to 'kind, funny and very sharp' Prince Philip who 'liked vigour and get-up-and-go, not whingers and moaners' Joanna Lumley has paid tribute to the sharp wit and kindness of the Duke of Edinburgh. The life of Prince Philip has been celebrated at church services across Britain today - the third of eight days of national mourning. The Duke of Edinburgh, died at Windsor Castle on Friday. He was 99. Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show today, actress and activist Joanna Lumley recounted times when she had the 'great pleasure' to have met Philip. 'He was very kind, you know, I think that's quite often overlooked,' she said. 'He was very funny and very sharp, but very kind.' She added: 'I think he liked vigour, he liked get-up-and-go. He didn't like whingers and moaners, he liked people who challenged themselves. 'And then for the very humble and the very frail and very nervous, I think he was kind. 'The whole of the Duke of Edinburgh awards is to make people better, to make people see the best in themselves, and I think he did that when talking to people as well.' She revealed that on one occasion when she was sat beside him at a function, another guest was discussing hunting, fishing and shooting. The duke then noticed Ms Lumley's vegetarian meal, and politely changed the subject to include her. She also spoke of Philip's passion for the environment, adding: 'When you think how far ahead he was in realising this perfect world we live in can only be ruined by human beings... he was always interested in those sorts of things, he was invigorating company. 'Sometimes there could be a snap remark, but it was only out of interest and impatience.' Advertisement

Dr Sentamu said Philip believed the majority of people who felt downtrodden had not been given real opportunity in life, and the award was intended to create a level playing field.

He said that with the duke 'there were no conversations that were off limits' and that Philip had also closely followed the inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence.

'Whenever I met him we would get into a conversation - (about) something that he had been thinking about - and then he would also give a very robust reply,' Dr Sentamu said.

Referring to the Lawrence inquiry, he said: '(Philip) came and ask me about how it all was and he said 'You must have had a very tough time listening to evidence - it really was appalling'.

'Then we had a conversation of about three or four minutes.'

He added: 'There were areas we disagreed about but he loves a very good conversation and he doesn't want you to let him off or for you to be let off.'

Dr Sentamu said the duke had also been very open and accepting of the fact that we live in an ever-changing world, and was wary of the word 'reform'.

He recounted a conversation in which Philip told him: 'Please look around you, everything is changing, nothing is static, and the only thing that is stable - the Earth - is still revolving around.'

Dr Sentamu said the duke believed the important thing was 'to make sure that you are there to make a better change than a terrible one'.

He continued: '(Philip) would go for 'change' rather than 'reform' because he would say 'I don't know what that means, because the powerful are the ones that want reform, and who do they want to reform? The weaker people. But if we talk about change, all of us are involved in it.'

Friend of the Prince of Wales Sir Nicholas Soames echoed Dr Sentamu's thoughts on Philip's often notorious one-liners.

Speaking to Times Radio, the former Conservative MP said the duke 'was someone who wanted to put people at ease' and that often members of the public became 'paralysed' in the presence of royalty.

'Actually what he was trying to do was to make a conversation and ease the moment, and to bring them into feeling that this was not an awe-inspiring occasion but something where he had come to meet people and to learn from them, and to listen to them,' he said.

Sir Nicholas added: 'So, whilst I absolutely understand the joy of the press in the so-called gaffes, there weren't many of them, (and they were) for a purpose.

'Some of them went a bit off piste, but, my God, whose doesn't?'

One such incident saw Prince Philip say to Aboriginal leader William Brin in Queensland: 'Do you still throw spears at each other?'

In another incident, he told a 13-year-old who wanted to go to space: 'You're too fat to be an astronaut.'

Dr Sentamu also said the the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen's marriage was so strong because they were 'so deeply rooted in Jesus Christ'.

The former of archbishop of York said he and the duke had first discussed faith when Philip was deeply troubled about his children and their marriages.

Dr Sentamu said: 'I think it was the ambassador's dinner at Buckingham Palace and he really was feeling very, very sorry for some of the things that were happening in his family - particularly his sons.

'He said, 'What would you say to me about the trouble that was happening with all my family?'

'I said, 'Well, your royal highness, you are a family like any other family, and every family goes through good times and bad times.

The Queen has described the loss of the Duke of Edinburgh (pictured with the Queen in 2007) as 'having left a huge void in her life', according to Prince Andrew

''The important thing for me is that you should realise that if people are married they are not just a couple, there is a third and that's Jesus Christ, and they should begin to go to Jesus Christ'.

'He said, 'Of course, the Queen and I are so strong in Jesus Christ'.'

Dr Sentamu said Philip had asked him to pray for his children and he had done so during the dinner.

He added: 'There was this unbelievable depth of his rootedness, because (Philip) was so rooted in Christ, he didn't have any problem in relating to people about their faith or people who didn't believe at all.

'His faith was so strong, rooted in Christ, rooted in reality, rooted in his family, that actually he could be a free person.

'I have not met a couple that are so free - Her Majesty is exactly the same.'

Dr Sentamu said he had prayed with the Queen and Philip, adding their prayers were never said aloud but 'both of them would say amen'.

He described it as 'the most unbelievable experience'.

The former archbishop said the royal family are proving they are no 'different in grief to anybody else' by keeping to a small funeral for the duke.

'They want to be part of the grieving for the nation, for the many people who died from Covid-19 and for those who have not been able to be present when their loved one is being buried.'

Dr Sentamu joked that Philip would have appreciated his shortened funeral service, because 'the duke could not stand what he called 'long church'.

Diplomacy be damned! How Prince Philip's one-liners brightened up his (and our) day... but his critics called them gaffes

His incredible energy and sense of public duty saw Prince Philip through countless official engagements over the course of his 73-year marriage. Yet it is the unashamedly politically incorrect comments he made on such occasions which attracted most attention. Here is a selection of the most memorable...

ON STATE VISITS

'You look like you're ready for bed!'

To the President of Nigeria, wearing traditional robes, in 2003.

'Do you still throw spears at each other?'

To Aboriginal leader William Brin in Queensland, 2002.

To Aboriginal leader William Brin in Queensland, 2002: 'Do you still throw spears at each other?'

'You managed not to get eaten then?'

To a British student trekking in Papua New Guinea, during an official visit in 1998.

'Aren't most of you descended from pirates?'

In the Cayman Islands, 1994.

'I'll tell you a secret  we're all Christians!'

To the Roman Catholic bishop of Malta in 2015.

To the Roman Catholic bishop of Malta in 2015: 'I'll tell you a secret  we're all Christians!'

ON EUROPE

'I would like to go to Russia very much  although the bastards murdered half my family.'

In 1967, when asked if he would like to visit the Soviet Union.

'It's a vast waste of space.'

To guests at the opening of a new 18m British Embassy in Berlin in 2000.

'You can't have been here that long  you haven't got a pot belly.'

To a British tourist during a tour of Budapest in 1993.

ON SCOTLAND

'How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?'

To a Scottish driving instructor in 1995.

'It looks as though it was put in by an Indian.'

His verdict on a messy-looking fuse box on a tour of a Scottish factory in 1999. He later explained: 'I meant to say cowboys. I just got my cowboys and Indians mixed up.'

ON CHINA

'Ghastly.'

Verdict on Beijing in 1986.

'If it has got four legs and it is not a chair, if it has got two wings and it flies but is not an aeroplane, and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it.'

To a meeting of the World Wildlife Fund in 1986.

'If you stay here much longer, you will go home with slitty eyes.'

To a British student on a visit to China in 1986.

ON MULTICULTURAL BRITAIN

'There's a lot of your family in tonight.'

After noticing business leader Atul Patel's name badge during a reception for 400 influential British Indians in 2009.

'The Philippines must be half empty  you're all here running the NHS.'

To a Filipino nurse in Luton in 2015.

To a Filipino nurse in Luton in 2015: 'The Philippines must be half empty  you're all here running the NHS'

'Are you all one family?'

Said to mixed-race dance troupe Diversity in 2009.

ON WOMEN

'British women can't cook.'

To the Scottish Women's Institute in 1961.

'Ah, so this is feminist corner then.'

To female Labour MPs in 2000.

'You ARE a woman, aren't you?'

To a Kenyan woman in 1984.

'If it doesn't fart or eat hay, she isn't interested.'

On daughter, Princess Anne.

'When a man opens the car door for his wife, it's either a new car or a new wife.'

On marriage.

'I would get arrested if I unzipped that dress!'

After spotting 25-year-old Hannah Jackson's red dress in Bromley in 2012.

After spotting 25-year-old Hannah Jackson's red dress in Bromley in 2012: 'I would get arrested if I unzipped that dress!'

ON CELEBRITY

'What do you gargle with  pebbles?'

To Tom Jones, after the Royal Variety Performance, 1969.

'Oh, it's you that owns that ghastly car is it? We often see it when driving to Windsor Castle.'

To neighbour Elton John after hearing he had sold his Watford FC-themed Aston Martin in 2001.

'I wish he'd turn the microphone off!'

During Elton's performance at the Royal Variety Show, 2001.

ON FOOD AND DRINK

'Get me a beer. I don't care what kind it is, just get me a beer!'

On being offered fine Italian wines in Rome in 2000.

'Don't feed your rabbits pawpaw fruit  it acts as a contraceptive. Then again, it might not work on rabbits.'

To a Caribbean rabbit breeder in Anguilla in 1994.

'You're too fat to be an astronaut.'

To 13-year-old Andrew Adams who wanted to go into space

To 13-year-old Andrew Adams who wanted to go into space: 'You're too fat to be an astronaut.'

ON CLASS AND MONEY

'People think there's a rigid class system here, but dukes have been known to marry chorus girls. Some have even married Americans.'

Speaking in 2000  18 years before his grandson Harry married Meghan Markle.

'If you travel as much as we do you appreciate the improvements in aircraft design of less noise and more comfort - provided you don't travel in something called economy class, which sounds ghastly.'

To the Aircraft Research Association in 2002.

'Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they're unemployed.'

During the 1981 recession.

We go into the red next year ... I shall have to give up polo.

On the Royal Family's finances in 1969.

ON ART

'It looks like the kind of thing my daughter would bring back from her school art lessons.'

On an exhibition of 'primitive' Ethiopian art in 1965.

ON THE PRESS

'Just take the f***ing picture!'

At an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

At an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain: 'Just take the f***ing picture!'

'You have mosquitoes. I have the Press.'

To the matron of a hospital in the Caribbean.
Scott Morrison has paid his respects to Prince Philip at a church service in Sydney.

The prime minister was supported by his wife Jenny in the front pew at St Andrews Cathedral, in Sydney, on Sunday.

He was flanked by Governor-General David Hurley and New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian, who had also turned up to pay their respects.

Prince Philip died in his sleep on Friday, two months before his 100th birthday and a short time after a month-long stay in hospital.

The Very Reverend Kanishka de Silva Raffel led the Sunday service and praised the duke as a loyal and loving husband, father, and grandfather.

Scott Morrison has commemorated the life and service of Prince Philip at a church service

Mr Morrison was flanked by Governor-General David Hurley and New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian, who had also turned up to pay their respects

'On Prince Philip's many visits to Australia, we have come to know him as a man of compassion and service, personal warmth, intellectual curiosity and generous spirit,' he said.

'Australians were deeply saddened by his passing, and are praying for the Queen and her family in their grief.'

A photo of the Queen and Prince Philip was displayed throughout the service, after which guests were invited to sign a condolence book, to be passed on to the monarch.

The Right Reverend Peter Hayward addressed the congregation and reflected on Prince Philip's life and contributions to the world.

'When he was a head boy at Gordonstoun [School], his final report said of him these words: 'Prince Philip is universally trusted, liked and respected. He has the greatest sense of service of all the boys in the school', and that was to define his life from then on.

'A life of duty, loyalty and service during 73 years of marriage to the Queen, he lived this duty of service out in an exemplary way.'

St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne and St Peter's Cathedral in Adelaide will hold special services in coming days.

Mr Morrison and his wife Jenny speak to New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian in the front pew of the St Andrews Cathedral

Mr Morrison and his wife Jenny walk into the St Andrews Cathedral for the Sunday service

Governor-General David Hurley also attended the Sunday service to pay his respects to the late Prince Philip

The husband of Queen Elizabeth II was on Saturday lauded as a man of candour, compassion and service to others by past and present leaders in Australia.

Australians have sent thousands of condolence messages online via the government website pmc.gov.au, which will be forwarded to Buckingham Palace.

The Duke's passing was marked with a 41-gun salute in Canberra on Saturday afternoon, in keeping with tradition being observed in other Commonwealth nations.

Flags were flown at half mast across the country on Saturday and will be again on the day of Prince Philip's funeral in the United Kingdom.

Anecdotes and fond memories of Prince Philip flowed from Australian leaders including former prime minister John Howard, who said his death marked the end of a 'partnership for the ages' - his marriage to the Queen - that lasted more than 70 years.

Prime minister Scott Morrison was supported by his wife Jenny during the Sunday service at St Andrews Cathedral in Sydney

New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian arrived at St Andrews Cathedral for the Sunday service

A special Sunday service was held at St Andrews Cathedral to honour the late Prince Philip

'Prince Philip was always destined to be two or three steps behind (the Queen), but he did that with extraordinary grace and flair and intelligence,' Mr Howard told reporters.

Prince Philip visited Australia 21 times, the first in 1940, before his marriage, as a midshipman aboard the battleship Ramillies.

Some of his trips to Australia drew international headlines for controversial comments.

On one occasion he asked an Aboriginal elder: 'Do you still throw spears at each other?'.

But Mr Howard said it was his so-called 'gaffes' that made people warm to him, particularly Australians.

'He gave short shrift to political correctness when he encountered it, and that endeared him to millions of people,' he said.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott, who was criticised for appointing the Duke as a Knight of the Order of Australia - an award no longer presented - said the world seemed 'a little emptier' after his death.

Prince Philip died in his sleep on Friday, two months before his 100th birthday and a short time after a month-long stay in hospital

'I am sure her Prince would join me in saying, God save our gracious Queen. Long live our noble Queen. God save our Queen'

Prince Philip accepts flowers from the crowd at the Great Aussie Barbecue in Perth, 2011

'He combined great character with being a dutiful royal and demonstrated over eight decades there is no better life than one lived in service to others,' Mr Abbott wrote.

The Australian Republic Movement offered its condolences to the royal family, as did former prime minister and republican Malcolm Turnbull.

Asked for his reflections on the man, Mr Turnbull shared how Prince Philip once identified him as 'the Republican fellow' and then quipped: 'You should have been a republic years ago!'

Federal Labor opposition leader Anthony Albanese paid tribute to Prince Philip for establishing the Duke of Edinburgh Award in which more than 775,000 Australians, including his son, have participated.

Prince Philip had not wanted a state funeral in the UK, but will be farewelled formally in Australia.
As I read the local news regarding transportation issues within the Greater Charleston area, Ive noticed similarities in the controversies surrounding Phase 3 of the Berlin G. Myers Parkway and the extension of Interstate 526.

I-526 was meant to alleviate traffic on U.S. Highway 17, while the parkway was meant to alleviate traffic on U.S. Highway 17A.

Today, road congestion remains on both roads as well as the expensive bypasses meant to alleviate traffic. Both road projects are not fully completed as planned.

Residents living in the vicinity of these proposed road projects have organized opposition for years. But they arent just waving their fists. They are reaching out to transportation officials to consider creative alternatives to the car-centric models.

We need more options in transportation, such as mass transit and safer infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians.

If the parkway extension is approved, one of the biggest losses to the quality of life for many Summerville residents will be decreased access to the Sawmill Branch Bike and Pedestrian Trail, as well as the loss of 51 acres of wetlands in an area that is a key component for flood control.

The Greater Charleston area has been through enough anxiety due to the pandemic.

Its time to be rid of the anxieties of poorly planned road projects such as Phase 3 of the Berlin G. Myers Parkway and the widening and extension of I-526.

Its time to change the model in planning the future of transportation.

BEN HOUGH

Thames Avenue

Summerville

Give reason to vote

I am writing in response to the April 7 Post and Courier article, Graham, McMaster decry Dems voting bill.

Not only did Sen. Lindsey Graham and Gov. Henry McMaster fail to offer any evidence for their contentions that the House-passed voting rights bill would damage voting integrity, they did not mention the real reason for opposition, which is, as Graham explained in the fall, If we dont do something about voting by mail, were going to lose the ability to elect a Republican in this country.

Instead of making it hard for people to vote, wouldnt it be better, and more American, for Republicans to give more people a reason to vote for them?

SKIP JOHNSON

Gilmore Road

Charleston

Georgia voting act

Once again it appears a small group of concerned citizens as well as communication and media outlets have taken a cancel culture approach in regard to the Georgia voting act, SB202.

One of the sensitive parts of this 98-page bill is the prohibition of providing water or food to people in line at a polling place unless the provider works for the poll.

This would prohibit any political party from placing a sign 150 feet from the polling place letting potential voters know they could have free food and drink while they wait in line.

I wonder if that might change a vote or two.

Should we go backward and only allow registered voters to vote in person with proper identification?

Its funny how that method was not viewed as discriminatory 50 years ago when I started voting.

The bottom line is that the voting bill applies to all persons, regardless of party.

The key is how each political party works within the rules to get its voters in a position to vote.

In Georgia this past election, it appears the Democrats did a better job. Nothing prohibits the Republicans from working harder and smarter the next time.

Somehow we need to get back to a time where the ones with the loudest voices do not rule.

DOUGLAS MILLER

Old Tavern Court

Mount Pleasant

Sign up for our opinion newsletter Get a weekly recap of South Carolina opinion and analysis from The Post and Courier in your inbox on Monday evenings. Email

Sign Up!

A classic lesson?

This story is so unrealistic!

My teen granddaughter was exasperated with the old classic Lord of the Flies.

Whats it about? I asked.

This plane crashes on a deserted island. The passengers are all young school boys.

That could happen, I said.

She nodded. At first, they decide to elect a leader, named Ralph. They agree to divide into two groups. One builds shelters. The other hunts for food.

Sounds reasonable, I said.

But these hunters have their own leader, named Jack, and they lose the big picture.

How so?

For example, the macho hunters are too distracted with their hunting wild pigs and dont see a passing ship. So they fail to light the rescue fire!

Ouch! Thats not good.

In the end the hunters ignore the democracy, ignore the rules they had all agreed on and try to kill the leaders of the nonhunters!

So ... why is that unrealistic? I asked.

Grandpa! Even 10-year-olds would know to put aside differences for the good of the whole group. And thats what I wrote my essay on.

What grade did you earn?

She gave me a C+.

Did she write any comments?

She said I was politically naive.

WILL FELTS

Marsh Point Drive

Charleston

Respect wildlife

I am upset about so many businesses and homes being built in wooded areas.

Where are the animals supposed to go?

Lately, I have seen more deer and other wildlife killed along roads.

Vacant buildings and homes should all be used up first before businesses or homes can be built.

It is frustrating when people build a new home in the woods or by waterways but then complain about the wild animals, wishing they could be removed.

Are they kidding? They have built in the animals natural habit and territory.

Its not fair to the wildlife, as they were here first.

There are a lot of vacant buildings that can be reused and repurposed.

DENISE VANDEE

Hummingbird Avenue

Ladson
A man in his 70s choked a woman to death before hanging himself at a 500,000 Grade II-listed house in Suffolk, police said.

Forensic teams arrived at the scene in Cumberland Street, Woodbridge, after emergency services were alerted just after 6.15pm on Saturday.

The couple found at the house have been named locally as husband and wife Jonathan and Sally Metcalf.

Officers spent the night standing guard outside the semi-detached 18th century terraced home, close to the centre of Woodbridge.

On Sunday, police said post mortems revealed Sally Metcalf, who was in her 60s, died as a result of compression to her neck and her death is being treated as murder.

The female victim has been named locally as Sally Metcalf, a volunteer and tour guides at the National Trust's Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon ship burial site

The man has been named locally as Jonathan Metcalf while investigations are continuing

Police have launched an investigation following the deaths at a 500,000 Grade II-listed house in Cumberland Street, Woodbridge, Suffolk

Jonathan Metcalf hanged himself and officers said his death is not being treated as suspicious.

The couple moved to Cumberland Street, where some homes sell for more than 1million about 12 years ago.

Mr Metcalf is said to have been a gardener and an allotment holder, while both were volunteers and tour guides at the National Trust's Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon ship burial site, according to the Eastern Anglian Daily Times.

The up-market town of Woodbridge was named by the Sunday Times last month as the best place to live in the East of England.

The website reported neighbour neighbour Clare Perkins, a former mayor of Woodbridge, saying: 'They were a lovely, wonderful couple who were loved in Woodbridge.

'It is an absolutely tragic thing to happen and it's been such a shock to everyone in Cumberland Street. We are all feeling it. It is a great loss to the community.'

Situated beside the River Deben, Woodbridge is acclaimed for its fine shops and pubs and is described by tourist chiefs as 'the gem in Suffolk's crown'.

Emergency services arrived at the Georgian town house just after 6.15pm on Saturday

A police car was still parked outside the Georgian home the next day as investigations continue

Property website Zoopla lists the average price of similar Georgian terraced homes in Cumberland Street as 537,653, while larger properties in the street are valued at 703,205.

The road was closed to traffic as detectives began house to house inquiries, asking neighbours if they had had heard anything suspicious.

Officers spent the night standing guard outside the property as the investigation continues

One witness said at least three ambulances were seen in the street along with five police cars and other unmarked police vehicles during the early evening.

A Suffolk Police statement said: 'Police have launched an investigation following the sudden death of a man and a woman at an address in Woodbridge.

'Officers were called shortly after 6.15pm yesterday to reports that two adults had been discovered deceased within a property in Cumberland Street.

'A police scene remains in place while an investigation into the circumstances of the deaths continues.

Forensic teams arrived at the scene, where a man and woman were found dead on Saturday

'The parties involved are known to each other and there is no wider threat to the community.'

Woodbridge is also known as the home of the famous Anglo-Saxon burial ship, which was found at Sutton Hoo beside the River Deben in 1939.

The discovery of the 86ft long ship in a burial mound featured in this year's hit Netflix film The Dig starring Ralph Fiennes, Carey Mulligan and Lily James.

Anyone with information has been asked to contact police, quoting incident number 37/17853/21 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch. See www.samaritans.org for details
London: Prince Philips funeral service will bring Prince Harry back together with the royal family for the first time since his bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey but Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will remain behind in California.

A Buckingham Palace official on Saturday local-time confirmed Harry will return to Britain following his grandfathers death and revealed Meghan, who is pregnant with the couples second child, had been advised by her doctor against travelling.

There had earlier been speculation that the former Suits actress might stay in the United States so as to not overshadow a sombre national occasion. She used last months sensational television interview to accuse the royal family of racism and ignoring her poor mental health.

Her return would have guaranteed a media frenzy before, during and after the funeral.
WASHINGTON, April 9, 2021 -- For the millions of people worldwide who have sickle cell disease, there are only a few treatment options, which include risky bone marrow transplants, gene therapy or other treatments that address a subset of symptoms. Today, researchers will describe the discovery of a small molecule with the potential to address the root cause of sickle cell disease by boosting levels of fetal hemoglobin, a healthy form that adults normally do not make. The drug could be formulated into a convenient daily tablet.

The researchers will present their results today at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Spring 2021 is being held online April 5-30. Live sessions will be hosted April 5-16, and on-demand and networking content will continue through April 30. The meeting features nearly 9,000 presentations on a wide range of science topics.

"Using our proprietary small molecule probe and CRISPR guide RNA libraries, we screened a disease-relevant cell model that allowed us to pinpoint a treatment target," says Ivan V. Efremov, Ph.D., senior director, head of medicinal chemistry of Fulcrum Therapeutics, who is presenting the work.

Sickle cell disease occurs when the gene responsible for instructing cells to produce two of hemoglobin's four proteins contains an error. The mutation causes hemoglobin to adopt a rigid, sickle-like shape, which results in reduced oxygen transport throughout the body. The irregularly shaped cells get stuck in the blood vessels, causing painful episodes known as vaso-occlusive crises. The cells also die much sooner than normal red blood cells, leading to anemia. In addition to these symptoms, patients are at high risk of developing stroke, heart disease, kidney failure and other life-threatening conditions.

Interestingly, sickle cell patients don't begin life with malfunctioning hemoglobin. While in the womb, humans make "fetal" hemoglobin that carries oxygen normally. Three or four months after birth, however, cells stop expressing fetal hemoglobin and switch to an adult version. The adult hemoglobin expressed by sickle cell patients is defective, but they still carry stem cells in their bone marrow with the potential to produce fetal hemoglobin.

Patients that have what is called a hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin tap this resource automatically. "They have the sickle cell mutation, but additional mutations result in continued expression of fetal hemoglobin into adulthood," says Christopher Moxham, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of Fulcrum Therapeutics. With fetal hemoglobin levels around 25-30%, he says, enough red blood cell function is restored so that these patients may become asymptomatic.

The team developed a drug, called FTX-6058, that mimics the effect seen in patients with the hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin, as demonstrated in human-derived cell assay systems and mouse models. The drug attaches to a protein inside bone marrow stem cells destined to become mature red blood cells and reinstates their fetal hemoglobin expression. "What is really key is FTX-6058 upregulates fetal hemoglobin across all red blood cells, a pancellular distribution," Efremov says. "If some red blood cells did not express this, they could still sickle and cause disease symptoms." Fulcrum began a phase 1 safety trial in healthy adult volunteers last year after preclinical experiments showed an increase in fetal hemoglobin levels to around 25-30%.

"What distinguishes FTX-6058 is that we are targeting the root cause of sickle cell disease," Moxham says. "Other drugs approved in this space, particularly since 2019, are treating the disease's symptoms, either the anemia or the vaso-occlusive crises." Preclinical experiments comparing FTX-6058 with another fetal hemoglobin booster, hydroxyurea, approved in the 1990s, showed the new drug candidate outperforms the current treatment and, according to Moxham, offers the potential for a transformative therapy.

The team is currently designing a phase 2 clinical trial for people living with sickle cell disease that they plan to initiate by the end of 2021. They are also in the process of characterizing the therapeutic molecule further, using genomic technologies and additional cell assay systems to fill in the details of exactly how it works. Beyond sickle cell disease, Fulcrum is also considering a clinical strategy to explore the use of FTX-6058 in people living with -thalassemia, a blood disorder in which hemoglobin production is reduced.

###

A press conference on this topic will be held Friday, April 9, at 10 a.m. Eastern time online at http://www. acs. org/ acsspring2021conferences .

The researchers acknowledge internal funding from Fulcrum Therapeutics.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS' mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a specialist in scientific information solutions (including SciFinder and STN), its CAS division powers global research, discovery and innovation. ACS' main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Follow us: Twitter | Facebook

Title

Discovery of clinical candidate FTX-6058: a potent, orally bioavailable upregulator of fetal hemoglobin for treatment of sickle cell disease

Abstract

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic disorder of the red blood cells caused by a mutation in the HBB gene. This gene encodes a protein that is a key component of hemoglobin, a protein complex whose function is to transport oxygen in the body. The result of the mutation is less efficient oxygen transport and the formation of red blood cells that have a sickle shape. These sickle shaped cells are much less flexible than healthy cells and can block blood vessels or rupture, leading to anemia. SCD patients typically suffer from serious clinical consequences, which may include anemia, pain, infections, stroke, heart disease, pulmonary hypertension, kidney failure, liver disease and reduced life expectancy. Upregulation of fetal hemoglobin is a promising approach to treat sickle cell disease. This presentation will describe the medicinal chemistry strategy that resulted in clinical candidate FTX-6058, a ligand for the EED (Embryonic Ectoderm Development) subunit of the PRC2 complex. The validation of EED as a target for sickle cell disease was conducted using Fulcrum's proprietary Product Engine, which identified that blockade of PRC2 activity by ligands of EED or genetic knockdown of EED elicits robust upregulation of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) in primary human CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells carrying the SCD mutation. Oral administration of EED ligands also elevates HbF in murine models of sickle cell disease. The discovery of FTX-6058 leveraged structure-based drug design with multiparameter optimization of physico-chemical properties. De novo design of a macrocyclic scaffold afforded a chemical series with the desired overlap of pharmacology and DMPK parameters. Preclinical data with FTX-6058 showed an increase in HbF levels up to approximately 30% of total hemoglobin. We will also include insights from our Phase 1 clinical study.
Ismailia: The Suez Canal chief said Tuesday that authorities are negotiating a financial settlement with the owners of a massive vessel that blocked the crucial waterway for nearly a week.

Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie told The Associated Press he hoped talks with Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd., the Japanese owner of the skyscraper-sized Ever Given, will conclude without a lawsuit.

"We are discussing with them a peaceful resolution to the matter without resorting to the judiciary," he said.

He maintained that bringing the case before a court would be more harmful to the firm than settling with the canal's management.

The canal chief said last week the Suez Canal Authority was expecting more than $1 billion in compensation, warning the ship would not be allowed to leave the canal if the issue of damages turns into a legal dispute.

That amount takes into account the salvage operation, costs of stalled traffic and lost transit fees for the week that the Ever Given blocked the canal. He did not specify then who would be responsible for paying the compensation.

The massive cargo ship is currently in one of the canal's holding lakes, where authorities and the ship's managers say an investigation is ongoing.

Rabie also said Tuesday that investigators have analyzed data from the Voyage Data Recorder, also known as a vessel's black box, but no conclusion had yet been reached on what led the Ever Given to run aground.

Last week, salvage teams freed the Ever Given, ending a crisis that had clogged one of the world's most vital waterways and halted billions of dollars a day in maritime commerce.

The Panama-flagged ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe ran aground on March 23 in the narrow, man-made canal dividing continental Africa from the Asian Sinai Peninsula.

Its bow was touching the eastern wall, while its stern looked lodged against the western wall ? an extraordinary event that experts said they had never heard of happening in the canal's 150-year history.

"The case that we had was complicated and nontraditional, so there should have been a nontraditional solution," Rabie said.

He said they relied on dredgers to remove sand from underneath the hulking vessel.

Then, a flotilla of tugboats, aided by the tides, wrenched the bulbous bow of Ever Given from the canal's sandy bank, where it had been firmly lodged.

The unprecedented six-day shutdown, which raised fears of extended delays, goods shortages and rising costs for consumers, added to strain on the shipping industry already under pressure from the coronavirus pandemic.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addresses the state during a speech in Lansing, Mich., on March 2, 2021. (Michigan Office of the Governor via AP)

Michigan Governors Aide Takes Trip to Florida Amid COVID-19 Warnings

A top aide to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer traveled to Florida for spring break, posting photographs on Facebook from the trip.

Tricia Foster, the states chief operations officer, posted from the Florida Keys last week, according to social media screenshots obtained and published by Breitbart News. The pictures showed young people on the beach and by a pool, as well as Foster in a bar.

The official told followers who inquired about her son that he was home with covid.

A spokesperson for Whitmer told news outlets that Foster has been fully vaccinated against the CCP virus, which causes COVID-19.

The spokesperson called the story about the trip a partisan attack, adding, Trish Foster is fully recovered from COVID and fully vaccinated.

The officer of Whitmer, a Democrat, didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for more details.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines issued last week outline how fully vaccinated persons can travel without getting tested for COVID-19 or self-quarantining after exposure to a confirmed case.

But Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the agency, said in a briefing that CDC is not recommending travel at this time due to the rising number of cases across the nation.

Whitmer said at a press conference last week that traveling increases the spread of the virus.

We know that increased mobility contributes to increase spread, and could fuel some outbreaks as people return back to Michigan, she said.

Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the states top health official, urged people to socially distance and avoid gatherings, in addition to getting tested if youve been exposed, especially if you just returned or will soon be returning from a spring break trip.

Its not possible to socially distance on airplanes.

On April 9, Whitmer described the entire state of Michigan as a hot spot and called for a range of voluntary actions from residents, including high schools shifting to virtual learning for two weeks after spring break. The state has recently seen sharp increases in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
Severe humanitarian disasters caused by US aggressive wars against foreign countries The China Society for Human Rights Studies | Updated: 2021-04-11 19:37

The United States has always praised itself as "a city upon a hill" that is an example to others in the way it supports "natural human rights" and fulfills "natural responsibilities", and it has repeatedly waged foreign wars under the banner of "humanitarian intervention". During the past 240-plus years after it declared independence on July 4th, 1776, the United States was not involved in any war for merely less than 20 years. According to incomplete statistics, from the end of World War II in 1945 to 2001, among the 248 armed conflicts that occurred in 153 regions of the world, 201 were initiated by the United States, accounting for 81 percent of the total number. Most of the wars of aggression waged by the United States have been unilateralist actions, and some of these wars were even opposed by its own allies. These wars not only cost the belligerent parties a large number of military lives but also caused extremely serious civilian casualties and property damage, leading to horrific humanitarian disasters. The selfishness and hypocrisy of the United States have also been fully exposed through these foreign wars.

1. Major Aggressive Wars Waged by the United States after World War II

(1) The Korean War. The Korean War, which took place in the early 1950s, did not persist for a long time but it was extremely bloody, leading to more than three million civilian deaths and creating more than three million refugees. According to statistics from the DPRK, the war destroyed about 8,700 factories, 5,000 schools, 1,000 hospitals, and 600,000 households, and more than two million children under the age of 18 were uprooted by the war. During this war, the ROK side lost 41.23 billion won, which was equivalent to 6.9 billion US dollars according to the official exchange rate at that time; and about 600,000 houses, 46.9 percent of railways, 1,656 highways, and 1,453 bridges in the ROK were destroyed. Worse still, the war led to the division of the DPRK and the ROK, causing a large number of family separations. Among the more than 130,000 Koreans registered in the Ministry of Unification in the ROK who have family members cut off by the war, 75,000 have passed away, forever losing the chance to meet their lost family members again. The website of the United States' The Diplomat magazine reported on June 25, 2020, that as of November 2019, the average age of these family separation victims in the ROK had reached 81, and 60 percent of the 133,370 victims registered since 1988 had passed away, and that most of the registered victims never succeeded in meeting their lost family members again.

(2) The Vietnam War. The Vietnam War which lasted from the 1950s to the 1970s is the longest and most brutal war since the end of World War II. The Vietnamese government estimated that the war killed approximately 1.1 million North Vietnamese soldiers and 300,000 South Vietnamese soldiers, and caused as many as two million civilian deaths. The government also pointed out that some of the deaths were caused by the US troops' planned massacres that were carried out in the name of "combating the Vietnamese Communist Party". During the war, the US forces dropped a large number of bombs in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, almost three times the total number of bombs dropped during World War II. It is estimated that as of today, there are at least 350,000 metric tons of unexploded mines and bombs left by the US military in Vietnam alone, and these mines and bombs are still explosive. At the current rate, it will take 300 years to clean out these explosives. The website of The Huffington Post reported on December 3, 2012, that statistics from the Vietnamese government showed that since the end of the war in 1975, the explosive remnants of the war had killed more than 42,000 people. Apart from the above-mentioned explosives, the US forces dropped 20 million gallons (about 75.71 million liters) of defoliants in Vietnam during the war, directly causing more than 400,000 Vietnamese deaths. Another approximately two million Vietnamese who came into contact with this chemical got cancer and other diseases. This war that lasted for more than 10 years also caused more than three million refugees to flee and die in large numbers on the way across the ocean. Among the refugees that were surveyed, 92 percent were troubled by fatigue, and others suffered unexplained pregnancy losses and birth defects. According to the United States' Vietnam War statistics, defoliants destroyed about 20 percent of the jungles and 20 to 36 percent of the mangrove forests in Vietnam.

(3) The Gulf War. In 1991, the US-led coalition forces attacked Iraq, directly leading to about 2,500 to 3,500 civilian deaths and destroying approximately 9,000 civilian houses. The war-inflicted famine and damage to the local infrastructure and medical facilities caused about 111,000 civilian deaths, and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimated that the war and the post-war sanctions on Iraq caused the death of about 500,000 of the country's children. The coalition forces targeted Iraq's infrastructure and wantonly destroyed most of its power stations (accounting for 92 percent of the country's total installed generating capacity), refineries (accounting for 80 percent of the country's production capacity), petrochemical complexes, telecommunication centers (including 135 telephone networks), bridges (numbering more than 100), highways, railways, radio and television stations, cement plants, and factories producing aluminum, textiles, wires, and medical supplies. This war led to serious environmental pollution: about 60 million barrels of petroleum were dumped into the desert, polluting about 40 million metric tons of soil; about 24 million barrels of petroleum spilled out of oil wells, forming 246 oil lakes; and the smoke and dust generated by purposely ignited oil wells polluted 953 square kilometers of land. In addition, the US troops' depleted uranium (DU) weapons, which contain highly toxic and radioactive material, were also first used on the battlefield during this Gulf War against Iraq.

(4) The Kosovo War. In March 1999, NATO troops led by the United States blatantly set the UN Security Council aside and carried out a 78-day continuous bombing of Yugoslavia under the banner of "preventing humanitarian disasters", killing 2,000-plus innocent civilians, injuring more than 6,000, and uprooting nearly one million. During the war, more than two million Yugoslavians lost their sources of income, and about 1.5 million children could not go to school. NATO troops deliberately targeted the infrastructure of Yugoslavia in order to weaken the country's determination to resist. Economists of Serbia estimated that the total economic loss caused by the bombing was as much as 29.6 billion US dollars. Lots of bridges, roads, railways, and other buildings were destroyed during the bombing, affecting 25,000 households, 176 cultural relics, 69 schools, 19 hospitals, and 20 health centers. Apart from that, during this war, NATO troops used at least 31,000 DU bombs and shells, leading to a surge in cancer and leukemia cases in Yugoslavia and inflicting a long-term disastrous impact on the ecological environment of Yugoslavia and Europe.

(5) The Afghanistan War. In October 2001, the United States sent troops to Afghanistan. While combating al-Qaeda and the Taliban, it also caused a large number of unnecessary civilian casualties. Due to the lack of authoritative statistical data, there is no established opinion about the number of civilian casualties during the Afghanistan War, but it is generally agreed that since entering Afghanistan, the US troops caused the deaths of more than 30,000 civilians, injured more than 60,000 civilians, and created about 11 million refugees. After the US military announced its withdrawal in 2014, Afghanistan continued to be in turmoil. The website of The New York Times reported on July 30, 2019, that in the first half of 2019, there were 363 confirmed deaths due to the US bombs in Afghanistan, including 89 children. Scholars at Kabul University estimated that since its beginning, the Afghanistan War has caused about 250 casualties and the loss of 60 million US dollars per day.

(6) The Iraq War. In 2003, despite the general opposition of the international community, US troops still invaded Iraq on unfounded charges. It is hard to find precise statistics about the civilian casualties inflicted by the war, but the number is estimated to be around 200,000 to 250,000, including 16,000 civilian deaths directly caused by US forces. Apart from that, the occupying US forces have seriously violated international humanitarian principles and created multiple "prisoner abuse cases". After the US military announced its withdrawal from Iraq in 2011, local warfare and attacks in the country have continued. The US-led coalition forces have used a large number of DU bombs and shells, cluster bombs, and white phosphorus bombs in Iraq, and have not taken any measures to minimize the damage these bombs have inflicted upon civilians. According to the estimate of the United Nations, today in Iraq, there are still 25 million mines and other explosive remnants that need to be removed. The United States has not yet withdrawn all its troops from Afghanistan or Iraq for now.

(7) The Syrian War. Since 2017, the United States has launched airstrikes on Syria under the pretext of "preventing the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government". From 2016 to 2019, the confirmed war-related civilian deaths amounted to 33,584 in Syria, and the number of Syrian civilians directly killed by the airstrikes reached 3,833, with half of them being women and children. The website of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) reported on November 9, 2018, that the so-called "most accurate air strike in history" launched by the United States on Raqqa killed 1,600 civilians. According to a survey conducted by the World Food Programme (WFP) in April 2020, about one-third of Syrians were faced with a food shortage crisis, and 87 percent of Syrians had no deposits in their accounts. Doctors of the World (Medecins du Monde/MdM) estimated that since the beginning of the Syrian War, about 15,000 Syrian doctors (about half of the country's total) had fled the country, 6.5 million Syrian people had run away from their homes, and about five million Syrian people had wandered homeless around the world.

Apart from being directly involved in wars, the United States has intervened directly or indirectly in other countries' affairs by supporting proxy wars, inciting anti-government insurgencies, carrying out assassinations, providing weapons and ammunition, and training anti-government armed forces, which have caused serious harm to the social stability and public security of the relevant countries. As such activities are great in number and most of them have not been made public, it is hard to collect specific data regarding them.

2. The Disastrous Consequences of Foreign Wars Launched by the United States

Since the end of World War II, almost every US president has waged or intervened in foreign wars during their terms of office. The pretexts they used include: stopping the spread of communism, maintaining justice, stopping aggression, humanitarian intervention, combating terrorism, preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), protecting the safety of overseas US citizens, etc. Among all these foreign wars, only one was waged as a counterattack in response to a direct terrorist attack on the United States; the others were waged in a situation where the vital interests of the United States were not directly affected. Unfortunately, even this singular "justifiable counterattack" was obviously an excessive display of defense. Under the banner of eliminating the threat of al-Qaeda, the US military wantonly expanded the scope of the attack in the anti-terrorism war in accordance with the principle "better to kill by mistake than to miss out by accident", resulting in a large number of civilian causalities in the war-affected areas, and despite using the relatively accurate drone strikes, the US military still did not succeed in reducing and mitigating the causalities of the innocent local people.

As for the procedures followed by the United States to start aggressive wars against foreign countries, some were "legitimate procedures" that the United States managed to obtain by manipulating the UN into authorizing them through the Security Council; more often, the United States just set the Security Council aside and neglected the opposition of other countries, and even the opposition of its own allies, when willfully and arbitrarily launching an attack on an independent country. Some US foreign wars were initiated without the approval of the US Congress, which has the sole power to declare war for the country.

US foreign wars have triggered various regional and international crises.

First of all, these wars have directly led to humanitarian disasters in the war-affected countries, such as personnel casualties, damage to facilities, production stagnation, and especially unnecessary civilian casualties. In the war-affected areas, people died in their homes, markets, and streets, they were killed by bombs, bullets, improvised explosive devices, and drones, and they lost their lives during airstrikes launched by US forces, raids launched by their government forces, terrorist and extremist massacres, and domestic riots. In November 2018, Brown University released a research study that showed that the number of civilian deaths during the wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen were 43,074; 23,924; 184,382 to 207,156; 49,591; and 12,000 respectively, the number of journalists and media personnel who died at their posts during these wars, were 67; 8; 277; 75; and 31 respectively, and the number of humanitarian relief workers who were killed at their posts during these wars were 424; 97; 63; 185; and 38 respectively. Such casualties are often understated by the US government. The Intercept website reported on November 19, 2018, that the actual civilian deaths in Iraq were far higher than the number officially released by the US military.

Second, US foreign wars brought about a series of complex social problems, such as refugee waves, social unrest, ecological crises, psychological traumas, etc. Statistics show that each of the several recent US foreign wars created a larger number of refugees, such as the 11 million Afghan refugees, the 380,000 Pakistani refugees, the 3.25 million Iraqi refugees, and the 12.59 million Syrian refugees; these refugees have been forced to flee from their homes, of which 1.3 million Afghan refugees have fled to Pakistan, 900,000 Afghan refugees arrived in Iran, 3.5 million Iraqi and Syrian refugees fled to Turkey, and one million Iraqi and Syrian refugees fled to Iran. In Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan, the deaths and injuries caused by the lack of medical treatment, malnutrition, and environmental pollution have exceeded the casualties directly caused by the wars, with the former number being four times greater than the latter. The uranium content per kilogram of soil in Basra, Iraq, rose sharply from less than 70 becquerels before 1991 to 10,000 becquerels in 2009, and the number was as high as 36,205 becquerels in the areas polluted by war remnants. The website of the British newspaper The Guardian reported on August 22, 2016, that 30 percent of the babies born in Iraq in 2010 were born with some form of congenital anomaly, while this figure is around two to four percent under normal circumstances. Third, US foreign wars have often produced spillover effects, causing harm to the countries that were not involved in the wars. For example, in the Vietnam War, the US military spread the fighting to neighboring countries such as Cambodia and Laos on the excuse of blocking the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" (a military supply route running from North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia to South Vietnam), resulting in more than 500,000 unnecessary civilian casualties and leaving a large number of war remnants in those countries, which are still explosive. When attacking terrorists in the Afghanistan War, the US aircraft and drones often dropped bombs on neighboring Pakistani villages, and even on wedding cars and Pakistani border guard soldiers. In an airstrike on Yugoslavia, the US forces even targeted the Chinese embassy, leading to the deaths of three Chinese journalists and the injuries of a dozen embassy personnel.

Last but not least, even the United States itself has fallen victim to the foreign wars it has started. According to statistics from the US Department of Veterans Affairs, there were 103,284 US soldiers who suffered physical injuries during the Korean War, and the number reached 153,303 for the Vietnam War. Between 2001 and 2005, about one-third of the 103,788 veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were diagnosed with mental or psychological illness, and 56 percent of those diagnosed had more than one disease. A study by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), which works exclusively for the United States Congress, pointed out that more than 6,000 veterans committed suicide every year from 2008 to 2016. The amount of economic compensation offered by the US military to the Korean War veterans reaches 2.8 billion US dollars per year, and the amount given to the Vietnam War veterans and their families is more than 22 billion US dollars per year. The cost of medical and disability care for the Afghanistan War veterans has exceeded 170 billion US dollars. Business Insider, a US business and technology news website, reported in December 2019 that the Afghanistan war has led to the deaths of more than 3,800 US contractors, and this number far exceeds the relevant statistical result released by the US government and even the US military deaths in Afghanistan.

3. The Major Cause of the Above-Mentioned Humanitarian Crises: The United States' Hegemonic Mentality

When reviewing the many aggressive wars launched by the United States, it can be seen that many of these military actions have led to humanitarian crises. In Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and other countries where wars are still ongoing, accidental bombings and injuries still frequently occur, and refugees have nowhere to stay. The infrastructure of these countries is crippled, and their national production is stagnant. The United States launched these foreign wars under the pretext of "humanitarian intervention" or "human rights overriding sovereignty", but why did these wars fought for humanitarian purposes turn into humanitarian disasters in the end?

In April 2011, the US-based magazine Foreign Policy summarized five reasons for the frequent foreign wars waged by the United States, such as the military advantages of the United States making it hard to resist the temptation to resort to force, and the checks and balances mechanism within the United States failing to play an effective role, while excluding any reason related to the values of the United States. "To safeguard human rights" was not a clear driving force for US foreign wars and that waging foreign wars was only a means to an end, although such an act did not exclude a sense of morality. The United States may feel an impulse to start a foreign war as long as it is considered necessary, believed to be in its own favor, and within its ability, while a sense of morality is not a sufficient or necessary condition to initiate such a war; and as for the terrible humanitarian disasters caused by these foreign wars, they will be borne by others instead of directly harming US citizens and preventing the United States from reaching its goals. Choosing to use force irrespective of the consequences reveals the hegemonic aspirations of the United States, which propel the United States to prioritize itself, demonstrate its "winner-take-all" mentality, and expose its unilateralist ideas of dominating the world and wantonly doing injustice to other countries.

US politicians claim that they respect "universal values", but do they agree that their own natural human rights are also natural for other people in the world?

The United States has formulated laws to ensure equality among all its ethnic groups within the country, but does it really believe that people of other countries should enjoy the same rights? Or, does it think that it can act wantonly in foreign countries just because the people there do not have a vote in US elections?

The United States believes that terrorist attacks targeting civilians within its territory are despicable and punishable, then what makes it accept that the incidents created by the US military in other countries, which have led to a large number of civilian deaths and injuries, are acceptable and even "necessary"?

When they adopt the principle "better to kill by mistake than to miss out by accident", when they arbitrarily use radioactive weapons and destroy all vegetation with toxic reagents, and when they open fire before clearly identifying the targets, do the US forces still respect the "natural" human rights treasured by the values of the United States?

The civilians who were unable to flee their war-affected areas and were treated as terrorists and shot at randomly did not have any human rights. The children who have been disabled at birth by the chemical weapons of the US forces and will suffer for the rest of their lives do not have any human rights. The refugees who have been forced to flee their homes and become homeless in other countries because of the US foreign wars do not have any human rights.

In the final analysis, the mindset of solving disputes by taking unilateral military actions is questionable. Given the inherent antagonism between humanitarianism and hegemony, it is ridiculous to expect a hegemonic country to defend the human rights of other countries. International disputes shall be settled through equal consultations within the framework of the United Nations. Coordinated efforts shall be actualized by regulating and improving international mechanisms and by establishing a community with a shared future for mankind. Only by discarding the hegemonic thinking, which is chiefly motivated by self-interest, can we prevent "humanitarian intervention" from becoming humanitarian disasters. Only in this way can we achieve mutual benefits and win-win results and can all the people across the globe truly enjoy natural human rights.

Appendix:

1. List of Civilian Casualties, Refugees, and Economic Losses Caused by Major Wars of Aggression Waged by the United States after the End of World War II

The Korean War: about 3 million civilian deaths and 3 million refugees;

The Vietnam War: about 2 million civilian deaths, 3 million refugees, and 3 million victims of defoliants;

The Airstrike on Libya: about 700 military and civilian deaths;

Invasion of Panama: about 302 civilian deaths and 3,000 civilian injuries;

The Armed Intervention in Somalia: about 200 civilian deaths and 300 civilian injuries;

The Gulf War: about 120,000 war-related civilian deaths and 2 million sanction-related civilian deaths, and economic losses amounting to 600 billion US dollars;

The Kosovo War: more than 2,000 deaths and 6,000 injuries, and economic losses amounting to 200 billion US dollars;

The Afghanistan War: more than 30,000 civilian deaths, 70,000 civilian injuries, and 11 million refugees;

The Iraq War: about 200,000250,000 civilian deaths and 3.25 million refugees;

The Syrian War: more than 40,000 civilian deaths and 12.59 million refugees.

2. List of Wars of Aggression Waged by the United States and the US Interventions in Foreign Countries after the End of World War II

19471949: intervening in the Greek civil war

19471970: intervening in Italy's elections and supporting anti-communism activities

1948: supporting the anti-government forces in Costa Rica's civil war

19491953: supporting anti-communism activities in Albania

1949: intervening in the government change in Syria

19501953: waging the Korean War

1952: intervening in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952

1953: supporting a coup in Iran to overthrow the then Iranian government

1954: supporting the change of the then Guatemalan government

19561957: plotting a coup in Syria

19571959: supporting a coup in Indonesia

1958: creating a crisis in Lebanon

19601961: supporting a coup in the Congo

1960: stopping the government of Laos from starting a reform

1961: supporting the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba

19611975: supporting civil war and opium trade in Laos

19611964: supporting anti-government activities in Brazil

1963: supporting civil strife in Iraq

1963: supporting riots in Ecuador

19631975: fighting the Vietnam War

1964: intervening in the Simba rebellion in the Congo

19651966: intervening in Dominica's civil war

19651967: supporting the Indonesian military governments massacre of communists

1966: supporting an insurgency in Ghana

19661969: creating conflicts in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which is a region on the Korean peninsula that demarcates North Korea from South Korea

19661967: supporting an insurgency in Bolivia

1967: intervening in the change of the Greek government

19671975: intervening in Cambodia's civil war

1970: intervening in Oman's domestic affairs

19701973: supporting a military coup in Chile

19701973: supporting a coup in Cambodia

1971: supporting a coup in Bolivia

19721975: offering assistance to anti-government forces in Iraq

1976: supporting a coup in Argentina

19761992: intervening in Angola's domestic affairs

19771988: supporting a coup in Pakistan

19791993: supporting anti-government forces in Cambodia

19791989: intervening in the war in Afghanistan

19801989: financing the anti-government Solidarity trade union in Poland

19801992: intervening in El Salvador's civil war

1981: confronting Libya in Gulf of Sidra

19811982: pushing the change of the then Chadian government

19821984: participating in a multilateral intervention in Lebanon

19821989: supporting anti-government forces in Nicaragua

1983: invading Grenada

1986: invading Gulf of Sidra, Libya

1986: bombing Libya

1988: shooting down an Iranian airliner

1988: sending troops to Honduras

1989: confronting Libya in Tobruk

1989: intervening in the Philippines' domestic affairs

19891990: invading Panama

19901991: waging the Gulf War

1991: intervening in Haiti's elections

19912003: leading the enforcement action to establish a no-fly zone in Iraq

19921995: intervening in Somalia's civil war for the first time

19921995: intervening in the Bosnian War

19941995: sending troops to Haiti

1996: supporting a coup in Iraq

1997: sending troops to Albania

1997: sending troops to Sierra Leone

19981999: waging the Kosovo War

1998: launching cruise missile attacks on Sudan and Afghanistan

19981999: sending troops to Kenya and Tanzania

2001present: waging the Afghanistan War

2002: sending troops to Cote d'Ivoire

20032011: waging the Iraq War

2004now: inciting wars between Pakistan and Afghanistan in their contiguous areas

20062007: supporting Fatah, a Palestinian political and military organization, in overthrowing the elected government of Hamas

2007present: intervening in Somalia's civil war for the second time

2009: supporting a coup in Honduras

2011: supporting anti-government forces in Libya

20112017: carrying out military operations in Uganda

2014present: leading the intervention actions in Iraq

2014present: leading the intervention actions in Syria

2015now: supporting Saudi Arabia's participation in Yemen's civil war

2019: supporting the change of the Venezuelan government
Victorians losses to online bookmakers soared by hundreds of millions of dollars as Melbourne went through its COVID-19 lockdown, rising up to 35 per cent on pre-pandemic levels.

More than $1.4 billion was lost by Victorians on sports wagering and online betting in the second half of 2020, an increase of $375 million on the same period in 2019, as the state endured its deadly second wave of COVID-19 and Melbourne spent four months locked down with physical gambling venues forced to keep their doors shut.

Gambling reform campaigners say the vast majority of the shocking increase in losses was gambled away online, driven at least in part by aggressive gambling industry advertising, and they have renewed calls for curbs on the sectors ability to spruik its services on TV and online.

But the wagering industry is dismissive of claims it ramped up advertising during the COVID crises, saying they are not supported by evidence.




Coronavirus: 15-day lockdown likely in Maharashtra from tomorrow

11 Apr 2021: Coronavirus: 15-day lockdown likely in Maharashtra from tomorrow

The Maharashtra government is likely to order a 15-day state-wide lockdown starting Monday (April 12) in light of the worsening COVID-19 situation.

A decision on fresh curbs is expected after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray holds a meeting with the state COVID-19 task force later on Sunday.

Maharashtra is notably India's worst-hit state in the outbreak.

Here are more details.

Lockdown: Lockdown's duration expected to be announced today

On Saturday, Thackeray had indicated that a longer lockdown is likely. A weekend lockdown and a night curfew are currently enforced in Maharashtra.

Sources told The Indian Express that the health department proposed a 15 day-lockdown at a meeting of representatives of the ruling party and the Opposition on Saturday.

The lockdown's duration will be announced after Thackeray's meeting with the COVID-19 task force.

Lockdown: 'Lockdown should continue until cases drop'

TIE quoted an official as saying, "What if the cases continue to rise even after 15 days of complete lockdown. It is difficult to have a deadline for this, so it was argued that the lockdown should continue until cases drop for five continuous days."

Officials also said that an "inclusive" plan will be prepared to give relief to the poor and daily wagers.

Meeting: Without action, lockdown-like situation will automatically arise: Thackeray

Thackeray had held a virtual meeting with representatives of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday.

At the meeting, Thackeray reportedly said, "If we do not take a decision about a lockdown today, a lockdown-like situation will automatically arise tomorrow."

Leader of Opposition and former CM Devendra Fadnavis also assured support to the CM.

Plan: Economic concerns cannot be dismissed: Fadnavis

Fadnavis said his party does not oppose COVID-19 restrictions, but sought a detailed plan including alternatives to various sectors so as to ensure that people's livelihoods aren't seriously impacted.

Story continues

"The economic concerns cannot be dismissed," he said.

State Congress President Nana Patole said, "We have told the CM not to impose lockdown like last year as that caused huge hardships to people."

State outbreak: Maharashtra reported 55k new cases yesterday

On Saturday evening, Maharashtra reported 55,411 fresh infections, the fifth consecutive day that the state reported over 55,000 infections.

The state's tally has risen to 33,43,951, including 57,638 deaths and 27,48,153 recoveries.

Deaths have risen since March, with 309 fresh fatalities on Saturday alone.

State capital Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Nagpur, and Nashik are among the key areas of concern.

Vaccination: Vaccinations dip as state complains of dose shortage

Vaccinations in the state have dipped from over 4 lakh to 2.82 lakh on Saturday.

Several vaccination centers have remained shut due to a vaccine shortage.

While the state government has demanded more doses from the Centre, the latter blames the state for mismanagement.

Civic officials reportedly said that the fresh restrictions may have discouraged many from leaving their homes to get vaccinated.

Nationwide outbreak: India reports record 1.52 lakh infections

According to the Union Health Ministry, as of Sunday morning, India reported a total of 1,33,58,805 COVID-19 cases, including 1,69,275 deaths, 11,08,087 active cases, and 1,20,81,443 recoveries.

Over the past day, the nation reported 1,52,879 new infectionsthe biggest single-day rise since the pandemic beganand 839 fresh fatalities.

10,15,95,147 vaccine doses have also been administered across the country.
A woman who was told she was a 'late developer' has revealed how she discovered she was actually born with a rare condition which meant that she only grew one breast.

Becca Butcher, 23, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, has Poland Syndrome, which means one breast is significantly smaller than the other - her right one is a D cup, while the left is an A cup.

She was cruelly teased at school due to her lopsided chest, with her classmates horribly telling her she would 'never find love' and that 'no boy would ever want her'.

But Becca refused a free NHS boob job to enlarge her left breast to the size of her right one, because she now feels she doesn't need to be 'fixed', revealing: 'I didn't want the boob job, I told doctors "I don't want surgery, I want information about why I am the way I am. I don't want to change it, I want to know how to live with it".'

Becca Butcher, 23, (above) from Barnsley, has Poland Syndrome, which means one breast is significantly smaller than the other - her right one is a D cup while the left is an A cup

Becca has refused a free boob job on the NHS because she said she doesn't need to be 'fixed' and loves her body the way it is

Poland syndrome is a birth defect characterised by an underdeveloped chest muscle and sometimes short, webbed fingers on one side of the body.

The condition is more prevalent in men, with famous sufferers including Jeremy Beadle and Fernando Alonso.

Becca is hoping that she can inspire other women to speak up about the rare condition, which is believed to affect between 1 in 20,000 to 1 in 100,000.

Speaking about first noticing the difference when she hit puberty, Becca said that she first thought there was 'no point' wearing a bra until her other breast had also grown.

Becca (above) was told she was a 'late developer' by doctors during puberty and was cruelly teased at school due to her chest, with her classmates telling her she would 'never find love'

Becca continued: 'I noticed that one of my breasts was bigger and might have needed a bra, but I thought there was no point getting one until the other one has grown.

'A friend said to me one: "You know one of your boobs is bigger than the other?"

'Eventually I had to start wearing bras, but I bought bras that fit the smaller one and I wore smaller bras to try to push it back.'

WHAT IS POLAND SYNDROME? Poland syndrome is a disorder in which affected individuals are born with missing or underdeveloped muscles on one side of the body, resulting in abnormalities that can affect the chest, shoulder, arm, and hand. The extent and severity of the abnormalities vary among affected individuals. People with Poland syndrome are typically missing part of one of the major chest muscles, called the pectoralis major. In most affected individuals, the missing part is the large section of the muscle that normally runs from the upper arm to the breastbone (sternum). The abnormal pectoralis major muscle may cause the chest to appear concave. In some cases, additional muscles on the affected side of the torso, including muscles in the chest wall, side, and shoulder, may be missing or underdeveloped. There may also be rib cage abnormalities, such as shortened ribs, and the ribs may be noticeable due to less fat under the skin (subcutaneous fat). Breast and nipple abnormalities may also occur, and underarm (axillary) hair is sometimes sparse or abnormally placed. In most cases, the abnormalities in the chest area do not cause health problems or affect movement. Source: MedilinePlus Advertisement

Becca said she repeatedly went to the doctors during her teenage years, but was constantly told not to worry as she had not yet finished puberty.

Her GP insisted her left breast would grow, but as her right breast shot through the cup sizes, she began to do her own research.

After scouring the internet, Becca came across the little-known condition.

She added: 'I went to the doctors aged 15 or 16 and they said, "It's just normal, don't worry, it's nothing to worry about, I was just a late developer and I had not finished puberty yet".

'I would go every six months or so and I thought I would wake up one day and magically have two boobs.

'I searched online "one boob" online and it came up with Poland Syndrome.

'It was mainly pictures of men as it is more common in men, but you could tell they had a difference in their chest.

'I went back to the doctor and told them I had come across Poland Syndrome and he said he had never heard of it.'

Becca explained that because so few doctors have heard of the rare syndrome, it offen goes undiagnosed.

Becca began sharing her experiences online and has developed a community of other women suffering from the syndrome.

Many women have told her that they have lived with the condition all their lives, with many admitting they have never had a boyfriend as they were worried about showing their breasts to other people.

Becca explained: 'I thought it was a man thing, so I didn't talk to anybody about it.

'One day at about 17 or 18 I had the thought in my head that there must be other young girls feeling like this. If I speak out about it, they will know they're not the only one.

'I made a YouTube video as I didn't want other women to feel like they were the only one going through it.

'Over the past couple of years I get a new message every week from people who have it or who have a kid who has it asking for advice.

'A lot of women tell me they have never had a boyfriend because they are so scared of someone seeing their boobs.

'I tell them the right person will love you for you. If somebody doesn't love you for your boobs, they're not the person for you. If they care more about your boobs than your feelings then they're not nice people.'

Becca, who is a content creator, is also now in a loving relationship with her boyfriend Kyle Officer, who she said accepts for who she is.

Becca, who is a content creator, said she is in a loving relationship with her boyfriend Kyle Officer (both pictured), who she says accepts for who she is

She explained: 'I was sent to the breast specialist at the hospital. They offered me a free boob job, but I said I didn't want surgery.

'What if the bigger boob is the problem and I'm supposed to have two smaller boobs?

'None of them have said it's fine, you can live with it. It's like I'm broken and need fixing.'

Becca, who has been with her boyfriend Kyle for two years, added: 'No guy has ever had a problem with it or been put off by it. In a way, it helps you filter out the bad people.

Becca (pictured) is hoping that she can inspire other women to speak up about the rare condition, which is believed to affect between 1 in 20,000 to 1 in 100,000

'I tell men up front about it. I say I have a chest deformity that means the muscle underneath my chest wall didn't develop properly at birth, that's just how it is.'

Becca, who runs Instagram page beccabutcherx, believes that more awareness about the little-known condition would improve the lives of sufferers as it has affected her 'mental health'.

She admitted that she has found 'simple' things, including buying clothes, to be challenging and said she used to cover up her condition when she was younger.

Becca continued: 'Poland Syndrome doesn't affect your physical health but it affects your mental health.

'Simple things like buying clothes can be hard. You can see what clothes would look like on a girl with big boobs, a girl with small boobs, but you can't see what it would look like on a girl with one of each.

'When I was younger I used to wear turtlenecks and cover it up. But now I am happy and fine to wear what I want.

'I have a WhatsApp group of more than 100 women now who message each other and support each other.

'But it's a bit of a vicious circle. People don't go to the doctors with it, so the doctors don't know what it is, so it doesn't get diagnosed when they come across it.

'That is what needs to change.'
Marshall Islands President David Kabua received his Covid vaccine from Majuro hospital nurse Harry Harry in late January, becoming one of over 70% of adults living in Majuro to be vaccinated.

Photo by Giff Johnson
The body of an elderly woman who went missing in floodwaters almost a month ago has been found washed up on a riverbank.

Adele Morrison was reported missing on March 17 when her family failed to reach her after she drove to Gloucester from her home at Port Macquarie on the NSW mid-north coast as a once-in-a-100-year flood inundated the region.

The 78-year-old's body was uncovered about 5.15pm on Saturday on the riverbank of a rural property at Barrington, 10km from Gloucester.

'A property owner notified police after locating the body of a woman on the riverbank of his rural property on Barrington West Road, Barrington,' police said in a statement.

'The body is yet to be formally identified but is believed to be that of the missing woman.'

Police investigating the disappearance of Adele Morrison (pictured) say a body believed to be that of the missing 78-year-old has been found on the riverbank of a rural property at Barrington, NSW

Ms Morrison's Toyota Corolla (pictured) was discovered partially submerged in the flooded Barrington River on March 25

Ms Morrison's Toyota Corolla was previously recovered by emergency services from the flooded Barrington River on March 25, although they found no sign of her body at the time.

Extensive searches of the river were undertaken in the days following which failed to locate Ms Morrison.

At the time Ms Morrison was reported missing police and her family said they held serious concerns about her welfare because of her age and severe flooding in the area which saw large tracts of land go underwater amid torrential rain.

Ms Morrison was believed to have visited a Gloucester shopping centre about 10.45am on March 16. Her whereabouts after this were unknown, with her family revealing it was unusual for her to not be in regular contact with them.

The discovery of her body brings the death toll from last month's NSW floods to two after a 25-year-old Pakistani national was found dead in floodwaters in Glenorie, northwest Sydney, on March 24.

Police said Ms Morrison's death is not being treated as suspicious and a report will be prepared for the coroner.

Emergency services had carried out extensive searches of the Barrington River (pictured during last month's floods) as they desperately tried to locate Ms Morrison

Police will also prepare reports for the coroner after two men died after being pulled from the water in separate incidents in NSW's north and south on Saturday.

A man died after he fell from a kayak while trying to board a runabout at Bittangabee Bay in Ben Boyd National Park, south of Eden, about 8.10am.

He was pulled from the water by a witness who desperately performed CBR but the man, believed to a 70-year-old from Victoria, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 59-year-old Queensland man died while swimming at Suffolk Park Beach, south of Byron Bay about 12.30pm.
A same sex couple were turned away from a popular North Carolina wedding venue after it refused to host a gay wedding due to its 'strong Christian beliefs'.

McCae Henderson and Ike Edwards booked into Highgrove Estate in Fuquay-Varina on the suggestion of a friend, and after noticing there were only spaces for the name of the 'bride' and 'groom' on the online form wrote in the notes that they were 'groom and groom'.

Two days later received a reply refusing them because 'our owner has unfortunately chosen not to participate in same-sex weddings at this time', and offering them alternative venues.

The CEO of Highgrove is listed on North Carolina business records as Vicky Ismail.

According to her LinkedIn profile she founded the estate in 2002 with the values of 'delivering excellence, integrity, thoroughness and honesty to all our clients'.

Following media enquiries, the venue - which charges around $4,000 to $7,500 for ceremonies - sent another statement which said: 'God says in the Bible that marriage is between a man and a woman and we choose to honor Him above what the world decides what marriage should be.'

McCae Henderson (left) and Ike Edwards booked into Highgrove Estate in Fuquay-Varina on the suggestion of a friend

Vicky Ismail founded the estate in 2002 with the values of 'delivering excellence, integrity, thoroughness and honesty to all our clients'

Highgrove, which consists of an elegant white mansion surrounded by lush forestry, claims to offer 'the best of Southern hospitality'

The couple were shocked, with Henderson, an attorney in Raleigh, telling WRAL.com: 'We haven't really got that response from any venue or vendor that we reached out to.

'To see that in 2021 was very surprising to us because we haven't faced anything like that.'

Highgrove consists of an elegant white home surrounded by lush forestry, and claims to offer 'the best of Southern hospitality'.

Henderson, who got engaged to Edwards on Valentine's Day, accused the owners of 'disguising their discrimination under the guise of Christianity', telling ABC11: 'This is us. We are gay and we did not choose to be gay....

'I don't think you get to be racist because your religion tells you to be racist. I don't think you get to be homophobic because your religion tells you to be homophobic.'

Federal and state laws protect against discrimination based on race, color, creed, religion, sex and national origin, but not sexual orientation or gender.

The House of Representatives recently passed the Equality Act, which would add those terms, but it looks likely to struggle to succeed in the more Republican Senate.

Sen. Jim Burgin (R-Harnett County) argued it was up to Highgrove to decide how they wanted to run their business in accordance with their religious views.

'The business owner's freedom needs to be protected just like the freedom of that couple to get married needs to be protected.

'I just feel like we got too many laws and too many rules, and government is too involved in our lives. I think we've got to, as lawmakers, we need to be very careful that we don't overstep the whole idea of personal religious freedoms and opportunities to live life unencumbered by government.'

Two days later the couple received a reply refusing them because 'our owner has unfortunately chosen not to participate in same-sex weddings at this time'

A message on Highgrove's Instagram page explaining why it rejects same sex couples

Highgrove said they have already seen a backlash, with at least one couple cancelling their wedding, and at least one threat to the business that had been reported to police.

'The backlash is sad, it's been aggressive, hateful and designed to cause fear,' the owners said.

'What they are asking is for us to believe just like them and they will leave us alone.

'We stand by our beliefs in the sanctity of marriage and that is not going to change. We wish (McCae Henderson and Ike Edwards) to find the very best venue and that their special day is wonderful.'

Highgrove advertises itself online as a 'full-service, classic wedding venue' offering an 'elegant setting and excellent food'.

Its Instagram has a message which says, in part: 'Highgrove Estate desires that all people's weddings to be the most joyful in their lives. Highgrove also respects people's differences regarding marriage.

'For this reason, we will always be kind and caring when these differences arise. Although Highgrove knows it cannot deliver what is being requested as the company holds strong to its Christian beliefs.'

The luxury venue charges around $4,000 to $7,500 for ceremonies, according to estimated prices online
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service under Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is at a crossroads.

The lesser prairie chicken is coming perilously close to extinction in her home state of New Mexico. With only approximately 5,000 birds remaining on the shinnery oak prairie of eastern New Mexico and far West Texas, the service must make a call on listing this iconic western bird under the Endangered Species Act by May 26 pursuant to court order.

New Mexico private landowner ranchers, the N.M. Department of Game and Fish and other groups are now trying hard to work in a collective effort to move forward on a public-private solution. N.M. Game and Fish, under the leadership of Mike Sloane, has been exceptional in working collaboratively with other stakeholders, including private landowner partners, to begin to piece together a landscape scale conservation stronghold. The effort is focused in eastern New Mexico, especially in Roosevelt County.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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

As of this writing, a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) is being approved for the five-state range of the lesser prairie chicken including New Mexico. The LPC needs durable conservation strongholds and restoration as well as effective coverage options for industries such as wind, solar and transmission.

The HCP is a program that offsets habitat lost to development with habitat preserved or restored nearby. This allows needed development in LPC habitat to proceed if it avoids, minimizes and mitigates habitat losses. HCPs are authorized under strict standards.

The standards are approved by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. This long-term plan guides protection and enhancement of habitats for threatened and endangered wildlife species, while ongoing natural resource management continues. New Mexico private landowner ranchers will get a market-based payment for preserving or restoring LPC habitat where the LPC needs it most.

The sad reality is that New Mexico will face the most striking choice if the federal protection recommends an endangered status for the LPC in May. With the smallest population of birds in the five-state region, New Mexico is likely to fare most poorly among these five states. Even the best of intentions dont translate into success if private landowners are not paid a meaningful, market-based payment rate and structure that delivers durable conservation where its needed most.

Approval of this new program is being announced in the Federal Register this week, and we invite public comment and input.

We applaud the leadership of Region 2 right here in Albuquerque and Secretary Haaland for advancing this progressive plan. We also hope existing programs will be upgraded to the new performance standards so we finally might have one conservation currency for all stakeholders.

Approving the new HCP program will provide state-of-the-art coverage for renewable energy installations, and eventually all industries, and move us from competition to collaboration with existing conservation efforts for the LPC. This new chapter will enable a strategic and collaborative environment.

Our hope is to help achieve a sustained and measurable conservation strategy for the LPC in a last-stand effort in New Mexico and across the range of this species with our local partners in eastern New Mexico.
7 day print subscribers enjoy unlimited access to yakimaherald.com

Enter the LAST NAME and the 7 DIGIT phone number on your print subscription account to connect your print subscription to your yakimaherald.com account.
DMX tragically passed away on Friday at the age of 50 following a 'catastrophic' heart attack and reported overdose.

And his Cradle 2 The Grave costar Gabrielle Union paid tribute to the late rapper by sharing a still from the 2003 film, along with a heartfelt message that included a reference to their 'shared love' of 'Golden Girls reruns.'

And in a resurfaced video from Hot Ones in 2017, Gabrielle talked further about DMX's status as a full-on fan of Dorothy, Blanche, Rose and Sophia.

In remembrance: Gabrielle Union is now remembering her late costar DMX, after the rapper and actor tragically passed away on Friday at the age of 50

According to the anecdote, Union learned the 'real fun fact' about DMX, born Earl Simmons, when she was tasked with fetching him on set following 'a dog-biting incident'.

But rather than coming out, the rapper invited her into his trailer, where 'we would have a Heineken, sometimes a little Crown [Royale], and watch the Golden Girls.'

She also did an impromptu impersonation of the famously gravel-voiced star, exclaiming 'That s**t is funny!' in reference to the Emmy-winning 80s series about retired white women in Florida.

The Girls: Union took to Instagram with a still from their 2003 movie Cradle 2 The Grave, along with a heartfelt message that included a reference to their 'shared love' of 'Golden Girls reruns'

And in a resurfaced video from Hot Ones in 2017: Gabrielle talked further about DMX's status as a full-on fan of Dorothy, Blanche, Rose and Sophia

As DailyMail.com reported on Friday, DMX died aged 50 a week after his heart attack and reported overdose.

'We are deeply saddened to announce today that our loved one, DMX, birth name of Earl Simmons, passed away at 50 years old at White Plains Hospital with his family by his side after being placed on life support for the past few days,' confirmed the family in a statement.

And according to TMZ, the rapper may soon be honored with a statue or a street in his name in his hometown of Yonkers, New York.

As DailyMail.com reported on Friday: DMX died aged 50 a week after his heart attack and reported overdose; seen here in 2019

As of Saturday, the city is preparing to welcome the late star's family as they hold a memorial service for him there, should they choose to do so.

A source close to the family said there are plans in the works to hold both a private and public memorial, along with a meeting Monday to finalize details.

Yonkers mayor Mike Spano told TMZ that he supports the idea of having DMX's memorial service at Yonkers Raceway, which is the largest outdoor venue on hand.

Another famous Yonkers native  one Ella Fitzgerald  already has a statue erected in her honor in town.
It seems that more game companies are trying to target the fabled mobile gamer demographic. From Nintendo, with Mario Run and Pokemon Go, it looks like its Sonys turn to take a stab at the mobile gaming market. In a report on Eurogamer, a job listing for a Head of Mobile, PlayStation Studios, SIE seems to suggest that the Japanese giant is aggressively pushing its way into the mobile market. The job listing reads, ..focus on successfully adapting PlayStation's most popular franchises for mobile. You will be responsible for building and scaling a team of mobile leaders and will serve as the Head of this new business unit within PlayStation Studios.

Sony PlayStation exclusives on Mobile?

So, could we actually see mobile versions of exclusive titles like Uncharted, God of War and more? How would a game like Bloodborne even play on mobile? Or will Sony even look at transplanting its existing franchise or create new IPs for the mobile gaming space? The job listing does state that a roadmap for content will be developed over a 3 to 5 year period. So, it could be a little while before we actually see something of substance from Sony. But, for the moment, it actually looks like the company is dead serious about the mobile gaming market and intends to aggressively pursue it. As of right now, Sony does have a mobile publishing unit called PlayStation Mobile which has pushed out a few mobile titles like Run Sackboy! Run! And as well as apps such as PS Remote Play and the base PlayStation app. The studio has also been used to port PlayStation exclusives like Days Gone to the PC.

Look, theres a ton of money to be made in the mobile gaming scene. Games like PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty: Mobile and Garena Free FIre rake in tons of cash. And, Sony definitely wants in on that club. How it goes about it is another matter entirely. As far as Sony is concerned, the company could be restocking the much-demanded PS5 (review) in India, sometime in April. You can read more about that story here.
A woman whose mother died from breast cancer has pleaded with heartless thieves who stole her ashes and boxes of family photos from her car to return them.

Grace Daley's red Mazda 3 was in the carpark attached to her apartment complex in Richmond, west Melbourne, between 7pm on Friday and midday on Saturday when thugs broke in.

They stole an urn containing the remains of her beloved mother Jane, who died in 2020 during Covid-19 lockdown, and two boxes of irreplaceable photographs.

Because of the city's strict Covid restrictions at the time, the family had been waiting to give their beloved mother a proper send off.

Now the heartbroken 36-year-old said she feels like she 'let mum down' and begged the robbers to return the ashes so her family can give Jane a proper funeral.

Pictured: Grace Daley, whose mother's ashes were stolen between Friday night and Saturday morning

'I was quite inconsolable yesterday and emotionally drained, feeling like I'd let mum down,' Ms Daley told 9 News on Sunday.

'Then having to ring family and tell them, particularly my brother and my dad, that the ashes were gone and the photos of mum were gone from the car...that was particularly difficult.'

Soon after she discovered the urn was missing, Ms Daley found one of the boxes of photos strewn across a nearby nature strip - but there was no sign of the urn.

Ms Daley's mother Jane (pictured) died from breast cancer during Covid-19 lockdown in Melbourne last year

The urn and two boxes of photos were taken from the back seat of Ms Daley's red Mazda 3 (pictured)

The family were waiting until Covid-19 lockdowns were over to give Jane a proper memorial service and scatter her ashes as a final gesture.

Ms Daley said her mother loved mountains and wanted her ashes to be released along the picturesque Black Spur Drive, north-west of the city.

'I really need those ashes back so I can do that for mum,' she said.

Police released an image of a similar-looking urn (pictured right) in the hope that someone might recognise it. Pictured left: Ms Daley's mother, Jane

When addressing the thieves who took Jane's remains, she said it was a 'really painful experience' and urged them to think about the situation in the context of their own family.

Police released an image of a similar-looking urn in a statement on Saturday.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Israeli researchers say technology may have solved a mystery about markings at one of Christianitys holiest places.

The markings are thousands of crosses carved into the walls of Jerusalems Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The building is one of the worlds oldest Christian religious centers. It was long thought that the markings were graffiti created by religious travelers, called pilgrims, who visited the church in the past.

But imaging technology completed during a renovation project suggests that the markings were likely part of a more organized effort. Researchers used three-dimensional (3D) imaging technology in an effort to find out how old the markings are. The researchers say the process showed that the crosses likely date back to the 15th century.

Amit Reem is an archaeologist working with Israels Antiquities Authority. He told Reuters that examinations of the images showed the depths and details of the markings were very similar, suggesting that only a few people had carved the crosses.

Maybe two or three hand artists made these crosses, Reem said. He added: So its not graffiti, its something more organized.

Reem suggested that pilgrims visiting the Jerusalem church probably paid artists to create the crosses in their name. You pay something to this special artist and he carved for you, for the benefit of your soul and your relatives souls, he said.

The markings represented special crosses in the most sacred place for Christianity on Earth, Reem added. More research is to be carried out on the markings in an effort to confirm the latest findings.

Father Samuel Aghoyan is an Armenian official at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He told Reuters he thinks the new research can help the church, especially as it struggles with COVID-19 restrictions.

Now there are no pilgrims here, (but) still their spirit is here, we know, I believe in that, he said.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Tommy Walker reported this story for VOA News. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for Learning English, with additional information from The Associated Press. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

______________________________________________

Words in This Story

carve  v. to make an object, shape or pattern by cutting wood, stone, etc.

graffiti  n. pictures or words painted or drawn on a wall, building or something else

imaging n. the process of creating and showing pictures on a computer

renovate  v. to repair and decorate an old building

three-dimensional (3D)  adj. having or appearing to have length, depth and height

antiquities  n. items from the ancient past

benefit  n. a helpful or good effect

soul  n. the part of a person that is not their body, which some people believe continues to exist after they die

sacred  adj. relating to religion or considered to be holy
Earlier this year, it was announced that she had joined the cast of The Essex Serpent, months after fellow actress Keira Knightley dropped out of the TV project.

And Claire Danes was spotted shooting scenes for the upcoming AppleTV+ series recently as she braved the chilly weather of Essex's Mersea Island.

The American screen star, who turns on 42 Monday, looked chic in her Victorian era costume, which she covered with a padded blue coat to stay warm between takes.

Getting into character: Claire Danes was seen shooting scenes for The Essex Serpent recently

The Emmy-winning Homeland star was the picture of elegance in her costume, which consisted of a structured grey striped coat over a matching dress.

With her strawberry blonde locks styled in a curly updo, the New York native was seen making her way across a large open field as cameras captured the action.

She was also seen sporting a pristine white dress, which she teamed with a long dark coat and matching boots  though she covered up in a blanket between takes.

The programme follows Cora, a widow who moves from London to the Essex village of Aldwinter in search of a mythical sea creature.

It's a wrap: The screen star, 41, covered up with a blue padded coat and blanket between takes

Big production: A large van followed the actress as she made her way into a large open field

Casting: Earlier this year, it was announced that she had joined the cast of The Essex Serpent

Replace: She replaced Keira Knightley, who dropped out of the TV project months beforehand

Tom Hiddleston plays Will Ransome, the trusted leader of the local community.

Mother-of-two Claire, who is married to British actor Hugh Dancy, replaced Keira Knightley in the role when the actress had to withdraw for 'family reasons'.

A representative for the star confirmed that she decided to pull out of the project over childcare concerns for two daughters, Edie and Delilah

The spokesperson told the Daily Mail at the time: 'There wasn't a comfortable scenario for Keira that could be put in place for an extended period of childcare required for the four-and-a-half-month production.'

Basket: She was seen carrying a basket as she made her way across a field on Mersea Island

Picture of elegance: The Emmy-winning Homeland star was the picture of elegance in her costume, which consisted of a structured grey striped coat over a matching dress

Close-up: The star was surrounded by the production team as she got ready for her close-up

Hair we go again: The New York native's strawberry blonde locks were styled in a curly updo

Covered up: At one point, the actress flipped up the hood of her coat in front of rolling cameras

Maldon District Council confirmed that filming would be taking place in the area, telling Essex Live in a statement: 'We are delighted that the production company has chosen the Maldon District as one of their locations for a new six-part drama.

'They have a sizeable base on Promenade Park, and they will minimise any disruption during their filming and ensure safety can be maintained at all times.

'We would remind everyone that while this is clearly exciting, social distancing must still be maintained at all times.'

Set in the Victorian era of the 1890s, the drama follows Cora Seaborne (Danes), a newly widowed woman relishing her newfound freedom from an abusive husband, who moves from London to a small village in Essex.

Not long after arriving, she becomes intrigued by a local superstition: a mythical sea serpent known as the Essex Serpent that has returned to the area.

Storyline: The programme follows Cora, a widow who moves from London to the Essex village of Aldwinter in search of a mythical sea creature

Elements: Ensuring she was completely protected from the elements, she also sported gloves

Taking in the action: The screen star was seen standing among the camera crew during filming

Freedom: Set in the Victorian era of the 1890s, the drama follows Cora Seaborne (Danes), a newly widowed woman relishing her newfound freedom from an abusive husband

The See-Saw production is being directed by Clio Barnard, who's best known for her work on film The Selfish Giant (2013), and produced by Andrea Cornwell.

Anna Symon will serve as the lead writer. Her resume includes penning the British historical drama series, Mrs. Wilson (2018).

Both Barnard and Symon will also play serve as executive producers alongside Jamie Laurenson, Patrick Walters, Hakan Kousetta, Emile Sherman, and Iain Canning, according to Deadline.

Apple gave the green light and ordered The Essex Serpent to series in August 2020.

While it has yet to be announced, the release date for The Essex Serpent is expected to be next year.

It'll be all white on the night: The American star was also seen sporting a pristine white dress

Stylish ensemble: She teamed her dress with a long dark coat and matching boots  though she covered up in a blanket between takes

Mystical: Not long after arriving in Essex from London, she becomes intrigued by a local superstition: a mythical sea serpent known as the Essex Serpent that has returned to the area

At the helm: The See-Saw production is being directed by Clio Barnard, who's best known for her work on film The Selfish Giant (2013), and produced by Andrea Cornwell
A British nonprofit cooking school has published a new cookbook geared toward people who have experienced loss of taste and smell from COVID-19.

Video Transcript

CHARLIE DE MAR: It certainly was an early pandemic surprise-- COVID can make you lose your sense of smell. Well, now two chefs want to help people who suffer those symptoms with this new cookbook. It's called "Taste & Flavour."

British cooks formulated the recipes to help people without their sense of smell. The recipes have a lot of mint, wasabi, and cinnamon, which cause sensations when eating. That could make eating better for people who can't smell. The recipes avoid garlic, onions, and chocolate because if you can't smell those foods, they might taste bad.

And best of all with this book, it is free. You can get a digital copy at the website for British cooking school Life Kitchen. There's a link on our website, CBSChicago.com.
(Natural News) In the case of Biden v. Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia Univ., Justice Clarence Thomas has made the argument that tech corporations like Amazon are operating as common carriers, and thus are not allowed under the law to discriminate against people based on their political beliefs.

Describing Big Tech platforms as a communications utility, Thomas wrote that digital services like Google function as a gatekeeper between users and the information they are trying to obtain. Because of this, they have a duty and responsibility to facilitate the free flow of information without impediment.

When a user does not already know exactly where to find something on the Internet  and users rarely do  Google is the gatekeeper between that user and the speech of others 90% of the time, Thomas explains.

It can suppress content by deindexing or downlisting a search result or by steering users away from certain content by manually altering autocomplete results  Facebook and Twitter can greatly narrow a persons information flow through similar means.

Thomas also touched on Amazons digital book burning practices, which threaten to eliminate free speech in the realm of publishing.

 as the distributor of the clear majority of e-books and about half of all physical books, Amazon can impose cataclysmic consequences on authors by, among other things, blocking a listing, he warns.

As for the argument made by some that these tech platforms are not the only source for information and can thus do as they please, Thomas says this changes nothing because the tech giants operate as virtual monopolies with no serious competition of which to speak.

A person always could choose to avoid the toll bridge or train and instead swim the Charles River or hike the Oregon Trail, Thomas writes as a comparison.

But in assessing whether a company exercises substantial market power, what matters is whether the alternatives are comparable. For many of todays digital platforms, nothing is.

Thomas suggests laws that restrict the platforms right to exclude

Contrary to what many conservatives have been led to believe, more government intervention is not always a bad thing when that intervention is intended to protect the rights of the public. This, after all, is the true intent of government as outlined in the U.S. Constitution.

Problems arise when governments become a fascistic tool to suppress peoples rights, which is what has largely happened in this country. And both Democrats and Republicans are to blame for this mess, as their policies almost always pander to wealthy tyrants and large corporations at the expensive of American citizens.

From Thomas perspective, government intervention is desperately needed to break up the tech monopolies and restore Americans free speech rights, which have been seriously eroded thanks to many decades of government fascism and corporate collusion.

If the analogy between common carriers and digital platforms is correct, then an answer may arise for dissatisfied platform users who would appreciate not being blocked: laws that restrict the platforms right to exclude, Thomas writes.

When a platforms unilateral control is reduced, a government officials account begins to better resemble a government-controlled space[e], he further adds, citing earlier cases that dealt with such issues.

At the end of the day, holding large, powerful, private corporations accountable is what the government needs to do if there is to be any hope of preserving the First Amendment.

If part of the problem is private, concentrated control over online content and platforms available to the public, then part of the solution may be found in doctrines that limit the right of a private company to exclude, Thomas says.

To learn more about how the tech giants are censoring free speech and getting away with it, check out Censorship.news.

Sources for this article include:

Twitter.com

NaturalNews.com
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 21:46:25|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A polling station officer gives hydro-alcoholic gel against COVID-19 to a voter at a polling station in Pahou, Benin, April 11, 2021. Benin's presidential election kicked off on Sunday. (Photo by Seraphin Zounyekpe/Xinhua)

COTONOU, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Voting for the first round of Benin's presidential election began on Sunday at most polling stations across the country.

Approximately 5 million voters are expexted to take part in the first round of voting at 15,531 polling stations throughout the country and 11 others in 7 foreign countries.

According to the new electoral law, the President and Vice President are elected by direct universal suffrage for a term of five years and can only be re-elected once.

For this purpose, three pairs of candidates participated in this election. The incumbent President Patrice Talon and his running mate Mariam Talata will face the opposition duo Corentin Kohoue-Irene Agossa of the Dynamics Restoring Confidence party (RLC) and Alassane Soumanou-Paul Hounkpe of Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin (FCBE).

Polling started at 7 a.m. local time and was expected to last nine hours.

Talon on Sunday called on his fellow citizens for a massive turnout to fulfill their civic duty.

Talon made the appeal just after he cast his vote in the economic capital Cotonou, adding that "polling is proceeding well across the country".

"The polling of this day is a great act and I urge everyone to make his choice, most importantly to choose a good candidate that best meets the expectations of people of Benin", he said.

Seeking a second five-year term, Talon also said with confidence that "Benin is in the process of writing a new page in its history". Enditem
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr Henry Quartey, yesterday set his Make Accra Work plan into action by storming the central business district (CBD) to clear off traders who had illegally occupied the pavements.



The exercise, undertaken by the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), with support from the security agencies, was to get rid of structures on the shoulders of roads, clear traders who obstruct pedestrian movement off the pavements and allow for the free flow of vehicular traffic.



Traders in various items, from food to jewellery, had occupied the pavements.

Mr Quartey, accompanied by some military men and policemen, stormed the CBD with a bulldozer for the exercise.



There were also some officials from the Forestry Commission (FC) who were present to provide assistance on how the beauty of the area could be re-ignited.



The exercise followed publications by the Daily Graphic on traders who had abandoned their secure trading areas within designated parts of the metropolis and were doing business on the streets and pavements.





The exercise

The first port of call for the minister and his team was the Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, where moulds had been constructed in the median of the road.



When the team arrived, it was observed that traders selling all manner of items, including clothes, shoes, bags, cosmetics, assorted food items and beverages, sanitary products, jewellery, herbal medicine and utensils, were seated behind their wares doing business.





Within three hours, the exercise was over, with the once congested area being cleared and pedestrians moving briskly.



The FC team got to work immediately to see what could be done to plant trees and restore the greenery.



Traders react



Surprised by the unannounced visit, the traders were given the opportunity to move their wares to avoid getting them destroyed.



The traders cooperated and carted their wares, mini stalls and tables away.



While some traders were visibly upset, as they were heard casting insinuations to express their anger, others commended the RCC for the action, admitting that their activities had affected the beautification of the area.



Although many of the traders claimed they had not been informed officially to leave the pavements and other illegal places for doing business, they said they were ready to stop trading at their present locations and appealed for stalls and shops to be allocated to them for free.



"I will relocate to any space provided by the city authorities who want to keep Accra clean, but l do not have money to pay any huge amount of money to anyone before l am allotted space," a trader who deals in children's wear around Kantamanto, Ms Selina Adjoa Yamoah, said.



When I came here, this whole area was covered with trees and grass, but because many also came to join, the whole place was turned into a busy market hub and the trees were cut down to create more spaces for our activities, one of the traders said.



I know selling here is wrong, but I dont have any other option. I sell second-hand clothing and the money I make from it is not enough to rent a shop or a shed and I cant also carry them on my head, so selling on the pavement is the only available option I have, she added.



Another trader, Joy Kugblenu, said: l am a petty trader. I buy and sell tomatoes, which l display on a pan. Life has not been easy and it is frustrating when l have to worry all the time about city guards coming to evict me anytime of the day."



"It is not my wish to sell on the pavement, but that is what l can do for now to make ends meet. I will starve to death with my two children, as l am a single mother," she lamented.



Relocation should ensure patronage



About 10 metres away from the Accra Central Police Station, Christian Motey was seen pushing a trolley on which he had displayed toothbrushes and a variety of toothpaste for sale.



The 27-year-old Motey said he was ready to move into any market in any part of the city for his trading activities if the plan to relocate traders would include plans to ensure patrons bought from the traders.



"Often, traders are moved and there are no efforts to get the people to patronise those markets. The Odawna Pedestrian Mall is a good example of how traders are relocated to designated markets without plans to get buyers to patronise the goods and services the traders offer," he explained.



Another male trader, Mr Eugene Arthur, who sells around the CMB enclave, said: "We are tired of hearing about traders being relocated, shops being demolished and the AMA Task Force going after traders. We are ready for any action that will be taken by the authorities."



Speaking to the media after the exercise, Mr Quartey said he had to personally be on the scene for the exercise because the traders had ignored earlier warnings from his office for them to move before the deadline.



The minister indicated that the original architectural design of the area, particularly the median, was not meant for people to sell or stalls and shops to be built there.



I have already engaged with the market queens and Ive been made aware that there are empty shops in the markets, but for reasons best known to these traders, they are refusing to occupy those shops.



Since theyve decided not to comply with the law, we will use legal force to get them off. This is not Rambo-style that leaves destruction or fear in its trail.



We are not saying people should not fend for themselves or earn a living; they must do so, but within the confines of the law.



What is wrong is wrong and it must be corrected, so that we bring discipline back into the way we do our things to make Accra work, Mr Quartey added.

Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
A new giant Jesus statue is being constructed in Brazil, which is reported to be taller and wider than Christ the Redeemer in Rio De Janeiro. The vertical match of the statue is nearing its completion. It is located in the city of Encantado, half an hour west of Rio de Janeiro in Southern Brazil, according to a New York Post report.

The Association of the Friends of Christ emphasized that the humongous monument will be finished late this year, according to a France24 report. The Association of the Friends of Christ is coordinating the work of the new statue in the country.

READ NEXT: "Dressed" as a Doctor, Brazil's Christ The Redeemer Pays Tribute to Healthcare Workers

Brazil's New Statue and Christ the Redeemer

Measuring 140 feet including the pedestal, the taller monument is named Christ the Protector. The new monument of Brazil will be the tallest statue of Jesus Christ with outstretched arms. Christ the Protector is 15 feet taller than Christ the Redeemer.

The arm span of the Protector is measured to be 188 feet, enjoying a significant reach advantage. Meanwhile, the Redeemer's arm span only measures 92 feet, making the Protector 96 wider than the Redeemer.

Christ the Protector will also have an interior elevator and an observation deck near the top of the structure. The construction of the bigger statue was started in 2019 in the Encantado. Encantado is a city of Rio Grande do Sul with a population of 22,000 and is located northwest of the state capital Porto Alegre.

"It's a day for celebration and devotion," said local politician Gilson Conzatti. Conzatti is the son of a now-deceased former city Mayor, who's behind the idea of Christ the Protector.

The head and the outstretched arms are already added to the statue. Moreover, Genesio and Markus Moura, a team of the sculptor, are supervising the work of the giant monument.

Christ The Redeemer in Brazil

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Christ the Redeemer was closed by the authorities for tourists last March. Christ the Redeemer became very symbolic for Rio de Janeiro and the whole country of Brazil.

Redeemer has completed its construction in 1931 and was made of reinforced concrete in a mosaic of thousands of triangular soapstone tiles. Redeemer was also known to be the largest Art Deco-style sculpture in the globe.

In the 1850s, Princess Isabel of Brazil was the inspiration of a Vincentian priest in Pedro Maria Boss in building a Christian monument on Mount Corcovado. However, it was never approved. But in 1921, the Archdiocese of Rio De Janeiro backed the idea, and the citizens petitioned then-President Epitacio Pessoa to allow the construction.

Christ the Redeemer was also visited by then Pope John Paul II in 1980. Escalators and panoramic elevators were added in 2002.

The promoters of Christ the Protector noted that the giant monument is intended to inspire faith and promote tourism in the area where it is located.

The taller counterpart of Christ the Redeemer is priced at $350,000. The Association of the Friends of Christ noted that the construction of Christ the Protector in Brazil is anchored on donations.

READ MORE: Brazil's Foreign and Defense Ministers Resign on Same Day

WATCH: Christ The Redeemer Statue History And Facts - from Down the Rabbit Hole
Indian Army chief Gen MM Naravane on Sunday urged the United Nations to enhance the budget for its peacekeeping missions and emphasised the need to provide appropriate logistics and improved technological support for the blue helmet missions in view of the emerging challenges.

Gen Naravane, who is here on a five-day official tour, delivered a keynote address on Changing Nature of Global Conflicts: Role of UN Peacekeepers during the "Army Chiefs Conclave" hosted by his Bangladeshi counterpart General Aziz Ahmed, the Indian Armys Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADG PI) tweeted.

Gen Naravane laid emphasis on enhanced budget for UN peacekeeping activities, Bangladesh defence ministry's Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) directorate quoted him as saying at the conclave.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen was the chief guest at the event.

The Indian Army chief also called for providing appropriate logistics and improved technological support for the UN blue helmet missions, pointing out their emerging challenges.

He said the UN peacekeeping missions should run on a participatory basis.

The Bangladesh Army hosted the conclave coinciding with the celebrations of the birth centenary of the country's Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of its 1971 independence.

Force commander of UN multidimensional integrated stabilisation mission in Mali Lieutenant General Dennis Gyllensporree, force commander of UN multidimensional integrated stabilisation mission in the Central African region Lieutenant General Sidki Daniel Traore and Bhutan army's deputy chief of operation Brigadier General Darji Rinchen, among others attended the conclave.

Senior diplomats, security strategists and police officers also attended the seminar.

During the event, the Indian Army chief interacted with the senior officers of the participating nations and military observers from the other nations.

Momen told the conclave that the nature of peacekeeping operations in recent periods transformed both in terms of scale and scope for what "peacekeeping missions today are more than truce supervising operation".

The changing situation further expanded the missions' responsibility taking into account "other dimensions of peace, such as establishing rule of law, protection of human rights, protection of women and children, support to political process, managing elections, reintegration and socio-economic development," he said.

The conclave was held as part of a multilateral UN-mandated counter-terrorism exercise, Shantir Ogroshena (Frontrunners of Peace) that commenced on April 4.

An Indian Army contingent of 30 personnel are participating along with the Royal Bhutan Army, Sri Lankan Army and Bangladesh Army in the exercise that will conclude on Monday.

Military observers from the US, UK, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Singapore are also attending the exercise.

The aim of the exercise is to strengthen the procedures and enhance interoperability amongst neighbourhood countries to ensure robust peacekeeping operations in the region.

The armies of all the participating nations shared their valuable experiences and refined their drills and procedures in peacekeeping operations.

The visit of Gen Naravane, who is here at the invitation of his Bangladeshi counterpart Gen Aziz Ahmed, comes less than two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to the neighbouring country and met the top leadership here to strengthen the strategic ties.

The year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Bangladesh, the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan and the birth centenary of 'Bangabandhu' Mujibur Rahman.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
In Juneau County, Wis., its even worse: Prisoners account for 80 percent of the entire population of one district.

In Connecticut, a redistricting expert calculated that nine of the 151 state House districts are able to meet the required minimum population only thanks to prisons within their borders, and that eight of those nine districts encompass predominantly white communities. If the state stopped counting prisoners where they are locked up, the expert said, 22 districts would need to be redrawn.

For most of American history the distortions caused by prison gerrymandering didnt make much difference. There werent that many people behind bars. That changed with the incarceration boom that began in the 1980s. Today, more than two million people are held in state and federal prisons and local jails, with concrete consequences for politics and policy.

In New York, the harsh Rockefeller drug laws, which mandated absurdly long sentences that fell on many young men and women of color, were consistently unpopular with the public. They survived largely because they were defended by legislators who came from districts that benefited from prison gerrymandering. At the height of the prison-building boom in New York, 28 of 29 new prisons were built in upstate and often rural districts, providing a reliable cash flow for those districts even as the inmates they housed were overwhelmingly from the big cities.

Sometimes lawmakers are forthright about the benefits of exploiting prisoners for political gain. In 2015, Janet Adkins, a Republican Florida state representative, told party activists that the best way to oust a Democratic incumbent was to pack her district full of prisoners. Draw it in such a fashion so perhaps, a majority, or maybe not a majority, but a number of them will live in the prisons, thereby not being able to vote, Ms. Adkins said.

The best solution to all this is for the Census Bureau, which provides the data for congressional and state districting, to change the usual residence rule: that is, stop counting prisoners where they are locked up and start counting them in the place they call home, or at least in the last place they lived before going to prison. That would be consistent with a line of Supreme Court cases holding that a persons residence isnt necessarily where she happens to be found at the moment the census occurs, but the place to which she has some allegiance or enduring tie.

In 2018, the bureau asked for public comment on the usual residence rule. Of the 77,887 comments it received about prisoners, 77,863  99.97 percent  said they should be counted at their home address. Despite the virtually unanimous consensus, the bureau didnt change the rule, although it agreed to provide states with access to data that make it easier for those that want to reduce the impact of prison gerrymanders.
Two private security guards hired by an anti-abortion group face charges of battery and illegal possession of tear gas after an October 2020 confrontation outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in Walnut Creek, the Contra Costa District Attorneys Office announced.

Security guards Ishatpal Momi, 27, of Elk Grove and Peter Reeves, 45, of Sacramento face misdemeanor charges for allegedly pepper-spraying four people last fall, according to the District Attorneys Office.

The guards are also accused of possessing illegally large pepper spray canisters, which are limited to 2.5 ounces by state law, said DA spokesperson Scott Alonso. Pepper spray is governed by the same laws as tear gas in California.

The incident occurred Oct. 13 outside the Planned Parenthood clinic on Oakland Boulevard in Walnut Creek. The guards were hired by 40 Days for Life, an international Christian organization that holds vigils outside clinics that perform abortions. When a skirmish broke out with counterprotesters supporting the clinic, Alonso said, Momi allegedly used pepper spray on one man; 10 minutes later, Reeves allegedly sprayed three others.

A representative of Friends for Life Tri-Valley, a 40 Days affiliate that has organized protests at the site, declined comment and suggested contacting the 40 Days for Life headquarters in Bryan, Texas. The groups media office did not respond Saturday or Sunday.

In a telephone interview with The Chronicle, Brian Johnston of California Pro-Life said he needed more information about the case, including whether Planned Parenthood also had security guards at the protest. He questioned whether the decision to prosecute was politically or ideologically motivated and if pro-life protesters have the right to free speech.

If its free speech only for people who believe in human abortion, its kind of an issue, he said.

Walnut Creek police didnt arrest anyone in October but forwarded information about the event to the District Attorneys Office, which reviewed the details and decided to file charges. The defendants will be sent notices to appear for their arraignment on an unannounced date.

Protests by 40 Days for Life and other groups that oppose abortion are common outside of Planned Parenthood offices and other clinics where the procedure is performed. The 40 Days organization holds demonstrations that it promotes as peaceful  often 40-day vigils where protesters pray, often on their knees and sometimes around the clock, and try to dissuade people from entering the clinic with signs, pamphlets and fetal dolls.

Counterprotesters often show up along with escorts who assist clinic patients through picket lines.

While conflicts outside clinics are often limited to verbal exchanges, confrontations and violence rose during 2019, according to a July 2020 report from the National Abortion Federation, which supports abortion providers.

Clinic invasions more than doubled, to 19 from eight in 2018, and the number of trespassing incidents rose to 1,507, the most since the group starting counting them in 1999.

Abortion providers saw a 125% increase in the number of hate emails and harrassing phone calls, the report said, and the overall number of picket lines or protests outside clinics rose to 123,228  by far the most since 1977, when the federation started keeping track.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan
Thank you for reading!

Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.
Srinagar, April 11 (KG): Indian troops killed 12 more Kashmiri youth over the past 72 hours in the occupied Kashmir.

Three youth were slain by the troops in Hadipora area of Shopian and two in Bijbehara area of Islamabad district, today. Earlier, the troops killed seven youth in separate cordon and search operations in Shopian and Pulwama districts on Thursday and Friday. The authorities snapped internet services in Shopian, Kulgam and Islamabad districts of South Kashmir.

Meanwhile, complete shutdown was observed in Shopian and Islamabad, today, against the ongoing killings of Kashmiris by the Indian troops in the territory.

Clad in black burqas, dozens of Kashmiri women took out a burqa procession in reaction to a function sponsored by BJP and RSS against the Kahmiris ethos and norms in Srinagar. Holding placards in favour of veil and headscarf, the women gathered at Nehru Park in Srinagar and took out the march. They said that the Modi-led fascist Indian government wants to rob Kashmiri women of their traditional dress and impose an alien culture on them. It is worth mentioning here that the event in the name of  Fashion Show was recently organized at the Kashmir International Convention Centre in Srinagar in a bid to distract the Kashmiris attention from the ongoing freedom movement.

A former Special Police Officer was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Magam area of Badgam district. The deceased was a brother of police head constable.

The APHC-AJK chapter held a protest demonstration outside Islamabad Press Club, today, to denounce the fresh killing spree by Indian troops in IIOJK.
Many people today -- and the great majority of our youth -- are not familiar with the name Whittaker Chambers. This is unfortunate. Chambers, born in Philadelphia, became a Communist Party member and Soviet spy and then defected from the Soviet Underground. He survived to become a prominent writer and an editor at the then-prestigious Time magazine. He went on to testify in the perjury case of Alger Hiss, often referred to as The Trial of the Century. He then wrote his memoir, the outstanding book Witness.

In that memoir he noted that faith moved Communist spies and traitors and that in the final conflict, only equal faith can overcome them.

He presciently observed of the United States:

The process of dissolution going on withinthe whole range of the old society becomes so violent that a small section of the ruling class join us [in] the revolutionary class. When this happens, it is very late in the night of history, and in the life of nations.

This is a chillingly accurate description of what is occurring in the United States today. As evidenced by the Democrat party and its comrades in Big Tech, Big Media and Big Government, the ruling class is the revolutionary class, in the Soviet sense. The elites shamelessly use radicals and reprobates in the lower class to help them retain and increase power by demonizing and savaging those in the productive, patriotic middle class. This is clearly seen in the statements and actions of those like Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jerry Nadler and Adam Schiff, aka Pencil-Neck.

Chambers went on to state that what the Communist traitors and sympathizers sought was an irreparable severing of that faith between man and man which is the arterial pulse of community. This is exactly what the critical race theory proponents, multiculturalists and intersectionality warriors seek to achieve.

As Chambers observed,

For henceforth the conspirator is indistinguishable from the man beside you. Security shatters, not because there are no more locks, but because the men naturally trusted with the keys and combinations are themselves the conspirators. The mere fact that the deserter, by an act of his own will, stands outside the control of the Communist Party is a threat. He must therefore expect that the party will act to remove the threat.

Every aspect of this statement rings true today. It is, in fact, the very definition of cancel culture. Those in power in America today, from the Obama Harris Biden administration to the DOJ, CIA, FBI, Deep State, Media-Academic-Big Tech complex, and the ultra-rich CEOs of multi-national corporations, who we have trusted with the keys for far too long, are themselves the conspirators. And the mere fact that any individual, no matter how powerless, stands outside their control by an act of their own will is perceived as a threat to their hegemony.

Therefore, they must be canceled.

To that, we have all been witness.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Benin's president Patrice Talon cast his ballot Sunday in the West African country's presidential elections.

The election campaign has been marred by violent demonstrations, as Talon ran for a second term despite previously saying that he would not.

"If I have a message to send to my fellow citizens, it is that everyone should fulfill their duty," said Talon, after casting his vote in Cotonou, Benin's largest city and seat of government.

"Go and vote despite intimidation and intoxication. Let us face the rain and the sun to go and fulfill this noble duty," he continued.

The opposition said the vote was going forward without a number of top challengers, including one from the party of former President Boni Yayi who was disqualified from taking part in the election.

Over the past week, protests have erupted in several cities across Benin, particularly in those favorable to the former president.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) announced on Saturday that he was suffering from slo-mo retinal detachment in his remaining eye. He had surgery, which went well but will be functionally blind for a few weeks while he recovers. Decent people  including some leftists  are sending him their best wishes for a safe, speedy recovery. What was appalling was the number of people who reveled in the thought that a man might be permanently blinded.

As probably everyone knows, Crenshaw was a Navy SEAL who was hit by an IED in Afghanistans Helmand Province. The blast destroyed his right eye (hence the recognizable eye patch) and did serious damage to his left eye. It took multiple surgeries to save the vision in that eye, and the retina continued to be vulnerable.

In a tweet on Saturday, Crenshaw detailed how he realized something was wrong and learned that, while his retina (thankfully) hadnt detached, it was in the process of detaching. He had an immediate operation, and the prognosis is good. However, to protect the healing retina, he has to be facedown and will be functionally blind, keeping him on the sidelines for several weeks:

In addition to the normal sympathy one would feel for a man who valiantly, and at great cost, fought for his country, and who now serves in Congress with considerable verve and dignity, I had an unusually huge onrush of empathy for Crenshaw. I am at the far end of correctible myopia (-12.5 diopter for those who are curious). Ive been told that Im therefore at extremely high risk of having a retinal detachment. It tells you how much the threat worries me that, when I suddenly started seeing kaleidoscopes in my vision a few years ago, I was relieved to learn it was just another migraine (although with a new type of aura), rather than a retinal detachment.

What disturbed me was the crude outpouring of hatred that Crenshaws announcement elicited from people who disagree with his politics. Heres just a sampling of the less obscene ones. (And if youre interested, tots and pears is a very nasty phrase.)

Tots and pears to Dan Crenshaw who has always been blind in my opinion.



Too soon? pic.twitter.com/qX07ww3jyC  USNCPO - Cruz & Hawley are TRAITORS  (@CraigCo62) April 10, 2021

Blind or not, Dan Crenshaw is excrement in human form. https://t.co/A2CwYdL5dY pic.twitter.com/9xBtCBB05Q  John Scott G (@John_Scott_G) April 10, 2021

BREAKING NEWS: Dan Crenshaw's eye ball is literally jumping away from his fucking skull to avoid being associated with a Republican in an eye patch.  Reverend Aiden (@SweetFnLucifer) April 10, 2021

last week that fucking ghoul Dan Crenshaw said there is value in people suffering. today he lost sight in his other eye. LOL pic.twitter.com/G34oAkI0NT  J Page (@beetlenation) April 11, 2021

Dan Crenshaw is witnessing karma, before his very eye. pic.twitter.com/7MHcXYx1dR  The Man in the High Castle (@Hyperiongangsta) April 11, 2021

To his credit, Muslim Marine struck exactly the right note:

Ive never been a big fan of Rep. Crenshaw but disagreements can never mean wanting bad for others. Wishing Rep. Dan Crenshaw a healthy and speedy recovery. https://t.co/DHYTuQkoUS  MuslimMarine (@mansoortshams) April 10, 2021

Conservatives, of course, are sending words of kindness and support.

Its obvious and banal to say that the internet has been a mixed blessing. I think I would give up all its benefits if that would mean ending the Tech Tyrants and the Deep States control over American politics and, by extension, over Americans.

But theres been another mixed blessing, one having nothing to do with political power, which is getting to know one's fellow Americans. Thanks to the internet, weve been able to see examples that we never would have seen before of extraordinary talent, beauty, and human decency.

But sadly, because people on social media feel freer to show their ugly side, weve also seen so much hatred. Unless youre literally Hitler (or Mao or Fidel or Charles Manson or the like) no one deserves that level of vitriol simply because of a different political viewpoint within a (still barely) functional democratic republic.

I know everyone at American Thinker joins with me in wishing Dan Crenshaw a safe, speedy, and complete recovery.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
UAE Minister of State for Food and Water Security, Mariam Almheiri, has visited the site of a date factory in Dubai that once complete will become the worlds largest privately-owned date processing facility.

The minister visited Al Barakah Dates, a market leader for packaged and processed dates, to review its expansion plans in Dubai Industrial City, one of the regions largest manufacturing and logistics hub.

Almheiri was joined by Saleem Mohamed and Yousuf Saleem, Chairman and Managing Director of Al Barakah Dates respectively, and Saud Abu Al Shawareb, Managing Director of Dubai Industrial City.

The delegation reviewed the companys plan to build a solar-powered factory that will cover 600,000 sq. ft and process more than 100,000 tonnes of date and date products annually. They also toured the existing facility, which produces 65,000 tonnes of produce per year, a statement said.

Mariam Almheiri, Minister of State for Food Security, said: It was a pleasure to visit Al Baraka Dates Factory today and to see the advances being made in the downstream processing of dates  our national fruit and a vital staple food for our community. The ability to process and package a variety of different date-derived products inside the UAE is an essential aspect of our countrys food security  I commend the management of the factory for their efforts in operating and expanding the factory and doubling its production of dates products by using the latest sustainable technologies.

She added: Dates represent a major part of the food and agricultural sector in the UAE, with an enormous wealth of palm trees. The UAE is on course to lead this sector globally using the latest modern technologies and to enhance our food security and create new opportunities for the national economy. Al Barakah Dates Factory and other such advanced facilities play a major role in transforming the UAE into a global hub for innovation-driven food security.

Yousuf Saleem, Managing Director of Al Barakah Dates, added: It was a pleasure to host Her Excellency at our factory and walk her through our current capabilities along with our future plans which is in line with the Ministrys future goals. We thank the UAE leadership and Dubai Industrial City for providing us with the infrastructure and services available today to continue being a leader in our industry. We look forward to increasing our footprint in the global health ingredients market by further developing more innovative date-based ingredients and continuing to export all our products from the UAE to over 79 countries worldwide.

Saud Abu Al-Shawareb, Managing Director of Dubai Industrial City, said: We are delighted to welcome Her Excellency Mariam Almheiri to our business district. The UAE has made tremendous progress in its vision to become a world-leading hub for innovation-driven food security, and we are determined to support its continued development and to contribute to its further success. Al Barakah Dates has been our business partner for many years, and we are delighted to see its expansion plans gather momentum. With close to a dozen state-of-the-art food manufacturing plants under construction, our business district is not only supporting sustainable food production, but creating new jobs and opportunities. This will strengthen Dubais knowledge-based economy and enhance its global status as a hub for talent, investment and innovation.

With demand for healthy sugar alternatives, organic and vegan-based food products on the rise, Al Barakah Dates previously signed an agreement with Dubai Industrial City to double the size of its factory.

Work is already under way and is due for completion in 2022. Once finished, it will feature 420,000 sq. ft of dedicated processing and cold storage space with the capacity to process almost half of the UAEs entire domestic date harvest. It will also offset 3,000 tonnes of emissions per year using 6,500 solar panels to generate renewable energy.

Alongside Al Barakah Dates, there are 12 food factories under construction and due to be completed in Dubai Industrial City. The business district covers more than 550 million sq. ft and is split into sector-specific zones. The food and beverage area covers a total land area of 23.5 million sq. ft and is home to more than 30 manufacturers, including Barakat, Patchi, asmak and Lifco.TradeArabia News Service
A shakeup in the leadership of the NSW electrical union may give the left faction of the Australian Labor Party a bigger say in the future direction of the party and its policies.

The Electrical Trade Unions national secretary Allen Hicks, who is on the partys left, has taken over the NSW leadership on an interim basis after NSW branch secretary Justin Page stepped down. The leadership change is expected to be formalised when the ETU executive meets on Monday night.

ETU national secretary Allen Hicks. Credit:

Internal figures from senior ALP sources show the left faction held 36.1 per cent of the vote on the floor of the last NSW party conference in 2018. The majority was held by the factional right. If the ETU NSW branch flips from the right to the left, this would rise to an estimated 42.4 per cent following the right aligned Health Services Unions (HSU) decision to disaffiliate from the NSW ALP last month and the National Union of Workers merger with United Voice.

The ALP right holds the leadership of Unions NSW by a much tighter margin. Its members include the HSU and unions that are not affiliated with the ALP including those for nurses and teachers.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  Adam Erne scored in the seventh round of the shootout as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 on Saturday night.

Erne also scored his teams last goal in regulation, giving him four goals in the last six games.

It has been going well lately, Erne said. Im just trying to stick to my game. Just trying to take advantage of the opportunities that I get.

Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Valtteri Filppula had the other goals in regulation for Detroit. Larkin also scored in the shootout. Thomas Greiss finished with 30 saves.

Martin Necas, Jordan Staal, Dougie Hamilton and Sebastian Aho scored for the Hurricanes. Andrei Svechnikov extended the shootout in the third round for Carolina.

Petr Mrazek stopped 25 shots for the Hurricanes, who had a three-game winning streak end.

I thought it was a really gritty effort, Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. They came out and gave it to us early. As the game went on, I thought our compete level was excellent.

Even with the result, the Hurricanes hold a franchise record for points through 40 games with a 27-9-4 record.

Carolina began the weekend atop the Central Division standings. Its 3-1-1 in a scheduled eight-game homestand.

It wasnt a terrible game from us, but we all know that we can be better, Necas said.

Erne scored with 6:20 remaining in regulation to put Detroit up 4-3.

Adam has got good hands, Blashill said. He scored in juniors. He scored in the American (Hockey) League.

Erne said he doesnt want to put too much stock in being in a groove. He just wants the production to continue.

Im comfortable with it right now, Erne said. One game, one day at a time. Just trying to stick with that.

Carolina responded with Ahos goal at the 4-minute mark to tie it.

The Hurricanes nearly tied it earlier on Nino Niederreiters redirection with 5:13 to play, but a video review wiped out the tally because of goalie interference.

They go right back out the next couple of shifts and at least get us a point and a chance to win the game in overtime or the shootout, Hurricanes coach Rod BrindAmour said. Thats the positive.

Story continues

The Red Wings, who won for the second time in their last seven games, were coming off their fourth loss by five goals or more with Thursday nights 7-1 decision against visiting Nashville.

CHALLENGING DECISION

The Red Wings used a coachs challenge in overturning the third-period goal that would have tied the game initially. Blashill said its a difficult decision, particularly if it doesnt work out and the game is tied and his team goes a man down.

You cant be careless because it is a penalty coming back the other way, Blashill said.

Yet anytime theres a reasonable chance to take a goal off the board for the opponent its a risk worth taking, he said.

Thats a huge difference in the game, Blashill said. They did score after, but without the successful challenge maybe thats the winning goal for them instead of the tying goal.

ON THE ICE

Defenseman Jake Gardiner was back in action for the Hurricanes. Gardiner missed the past 15 games and had played only once since Feb. 24. He took Haydn Fleurys spot in the lineup.

Winger Brock McGinn remained out for the Hurricanes, missing his third consecutive game with an upper-body injury.

IT HAD BEEN A WHILE

Greiss hadnt allowed three goals in any of his last three games. He gave up three in the first 30 minutes in this one.

Although Greiss has played in 27 of the Red Wings 43 games this season, this was only his second appearance against Carolina. The other came in a season-opening loss, when he made a season-high 40 saves.

Three of the goalies four wins this season have come in road games.

UP NEXT

The teams meet in a rematch Monday night in Raleigh.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Former President Donald Trump insists hes enjoying his life off Twitter. The press releases his aides fire off on an increasingly frequent basis are more elegant, he says. Plus theres no risk of backlash for retweeting unsavory accounts.

But since Trump was barred from major social media channels after helping incite the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, his power to shape the national conversation is being tested.

Trump transformed from a reality television star to a politician and president by bending the tools of communication and the media to his will. He still connects with his supporters through his releases and appearances on Fox News and other conservative outlets, where he repeats misinformation about the 2020 election. And he remains a powerful force in the Republican Party, with a starring role Saturday at a Republican National Committee event at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

Still, the sway over American life he once enjoyed appears to be eroding  at least for now.

Itll never be the same for Trump unless hes a candidate again, said Harold Holzer, an historian who is director of Hunter Colleges Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute and wrote a book about presidents and the press. I dont think its unnatural for coverage to diminish. Im sure its tough on his ego, given how much oxygen he sucks up and how much ink he generates, but its not unnatural for an ex-president to get less attention.

Its been a dramatic adjustment nonetheless. Trumps tweets used to drive the news cycle, with CNN, MSNBC and Fox News often spending dozens of hours a week combined displaying his missives, according to a GDELT analysis of television news archives. Since he was barred from Twitter and other platforms, Trump can no longer speak directly to large swaths of his audience and must now rely on his supporters and conservative and mainstream media to amplify his messages.

To compensate for the ongoing blackout, Trump aides have been pumping out statements and endorsements that often sound just like the tweets he used to dictate. Happy Easter to ALL, including the Radical Left CRAZIES who rigged our Presidential Election, and want to destroy our Country! read one sent from his political action committee. (Happy Easter! was the more subdued version offered by his official government office.)

At the same time, Trump has been ramping up his appearances on conservative media  even sitting down with his daughter-in-law for her online program. But few of those comments have reverberated as mainstream outlets, long criticized for allowing Trump to dictate coverage, have become increasingly wary of repeating his falsehoods, especially pertaining to the 2020 election.

While Trump still garners coverage, Google search results for his name are at their lowest point since 2015, as noted this week by The Washington Post. And on late night TV, some have tried to scrub him out entirely, with Late Show host Stephen Colbert refusing to say his name.

After five years of wall-to-wall Trump, the contrast is jarring.

He was unlike any prior president in the amount of oxygen he sucked up. But he increasingly resembles many former president in how little oxygen he now gets, said Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary to George W. Bush. While that is the reality for any former president, Fleischer argued that Trump continues to loom large in the party and could return to the spotlight if he chooses to run again.

And though his dominance of cable news has dropped precipitously from its peak in fall 2016, when he was mentioned tens of thousands of times a month, per GDELT data, he remains a presence on cable news channels nonetheless.

Two months out of office, hes still roughly where he was in March of last year when the pandemic largely displaced him, said Kalev Leetaru, the projects creator. It shows that even two months out of office, hes still looming large.

While most of Trumps statements garner relatively little coverage, some, like one that blasted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack, dominated news coverage, with CNN, in particular, running with it for more than 44 minutes.

President Trump is the greatest news generator in American history, Trump spokesman Jason Miller said, insisting, There was never this type of media interest in the post-Presidential careers of Clinton, Bush or Obama.

Others see it differently.

I think he lost all momentum when he got pulled from the platforms. Politics is about momentum and he has none now, said presidential historian Douglas Brinkley.

While Trump has tried to inject himself into news coverage, Brinkley said his comments are largely treated as add-ons to coverage focused on other matters. Where it used to be he was shooting tweets like Zeus, they were like thunderbolts from up high, and now its little squeaks from the mouse of Mar-a-Lago, he said.

Yet Trump remains a commanding figure for the Republican Party. His endorsement is highly coveted heading into the 2022 Republican primaries. And he continues to publicly flirt with running again for president in 2024.

And Holzer believes Trump could reemerge if he is allowed to rejoin Twitter or goes through with much-hyped plans to launch his own social media outlet, as aides have said he is still considering.

GOP strategist Alex Conant argued Trumps power is waning by the day as other Republicans make plans to run in 2024, and said Trump could be taking a more strategic approach if he wants to remain part of the daily conversation.

When youre president of the United States, its very easy to insert yourself into every news cycle. But once youve left office, it has to be more strategic, Conant said, arguing Trump could have announced a book, sat for primetime interviews, or delivered a series of major speeches about the future of the party.

Fleischer, too, argued Trump could have greater influence by following in the footsteps of presidents Bush and Obama, whose statements garner attention because they are rare.

The risk for a former president is you risk starting to be seen as former senators or former congressman or contributors who are on TV on a somewhat regular basis. A former president should be at an elevated posture, he said. But Donald Trump has always done things differently with some success.
Editors Note: Welcome to Inside Out, our weekly roundup of stories about Staten Islanders making waves, being seen, supporting our community and just making our borough a special place to live. Have a story for Inside Out? Email Carol Ann Benanti at benanti@siadvance.com.

Hina Naveed at her graduation from the College of Staten Island of the City University of New York. (Courtesy/Mitchell Abramson) Staten Island Advance

While she cared for COVID-19 patients as a volunteer with the New York City Medical Reserve Corps at the height of the pandemic, Hina Naveed spent nights with her head in the books at the CUNY School of Law. A registered nurse, she earned her juris doctorate on Jan. 14, her third degree, from the City University of New York.

Her incredible ability to multitask became evident in a letter Hina wrote to U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, where she stressed the importance of creating a pathway to citizenship for herself and thousands of other Dreamers.

Durbin, who introduced the DREAM Act in 2001 and continues to push for congressional passage of comprehensive immigration reform, recently read Hinas letter on the Senate floor and celebrated her achievements, lauding her as an immigrant healthcare hero.

He would then highlight Hinas community-based work on behalf of children in foster care, her volunteer efforts caring for COVID patients and the perseverance and tenacity of a woman who immigrated from Pakistan to the U.S. at the age of 10 by way of Dubai.

And as heartwarming as the senators words were, they just scratched the surface of Hinas diligence as a social justice warrior, immigrant rights advocate, healthcare professional and now as a law graduate.

For her relentless commitment to expanding rights for immigrants and Dreamers, the around-the-clock care she provided as a nurse during the pandemic and her goal to one day influence policy to benefit underserved communities, Hina was named a CUNY Hero, a prestigious distinction bestowed upon members of the CUNY community who stands out for generosity, bravery and service.

Hina, 30, who calls Staten Islands North Shore home, and whose family relocated to the United States so her sister could attain life-saving medical care, has demonstrated each of those qualities.

Hina is a role model in every sense, from her advocacy on behalf of her fellow Dreamers to her commitment to equal rights, to advancing the citys recovery, said CUNY Chancellor Felix V. Matos Rodriguez. Her commitment to defending human rights as a lawyer, and to combating the pandemics effects through her work as a nurse, is inspiring. CUNY welcomes and supports Dreamers like Hina, who enrich our campuses and classrooms with their idealism, compassion and singular determination to make the world better and more just. We are proud to have served as a launching pad for Hina and eagerly look forward to all the great work thats to come.

Hina Naveed. (Courtesy/Mitchell Abramson) Staten Island Advance

Two weeks before the bar exam on Feb. 23, Hina learned that she won the prestigious Aryeh Neier Fellowship, a research and mentorship program that will allow her to work year-long stints at Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union this summer.

She also is the campaign manager of her longtime friend, Cesar Vargas, a CUNY law grad who is mounting a Democratic primary run in the race for Staten Island borough president. Vargas made history in 2015, when he became the states first undocumented immigrant to be admitted to the state bar.

Hinas nursing career, extensive advocacy work and legal studies have often overlapped.

After witnessing firsthand how the pandemic exacerbated long-standing health disparities among low-income communities, she says she looks forward to the day when shell have a hand in making policy that supports the equitable distribution of services. But first, she hopes to find a permanent solution to her immigration status.

Because of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) I was able to go to college and become a registered nurse, she said. But its not permanent and I have to live my life in two-year intervals, wondering whats going to happen next. When Sen. Durbin was sharing my story, it was important, because I hope that is what pushes people that have claimed to support essential workers and hard-working immigrants and called us heroes to put us on a path to citizenship for good.

DOING HER PART DURING THE PANDEMIC

As she pursued her studies at CUNY Law, Hina served as director of health services at Staten Islands Seamens Society for Children and Families, ensuring that foster kids received medical services. She stepped down in January to focus on the bar exam.

She also volunteered on weekends during the pandemic, traveling to the Brooklyn Hospital Center and ArchCare at Carmel Richmond Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, Dongan Hills, to care for COVID patients. She recently renewed her nurses license and signed up to administer COVID-19 vaccinations.

Hina Naveed (Courtesy/Mitchell Abramson) Staten Island Advance

Im Muslim, so my religion teaches me that if you have a skill and you can be beneficial to your community, you have to use it, said Hina of her seven-day (and night) workweeks throughout the pandemic. Theres no way I could sit on the sidelines, knowing theres a nursing shortage and I have the license that will allow me to do something about it. I had to help.

FINDING HER ACTIVIST VOICE

Combining advocacy, studies and work is nothing new to Hina. While she attended nursing school at the College of Staten Island from 2014 to 2017, she worked as a community organizer for the New York Citys Mayors Office of Immigrant Affairs. Before that, she and Vargas co-founded the Staten Island Dream Coalition to lobby and advocate for Dreamers. That was around the time when she began speaking about her own immigration status.

Hina and her family moved to the United States in 2001 to find care for her older sister, who was diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation, a complication that inhibits normal blood flow and oxygen circulation. When they found treatment at Boston Childrens Hospital, her family settled in Massachusetts.

The experience inspired Hina, who was 11, to work in healthcare, determined to make others feel as her sister had been made to feel.

After graduating high school in Massachusetts as a certified nursing assistant in 2008, she moved to New York and earned her associate and bachelors degrees from CSI. Before she was a nursing student at CSI, she came to know Vargas through their shared interest in immigrants rights.

Vargas eventually impressed upon her the value of attaining the legal training she would need to broaden her advocacy work. She was drawn to CUNY Law because of its reputation as a top-notch public interest law school that caters to students from groups that have been historically marginalized. The affordability of CUNY Law was also a factor, she said, because she was undocumented and didnt qualify for federal grants or loans.

As someone who faced constant challenges because of her undocumented status  Hina says an attorney misfiled her familys paperwork while her sister was receiving care early on, causing her family to overstay their visas  she is committed to making a difference as a champion of immigrant and human rights.

I know I want to be in the space where I can reform policies so that marginalized communities receive the rights and services that they deserve, she said. I want to do really good, sound policy work and make real, permanent, long-lasting change so that systems are in place to really help people.

CELEBRATIONS - APRIL 11 TO APRIL 17

APRIL 11

Happy birthday Sunday to Susan Galgano, Christine Lamberti, Leo Fisher turns 56 , Michael DiStefano, Nate Raimondo turns 26, Anthony J. Nuzzi, Richard Barclay and Dr. Deborah Cognata, who turned 64.

APRIL 12

Monday is birthday time for Judith Silver of Flowers by Bernard, Melanie Beth Magierski, Franklin Picone, Brian Haley, Lonnie Spangler, June Fennell and Kimberly Anne Moran.

APRIL 13

Heading the birthday list Tuesday is Elaine Bloomfield, an Advance Woman of Achievement in the Class of 2012, Carmine Indelicato, Daniel Patrick Lanigan, Gina Kessler, Melissa DAntonio, Aribah Arrigo, Lisa Ann Williamson, Mickey Esposito and Peter Arrigo Jr.

APRIL 14

Birthday greetings Wednesday to Dominic DeFranco, CarolAnn Trezza, Madison Maroney-Ayala, Ryan Kelly, Miss Staten Island 2002, Jaclynn Sanchez, Charlie Salvadore and Mike Acito, who turns 43.

Happy wedding anniversary Wednesday to Tina and Bob Speziale.

APRIL 15

Birthday wishes Thursday go to Claire Regan, Kathy Farrell, Jeanette Melfi, Bill Finn, Joseph Albert Pratti and Kasey Rheems.

APRIL 16

Happy birthday Friday to Maria DiNoia, Joe Cavaretta, who turns 15, Briana Duffy, Jessica Eve OBrien, Kim Figuly, Kristen Longo, Laurie Burke, Heather Lynn Smith, Stephanie Slepian and John F. Bevilacqua.

APRIL 17

Saturday is birthday time for triplets Nicole, Christopher and Matthew Farkough, twins Paige and Taylor Grupico, who celebrate their 28th, and Kimberly Cincotta, who turns 27.

Happy wedding anniversary Saturday to Julianne and Frank Angelico.
The names of a trail and a 1,640-feet high mountain peak at a protected site in Great Barrington, Mass. have been renamed to reflect the traditional presence of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohicans after discussions between the band and the non-profit Trustees of Reservations that manage the Monument Mountain Site.

Mohican Monument Trail is the new name for the former Indian Monument Trail. And Peeskawso Peak, (pronounced / Pe: skaw. so /) which means virtuous woman in the Mohican language, has replaced Squaw Mountain.

Being able to rename these areas in our homelands is a great honor but also an opportunity to take back our history and to right a wrong. By removing offensive language, it gives us an opportunity to correct the historical narrative, Heather Bruegl, director of cultural affairs for the Stockbridge Munsee Community, said in a statement.

The Stockbridge-Munsee also called home what is now the eastern part of the Capital Region before the Dutch and English explorers and settlers arrived from Europe in the 17th century.

We are immeasurably grateful to the Stockbridge Munsee Community for helping us set the record straight by reevaluating the language and historical perspective at Monument Mountain, said Brian Cruey, director of Southern Berkshires Properties, in a statement.

Making our properties more inclusive and accessible so all of our visitors feel welcome is at the heart of our mission, and we realize that entails listening, learning, and making changes, Cruey continued.

The 130-year-old Trustees of Reservations protects 120 sites encompassing about 27,000 acres around Massachusetts. These places include museums, historic buildings, agriculture, shore and other locations.

The statement from the Trustees of Reservation said the name change also acknowledges that the term Indian is considered offensive, and squaw is an ethnic and sexist slur.

As part of the talks, the Trustees of Reservations has agreed to install new signs by the end of April to include the history of the Indigenous people who once lived in the area in addition to the information about the sites story of the famous 1850 picnic between 19th century authors Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville, who attended Albany Academy and lived in Lansingburgh.

The Trustees has also formed an internal committee and developed a review process to examine property names and tributes through a set of mission-aligned criteria across its entire portfolio of 120 properties, according to its statement.

The Trustees worked with the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohicans before. After discussions between the two groups, the narrative about The Mission House was changed to incorporate the bands story not just that of European colonists.
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.
Spotlight on Prince Philips first personal car at Galle Face Hotel View(s):

The death this week of 99 year-old Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth, has brought the spotlight back on a car parked on permanent display at the Galle Face Hotel museum.

The restored silver and black Standard 9 car is reported to be Prince Philips first personal car, bought while he was a 19-year-old midshipman or naval cadet stationed in then Ceylon during World War II. The registration information reveals the owner to be Prince Philip of Greece.

The late Cyril Gardiner, a former chairman of the Galle Face Hotel, bought the car. His son Sanjeev, the present chairman, refurbished it and put it on display. Prince Philip visited Sri Lanka twice since the car was purchased and viewed it on both occasions.

Prince Philip served with HMS Ramilies, a Royal Navy ship stationed in Colombo in 1940. HMS Ramilies escorted Australian transport vessels to the Mediterranean. He later served in HMS Kent and HMS Shropshire, County Class destroyers on a shore station in Ceylon, reports say. Once, the Duke was sent to Trincomalee to assist a naval team surveying the harbour, these reports also say. He bought the second-hand Standard 9 car in Colombo and drove himself to Trincomalee and back.

The Little Nine was a family car produced by the British Standard Motor Company between 1930 and 1933. It was said to be relatively expensive compared to its peers but became popular among the upper echelons of society.

The Royal Family has opened an online Book of Condolence on its website for those who wish to send a personal message. Contrary to usual practice, Books of Condolence will not be available for the public to sign, including at the British High Commission in Colombo, owing to COVID-19 restrictions.

Small private funeral likely WINDSOR, April 10, (Reuters)  Gun salutes were fired across Britain on Saturday to mark the death of Prince Philip as tributes flooded in for a man who was a pillar of strength for Queen Elizabeth during her record-breaking reign.

The armed forces marked Philips death at noon (1100 GMT) with a Death Gun Salute. Artillery units in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast and Gibraltar, and some navy warships, fired their guns. Buckingham Palace is expected to announce details of the funeral later on Saturday. It is likely to be a small, private affair, stripped of the grandeur of traditional royal occasions by COVID-19 restrictions and by the princes own dislike of people making a fuss.
Police in Canada have placed metal fencing around a church that's led by a pastor who was jailed for holding worship services that violated provincial lockdown rules in order to physically shut it down until it can demonstrate the ability to comply with the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.

Police on Friday put up additional fencing around GraceLife Church in Edmond, days after Alberta Health Services closed the building by fencing it off, ahead of Sunday worship, Edmonton Journal reported.

Officials have accused GraceLife of violating public health guidelines on multiple occasions by holding in-person worship services where attendees did not social distance or wear face masks. Last month, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police charged the church as an entity for holding worship services in February that exceeded the limit of 15% capacity.

On Wednesday, around a dozen RCMP vehicles arrived to place fencing adorned with black cloth around the perimeter of the building as well as the parking lot, the Journal said.

Source:The Christian Post
Of all the things that ail us  our honesty crisis might be the one that does us in.

We lie about our ills. We gloss over or ignore statistics that do not support the official narrative of the times and we censor or ban people that tell us things we do not want to hear.

We are the patient that goes to the doctor wanting the physician to lie about the true or fatal nature of our current condition.

Nowhere is this transparency crisis more evident in the last year than in the area of race.

Look at what Democrats and their water-carrying partners in the media did when Robert Long murdered eight people, six of them Asian, at three massage parlors in Atlanta  he was immediately painted as a white supremacist as opposed to just a murdering madman.

Insight on motive from the shooter emerged that, coupled with being a killer, he dealt with sex addiction. In the twisted eyes of a broken psychopath, these massage parlors represented the manifestation of his demons. That is not putting words in a killer's mouthit is what he allegedly said.

The media pounced  never mind what the man said. Blue checks on Twitter began circulating and trending the hashtag #stopasianhate. President Biden and Kamala flew to Atlanta. (Neither has made it to the U.S.-Mexican border crisis as of print time.)

The implication was this: white people are hunting down Asian people. They are doing it because, aside from just being inherently racist, Donald Trump inspired it with his talk of COVID-19 and the suspected origins of the virus.

"#stopasianhate" spread like wildfire.

Then a weird thing happened. Despite the hashtag, increasingly, the perpetrators in the videos turned the media narrative on its head.

A man beat and then choked unconscious an Asian man on the New York Subway as onlookers did nothing. A black man brutally attacked Vilma Kari, a 65-year-old Filipino woman, knocking her to ground, stomping her and kicking her repeatedly. According to police, the man told Kari "you don't belong here" prior to attacking her.

Perhaps equally disheartening or disturbing during the video, the doormen of the hotel that captured the video stood there and watched  with one of them actually walking over and closing the door.

When the suspect, Brandon Elliot, was arrested, it was revealed he was on parole for murdering his mother.

Day after day, we watched black Americans predominantly commit those crimes.

Anyone with eyes and a functioning brain can see and recognize that white people are not hunting down Asians in packs or on an individual basis, much to the chagrin of blue checks and the Democrat party.

This is not a new phenomenon.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics within the DOJ shows that in the most recently published data from 2018, black people account for 27% of crimes against Asians while making up roughly 1213% of the population.

Across the country, police paraded out a bloodied Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa after he murdered ten people in a King Soopers grocery store.

Vice President Harris's niece Meena tweeted violent white men are the greatest terror threat to the U.S.  before deleting it. Others suggested he walked out alive because he was white.

To Meena's credit, Alissa, for the purposes of race-baiting and identity politics alone, looks like a fat, balding white man as he limps across the parking lot.

Alissa, however, was born in Syria. (Fun fact: The Biden administration made the call to bomb Syria a month earlier.)

The murder of ten people  a heinous crime  did not quite fit the bill for non-stop media coverage with a brown shooter and ten white victims.

Less than two weeks later, Noah Green rammed his car into Capitol Police officer William Evans and killed him near the fencing that surrounds the Capitol. When Green emerged from his car with a knife, he was shot and killed. Afterward it was revealed that Green was a follower of Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.

It does not bother me that Green was black or followed Farrakhan. It bothers me that he killed a Capitol Hill police officer a week ago, and we won't talk about that story for very long. On the other hand, three months after Officer Brian Sicknick died, many people still believe he was beaten to death by white supremacists with a fire extinguishers at the "insurrection" because the media lied so loudly about it.

All of it goes to show that if the lie is big enough, a lot of people do not even notice the correction  even if the victim's own mother tries to correct the narrative.

"He wasn't hit on the head, no," Gladys Sicknick said to the Daily Mail. "We think he had a stroke, but we don't know anything for sure. We'd love to know what happened."

I do not know how long a country can fundamentally lie to the citizenry, drive division, and still expect to prosper. With this dishonesty, we have developed and perfected an avoidance of any of the right kind of accountability.

One of the key tenets of Critical Race Theory and modern "wokeism" is that somehow, the minority class cannot be racist. You are essentially taught that black people do not possess the power to exert racism. Critical Race Theory asks you to deny right from wrong and disregard absolute truths  and to make determinations of right and wrong based solely on race or skin color.

The very definition of racism.

I believe that wrong is wrong and right is right. Increasingly, it seems, our society believes that the determining factor in right or wrong is the color of a person's skin.

Someone evil figured out a long time ago that there was money to be made and power to be gained by pitting groups of people against one another, as Charles Barkley so honestly put it during March Madness.

"Man, I think most white people and black people are great people," he said. I really believe that in my heart, but I think our system is set up where our politicians, whether they're Republicans or Democrats, are designed to make us not like each other so they can keep their grasp of money and power. They divide and conquer."

Georgia, Boulder, D.C.  these are all sad stories. They are awful stories. I am confident we can do better.

First, we probably need to be honest about what is really going on.

Image via Pxhere.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Srinagar, April 11 : The two terrorists who were killed in an encounter with police and army in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday were given an opportunity to surrender but they indiscriminately fired upon the security forces that led to the gun fight, police said.

Police said, on Saturday Anantnag Police acting on specific input regarding presence of terrorists in a residential house at village Semthan area of Bijbehara, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by Police, army's 3 RR and 90 Bn of the CRPF.

"During the search operation, as the presence of terrorists got ascertained they were given an opportunity to surrender, however they fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party which was retaliated leading to an encounter," police said.

The joint teams also rescued all the civilians trapped in the gunfire and halted the operation for the night.

In the wee hours, after ensuring all the civilians are safe, the operation was resumed and both the terrorists were eliminated in the ensuing encounter.

They have been identified as Towseef Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Takia Maqbool Shah Bijbehara and Aamir Hussain Ganie, a resident of Goriwan Bijbehara, Anantnag linked with proscribed terror outfit LeT.

Police said as per its records terrorist Towseef was active since 2017 and Aamir had joined terrorist ranks in the year 2018.

"Both of them were wanted in many terror crimes including the killing of an off-duty Territorial Army soldier Mohammad Saleem Akhoon who was killed by them near his home in Goriwan Bijbehara on Friday," police said.

"They were also wanted by law in Case FIR No. 07/2020 of PS Bijbehara regarding attack on CRPF party in which one CRPF jawan had got killed. They were also involved in threatening and intimidating the civilian population of the area and enticing the young boys to join terror ranks." Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition including two AK series rifles were recovered from the site of encounter.

Police said all the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation and to probe their complicity in other terror crimes.

Police said the last rites of the killed terrorists shall be performed after conducting medico-legal formalities at Handwara and their nearest family members shall be allowed to participate in the last rites.

Police have registered a case under relevant sections of law and investigation has been initiated.
Conservative leader Erin O'Toole holds a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 6, 2020. Top Tory leaders of past and present will speak with supporters today about what a conservative economic recovery from COVID-19 could look like. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
More than 50 per cent of England's population are in areas where virtually no new Covid cases at all.

Some 4,307 areas - with a total population of 34.5 million - have had so few Covid cases that Public Health England has not published their data for a month to protect the identities of the few people with positive tests.

The neighbourhoods - including parts of Devon and Cornwall - could have had two new cases but likely had none in the week up to April 4.

Meanwhile, 1,091 places - with a population of 8.2 million people - have had no data published since the end of February.

News about the country's dropping figures will no-doubt pile more pressure on Boris Johnson to accelerate his roadmap out of lockdown.

As it stands, six groups - or two households - can meet outside. Outdoor pubs and restaurants, alongside non-essential shops, are to reopen their doors on Monday.

BEFORE: More than 50 per cent of England's population are in areas where virtually no new Covid cases at all. Pictured: The rolling seven-day average cases on February 23

AFTER: Some 4,307 areas - with a total population of 34.5 million - have had so few Covid cases that Public Health England has not published their data for a month to protect the identities of the few people with positive tests. The neighbourhoods - including parts of Devon and Cornwall - could have had two new cases but likely had none in the week up to April 4. Pictured: The rolling seven-day average cases on April 4

Some 4,307 areas - with a total population of 34.5 million - have had so few Covid cases that Public Health England has not published their data for a month to protect the identities of the few people with positive tests (file image)

In total, England is seeing 20,000 new cases each week.

In the worst week of the second wave in January, 380,000 cases were seen weekly - 90 per cent higher than the figure now.

During that week, just six areas out of 6,791 had small enough case totals to mean their data had to be redacted to ensure the anonymity of those affected, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Bampton, Holcombe, Westleigh, Lynton and Combe Martin in Devon and Towednack, Lelant, Carbis Bay, Probus and Roseland in Cornwall have gone ten and nine weeks respectively with no new infections.

Some 83.3 per cent of the south west is made up of areas with nearly zero cases. The south east has 76.8 per cent and the east of England has 74.5 per cent.

But the drop is not seen nation wide, with 69.5 per cent of Yorkshire and the Humber with high enough cases for their data to be published by Public Health England.

In the East Midlands, 51.1 per cent of areas have case figures high enough.

It comes after Britain recorded a record number of second doses of the vaccine in a single day, with the total number of jabs rising to more than 39million in the country.

Of those 32,010,244 were first doses - a rise of 106,878 on the previous day.

And 6,991,310 were second doses, setting a record with an increase of 450,136 in a single day.

The Government said a further 40 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Saturday, bringing the UK total to 127,080.

They added that, as of 9am on Saturday, there had been a further 2,589 lab-confirmed cases in the UK, bringing the total to 4,368,045.

Meanwhile in Northern Ireland the number of vaccines administered has passed the one million mark.

Some 813,468 people have now received their first dose of the vaccine, while 189,697 have received their second dose, bringing the total to 1,003,165 according to the latest figures available.

Health Minister Robin Swann said: 'Vaccination is saving many lives in Northern Ireland. It is also protecting a great many others from serious illness and reducing pressures on our health and social care services.

'Let us not forget how serious the situation was at the turn of the year, with the vaccination programme in its infancy and Covid infection levels rising alarmingly.

Government data up to Friday shows the total number who have received at least one dose is now 39,001,554 in the UK

Cases have fallen by nearly a quarter ahead of lockdown being eased on Monday, according to official figures

'Hitting the one million mark is undoubtedly another landmark to welcome, and more than 800,000 people have received a first dose.

'However, we still have work to do.'

Meanwhile Britain's coronavirus pandemic is continuing to shrink with cases falling by nearly a quarter ahead of lockdown being eased on Monday, according to official figures and estimates.

It comes as a scientist advising the Government has insisted blood clots potentially associated with coronavirus vaccines are 'extraordinarily rare events' and reminded the public that no medicine is completely free of side-effects.

Professor Peter Openshaw's comments come after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it is continuing to look at reports of rare blood clots related to the vaccine from Janssen, whose parent company is Johnson & Johnson.

The vaccine is yet to be approved for use in the UK, but the Government has ordered 30 million doses.

Prof Openshaw, a member of the Covid-19 clinical information network, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We still don't know whether they are directly related and caused by the vaccine but it seems possible that they could be.

'We still have to bear in mind just how rare these events are, and we're doing something at a massive scale in terms of rolling out these vaccines, and there are many vaccines around.

'It wouldn't be surprising to find the J & J, the Janssen vaccine, also causes rare blood clots, because it's based on an adenovirus technology which is not that far away from the technology which is being used in the AstraZeneca vaccine.'

The MHRA said figures suggest the risk of rare blood clot is the equivalent to four people out of every million who receive the AstraZeneca vaccine

Four serious cases of unusual blood clots with low blood platelets have been reported in relation to the Janssen jab - one in a clinical trial and three during the vaccine's rollout in the US. One person has died.

It follows the EMA announcement earlier this week that brain blood clots with low platelet count should be regarded as a rare side-effect of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

In the UK, regulators have recommended that people aged 18 to 29 should be offered alternatives to the AstraZeneca vaccine, saying there was a possible link between the jab and 'extremely rare' blood clots.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the benefits still outweigh the risks overall, but while it has not concluded that the AstraZeneca vaccine causes rare brain clots, it said the link is getting firmer.

The MHRA said figures suggest the risk of rare blood clot is the equivalent to four people out of every million who receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Asked if he is concerned public confidence in jabs could be undermined, Prof Openshaw said: 'These are extraordinarily rare events and there is no medicine that is going to be completely free of side-effects.'
President Joe Biden, with Vice President Kamala Harris, speaks about infrastructure investment from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington on April 7, 2021. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

One-Fifth of Biden Administration Infrastructure Plan to be Spent on Infrastructure

Commentary

Just 21 percent of President Joe Bidens proposed infrastructure plan is proposed to be spent on traditional infrastructure projects such as bridges, trains, waterways and roads.

The remaining 79 percent, would be spent to support industrial policy and what has traditionally been called pork barrel projects.

Of the proposed spending, 26 percent would support the administrations proposed industrial policy, which would favor domestic manufacturing and green technology.

A key example of this is the proposed $174 billion to be spent to win the electric vehicle (EV) market. It is not clear from the White Houses briefing paper how much of that money would be spent on building hard assets such as EV charging stations, nor do we know how much would be spent on federal subsidies to encourage the purchase of such vehicles.

Industrial policy was especially well-used in Japan and South Korea from the 1950s to the 1980s to benefit the steel, ship-building and car industries, all of which became world-class. Exporting those items allowed the countries quickly to industrialize more broadly and eventually become full democracies.

At the time, such industrial policies were tolerated by the other democracies of the world because thoseand other east-Asian territories and nationswere seen as a bulwark against communist regimes in North Korea, the Soviet Union and China.

China won its civil war against the faction that had to retreat to Taiwan in 1949 and the Korean Conflict was fought from 1950 to 1953.

Under the rules of the modern World Trade Organization, though, governments are generally not allowed to subsidize products being exported.

The last half of the Biden Administrations proposed infrastructure legislation, or 52 percent, would go toward projects which traditionally might have been called pork barrel projects.

Such projects take political considerations into account more than they seek to maximize the economic benefit. For example, there may be much merit in spending $400 billion on care givers, whom the Biden Administration points out are predominantly women of color. Whether to spend that money is a legitimate political decision Americans can make. However, it is not infrastructure.

The full, 25 page White House briefing paper can be found online.

The Epoch Times analysis of the proposed legislation is in the below table.

Tim Shaler is a professional investor and economist based in Southern California. He is a regular columnist for The Epoch Times, where he exclusively provides some of his original economic analysis.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Image

This Is My Block

Dear Diary:

This is my block, 17th Street between Second and Third. I own it.

Im not a real estate tycoon. I was born here. While the doctor and the cabdriver argued about whose car to take, out I came, on a snowy sidewalk, under the shadow of the Third Avenue El.

Back then, New York was a series of small towns strung together. On our block, my friends and I knew every neighbor, and they knew us.

We played in the street all day until dark. I recognize every crack in the sidewalk, every stoop where we gossiped, every pole we climbed and every fire hydrant we jumped over. (It does seem as if the fire hydrants have shrunk over the years.)

Now, when I come back to this block, something happens.

I suppose on the outside, I look like an older woman. On the inside, while Im here, its magic. I become that young kid again. The aches and pains disappear. I can run and I can skip. When I walk home, the feeling stays with me the whole way. It happens every time.
The Ever Given container ship, operated by the Evergreen Marine Corporation, sailing through the Suez Canal. Sayed Hassan/picture alliance via Getty Images

The Ever Given can't leave the Suez Canal until compensation is paid, officials said Thursday.

It is still unclear how much has to be paid, though it could be up to $1 billion.

The owner of the Ever Given said it hadn't officially heard from Egyptian authorities yet.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

While the giant Even Given container ship might have been freed from the banks of the Suez Canal, it still finds itself stuck, embroiled in a dispute over who should pay for dislodging it from the waterway.

Egyptian authorities said they wouldn't release the massive ship, which was stuck in the Suez Canal for almost a week, until its owners agreed to pay up to $1 billion in compensation.

"The vessel will remain here until investigations are complete and compensation is paid," Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie, who leads the Suez Canal Authority, told a local news station on Thursday, according to The Wall Street Journal.

"We hope for a speedy agreement," he said, adding that the "minute they agree to compensation, the vessel will be allowed to move."

Read more: 4 ways small-business owners can benefit from supply-chain delays happening right now

Rabie said Egyptian authorities would demand $1 billion to cover the costs of freeing the vessel.

The figure would cover the expense of the equipment and machinery used to clear the way and damage to the canal itself by the dredging while also compensating about 800 people who worked to release the 200,000-ton ship, Rabie said.

It would also refund the costs from the blocking of the canal, which ended up causing an epic traffic jam of more than 400 ships on either side of the channel.

Rabie did not say how exactly he arrived at that figure.

According to the London-based financial firm Refinitiv, the Egyptian state lost transit fees worth $95 million because of the blockage.

An aerial view of the Suez Canal in Egypt, taken from a commercial flight on March 27. Mahmoud Khaled/AFP via Getty Images

It is also still unclear who will pay for Egypt's demand for compensation. Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd., the Japanese owner of the Ever Given, told The Journal it hadn't officially heard from the Egyptian authorities.

Story continues

Eric Hsieh, the president of Evergreen Marine Corp., the charterer of Ever Given, said the company was "free of responsibility from cargo delays" because "it will be covered by insurance," Bloomberg reported.

The 1,300-foot Ever Given made headlines on March 23 when it steered off course during an unexpected wind storm and became lodged in the sandbanks of the Suez Canal, disrupting global trade. It was freed six days later.

Egypt has since opened a formal investigation into how the vessel got stuck.

The ship, its cargo, and the 25-person Indian crew of sailors will remain at anchor in Egypt's Great Bitter Lake until the investigation is over. Earlier this month, authorities told Insider the crew of the ship was safe and would continue getting paid.

Rabie said he would prefer to settle the matter of compensation outside court, though he didn't rule out a lawsuit.

"We could agree on a certain compensation, or it goes to court," he said, according to CNBC. "If they decide to go to court, then the ship should be held."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 03:43:30|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

CAIRO, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian President Kais Saied on Saturday expressed his country's support for Egypt's efforts to reach a fair and comprehensive agreement regarding the rules of filling and operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) built on the Nile River.

Saied's remarks came during a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo, where he arrived on Friday for a three-day official visit.

The two leaders also discussed ways of boosting bilateral relations, reiterating their support of the Palestinian cause as "the central cause of the Arab world," and activating the Arab role in ending the Libyan crisis.

Last week, AU-sponsored tripartite talks failed to revive the already stalled negotiations over the GERD. Enditem
'We are done dying'

The NAACP, along with Virginia's attorney general and a congressman are expressing outrage at the actions of police officers who pointed weapons, pepper-sprayed and threatened a Black and Latino military officer in December during a traffic stop that was caught on video. Army Lt. Caron Nazario filed a $1 million lawsuit against the officers, saying that his constitutional rights were violated, and in recent days, video from the officers' body cameras and Nazario's cellphone has gone viral. The local NAACP said it is launching an investigation into the Windsor Police Department, where the officers work. "Please know this will not go unaddressed," the group said. "We are done dying. We will not stand silently while another African American's civil rights are violated."

Virginia cops pepper-sprayed and pointed their weapons at a Black and Latino Army officer who had his hands raised during a December traffic stop, video shows.

A Black and Latino U.S. Army lieutenant sued two Virginia police officers who drew their guns and pepper-sprayed him during a traffic stop.

US vows to be leader in global vaccinations

If Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has his way, the United States will be "the world leader on helping to make sure the entire world gets vaccinated," saying on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday that China failed to share information and provide access to international public health experts in the early stages of the pandemic, which fueled the global crisis. "I think China knows that in the early stages of COVID, it didn't do what it needed to do," Blinken said. "And one result of that failure is that the (virus) got out of hand faster and with, I think, much more egregious results than it might otherwise." Blinken said the World Health Organization must be strengthened and reformed, and that "China has to play a part in that."

 Today's numbers: The U.S. has more than 31 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 561,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 135.5 million cases and more than 2.93 million deaths.

Story continues

Women report more side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine than men. Health experts explain why.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second from right, listens as national security adviser Jake Sullivan, right, speaks at the opening session of US-China talks at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, March 18, 2021.

US has commitment to Israel, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin says

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday declared an enduring and ironclad American commitment to Israel, reinforcing support at a tense time in Israeli politics and amid questions about the Biden administrations efforts to revive nuclear negotiations with Israels archenemy, Iran. Austins first talks in Israel since he became Pentagon chief in January come as the United States seeks to leverage Middle East diplomatic progress made by the Trump administration, which brokered a deal normalizing relations between Israel and several Arab states. After meeting with Defense Minister Benny Gantz in Tel Aviv, Austin said he had reaffirmed our commitment to Israel is enduring and ironclad. Austin made no mention of Iran.

Real quick

Boehner: Trump 'abused' his loyalists by lying to them

In an exclusive interview with USA TODAY ahead of his book release, "On the House: A Washington Memoir," former House Speaker John Boehner says Donald Trump "abused" his loyalists by lying to them. "He stepped all over their loyalty to him by continuing to say things that just weren't true," Boehner said. The memoir, published Tuesday, describes Texas Sen. Ted Cruz as "Lucifer in the flesh." Freedom Caucus members as "political terrorists" and "far-right knuckleheads." He also depicts Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as smart and strategic but also someone who "holds his feelings, thoughts, and emotions in a lockbox closed so tightly that whenever one of them seeps out, bystanders are struck silent." "I wasn't going to write some typical Washington walk," he told USA TODAY, in an extraordinary rebuke of the current-day GOP.

Exclusive: Ex-Speaker Boehner says Matt Gaetz should resign if indicted  or be expelled.

Former Speaker of the House John Boehner poses for a portrait after speaking with USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page about his new memoir "On the House: A Washington Memoir," in Marco Island, Fla. on April 5, 2021.

Prince Philip's death left 'a huge void' in the Queen's life

The death of Prince Philip has left a "huge void" in Queen Elizabeth II's life, their son Prince Andrew said Sunday. "We've lost, almost, the grandfather of the nation," he said. "And I feel very sorry and supportive of my mother, who's feeling it probably more than everybody else." His younger brother, Prince Edward, called Philip's death a "dreadful shock" but said the 94-year-old queen was "bearing up." Edward's wife, Sophie, said the monarch was "thinking of others before herself." Philips funeral will take place April 17 at Windsor Castle in a family service that will be closed to the public, according to Buckingham Palace.

Celebrities, politicians and high-profile figures are paying tribute to the life of Prince Philip: 'We are a kingdom united both in grief and gratitude.'

A look at the British royal family tree, spanning four generations.

April 9, 2021: An ardent Royals fan lays a floral tribute at the front of 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, 2021, Buckingham Palace announced. He was 99.

Health alert issued for 211,000 pounds of ground turkey

Check your freezer: A public health alert has been issued for approximately 211,406 pounds of raw ground turkey products potentially linked to salmonella hadar illness. The Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service issued the alert Saturday night, warning that since the products were shipped to stores nationwide with "use by/freeze/sell by" dates in January, the affected turkey could be lurking in freezers nationwide. "Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase," the alert said.

P.S. Like this roundup of stories? Sign up for "The Short List" newsletter here.

This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Contributing: Associated Press.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Virginia police lawsuit, Prince Philip: Weekend's biggest news
A top member of Sudans ruling council has rejected UAEs offer to resolve the border dispute between Sudan and Ethiopia and accused the Gulf country of trying to divide the claimed Al-Fashaga area between the two countries.

Abu Dhabi wants to divide the region, and Khartoum will not accept that, Malik Agar told local Sudan Tribune newspaper.

Agar, the first Sudanese official to speak about the content of the UAE initiative which was disclosed by the Sudanese cabinet last month, said the UAE wants to distribute our land. This is a biased initiative that will cast its shadow and repercussions on the region.

Tension has risen between Khartoum and Addis Ababa in recent months near border between the two countries.

Sudan in November announced it recovered 95 per cent of the fertile land that was being exploited by Ethiopian farmers under the protection of armed militias, at Al-Fashaqa border area.

The two countries, alongside Egypt, are mired in the Renaissance Dam crisis with talks still at standstill.

According to several Sudanese officials, the UAE proposed to withdraw the Sudanese troops from the border areas that they have controlled since November 2020, divide the income of the UAE investment projects in Al-Fashaga by 40% for Sudan, 40% for the Emirates and 20% for Ethiopian farmers.

Agars blames will cause wave in the region with UAE known as one of Khartoums allies.
For more than 300 years, the Alamo has served as a Spanish colonial mission and a revolutionary battle site, and it remains the center of our community heritage.

The Alamo is a vital part of civic life in San Antonio. When President Theodore Roosevelt spoke at a reunion of his Rough Riders at the Alamo in 1905, he called it one of our noblest symbols of the American spirit. While we should continue to give reverence to those who fought and died at the Battle of the Alamo, we must also recognize the layers of history embodied by the Alamo as a Spanish colonial mission and a military garrison.

We must also recognize the historical importance of Alamo Plaza, our citys most important open gathering space for more than 150 years. The Archdiocese of San Antonio transferred the title of the Alamo property to the city of San Antonio in 1872 on the condition the Alamo and the plaza remain open for public access. In this spirit, the Alamo should be welcoming to all who wish to visit by Alamo Plaza remaining an open space.

Presidents and presidential candidates have used the Alamo as a backdrop for major policy or campaign speeches. Protests, vigils and presidential addresses are commonplace at landmark symbols throughout the United States. It would be a disservice to our community to limit freedom of speech at our states most recognizable landmark by closing off Alamo Plaza.

The Alamo remains an important piece of our militarys history. One of the most famous battles is the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, the turning point for Texan independence. Since then, the Alamo has served as an Army depot, and change-of-command ceremonies are held there to this day. Gen. John J. Blackjack Pershing gave a victory speech at Alamo Plaza after World War I. The Battle of the Alamo continues to inspire military patriots all over the world, with the Alamo as a symbol of courage.

The Battle of Flowers parade began in 1891 to honor the heroes of the Alamo, Goliad and the Battle of San Jacinto. It has passed by the Alamo since its beginning 130 years ago. The parade includes the laying of a floral wreath at the Alamo to honor the fallen. The Fiesta Flambeau parade passes along the same route, with a special homage paid to the fallen by the University of Texas bands rendition of Eyes of Texas in front of the Alamo. The parade route should continue to be allowed.

Preserving the historic Woolworth and Crockett buildings is important. The Woolworth building was the scene of the historic fight for civil rights. San Antonio was one of the first cities to integrate lunch counters. We are proud that San Antonio took a stance for peaceful integration.

We support the Alamo Citizens Advisory Committees March 31 recommendation that Alamo Plaza remain open and the missions footprint be delineated by pavers. Just as significant is its recommendation the Battle of Flowers and Fiesta Flambeau parades and other traditional events and ceremonies be allowed to continue. Its recommendation that the Woolworth and Crockett buildings be preserved and repurposed would be a proper tribute to the civil rights movement.

We urge City Council to support the Alamo Citizens Advisory Committees recommendations. Council will vote on the plan Thursday. We hope you will be there to support the plan.

Nelson Wolff is the Bexar County judge. Phil Hardberger is a former mayor of San Antonio. Phil Bakke is a former member of the Alamo Citizen Advisory Committee.
Lanesborough faces the possibility of state fines if it doesn't bring the town sewer system into compliance with state environmental regulations. The sewer system upgrades have begun, with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection promising to waive financial penalties, according to town officials. The Lanesborough side of Pontoosuc Lake, with the Route 7 shoreline pictured, is one part of town hooked up to the wastewater system.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom addresses the media during a visit to a vaccination center in South Gate, Calif., on March 10, 2021. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)

California Aims to Fully Reopen June 15, Newsom Says, as Recall Looms

SANTA CLARA, Calif.California plans to fully reopen its economy on June 15, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on April 6, as long as the state has enough COVID-19 vaccines for those age 16 and older and hospitalization rates continue to be low and stable.

More than 20 million vaccines have been administered across the state, including 4 million to communities that have been hit hardest. Most of the state is currently in the Orange Tieror moderate risk levelon the states reopening blueprint map.

We anticipate over 30 million people will have been vaccinated with at least one dose by the end of the calendar month. With the expectation of an abundance of doses coming in from the federal government through the end of this month and into May, we can confidently say by June 15, that we can start to open up as business as usual, Newsom said during a press conference.

When the economy fully reopens, the blueprint will no longer be in effect.

Newsom said Californians will still need to wear masks, and testing or vaccination verification requirements will still be performed where necessary.

His decision came after the effort to recall him surpassed 2.1 million signatures, threatening his position as governor.

Rallygoers protest to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom at San Francisco City Hall on March 6, 2021. (Ilene Eng/The Epoch Times)

The recall effort gained momentum as the lockdowns continued throughout last year.

In a sense, he appeared to be making all decisions by himself, Tom Del Beccaro, chair of Rescue California, told NTD Television. Theres the policy side, but theres also the side that people just dont like this governor.

They think hes arrogant, they think hes hypocritical, because of the fact he continues to do things or did: going to expensive restaurants, being out, flouting his own rules; and that kind of hypocrisy is not easy to come back from when youre a governor.

The recall movement also cites issues that the governor hasnt addressed during his administration.

Theres the issue with the wildfires; theres the inability to provide consistent electricity; the water issues; there is homelessness; there is high poverty, Del Beccaro said.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, California recorded about 145,000 unemployment claims in the week of April 3. Thats an increase of almost 39,000 from the prior week.
Three kids found fatally stabbed in Los Angeles: U.S. media

Xinhua) 09:44, April 11, 2021

LOS ANGELES, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Three kids were found fatally stabbed at an apartment in Los Angeles Saturday morning, U.S. media reported, citing the local police.

The three young victims were found at the apartment in the 8000 block of Reseda Boulevard by their grandmother, NBC Los Angeles television station reported.

The children are all under the age of 3, Sgt. David Bambrick of the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Division was quoted as saying by the news outlet.

Police were searching for the killer or killers, according to the television station.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)
NHK has learned that the Japanese government is ready to announce, as early as Tuesday, that it plans to release treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean.

Wastewater produced by the crippled nuclear plant is stored in tanks in the compound that are set to fill up next year.

It's treated by the Advanced Liquid Processing System, or ALPS, to remove most of the radioactive materials, but still contains radioactive tritium.

Sources say the government wants to dilute the element to acceptable levels far below national regulations. Then, in about two years, it would begin releasing that water into the ocean.

The country's fishery industry has been strongly against the idea.

The industry minister says the government will work to address their concerns and bring in the International Atomic Energy Agency and other partners.

Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Kajiyama Hiroshi said on Friday, "We will seek the cooperation of global organizations such as the IAEA and local governments, to thoroughly check the plan's safety and maintain transparency."

China and South Korea have also voiced concerns about releasing the water into the sea.
When politicians talk about making sure that taxing and spending changes are revenue neutral, they usually mean one thing: As the first President Bush once said in much less bureaucratic terms, read my lips, no new taxes.

Thats not at all what Gov. John Bel Edwards is saying when he argues that the Legislatures planned tax structure revamp during the upcoming session should be revenue neutral, though. Edwards isnt warning lawmakers off tax hikes, which really arent on the table right now. Hes actually saying that they shouldnt be lured into cutting taxes, despite billions heading to Baton Rouge from the American Rescue Plan and the possibility of higher recurring revenue at the state level.

As always, I support fiscal reform to simplify our system and lower rates by ending unnecessary tax expenditures, but I simply will not support any fiscal changes that are not revenue neutral, he said in his written statement on his agenda for the session.

What we cant do right now is create another structural budget deficit, Edwards added at a Thursday press conference. That wouldnt make any sense.

It may be tempting for his more conservative critics to hear these words and accuse the Democratic governor of being a typical tax-and-spender. Before they do, they might want to reflect back on what happened the last time a governor went along with a move to slash tax revenue.

That governor was Bobby Jindal, who in 2008 signed the bill that reversed a good-government reform effort of a few years earlier by eliminating the Stelly Plans income tax increases, while leaving in place the sales tax cuts that the higher income taxes were designed to offset.

It happened during another period of optimism and flush receipts, with the recovery money after hurricanes Katrina and Rita flowing, sales taxes buoyed by all the rebuilding and oil and gas prices high; Stelly repeal was led by Republican lawmakers new to Baton Rouge following the first major term limits turnover. Many of them had run on reversing the tax increases, but the big bucks flowing into the Treasury prompted some to try to eliminate the state income tax entirely. Jindal, then new to office and initially a skeptic of the Stelly rollback, jumped on board in order to head off the more radical outcome.

From that moment on he became a cheerleader for the tax cuts and remains one to this day. Just last week, Jindal tweeted from retirement that tax cuts are infrastructure. He was probably attempting a joke, a riff on the Biden administrations extremely expansive definition of the infrastructure it wants to include in its next big spending package. But since he brought it up, its fair to note that his tax cuts didnt build a thing except for the $2 billion budget deficit, the largest in the states history, that awaited Edwards when he took office in 2016.

Hence the current governors reluctance to approach the upcoming windfall shortsightedly.

The stimulus money, all $3.2 billion of it, cant be used to offset tax cuts, according to Washington. Just what that means will be spelled out in upcoming regulations, but regardless, it would be breathtakingly irresponsible to put the one-time money toward annually recurring needs. Theres also the likelihood that state revenue projections will grow, and thats where Edwards pointed when he voiced concern.

If more money becomes available, he said, it should go toward teacher pay raises and early childhood education, both longstanding needs that Louisiana lags in meeting.

We will not go back to the past when a huge structural budget deficit threatened critical state services, he wrote, and noted also during the press conference that the loss of revenue from a temporary sales tax enacted to pull the state out of crisis looms in 2025.

Cutting taxes now would be exactly what happened after the Katrina recovery, he said. We should never make the same mistake.

He would know. Jindal ignored his better instincts back in 2008 when he backed the big tax cut. But most lawmakers also supported the change, and not just Republicans. One of yes votes came from the governor himself, who was then a freshman representative.

Unlike Jindal, apparently, Edwards now recognizes his error.

No wonder he doesnt want to go down that path again.
The Republicans One People, One House: A Community Dialogue series was recently honored by the New England regional chapter of the National Association for Multi-ethnicity In Communications for its efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion.

The series was recognized in the chapters inaugural Best awards program that was launched to highlight excellence, inclusion and creativity.

Also recognized in the competition were a number of Greater Springfield area professionals and educators who received awards. The competition was judged by the associations national staff in New York City.

I am so excited about launching this effort to recognize the power of diversity and inclusion in relation to communications in our area, said Kamilah AVant, New England chapter president. In this era of change and awareness of diversity, equity and inclusion, we must begin to evaluate our communications, outreach and creative efforts by a wide range of communicators, a multitude of storytellers and perspectives by graphic artists, video-broadcasters and social media technologists. I am so proud of our honorees and all those who submitted entries, especially given the lack of diversity in many of our communication industries.

The Republicans series was recognized in the category of diversity-equity-inclusion campaign, activity, training or communication.

Second place in the category went to Ken Granderson and Dale Dowdie, creators of Blackfacts.com, and third place to Jacqueline Williams-Hines for the No Small Victories Autism Awareness campaign. The Baystate Health Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the African American Female Professors Award Association both received an honorable mention.

The Republican is humbled and honored by this award, said Cynthia G. Simison, executive editor of the newspaper. One People, One House was started in the wake of the killing of George Floyd to help our communities and our readers share their perspectives on racism and policing today, she said. We hope as we continue this series that we can all learn from each other and move forward as a community to address issues related to systemic racism.

Other award winners from Western Massachusetts include Janine and Tom Fondon, of UnityFirst.com, a national distributor of diversity-related e-news based in Springfield, in the category of professional writing for their work for the National Coalition of Black Veterans Organization campaign in honor of Col. Charles Young.

Janine Fondon, who is also a professor at Bay Path University, also was honored along with Lucie Lewis and Demetria Rougeaux Shabazz with a first-place award in the category of creative arts, graphics and advertising for their collaboration on the Voices of Resilience: The Intersection of Women on the Move exhibit at the DAmour Museum of Fine Art at the Springfield Museums. The exhibit, curated by Fondon, recently completed a more than year-long run.

In the category of broadcast and video news or stories related to diversity, equity and inclusion, Nikai Fondon received a first-place award for her podcast, She Did That. Fondon focuses her series on women of color who have found success in a wide range of fields. She is the daughter of Janine and Tom Fondon.

Amilcar Shabazz, faculty member and scholar in African American studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Demetria Rougeaux Shabazz, adjunct lecturer on social justice and media and owner of Seven Generations Movement Collective, received second-place honors for their Difficult Dialogues: Reparations series broadcast by Amherst Media, and Tanisha Arena, executive director of the community organization Arise for Social Justice, placed third for her podcast, Unapologetic, broadcast by Holyoke Media.

Receiving an honorable mention was the Black in the Valley segment of the Bill Newman show on WHMP Radio, Northampton, that is directed by the Rev. Dr. Jacquelyn Crooks and Carlie Tartakov.

Founded in 1980, the National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications organization seeks to educate, advocate and empower for multi-ethnic diversity in the communications industry. The New England chapter relaunched in 2016 and is one of 16 chapters nationwide. To learn more about the organization and how to join, go online to namicnewengland.wixsite.com/namicne.
Bir Lahlou (Liberated Territories), 10 April 2021 (SPS) - The Sahrawi Ministry of Foreign Affairs underlined Friday that it is high time that Morocco opts for peace with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and its neighbors, calling on the Security Council to assume its responsibility vis-a-vis the Sahrawi people.



The Sahrawi Ministry underlined Friday in a statement that  Morocco, backed by France, has been trying for three decades to bury the peace agreement of 1991 concluded with the Polisario Front on the organization of a referendum on self-determination.



The peace agreement, signed between the two sides and ratified by the Security Council, stipulates in its articles 5 and 6 that the referendum on self-determination constitutes a practical, real and consensus solution, but guarantees the consent of the Sahrawi people and of the international community, said the source.



The thirty-year wait for the MINURSO to accomplish its mission, consisting in the organization of a self-determination referendum in Western Sahara, shows the Sahrawi States capacity to ensure the security and stability throughout all its territory as part of a joint action with the neighboring countries, added the source.



The Sahrawi Ministry reminded, once again, the Security Council of the responsibility of the latter vis-a-vis the Sahrawi cause and its people, affirming in a statement that the resumption of the war since 13 November 2020 is a natural consequence caused by the Moroccan violation of the agreement between the two sides and the ongoing violations by the occupation State and puts the Security Council in front of its responsibilities, given that it, in addition to the African Union, guarantees the implementation of this agreement. (SPS)



062/090/700
Passenger planes havent really changed much or look quite similar to jets people used to travel on in the late 1960s. Sure, there are some exceptions like the Concorde but then again that aeroplane was discontinued from service on April 10th 2003. The plane was a marvel when it came to supersonic travel speeds but it really wasnt cost-effective for airlines to operate. Today, the best selling planes happen to be the narrow-body aircraft used for point-to-point travel.

However, the future looks very different if we are to go by what aircraft manufacturers are working on. Air Travel is bound to change 30-50 years from now and here are some examples of aircraft that we might use for travel in the future:

1. Airbus Maveric

 Airbus

If you look from afar, this plane looks like a flying wedge and thats because it uses a Blended Wing Body design. The design is still a concept at the moment and Airbus have tested a small scale remote-controlled drone to test the designs viability. Airbus says the design has "great potential since it does not have a traditional fuselage and the weight that comes with it. The blended wing body design is quite common to see in military aircraft and sooner or later it will trickle down to passenger aircraft as well. The radical design also might reduce emissions from air travel to half by 2050.



2. Flying-V

 Delft Technology University

The Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have also designed a radical-looking aircraft that could be the future of air travel. The Flying V is a new concept of long-haul passenger aircraft where passengers and cargo can be carried within the wings themselves. The entire plane is shaped like an arrowhead and will be cheaper to manufacture than a blended wing aircraft. The aircrafts flight capabilities have been tested on a battery-powered drone that has a wingspan of 9ft. The test was a massive success and who knows we might even see Flying-Vs design become a reality soon.



3. Boom

 BOOM

As we mentioned before, Supersonic air travel has gone backwards ever since Concorde went out of service. Concorde was able to cross the Atlantic in about three hours from London, however it used up a lot of fuel and in turn, had tickets that used to cost more than most peoples full-year's wages. However, a Silicon Valley startup and Japan Airlines is looking to change that with Boom Supersonic. The commercial aircraft that is currently under development is expected to fly at speeds of Mach 2.2 with lower costs than the Concorde.



4. Spaceliner

 DLR

A concept project by DLR and the German Aerospace Research Institute, this spacecraft is expected to run somewhat similar to the Virgin Galactic. The craft will travel at the edge of the atmosphere so that it can go 25 times faster than the speed of sound. This speed will enable passengers to travel from London to Australia in about 90 minutes.


An unprecedented lineup of law enforcement officers -- including the Minneapolis police chief -- took the stand at the murder trial of former officer Derek Chauvin, denouncing him for kneeling on the neck of George Floyd for more than nine minutes.

As rare as it is for police-involved deaths to lead to a criminal trial -- let alone a conviction -- the sight of the top cop and other brass testifying against a former subordinate is even rarer.

Chief Medaria Arradondo on Monday thoroughly rejected Chauvin's actions and use of force during the arrest of Floyd last May as contrary to department policy.

"Once there was no longer any resistance and clearly, when Mr. Floyd was no longer responsive and even motionless, to continue to apply that level of force to a person proned out, handcuffed behind their back -- that in no way shape or form is anything that is by policy," the police chief told the jury. "It is not part of our training, and it is certainly not part of our ethics or our values."

The piercing of the so-called blue wall of silence -- an unwritten code that has long restrained cops from implicating fellow officers accused of misconduct -- in one Minneapolis courtroom has been widely praised following a summer of protest, unrest and a social reckoning with American systemic racism.

"It is unprecedented," Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby said. "You have police officers. You have training officers. You have the police chief who is willing to testify in direct opposition to Chauvin's extensive use of force. That does not happen every day."

Still, other experts caution that the potentially devastating testimony in a nationally televised trial does not necessarily portend significant change in longstanding systemic problems in US policing -- particularly the way people of color are treated.

"It's absolutely too soon to say whether we are really entering a new era where police chiefs and others not only refuse to cover up for officers' conduct but actually ... come forward and speak very powerfully and very unequivocally about officer misconduct the way that we're seeing in the Chauvin trial," said Christy Lopez, a Georgetown Law professor and former Justice Department lawyer who investigated police departments.

"We've definitely got some momentum now and that could really build into something permanent but it could end up being a flash in the pan if we don't take advantage of this moment."

There are no 'slam dunk' cases

Chauvin was fired from his position as a Minneapolis police officer soon after a cellphone video went viral of him planting his knee on Floyd's neck. Floyd had been accused of passing a counterfeit $20 bill. He is heard repeatedly crying out for help. He said he couldn't breathe, and called for his mother. Three other former officers were present.

Chauvin knelt on Floyd for nine minutes and 29 seconds, according to prosecutors. A renowned pulmonary critical care doctor testified Thursday that Floyd died from a "low level of oxygen" when Chauvin pinned him to the street and restricted his ability to breathe.

Less than a year after Floyd's death, Chauvin is the first of the four former officers at the scene on May 25 to go to trial. He faces the more serious charges.

Chauvin, 45, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin's defense attorney Eric Nelson has argued that Floyd died of a drug overdose and preexisting health conditions.

Hennepin County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker testified Friday that Floyd's heart disease and use of fentanyl were contributing factors but not the direct cause of his death.

"In my opinion, the law enforcement subdual, restraint and the neck compression was just more than Mr. Floyd could take by virtue of those heart conditions," he said.

The defense has also argued that Chauvin acted within his police training and employed an appropriate use of force.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, whose office prosecuted the Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile during a 2016 traffic stop, said the number of officers who have testified against Chauvin is indeed unusual.

Jeronimo Yanez, the St. Anthony, Minnesota, police officer, was found not guilty of second-degree manslaughter in 2017 after the police chief, training officers and other colleagues testified in Yanez's defense. "They were trying to help their colleague who was accused of a crime," Choi said.

The jury acquitted Yanez despite video footage and testimony from Castile's girlfriend, who witnessed the shooting. Castile's death garnered widespread attention -- and sparked nationwide protests -- after his girlfriend broadcast the shooting's aftermath on Facebook Live.

An audio recording captured Castile telling Yanez he had a gun in the car, and the officer telling Castile not to reach for it. Seconds later, Yanez opened fire. Yanez testified at trial that he feared for his life because Castile put his hand on his firearm, not his wallet or identification papers, and was pulling the gun from his pocket. Prosecutors said Castile's fully loaded gun -- for which he had a permit -- was found in his shorts pocket.

Miriam Krinsky, a former federal prosecutor who led the appeal on the lenient sentencing of one of the officers involved in the 1991 beating of Rodney King, said there is "no such thing as a slam dunk case when it comes to prosecuting police officers ... even with a videotape."

"By human nature people on juries are just inclined to give police officers the benefit of the doubt and in every way, shape or form to individuals who wear a uniform," Krinsky said. "Jurors are inclined to want to trust police because these are people who are in charge with keeping them safe in their homes and in their neighborhoods."

The chief has testified against a cop before

How the jury in Chauvin's closely watched trial is swayed by the testimony of a succession of officers testifying for the state remains to be seen.

Arradondo, who joined the Minneapolis Police Department in 1989 and rose through the ranks, said the former officer's handling of the encounter violated policies around de-escalation, objectively reasonable use of force and requirement to render aid.

"When we talk about the framework of our sanctity of life and when we talk about the principles and values we have, that action goes contrary to what we're talking about," he said.

Arradondo had previously testified at the 2019 trial of Mohamed Noor, an officer convicted of third-degree murder and manslaughter for fatally shooting Justine Ruszczyk while responding to her 911 call. Arradondo was assistant chief at the time of the shooting.

Noor was believed to be the first officer convicted of murder in Minnesota in recent memory, according to prosecutors.

In addition to Arradondo, Police Inspector Katie Blackwell -- who was in charge of the department's training program last year -- testified in Chauvin's trial on Monday that officers are taught to use their arms when doing neck restraints.

"I don't know what kind of improvised position this is," she said of Chauvin's kneeling. "That's not what we train."

Chauvin's direct supervisor testified that the ex-cop's use of force should have ended earlier, and the department's top homicide detective testified that kneeling on Floyd's neck after he had been handcuffed was "totally unnecessary."

"The thing that people forget is that there are a lot of prosecutions of individual officers in which other officers ... as well as chiefs really put their careers on the line and put their safety on the line to testify against those officers," Lopez said.

"It's worth recognizing and sort of honoring the officers who have come forward in similar situations in the past and have really paid a price for it," she added. "If we want this to be more than a moment that's the dynamic we have to change."

At least one defense attorney with experience representing police officers dismissed the significance of back-to-back law enforcement testimony in the Minneapolis trial.

The attorney, who didn't want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the ongoing trial, said the police testimony "doesn't matter" because the witnesses are not considered experts and are offering "just an opinion and opinions don't matter in trial."

"These cases are supposed to be a battle of the experts on testimony to say whether this death was caused by force or medical," the defense attorney said. "I think they're trying to sort of bootstrap the experts they're going to have with other credentialed people."

Officers are being trained to intervene

In Chicago, Cook County State's Attorney Kimberly Foxx singled out the testimony of the first witness called in Chauvin's trial, Jena Scurry, a Minneapolis 911 dispatcher who directed officers to the scene of Floyd's death.

Scurry walked jurors through video, not previously publicly released, shot from a police camera across the street from the Cup Foods store where police were first called. She watched live video from that feed on the day of Floyd's death and called a police sergeant to voice her concerns.

"You can call me a snitch if you want to," she said in the recorded call. "I don't know if they had to use force or not. They got something out of the back of the squad and all of them sat on this man, so I don't know if they needed to or not."

Foxx noted how "that was in real time and in real time you had people saying, 'This is egregious.' "

"I think the testimony has proven that in real time other than those four officers, others in law enforcement were disgusted, outraged and recognized the criminality of this."

Lopez, co-director of Georgetown Law's Program on Innovative Policing, said the program is leading a nationwide initiative known as Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement Project, or ABLE. It is training officers in more than 100 US law enforcement agencies to step in when another officer uses excessive force or acts against department guidelines.

The project has become popular with police agencies following the protests that erupted after Floyd's death. Lopez said there is an advantage to dealing with systemic issues in policing at the reform level rather than the prosecution level after "something terrible has already happened."

Intervening is a much more effective way to prevent fellow officers from causing harm than trying to chip away at the blue wall of silence.

"That's what was missing (in the Floyd police encounter) -- both the culture and the skills for these fellow officers to step in and actually, first, tell Chauvin, you need to get your knee out of his neck and then, if necessary, physically remove him from George Floyd's neck," Lopez said.

She added, "You could so clearly see on the video that these officers didn't intervene and how different things could be if they had... I don't want to discount the importance of accountability. But there's no question in my mind that this kind of broad training and culture change that is geared towards prevention is going to make a much bigger difference than after-the-fact prosecutions."

Mosby said the series of law enforcement witnesses in Chauvin's nationally televised trial "allows for other police officers to say, 'I can do the right thing.' "

"We have normalized the code of silence," she added. "That is the culture."

Mosby charged six Baltimore Police Department officers in connection with the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, 25, who died in police custody from a spinal cord injury. The death led to days of protests and riots in Baltimore, which became a focal point of the Black Lives Matter movement.

After the first officer's trial ended with a hung jury -- one juror held out -- three other officers went on to have non-jury trials where a judge acquitted them. Mosby's office later dropped the charges against the officer whose trial ended in a hung jury and the two remaining officers. Mosby at the time called the decision "agonizing." She criticized the way police handled their investigation in the case.

'Internal accountability' seen as the key

David Rudovsky, a civil rights and criminal defense attorney who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, cautioned against interpreting the Chauvin trial so far as an example of "a major change in American policing."

"I still don't expect that we're going to see a lot of prosecutions and a lot of convictions of police," he said. "I think it's a necessary tool (but) police reform is much more important, is more likely to happen with internal accountability. The external is important: criminal prosecution, investigations, civil suits. That helps but internal accountability is really the key."

Still, some see Chauvin's prosecution as an important step.

Civil rights leaders expressed surprise that top ranking police officials cracked the blue wall of silence in the Chauvin trial. It's especially rare, they said, in police brutality cases where the victim is Black.

NAACP President Derrick Johnson said the police chief's decision to immediately fire Chauvin and then testify against him sets the example for how law enforcement can begin to weed out rogue officers.

"We hope their testimony is as compelling to the jury as it is to us," Johnson said of the police witnesses. "I don't see how there is any reasonable doubt."

But Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, a racial justice organization, said he isn't convinced the testimony will weigh heavily on the jury's final decision or alter how police treat Black people.

Robinson believes Minneapolis police are using a "bad apple strategy" to separate the department from Chauvin rather than addressing the systemic issues fueling brutality by officers.

"Derek Chauvin saw cameras in his face and did not flinch because this is policing in America," he said.

Lopez said acknowledging the significance of the trial testimony is important -- without making too much of it.

"This moment is an opportunity. This moment reflects potential. There's some momentum being built here but we just know from history and from what we know about policing that this will subside," she said.

"Nothing or very little will change unless we really think about what are the lessons of this moment. How can we encourage this kind of accountability, this kind of standing up for what's right? Not just when you're on national TV and cities have burned, but every single day in policing."

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the charges Derek Chauvin faces in George Floyd's death. They are second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He has pleaded not guilty.
Zoe Ventoura welcomed her first child, son Austin with her actor ex Dan MacPherson in December 2019.

And on Sunday, the 40-year-old actress revealed that sharing her first year of motherhood with a global pandemic has been some ways beneficial.

'COVID hit and I was parenting a very small child, so it kind of just felt like an extension of new parenthood anyway,' the Home And Away star told The Sydney Morning Herald.

'COVID hit and I was parenting a very small child': Actress Zoe Ventoura, 40, (pictured) has reflected upon coping with single motherhood during the pandemic - following her shock split from Dan MacPherson

'You think, 'I just need to stay in bed all day' but it's not really an option any more,'' she told the publication.

'But, I'm lucky that I have a really great support network around, so I've been able to rest when I can,' she said.

Daniel and Zoe surprised fans after they announced their separation in December last year after five years together.

Reality: 'COVID hit and I was parenting a very small child, so it kind of just felt like an extension of new parenthood anyway,' she told The Sydney Morning Herald this week. Pictured with her son

Exhausted: 'You think, 'I just need to stay in bed all day' but it's not really an option any more,'' she told the publication, but noted that she's 'lucky' to have a good support network

The couple shared almost identically worded posts to Instagram, revealing they had mutually decided to separate.

Alongside a photo of the pair with their backs turned to the camera at sunset, Zoe 40, wrote: 'With the greatest respect for each other, Dan and I have separated.'

'Together, we will continue wholeheartedly to raise our beautiful boy Austin. He is, and will forever be, our greatest priority.

Over: Zoe and actor Dan (left) announced their shock split after five years of marriage in December

'We ask for your respect and will be making no further comment.'

Earlier last year, Daniel revealed how he had to make the difficult decision to leave his pregnant wife to work in Ireland shortly before she gave birth due to a job offer.

Speaking on the Samantha Gash Podcast, the actor said he landed a major role in a yet-to-be-announced project and was lucky his wife is so supportive.

'That was even a harder conversation to have,' Dan explained.
By Steven L. Shields





In times like these, with all the concerns and sometimes anger expressed over cultural appropriation, I find it odd that more and more Koreans adopt "Western" or "English" names. While national borders and cultural boundaries have been fluid throughout human history, I think one's name is closely connected with personal identity.



A name is not the person, and identity is more than the surface, but names connect us to our family and cultural heritage. For example, my surname, "Shields," is the anglicized form of a Scottish word, "shieling." The word refers to a hut or cottage, especially those used by herders during pasturing times for the animals.



My surname has nothing to do with battle armor. Indeed, my ancestors are Scots; our family history confirms a centuries-long heritage of sheepherding. The wool produced went into making the famous Scottish plaids.



When I arrived in Korea more than 45 years ago, Korean friends crafted my Korean name. It was their way of saying "welcome." In those early years, my friends called me by my Korean name. I felt honored and proud to belong. However, over the years, the name did not stick. It is perhaps odd that a non-Korean, and an expatriate, would have such a name.



I can't use the name legally in Korea, although many years ago, the ward office allowed me to register a "dojang" (legal seal stamp) with the Chinese characters of that name. These days, such registration cannot be done. A registered dojang must carry the name as it is given in a passport. My Korean name continues to be a treasured memento of my life in Korea.



What accounts for the spread of "English" names for Koreans? Some Christian traditions, especially Western religious denominations, have a mindset of a "proper" name, a name from the Bible. This tradition was widespread in Europe, where infants were baptized and given a name simultaneously. When these well-meaning priests came to Asia, they imposed Biblical names on all their converts.



These so-called Christian names were seemingly required for salvific grace. This practice is widespread in Korean Catholicism and Anglicanism, and perhaps some other Protestant groups.



I met a university undergraduate the other day, and I asked him about names. As an infant, he was baptized as a Catholic but hadn't gone to church in years. He said he was given a so-called "Christian" name, but as he has grown up, he realized that his given Korean name is just as good. He has never used the Western name. Frankly, I find it incredulous to suggest that Korean names (or other non-Western names) are not "good enough" for a religion.



Another reason for the spread of "English" names is Korea's globalization. In the past 20 or so years, more and more Koreans are heading to other countries for education and work-related trips. There has been an explosion of multinational businesses in Korea and connecting with Korea-based companies. I asked several friends as to why they chose an "English" name.



Each one said it had to do with helping foreigners call them by a name that was easy for the foreigner to pronounce. A few friends have done their military service at the Korean Augmentation to the United States Army (KATUSA). Each of them was known by an American-style name: Jason, Daniel or Jay.



Another former KATUSA went by "DJ," which are the first English letters of his Korean name. One friend, who did postgraduate studies in Australia, became so tired of having her name pronounced wrongly (associate Aussie students mispronounced her name as "jeong-yook," meaning "butcher"), she chose an English name in exasperation.



Another friend, who worked in New York City for a few years got tired of having to spell and pronounce his name repeatedly to the same co-workers that he gave up and became known as "Michael," but all through high school and university in the United States he never had the problem. Other friends who are engaged in multinational businesses have done the same thing. All for the comfort of their mostly American colleagues.



Not surprisingly, European colleagues have little trouble with Korean names, perhaps because of the multilingual education typical in Europe  but not in the U.S.  two years of high school Spanish doesn't cut it when compared to Europe, American friends.



Perhaps another problem is the challenge of romanization. Despite dozens of scholars' efforts over the past 130 years or so of contact with the West, there is yet to be discovered an accurate and easy-to-read romanization for Hangeul. Phonetic writing systems are not one-to-one fully interchangeable. My name, when put into Hangeul, is "su-tee-bun." Similar, but not quite.



Names are part of who we are. Our name identifies us and connects us with family heritage and images of meaning that are essential cultural ideals. I know my Korean friends take pride in their names. I hope more foreigners could take the time to learn to pronounce their colleagues' names and give honor to the rich cultural heritage of Korea and its people.





Steven L. Shields (slshields@gmail.com) has lived in Korea for many years, beginning in the 1970s. He served as copy editor of The Korea Times in 1977. He is a retired clergyman and president of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea.


STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A new study from a Duke Health-led research team analyzed the effectiveness of two coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines against some variants.

According to a press release from Duke University, the two COVID vaccines are predicted to be protective against the virus that arose in California. But they not be as effective against the variant that first emerged in South Africa.

The finding, which appeared on April 7 as a research letter in the New England Journal of Medicine, tested blood serum samples from people who either received the Moderna vaccine or was a vaccine candidate from Novovax, which isnt yet authorized for use in the United States.

When the California variant was exposed to people who received both doses of the Moderna vaccine, a small decline in effectiveness occurred, but the vaccine was still strongly protective. A vaccine candidate from Novovax  which is expected to be considered for U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorization in upcoming weeks  also performed well against the California variant.

The researchers, according to Duke, didnt test the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, but they inferred the findings for the Moderna vaccine would be comparable due to the similarities of the technology used in the two vaccines.

The good news is the California variant does not appear to be a problem for our current vaccines, said author David Montefiori, professor and director of the Laboratory for AIDS Vaccine Research and Development in Dukes Department of Surgery. Thats important to know because this variant is now as prevalent in the U.S. as the U.K. variant, both of which appear to be more contagious.

Both the Moderna and Novovax vaccines however, saw significant drops in effectiveness against the variant first identified in South Africa.

Pfizer-BioNTechs vaccine has shown continued high effectiveness against COVID-19 up to six months after full immunization.

The continuing phase three trials included more than 44,000 people and analyzed 927 confirmed symptomatic COVID-19 cases, both companies said in a release. The ongoing research found the vaccine was 91.3% efficacious against the disease a half year after a second dose was administered.

Pfizer and BioNTech also said its shot was 100% effective in preventing new cases in South Africa, where the B.1.351 variant is widely circulating.

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.
An Open letter to the Board of Supervisors: Many of us continue to be shocked by your focus, never more apparent than in the recent upholding of several appeals of Anthem Winery's permitting.

Questions are hanging in the air around all of us. As the self-appointed Groundwater Sustainability Agency for our county, why do you continue to permit development in water-deficient areas? The extent of the projects commercialization of a quiet, agricultural neighborhood has already impacted all of us neighbors around Anthem as Anthem drilled and pumps six of at least eight wells, three of these deemed project wells.

Several neighbors already have to truck in water at almost prohibitive cost during the drier months, some year-round. This never happened before Anthem started pumping from the aquifers. And while you have put monitoring requirements and trucking prohibitions on Anthem, you have done nothing to ensure that neighbors are not further damaged from lack of water.

What are the cumulative impacts of this project on our water security? In fact, our well performances' mapped reports were disallowed in the Jan. 26, 2021 appeal because the map was new material. But what happens when the new material is critically relevant?
Consultant Rachel Watson enjoys being based at her home that looks onto the London skyline but misses the office vibe. She will soon get the best of both worlds as Britain's Covid lockdown eases.

UK businesses are planning for a hybrid or flexible workplace, splitting time between home and offices when the latest restrictions are finally relaxed in June.

Watson worked mostly in London's City finance district, for corporate procurement specialists Proxima, until the Covid-19 pandemic erupted one year ago and turned the area into a ghost town.

The 34-year-old Scot now works for Proxima from the apartment she shares with pet beagle Kobe in the south London suburb of Nunhead, six miles (9.6 kilometres) from the office, with a window view of London's Shard skyscraper.

"I do enjoy working from home in terms of having more of a work-life balance -- being able to spend more time in my community, being able to switch off work and be in your home -- and I don't miss the commuting so much," she told AFP from her living room desk.

"But I do really enjoy the office and being surrounded by clients and having a real separation between where work is and where home is."

She added: "I miss the social side... There's always been a lot going on. We had a really good office vibe before all of this."

- Hybrid working -

Surveys indicate that a hybrid or flexible working week, divided between home and office, will be popular among huge numbers of workers.

Think-tank Demos found that 65 percent of Britain's working population was forced to switch to either working from home or pause their job.

In an update after interviewing 20,000 adults in December, Demos added that 79 percent of people working from home wanted to continue doing so after the lockdown is lifted, either on a part-time or permanent basis.

As Britain's vaccination drive quickens, many companies are making preparations to blend home and office working hours with the aim of boosting staff health, morale and productivity.

Story continues

Corporate giants including banking groups HSBC and Nationwide banks, accountants PwC and British Airways are among those eyeing a hybrid approach for office staff.

HSBC on Wednesday offered more than 1,200 UK-based call centre employees the chance to work from home permanently.

"A hybrid approach to working allows for a better work-life balance," Watson said.

Proxima in September rolled out a flexible policy that allows employees to choose how and where they work going forward.

- 'Aberration' -

Most office staff followed government advice to work from home during lockdown, although many have struggled in cramped living conditions.

US investment banks meanwhile do not appear overly keen on the future of teleworking.

Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon labels remote working an "aberration" that does not suit its collaborative culture, while JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon argues it has had a negative effect on productivity.

Franco-Russian banker Vladimir Olivier, 30, has returned to his London office for one day a week since February.

Before the pandemic, the Societe Generale employee worked five days a week in the office, travelled a lot and met customers.

"What I miss is the human contact. You don't do this job... to be locked up in your room all day behind a screen," he told AFP at his home in the eastern borough of Hackney.

"I think that what sometimes makes work bearable or enjoyable is the interaction with colleagues and friends from the office."

British finance minister Rishi Sunak has urged companies not to abandon offices altogether, amid concerns that retail and hospitality businesses in city centres could collapse as offices remain largely empty.

Under the UK government's phased plan to reopen the economy, all social distancing rules will be lifted on June 21 -- which could permit the reopening of offices.

- 'Rewards are clear' -

Companies though will reap the benefits of a more flexible approach to work, according to business lobby the Confederation of British Industry.

"CBI surveys show more than three quarters of companies expect flexible working to remain commonplace," noted its director of people and skills Matthew Percival.

"Yet there is a balance to be struck as firms move towards a hybrid model of working.

"The rewards are clear; engaged and energised workforces contributing to rising productivity growth," he added.

Keith Cuthbertson, finance professor at City University London, agreed.

"For large areas of the economy, flexible working can benefit both employers and employee wellbeing -- so something good will eventually result from the huge shock to the economy caused by the pandemic."

rfj/bcp/lth
Federal funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will allow The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth (HSC) to serve as a leader in health literacy outreach.

Gibson D. Lewis Health Sciences Library is one of seven Regional Medical Libraries (RML) in the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM). RMLs carry out regional and national programs that provide U.S. researchers, health professionals, public health workforce, educators, and the public with equal access to biomedical and health information resources and data.

A recently awarded $6.4 million grant allows the Lewis Library to increase its reach helping communities through health-centered education, information, outreach and grant-funding to external organizations.

The grant is an award from the National Library of Medicine (NLM), one of 27 centers and institutes at the NIH.

The Lewis Library will lead the NNLM's newly reconfigured Region 3, which was formerly called the South Central Region. Region 3 is made up of seven states: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.

"The competition for the award this time was fierce and we were extremely happy to be re-awarded," said Daniel Burgard, University Librarian and Vice Provost for Scholarly Information Management and Principal Investigator for Region 3.

"We look forward to continuing to serve the health information needs of our region, including the new states of Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska,"

The new grant renews this mission for five years starting on May 1 (from 2021 through 2026).

Last June, the Lewis Library team applied for the competitive funding after the NLM published a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the 2021-2026 RMLs. Health sciences libraries submitted proposal applications in September.

This funding allowed Lewis Library to award grants and help fund projects that promote the health and health literacy of diverse communities - from rural residents connecting to telemedicine in Pottsboro, TX to families that resettled in Arkansas after leaving the Marshall Islands.

The grants we are able to distribute into the field go a long way in reaching communities and having an impact on populations that suffer from severe health disparities or experience higher rates of low health literacy." Brian D. Leaf, Executive Director of NNLM Region 3

The Lewis Library began this service in 2016 when it received a five-year $6.2 million grant from the National Library of Medicine.

During the last five years, Lewis Library distributed about 160 awards totaling about $1.3 million dollars in five states, Leaf said. Awards varied in size from $2,000 to $40,000.

Leaf said the library also awarded several grants focused on COVID-19 information outreach when the pandemic started.

"Health touches every part of life," Leaf said. "We want to get people thinking a little bit more about how they consume and navigate health information."
Police in north China's Tianjin Municipality have sent four Red Notice fugitives back to the Republic of Korea (ROK) at the request of the ROK law enforcement authorities.

The suspects allegedly set up operations in Tianjin in July last year and impersonated as financial sector staff in the ROK. They defrauded around 995 million won (about 887,000 U.S. dollars) in telecom fraud and had been wanted by law enforcement agencies of the ROK. The ROK nationals were also listed on the Interpol Red Notice.

At the request of the ROK side, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security swiftly deployed the Tianjin police to carry out investigations. The four suspects were deported and handed back to the ROK according to law, the Tianjin police said.

In recent years, the Chinese police have attached great importance to cracking down on transnational telecommunication fraud, and have strengthened cooperation with Interpol and police of other countries.

The close cooperation between the Chinese and the ROK police has demonstrated their confidence and determination in combating transnational crimes, the Tianjin police said.
South Korean battery-making rivals SK Innovation and LG Chem have reached a last-minute settlement in a trade-secret dispute that threatened to shut down an electric vehicle battery plant in Georgia.

SK Innovation agreed to pay 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) to LG Energy Solution, a unit of LG Chem, according to a statement from the two companies first reported by Bloomberg News. The payment is divided equally between cash and royalties.

The two companies said in a joint statement that they will work to help the development of EV battery industry in South Korea and the U.S. through healthy competition and friendly cooperation.

In particular, we will work together to strengthen the battery network and environmentally-friendly policy that the Biden administration is pursuing, the statement adds.

The settlement comes as a U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruling that implemented a ten-year import ban on SK Innovations batteries into the U.S. would have essentially shut down the 2.4 million square foot plant in Commerce, Ga. The factory is set to create more than 2,600 jobs in its first phase of opening.

Georgia lawmakers on both sides of the aisle had asked President Joe Biden to step in and reject the ruling, as the president had the power to veto the decision for any reason within 60 days of the ruling.

After the ITC released its decision in February, Biden faced an April 11 deadline to intervene. However, the settlement relieved him of the need to do so.

This settlement agreement is a win for American workers and the American auto industry, Biden said in a statement Sunday.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the deal comes after significant engagement by the administration.

The companies agreed to withdraw all lawsuits brought in South Korea and overseas and not to pursue any legal action against each other for the next decade, according to the statement.

The import ban had imperiled the rollout of Fords new F-150 electric pickup truck and the Volkswagen AGs ID.4 SUV, which were both set to begin production next year with EV batteries from the SK Innovation plant.

Story continues

Georgia governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, wrote to Biden last month calling on him to intervene to save the plant, noting that the livelihoods of thousands of Georgians are now in your hands.

The Commerce plant fits squarely into your publicly announced goal of electrification of the U.S. auto fleet with good, high paying jobs for local workers, Kemp wrote. Furthermore, your recently announced Executive Order on supply chains recognized the critical role of EV batteries to our economy and national security. Given that China is currently the leading producer of EV batteries, closing the Commerce, Georgia plant will result in the United States falling further behind China in the global EV battery race.

He noted that the factory, upon completion, will account for nearly half of our nations vitally needed non-captive EV batteries, which will be available for purchase by EV manufacturers on the free market.

The plant, which will be the only major EV battery plant in the nation to have been built without federal subsidies, will have an initial yearly output that will supply enough battery capacity for 330,000 electric cars, he added.

Currently, if an automaker wants to purchase batteries they either have to import them or seek out a joint venture with a big battery company. Most imports currently come from China, which houses roughly 73 percent of the battery production business.

The SK Innovation facility will serve as the nations largest non-captive plant, as it would be able to adapt for other manufacturers besides Ford and Volkswagen.

LG, which has a facility in Holland, Mich., is building an additional plant with GM in Ohio and has said it plans to invest $4.5 billion in the U.S. by 2025 and hire 10,000 workers to expand battery capacity.

More from National Review
Israels defence minister pledged on Sunday to cooperate with the United States on Iran, voicing hope that Israeli security would be safeguarded under any renewed Iranian nuclear deal that Washington reaches, Reuters reports.

Israel views the United States as a full partner across all operational theatres, not the least Iran, Benny Gantz said after hosting visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

And we will work closely with our American allies to ensure that any new agreement with Iran will secure the vital interests of the world and the United States, prevent a dangerous arms race in our region and protect the State of Israel.

Austin, making the first visit to Israel by a senior Biden administration official, told his counterpart that Washington views the alliance with Israel as central to regional security.
Occasionally a prominent persons life traverses an epoch so long that few can remember a time before they existed. Prince Philip, the now deceased Duke of Edinburgh and consort to the longest-serving British monarch, is one such man. He led a remarkable and long life (falling short of his 100th birthday by just 62 days), with much of it the focus of intense public interest.

While in recent years he had stepped back from royal duties, his death has touched off numerous recollections of his long association with Australia. From his first visit in 1940, as a junior British naval officer, he drew attention to what was to become his trademark dry wit and directness of speech and manner. He returned on many occasions, mostly in more formal surrounds, but never managed to completely temper his willingness to say what was on his mind, no matter the consequence.

The Queen and Prince Philip, pictured in 2007, recreate a photo from earlier in their marriage. Credit:AFP

While his off-the-cuff remarks could be disconcerting  or downright offensive, as when he asked an Indigenous leader, Do you still throw spears at each other?  his unconventional ways endeared him to many.

And yet, from the day he exchanged wedding vows with the future British Queen in 1947, he also managed to carry out with dignity and steadiness his principal role as supportive husband to one of the most powerful women in the world. It was a double act that endured for more than seven decades.
New Delhi, April 11 : The Jammu and Kashmir administration is taking major steps to open up the healthcare and services sector in the union territory for investments. Speaking to IANS here, state Principal Secretary, Commerce and Industry Ranjan Prakash Thakur said that the services sector, production sector and Agri Business are the major highlights of the investment proposal.

The prime focus for Jammu and Kashmir is on healthcare as this will also generate employment and provide healthcare to the people of the state, said Thakur.

"We still lack basic health facilities in Jammu as well as Kashmir division. A lot of people travel to cities like Delhi and Mumbai for treatment," said Thakur He said that the requirements in the UT are hospital chains as patients have to travel away from the state to other cities.

"Though AIIMS is coming up, we do not have enough doctors and hospitals in Kashmir, it is an immediate need and a huge demand there. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Aushadhi Yojana has been extended to the entire population in Kashmir, which means 1.3 crore people have been covered." He said that there are many doctors from Kashmir working worldwide, and want to return to their roots.

The second focus would be on setting up amusement parks in the UT.

He said the UT is a 'Travellers' Paradise' and a lot of people travel to the state to visit the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine. "We would like to develop the best amusement parks that India can offer in here." In the Agro service area, saffron, apples and cherries are the major exports apart from other fruits on which proper attention would be paid for better growth.

Thakur said there is no law and order problem in the UT and it is at par with Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

"The perception is that the Valley is all about death but the fact is that the real death numbers are very minuscule and the crime rate is very low. It is a perception game, I need to address a bit of data and if you look at the data that the department of industry has prepared, it very clearly shows that it is not an unsafe state as the perception is being made out to be. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi the state has moved ahead in terms of law and order management. A woman walking alone on a street here is far safer than anywhere else in the country, including Delhi-NCR," said Thakur.

"The Jammu and Kashmir government is offering land for lease for 99 years and on reasonable rates. The state has a single window clearance for all the projects and also there is cheap power and water, which is a major component for setting up of industry.

"The government is offering package incentives which are production linked. I can say with certainty that the packages being offered here, which the Prime Minister has spoken about, are the best that any state has ever given in the country," said Thakur.

"The government in ways to attract investment has assured that if anybody invests hundred crores of rupees in plant and machinery, they will get three-times the GST refund," he said.

The Centre abrogated Article 370 in the state in 2019, and bifurcated it into two union territories of Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh. The government since then is trying hard to bring investments in the state for development.
NPS hit for capitulating to stock investors' petition



The National Pension Service (NPS)'s fund operation committee decided Friday to raise the share ceiling for its "strategic investments" in local stocks. The latest decision will raise the cap for the portion of the NPS' investment in local stocks to 19.8 percent of the entire portfolio from the current 18.8 percent. The move will likely slow the pension fund's selling spree of local stocks. Since the end of last year, the NPS' fund operators have sold off about 17 trillion won ($15.1 billion) worth of local stocks.



There might be no problem if the NPS were to jack up its investment ceiling in domestic stocks so as to increase its investment return rate. However, the move was sparked by a petition filed by retail stock investors on the Cheong Wa Dae website to stop the NPS from selling local stocks and aimed at propping up the prices of shares they held. By any measure, the NPS cannot avoid criticism for such a calculated move. The pension fund had been curtailing the local stocks portion of its portfolio, but the new ceiling runs squarely counter to this trend.



The National Pension Fund is the money deposited to ensure a stable post-retirement life for the people subscribing to it. The NPS should operate the fund by placing a top priority on stability and profitability, a principle that cannot be compromised for anything. The NPS financial foundation has already been weakening every year due to Korea's lowest birthrate and fastest population aging in the world. According to the government's long-term fiscal outlook last year, the pension fund is expected to enter a deficit in 2041 and be depleted of reserves in 2056.



The government should use this occasion to look for ways to enhance the expertise and independence of the pension fund's operations. In Canada, for instance, the pension fund investment committee independently decides its investment portfolio. Sweden has divided the national pension fund into six separate units, each of which operates independently and reports its results to the government afterward. Japan, Norway and the Netherlands compose their pension fund operating committees of financial and investment experts, excluding pro-government figures. Korea should follow these examples.






Bond Set for TN Ex-Firefighter Charged With Arson

By West Kentucky Star Staff

DRESDEN - Bond has been set for a former Dresden firefighter accused of setting fire to a Weakley County church on Easter Sunday.KYTN reported that bond was set at $50,000 for 25-year-old Codie Austin Clark, of Sharon, who is charged with one count of aggravated arson and three counts of arson.Clark was arrested Wednesday after TBI agents and the Weakley County Sheriffs Department determined he was the individual responsible for setting fire to the New Salem Presbyterian Church.The Dresden Fire Department had already been conducting an internal investigation involving Clark after a series of recent fires in the area.At Thursdays bond hearing, Weakley County General Sessions Judge Tommy Moore, who is also a Dresden firefighter, recused himself from the case.Hearing the case will be Gibson County General Sessions Judge Mark Agee, who set Clarks bond at $50,000 on the condition that he will undergo a mental health evaluation.A preliminary hearing is set for July 9th in the Weakley County Jail Courtroom.
University students on a mission to Maligawatte View(s):

They went bearing very welcome and essential gifts recently into the heart of the Maligawatte underprivileged settlement, where almost all families have been hit by the COVID-19 fallout for more than a year.

Earlier, in the morning, 12 university students bearing the Lifestory banner, all members of a project named Lifeline gathered to fill to the brim 90 boxes with food and dry rations for distribution among the families in Maligawatte.

They picked on Maligawatte, as numerous people living here have been hit hard because they are daily wage earners, while many were also unable to work due to disabilities. With Sri Lanka getting into the vice-like grip of COVID-19, these humble people have not been able to feed their families.

As the undergraduates distributed the boxes, they too learnt a valuable lesson, getting an insight how the poor of the city live  amidst the sewage and the rubbish.

The undergraduates, Keleigh Berenger, Irushi Dissanayake, Sajitha Kandawale, Rakjitha Kandage, Mass Danah Kassier, Krishan Shanuka, Buddhi Abeyratne, Minduli Desapriya, Narendra Wettewe, Dinuka Kahandagamage, Shaveen and Reham, went home that day resolving to mobilise support to give a helping hand to the impoverished of the country.




The number of people killed since the military coup in Myanmar has risen to 700 after new violence over the weekend.







According to the non-profit Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), at least 701 people have been killed in the violent crackdown by security forces on protesters.







On Friday alone, at least 82 people were killed in the south-eastern city of Bago, AAPP said. Local media reported the military used heavy artillery against civilians.







"The UN in Myanmar is following events in Bago with reports of heavy artillery being used against civilians and medical treatment being denied to those injured," the United Nations Myanmar office wrote on Twitter, calling for an end to the violence and the wounded to receive treatment.







Since the military on?February 1 toppled the civilian government and put de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest, people have been protesting almost daily despite a brutal crackdown.







Military forces are using live ammunition against protesters and some 3,000 people have been detained, according to AAPP, with reports of torture.







But the protesters were undeterred, with people taking to the streets again on?Sunday across the country.







Meanwhile, more reports have emerged of an attack on a police station by the Three Brotherhood Alliance militia. The attack in the community of Lashio on?Saturday resulted in 15 deaths, according to a local journalist and a report by news portal DVB. (DPA)




Europe needs a more ambitious covid stimulus plan, says France's Beaune

The European Union must shoot for a more ambitious COVID-19 recovery plan than the landmark 750 billion euro stimulus agreed last summer after the epidemic's first wave, French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said on Sunday.

Beaune said Europe must not repeat errors made after the global financial crisis a decade ago and this time should underpin the recovery with investment, in fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks, green and digital technologies, among others.

Asked in an interview on LCI television how much would be needed, Beaune said: "No doubt something like a doubling (of the existing fund).

"The economic response has to be more ambitious," he said. Beaune said he hoped the EU's 27 member states would ratify the recovery fund by May and that the 750 billion euros would be available from the summer. France is due to receive 40 billion euros under the scheme. EU governments are still submitting detailed spending plans for their share of the pot, and frustration is growing in Paris and some other capitals at the slow speed of disbursing the money.

In an interview published on Saturday, European Council President Charles Michel said he did not share the view held by some that the EU's recovery fund was insufficient when compared with the U.S. spending plan.
The Western North Regional Health Directorate has received a total of 11,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines.



Dr Marion Okoh-Owusu, Regional Health Director who confirmed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said approximately 7000 have been given out to health facilities ou of which 6,177 persons have so far been vaccinated.



"We hope to vaccinate additional 468 persons in all the nine districts over the weekend before the first phase of the exercise ends on Sunday."



She indicated that the Waiwso Municipal received a total of 2,910 vaccines, Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai got 3,790 and Aowin Municipality received 1,060 vaccines.



The Bodi District received 723, Juaboso 670, Suaman 350, Akontombra 470 while Bia East and West Districts received 230 and 880 vaccines respectively.



Dr Okoh-Owusu said the exercise was being carried out in all hospitals and major health centers within the region.



She mentioned the Sefwi-Wiawso government hospital, Essam and Enchi hospitals, Adabokrom Health Center, Akontombra Health Center, and Bodi clinic as some of the facilities designated for the vaccination.



The Regional Health Director used the occasion to encouraged residents to take the vaccine since it was safe and would help protect their families, friends, and the general public.



She asked the residents to welcome and cooperate with the vaccination team to ensure the success of the vaccination exercise.



Dr Okoh-Owusu expressed satisfaction in the work done so far and commended the team for good work done.



She assured them they would continue with the risk communication and education on the safety of the vaccine to motivate residents to take the vaccine.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
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.

J.S. writes: I have been invited to join the Winners Circle, a multi-level marketing company. It seems you earn an income from recruiting other people, and also from currency trading signals they send daily. However, I can find no address for the company. Is this a legitimate way to earn extra money?

Winners Circle is not legitimate. It is not even a company. It is nothing more than a name used to suck people into the clutches of a dodgy American business called IM Academy, which advertises training courses on how to make money by trading on the foreign exchange markets.

'Winners Circle is not legitimate. It is not even a company,' says Tony Hetherington

British-based Winners Circle was set up by two experienced MLM (multi-level marketing) operators, Simon Brookes and Roger Garth, with slogans like: 'Winning at forex is easier than you think. Just follow our system.'

Recruiting material signed by Garth tells recruits that the Winners Circle receives tips from professional forex traders: 'When they identify a trade that they believe will be profitable, they send it to you via a mobile phone app; you then follow the instructions given to place the trade including what to buy or sell.'

In a YouTube video, Brookes claims the scheme 'is a licence to print money'. He then hands over to Garth, who talks about the trading signals they issue to their members, assuring them that 'some have all the information you need to trade, even if you are a complete newbie'.

The tips on which currencies to trade come from IM Academy. According to Garth: 'Simon and I will continue to analyse every signal sent by IM.' And he pledges: 'We will only send signals we are prepared to put our own money into.'

Now, I cannot question Garth about any of this as he died recently. But Winners Circle is continuing under Brookes, who told me that members pay $234 (about 170) to join, followed by $174 a month.

The joining fee goes to IM Academy, but a big slice of the monthly fee goes to the recruiter, so Brookes gets a major share of payments made by his recruits. This is how MLM works.

Denial: Boss Simon Brookes says Winners Circle 'doesn't give advice'

The big question is whether all this is legal. I do not believe it is. Telling people how to invest is educational, and needs nobody's permission.

But telling them what to buy and sell is financial advice, pure and simple, and anyone offering this service has to be vetted and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, or they could face up to two years in prison. Despite all the written claims and the video evidence, Brookes insisted to me that he needed no FCA approval, saying: 'We are only an educational opportunity and we never give any advice.'

So what about the trading signals and the mobile phone messages, telling members what to buy and sell?

According to Brookes, this does not count as advice because it is up to Winners Circle members to decide whether to invest. Of course, the same could be said of any genuine stockbroker who gave a share recommendation to a client, but the broker still has to be authorised by the FCA.

IM Academy and the company behind it, New York-based International Markets Live, are well known to financial watchdogs.

Regulators in Spain, Belgium and France have issued public warnings about them. And in 2018, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined the company $150,000 for operating an unlicensed scheme which let investors 'mirror' forex trades made by its own traders.

Our own Financial Conduct Authority is well aware of International Markets Live. It warned investors three years ago to stay away from it, as it is completely unauthorised.

So what does it think of Winners Circle? A few days ago, the FCA told me: 'Where new information comes to light, we will always take this into account when dealing with reports of unauthorised business activity.'

Well, so much for the FCA's 2018 alert. But now it knows that a British-based bunch is actively recruiting for the very service it warned against, will it do anything stronger than simply posting yet another warning on its website?

The FCA long ago lost sight of the fact that it was created to protect consumers from financial harm. It now prefers to devote time and energy to areas such as monitoring 'diversity' in the financial sector. Here is a chance for it to take real action, but I am not holding my breath.

Your refund is finally sailing home K.N. writes: My wife and I booked through Planet Cruise to go on Royal Caribbean International's ship, Jewel of the Seas. We paid for this in January last year, and were due to sail in June last year but, due to Covid, RCI cancelled the cruise. I have been chasing Planet Cruise for my cash ever since. I do not want a credit for a future cruise as at age 74 there would be too much uncertainty. Planet Cruise did not deny that you were entitled to a refund. Its chief executive Richard Downs told me: 'Often, we are waiting for funds to be transferred to us by third party suppliers before we can refund the consumer. 'Additionally, each cruise line, airline, accommodation provider and land tour operator has its own set of rules in relation to any cancellations, refunds and credits.' Staff have now been transferred from other work to speed up customer enquiries and refund claims. Planet Cruise has transferred 4,354 to your bank account, and the original deposit of 400 which you paid by credit card has been transferred back to your card account.

Why did Lloyds hold on to my 700?

Ms C.N. writes: We were due to fly to Florida with Virgin Holidays, but this was cancelled due to the pandemic. Virgin refunded the holiday cost some months ago, but the initial deposit of 700 is still owed. Virgin says it returned the money to my Lloyds account, but Lloyds says it has not received it.

After I contacted Virgin, staff there called you to say that the missing 700 had been sent to Lloyds but had bounced back.

And Lloyds said that so much time had passed since you paid the deposit in 2019 that the refund had not been recognised when it was returned.

Apparently the system does not cope well if more than 365 days separate the original payment and the refund. Virgin has sent the payment again, so you now have your 700.

Lloyds says it could have done better at handling your repeated enquiries about the missing money  and has therefore added 75 to the total by way of saying sorry.

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.
Among southern Vermont towns, only Peru has had more than 80 new cases per 10,000 people over the past two weeks.
Long hours of daylight and warming temperatures tell us that summer has arrived, and for many outdoor enthusiasts that means catfishing season is here.

Catfish can bite at any time at local lakes, but the warmer nights of summer are ideal to hunt the dark waters for whiskerfish at night.

Some of the most popular night fishing locations include Henshaw, Poway and Dixon lakes.

Lake Henshaw has already launched night fishing Friday and Saturday nights through Labor Day.

Advertisement

Frank Mendenhall at Lake Henshaw Resort said anglers will be able to fish until 10 p.m. and will be limited to shore fishing only.

Anglers at Lake Henshaw are required to have a California fishing license along with a $7.50 daily lake permit.

Lake Henshaw produced a good crop of 5- to 7-pound cats last year, and Mendenhall said the recent addition of underwater structure where fish can hide has allowed fish to grow.

The new structure is helping a lot, and we are seeing lots of pound-sized bass along with catfish to 8 pounds, Mendenhall said.

Night catfishing at Poway Lake begins July 7, and anglers will be able to fish Friday and Saturday nights until Sept. 1.

Catfish will be stocked July 3, 13 and 17, and Aug. 10 and 24.

Escondidos Dixon Lake will open to night fishing July 12, offering Thursday and Friday night fishing through Aug. 31.

Boat rentals will start at 5 p.m. Anglers in boats can fish until 10:30 p.m. Shoreline fishing areas are limited, and the park closes at 11:45 p.m. Thursday and Friday nights.

Advertisement

The catfish stocking schedule at Dixon is July 3, 13, 20, and Aug. 3 and 24. A thousand pounds will be planted each time.

Catfishing is somewhat of an art form. While traditional baits such as chicken liver, shrimp or cut mackerel will get good results; the real catfish hunters often rely on homemade concoctions appropriately known as stink bait.

Mendenhall said a stink bait can be something as simple as hot dogs cut into small pieces and then allowed to simmer for several days in a stew of other things such as chicken blood, sardines, chicken liver, raw fish, fish entrails, crushed sardines and ripe cheddar cheese. Like good sourdough bread, the best catfish hunters take pride in their stink bait creations and keep their ingredients secret.

Catfish are bottom feeders, often eating dead fish, and the artful stink bait makers goal is to create a scent that will attract the whisker fish in the dark summer waters.

Advertisement

Owl meet

Bird lovers will get a chance to get up close and personal with owls at an Owl Meet and Greet event beginning at 10 a.m., June 30 at Wild Birds Unlimited, 2624 El Camino Real, Suite F, Carlsbad.

Presented by Project Wildlife, the program will feature a Western Screech Owl, Barn Owl and Great Horned Owl.

Visitors will be encouraged to take photos, ask questions and learn about these interesting birds of prey.

Oceanside Anglers

Oceanside Senior Anglers will hear from Capt. Ryan Block at their July 3 general membership meeting, starting at 9 a.m. at Oceanside Senior Center, 455 Country Club Lane in Oceanside.

Advertisement

Block became a captain at 22, and has operated popular boats out of Oceanside Harbor, including the Electra, Sea Trek, Advance, Fish Taxi and Pacific Voyager for the past 11 years.

He has now launched his own charter service, Savvy Sportfishing. He is scheduled to begin operating this summer on his 48-foot Uniflite, described as one of the biggest and most comfortable six-pack boats in San Diego. Look for Savvy Sportfishing on Facebook.

Block will be talking about the upcoming fishing season, and what his new sportfishing venture will be offering local anglers.

Club meetings are open to all anglers, 50 and over. For additional club information, visit www.OSAnglers.org.

Advertisement

Firearm safety

A monthly three-hour familiarization and safety class is being offered July 8 for anyone anticipating the purchase of, or who already owns, a handgun.

The class is offered from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Escondido Fish and Game Association shooting range, 16525 Guejito Road, east of Lake Wohlford. Cost is $60.

Participants will learn the basics of handguns, home firearm safety and responsibility of firearm ownership. Handguns and ammunition are provided for the class, but participants are encouraged to bring their own handgun if they already own one.

For additional information or to register, contact Jack Bryson at 760-746-2868.

Advertisement

Ernie Cowan is a freelance columnist. Contact Cowan at Packtrain.com or follow https://erniesoutdoors.blogspot.com/
Ransford Gyampo, an associate professor in the political science department of the University of Ghana, Legon, has stressed the need to tackle unemployment in an effort to deal with social vices in the country.



Speaking to Kojo Mensah on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Friday 9 April, Professor Gyampo said Ghana has failed to socialise the youth and inculcate in them the ideals of hard work.



I think what happened is sad. It pains me. We should accept it that we have failed as a society and not put a lot of blame on the kids, Professor Gyampo said.



We are condemning whatever they did but the point is, as a society, we have failed collectively in not being able to socialise and educate people about the ideals of hard work.



He added: And the kids who did this, perhaps they know  My senior brother is done with school and he has not found any job, and so you dont see clearly where you are going after school. And if others ahead of you have not found jobs and all that, and you have a lot of advertisements as to how you can make money, then naturally the thinking may be like this.



Gyampo blamed the proliferation of juju men on TV and the popularity of get-rich-quick schemes among young Ghanaians on a lack of meaningful jobs.



On your Facebook page some will come and advertise that I am Mallam So, So and So: come and see me if you want  and all that.



My point is, it appears that they dont have work to do. The quickest way to get rich is to either join politics or form a spiritual church or be a juju man or something, and that is how come we have this proliferation.



Background

Nicholas Kenni and Felix Nyarko are being held on suspicion of killing Ishmael Mensah in Atia Coca-Cola, a suburb of Kasoa in the Central Region.



The two teenagers were arrested over the weekend over the suspected ritual murder.



The police said their investigations show that the two teenagers were allegedly acting on the orders of a fetish priest who demanded human parts to perform a money-making ritual for them.



Confession

According to the police, the duo confessed to killing Mensah on Saturday 3 April in the Coca-Cola suburb, near the Great Lamptey Mills School.



The crime is said to have taken place in an uncompleted building.



The police said the suspects hit the victim with clubs and building blocks several times, killing him in the process.

Source: kasapafmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Mayfield Man Charged with Drug Offenses

By West Kentucky Star Staff





MAYFIELD - A Mayfield man was charged with drug offenses following a traffic stop Friday.Mayfield Police officers spoke with the driver, 48-year-old Jay Ivy.A K-9 unit was deployed, which resulted in the discovery of multiple suspected drugs, and items of drug use and sale.Ivy was arrested and charged with first degree trafficking in a controlled substance-less than two grams of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, second degree possession of a controlled substance-drug unspecified, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The opinion that the USSR was actively involved in the smuggling of industrial diamonds after World War II is quite widespread in the literature of the subject. For example, Industrial diamonds were spirited from Zaire and Sierra-Leone to Beirut, thence by diplomatic pouch to Moscow1. Or there were reports that old traders in Beirut - where many illicit dealers in Africa shipped rough diamonds to - recalled that there were often industrial diamonds in the diplomatic pouches sent to Moscow by the Soviet embassy in Beirut.2 Such information is in almost all canonical works on the diamond market history, not to mention dozens of the op-ed pieces and journalistic articles. It should be noted that the original publications on the rough diamond smuggling by the Soviets dated back to 1951-1957, and later on, they were used by market researchers and journalists as a reference base without adding any significant details.

For a long time, the thesis about the rough diamond smuggling by the Soviets looked quite appropriate. Indeed, in the post-war USSR, the military industrial complex developed rapidly, and the industrial diamonds were an integral part of a number of critical technologies in the most promising areas, from the jet propulsion manufacture to the nuclear weapons and power industry. The CoCom (Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls) set up by the Western countries at the end of 1949 included industrial diamonds in the list of strategic goods and supplying them to the Soviet Bloc was prohibited. Against this background, the rough diamond smuggling by the Soviets looked logical and the reliability of the information sources was never questioned.

However, a number of documents we discovered in the central Russian archives on the purchase of a huge amount of industrial diamonds from England in 1951-1953 (the volume of these supplies exceeded the pre-war ones by an order of magnitude) radically changed the picture. These supplies allowed the USSR to build up the strategic reserve of industrial diamonds sufficient for the uninterrupted functioning of the Soviet industry for a period of 6 to 15 years (in different categories of diamonds)3. Thus, any smuggling from Africa lost all meaning. There was no need to organize an expensive, unreliable and dangerous channel and expose the agents and diplomats to a risk when diamonds were flowing like water from London, and even at massively discounted prices.

Today, we can say that there is no slightest trace of smuggling operations in the Russian archives regarding the industrial diamonds from Africa. There was no smuggling as there was no need for it. However, someone created this myth, which was in all kinds of publications on the rough diamonds for more than half a century ... Who did it? And what was the purpose?

On January 26, 1951, the CIA issued secret intelligence report No.5447 entitled Vulnerability of the Soviet Bloc to Existing and Tightened Western Economic Controls. The report contained an Industrial diamonds chapter where one could find the cautious mentioning of the possible rough diamond smuggling from Africa by the Soviets, but no details were given. This first fake news about the rough diamond smuggling by the Soviets exactly coincided with the beginning of the negotiations on record deliveries of the rough diamonds from England to the USSR, but it remained a mystery who suggested such a valuable idea to the CIA - the source was not disclosed in the report. Further events are well known - the Americans ignored the record deliveries of the rough diamonds from England to the USSR, and another CIA intelligence memorandum stated that De Beers did not supply rough diamonds to the Soviet Bloc. In the memorandum titled Word production and distribution of industrial diamonds, the CIA analysts argued that the industrial diamond reserves in the USSR made by 1952 could be sufficient for a period of six months to a year, i.e., a mistake was 10-15 times for different categories of rough diamonds. It was a complete and obvious failure for the American intelligence.

In the USSR, all the information on the rough diamond transactions of 1951-1953 was classified as top secret and the British press did not report anything about these supplies. England was one of the initiators of setting up the CoCom and was its member, and the Korean War - a direct armed clash between the USSR and the Western countries - was in full swing. What would happen if the information about trading a strategic commodity with the enemy could become public? It was not hard to imagine the American allys reaction. Since 1951, numerous publications had appeared in the British and South African press about the rough diamond smuggling by the Soviets through the diplomatic mission in Beirut. However, it was not very convincing, not a single smuggler was caught, and opening the diplomatic parcels - in which the rough diamonds were supposedly transported - was more trouble than it was worth. It seemed that the Americans had already begun to suspect something; in 1953, rustic Walter Bedell Smith left the chair of the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) and Head of the CIA and was replaced by Allen Dulles, a very serious man. And the supply of rough diamonds from London to Moscow continued, the volumes decreased, but still exceeded the pre-war purchases by two times. To reliably camouflage these transactions, an authoritative source on the rough diamond smuggling by the Soviets was needed, and not a pen-pusher, but a respected person and it would be better to involve an outside one, not from the Albion. By the way, where was the CoCom headquarters located? Oh, yes, in Paris.

On May 26, 1955, Allen Dulles, Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) and Head of the CIA, received a letter signed by General Arthur Trudeau, Assistant Chief of Staff (G-2) for Intelligence, US Army. It read:

Dear Mr. Dulles:

Some days ago I had opportunity to discuss with General Cabell in your absence the probable routing of industrial diamonds being smuggled from South Africa into the Soviet Bloc.

Last Friday night I had dinner with M. Carlier of the Belgian Embassy who had been interested in having me visit the Belgian Congo. During the course of the evening the question of the smuggling of industrial diamonds from the Belgian Congo into Russia was discussed in a casual vein. Those present besides M. Carlier included Mr. George West of the State Department, Count Douglas of the Swedish Embassy, Mr. Jean Pierre Paulus, Secretary to the King, and M. Daufresne de la Chevalerie, the new Commercial Counselor to the Belgian Embassy. Most of the discussion was limited to the Belgian personnel only.

Mr. Paulus discounted any possibility of diamonds being smuggled from the Belgian Congo to Russia unless they were reshipped through Rotterdam or from a northern European port. M. Daufresne, Who is an extremely knowledgeable and personable individual, thought otherwise. He believes that a definite chain for smuggling diamonds from the Congo does exist through Uganda or the southern Sudan to Ethiopia and thence through unknown channels to the Soviet Bloc.

In view of this independent opinion which coincides with that obtained in South Africa that Addis Ababa is a focal point for the illegal shipment of industrial diamonds to the USSR and in view of the extreme importance of this particular item to the continued expansion of the Soviet industrial base, it is believed worthy of considerable effort to determine the correctness or falsity of these opinions.

The Russian Mission to Ethiopia, although ostensibly for medical purposes, has always been suspect, and these additional opinions would seem to indicate that the entire matter deserves the closest scrutiny. It is interesting to note in this connection that Ethiopia is the one country in Africa to whom we are giving substantial military and other aid.

I would be interested in assisting in any way possible, if desired, and particularly to be advised of any information in this regard that can be obtained.

With highest regards, I am

Sincerely,Arthur G. TrudeauMajor General, GSA. C. of S., G-2

It was 1955, and the American intelligence generals (Cabell was Dulles deputy) were seriously discussing the rough diamond smuggling by the Soviets from Africa! Which, as we noted, was completely meaningless due to the creation of a huge strategic reserve of the rough diamonds in the USSR due to the direct deliveries from England. But lets not be hard on the generals, they seemed to have a reliable source. He was Monsieur Marie-Emile Daufresne de La Chevalerie. General Trudeau called him Belgian, but he was not. He was not Belgian, but French, a representative of a well-known aristocratic family. Indeed, he was a highly qualified expert on Africa as he served in Africa during the war under the command of General Leclerc, and after the war, he hold the diplomatic posts. He was in Libya, Chad, Gabon, Congo, CAR and in many other places. He was a member of the Charles de Gaulles immediate circle, and his cousin was a de Gaulles personal private secretary. And they were ardent anti-Americanists as befitted the true Gaullists.

And this exceptionally knowledgeable and dignified person who informed about the Soviet smuggling route from Congo to Ethiopia (?) was not at all alone in his efforts. In addition to the information that de La Chevalerie leaked to the Americans, a certain J. H. du Plessis, a well-known expert on diamond smuggling, gave an interview to the Johannesburg Sunday Express, in which he told about the powerful Soviet underground organization that smuggled as much as 400,000 carats of technical diamonds from South Africa and Belgian Congo. In addition, the Soviets, he added, refuse to supply themselves with rough diamonds through De Beers and preferred to operate through their illegal African agents. But the Johannesburg Sunday Express newspaper was so-so, rather weak, the audience was small. And the serious Agence France-Presse (AFP, Paris) spread the du Plessis statement throughout the entire world savoring the details. However, it was 1957, the Mir and Udachnaya pipes had already been discovered and the Yakutalmaz company had been established. What kind of smuggling by the Soviets? Why the hell was it needed? But was it right to receive the de La Chevaleries and du Plessis information with incredulity? They were not some Boers, they were the cream of the French aristocracy, it was common practice to take their words for granted. A couple of years later, du Plessis wrote a book about the terrible Soviet smugglers Diamonds are Dangerous published in London. And when the concerted efforts of the Marseillaise fans were added to The Mining Journal (London) and The London Times that tirelessly wrote about the rough diamond smuggling by the Soviets, the American partner should have no doubts that CoCom - French manned - was working perfectly well, De Beers had no trade with the Soviet bloc, they had a little left to do - to catch the damned smugglers in Africa.

However, three months after receiving a letter about the rough diamond smuggling by the Soviets, Dulles sent a memorandum to the Pentagon for some reason, in which he wrote that Trudeau was incapable of analytical and intelligence work and was easily taken in by the enemys false information. As a result of the conflict with Dulles, on August 8, 1955, General Trudeau was forced to leave the post of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence (G-2), US Army. But maybe this is quite another story to tell?

Sergey Goryainov, Rough&Polished

1Naylor R.T. Economic Warfare: Sanction, Embargo Busting and Their Human Cost. Boston, Mass. Northeastern Univ. Press, 1999. P.37.

2Green T. The modern world of diamonds. M.: Progress, 1993.S. 125.

3GARF. F. 5446.O. 86a. D. 1113.L. 2-3.

General Arthur Trudeau's letter to Allen Dulles (source - CIA official website https://www.cia.gov/)










Coals days are numbered. The worlds dirtiest fossil fuel has long since fallen out of favor with climate-conscious policymakers, investors, and constituents alike, and even those who are less environmentally motivated have little reason to remain loyal to the emissions-heavy fuel source now that it has been more expensive than wind and solar in most of the world for years now. But even though coal is definitively in terminal decline, its denouement has been anything but linear. While countries have been making increasingly ambitious public commitments to curbing their greenhouse gas emissions and weaning themselves off of coal when crisis hits those ideals are often thrown out the window in favor of fast, cheap, immediate, and reliable fuel. You could say that coal thrives on crisis. We saw Japan return to coal after the 2011 earthquake and the subsequent Fukushima nuclear disaster led politicians and constituents to shy away from nuclear energy. Mexico is experiencing a coal renaissance as we speak as President Lopez Obrador makes a push for domestic energy sovereignty in large part as an antidote to the economic downturn. Even outwardly climate-conscious Canada toyed with a return to coal as the economic power of the oil sands has plummeted. But the biggest and most globally impactful return to coal is coming out of China, where many provinces are leading the charge back to coal for economic security even as President Xi Jinping commits to ever loftier climate goals.

Although China has been busy ramping up domestic production capacity in many forms of energy and fuel production, from nuclear to renewables, it became clear that China is still largely reliant on coal as a primary fuel source when an unofficial embargo against Australian coal imports reportedly caused entire Chinese cities to go dark earlier this year.

The unofficial embargo was just one chapter in a far lengthier saga of rising political tensions and failed diplomatic relations between China and Australia. Relations between the two nations soured last year after Australia supported an international inquiry into Chinas handling of the coronavirus pandemic, CNBC reported late last year. While coal is far from the only item on what is a long list of boycotted Australian goods, it has certainly had a standout effect and revealed the lengths to which China is willing to go for a bit of geopolitical strongarming.

Related: U.S. Oil Rig Count Stalls As WTI Remains Below $60

In October of 2020, Australia exported 2.5 million tonnes of both thermal and coking coal to China. Now, that number is zero. This means that a major gap has opened up in the market, and the United States looks keen to fill it, to the chagrin of those urging coal producers to keep it in the ground. China had already committed to purchasing an additional $52.4 billion worth of U.S. energy products over two years beginning last January as a condition of phase one of the trade deal signed at that time. And some of that has already gone directly filling the gaps left by Australian coking coal with U.S. imports as trade manipulation creates winners and losers, The South China Morning Posts China Macro Economy section reported this week. Whereas the United States sold next to zero coking coal to China in October, when the Australian coal ban began, that increased to nearly 300,000 tonnes of coking coal in February.

The U.S. is far from the only coal producer stepping up to meet Chinas demand for coal. In addition to ramping up domestic coal production, China has also relied on increasing imports from the US, South Africa and Colombia having previously relied mainly on the likes of Indonesia, Russia, Mongolia, and Australia, the South China Morning Post report continues. All of Chinas primary coal suppliers have increased or at least maintained their exports throughout the Australian coal ban.

Coal is still on its way out. China has shown that its serious about meeting its net-zero carbon footprint goals, and even the steel industry is moving toward a future in which coking coal will no longer be needed in the production process. But the road to zero-day for coal is going to be a long and bumpy ride, and so long as there is demand and money to be made, there are clearly plenty of countries eager to come up with the supply.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 20:36:22|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A staff member transports a cargo containing the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines in Manila, the Philippines on April 11, 2021. The Philippines on Sunday received the second batch of Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac vaccines purchased from China. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

MANILA, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines on Sunday received the second batch of Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac vaccines purchased from China.

The Philippine Airlines, which flew the vaccines to Manila, handed over the shipment to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, the official in charge of the Philippines' vaccine procurement efforts.

The Philippines is ramping up its vaccination efforts as it continues combating a surge of COVID-19 infections fuelled by the more infectious coronavirus variants. The government aims to inoculate up to 70 million Filipinos this year to achieve herd immunity, starting with health care workers and the elderly.

With the arrival on Feb. 28 of the first batch of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines donated by China, the Philippines kicked off its vaccination campaign on March 1.

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported on Sunday 11,681 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing its total tally to 864,868. The COVID-19 related death toll rose to 14,945 including 201 more deaths newly recorded in the Southeast Asian country. Enditem
Kerala reports 6,194 new COVID cases, 2,584 recoveries: Health Minister

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 10 (UNI) Kerala reported 6,194 new cases of COvid-19 on Saturday, while 2,584 patients also recovered from the disease, Health Minister KK Shailaja said.

"In the last 24 hours, COVID was not detected in any person who recently came to Kerala from the UK (total 111 now) and their samples have been sent to NIV, Pune for further testing. So far, 11 people who came from the UK were diagnosed with the genetically modified virus," the minister said in a press release here this evening.

Meanwhile, 17 recent deaths were recorded on Saturday from COVID taking the death toll in the state to 4,767.
Last April 7, Taiwan calls China's vaccine diplomacy reprehensible because Chinese allies were against the island's CCP invasion. If their allies don't pull back, the Chinese stoppage of vaccines will prompt them to agree to the CCPs terms.

Taiwan fears vaccine diplomacy will leverage support for the CCP

One report said on March 22, Paraguay got an ultimatum from China that demanded it stop interacting with Taipei; if it wants to have COVID-19 vaccines for its population, should Paraguay not comply, they will lose shipments, as reported by the Epoch Times.

The CCP's interference of Taipei's diplomatic ties is of concern for the island nation, which China claims as its own.

Sources say that Joseph Wu, the Taiwanese foreign affairs minister, last Wednesday remarked that India transported 100,000 doses of COVAXIN vaccines for Paraguay, with another 100,000 doses ready for later in the year. A total of 7.2 million people will need vaccination.

Taiwanese foreign affairs minister Joseph Wu made these remarks based on the news report by the Times of India. "The most important trend is the Indian government who is willing to help, and the United States who has decided they want to help," Wu said. "I think this is going to relieve a lot of pressure for a lot of countries."

But the CCP is not only using vaccine diplomacy to break support for Taipei, which they want to isolated from its diplomatic allies.

According to Surangel Whipps, the president of Palau in the western Pacific reported to AFP in a video call that as for stopping Taiwan recognition, he mentioned that his phone rang from calls during 2020 in their elections. Whipps remarked that he 16 calls on one occasion, that was not as subtle as vaccine diplomacy.

VIDEO:  He leads one of the world's smallest nations, but Surangel Whipps says #Palau will not be bullied by anyone into deciding its future -- least of all by China. The Pacific nation of around 21,000 people is one of just 15 countries that still recognise #Taiwan over China pic.twitter.com/8HjxWafDVs  AFP News Agency (@AFP) April 7, 2021

Quad Leaders Discuss Security Problems in China with Biden

Beijing is opposed to Taipei's independent government and will stop at nothing to conquer the island, using all available means.

Since 2016, the CCP has bullied seven weaker nations into stopping diplomatic ties to Taipei; these countries are Sao Tome and Principe, Panama, Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso, El Salvador, Solomon Islands, and Kiribati.

Stopping use of vaccines for leveraging Beijing's interest

The Communist regime is has a new tool to extort what it wants; the need for COVID-19 vaccines has become subtle tools of forcing nations to do its bidding.

An announcement on March 19 by the China International Development Cooperation Agency that the State Council controls said that China will be giving 80 countries and three international organizations deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines.

Wu said in a statement," "If you look at those countries that are receiving the Chinese vaccines, whether it's Brazil or Chile or El Salvador, I think it's having lots of impact on our diplomatic allies."

Chinese answer back that they have no hidden agenda that I political, and it's not tied with giving vaccines as assistance, with helping in vaccination more people is their ultimate goal.

But, there is a shortage of vaccines for all the Chinese on the mainland. Based on a Bloomberg story published on April 8, the goal of giving COVID vaccine will not reach 560 million by the end of June, which would be 40% inoculated, with a vaccine shortage anytime soon.

Taiwan is hopeful that China's vaccine diplomacy will be blunt by the Quad (U.S., Australia, India, Japan), which will have one billion doses ready for distribution in Asia by 2022.

India-Japan Naval Exercises Ramp up Push Back Against Chinese Navy.

Japan's Dispute Over Chinese Ships in the East China Sea Near Senkakus Will Get U.S. Support

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Why hide the qualifications View(s):

Now that is a new one on me. Not just me surely. It is on the entire population of the Resplendent Isle also known as a country like no other and many other glorifying sobriquets that advertising blurb writers can come up with.

But it probably hurts the voting public most, those people who are up and early on voting day to queue up at polling stations to cast their vote before some other chap pretending to be you casts the ballot in your name, never mind the indelible ink on the finger. This is no joke or fake news as some politicians would like to describe news that embarrasses them or those in power.

If it can happen to a presidential candidate like the former minister Hector Kobbekaduwa who went to the polling station in Bambalapitiya only to find that Hector Kobbekaduwa had already voted!

When I read in the Sunday Times that an official attached to the House by the Diyawanna Oya had refused to disclose the educational qualifications of those 224 (the 225th sits on a more elevated seat and wears some peculiar thing on his head) learned representatives of the people it did come as quite shock to the good citizens of Sri Lanker, as some people here pronounce, after hearing of the great game that was played  well virtually at least  in Geneva which Sri Lanka won humiliating our one time colonial overlord who led the charge like the Light Brigade.

Well, the country like no other won because no other country follows our counting system which makes it useful when it comes to paying our foreign debts. But then thats another story no!

Right now we are on another farce being enacted on behalf of our most illustrious representatives of the people who are saturated with rectitude and modesty and wish their achievements to be under lock and key  or so we are made to understand.

It appears that the Assistant Secretary General of Parliament and its Information Officer, a chap named Tikiri Jayatilleke, has refused to disclose information sought by this newspaper under the Right to Information (RTI) Law passed during the yahapalana government.

In case we are accused of misquoting or distorting what the Information Officer (who refuses to give information which in fact makes him somewhat redundant) let me cite his words:

Educational qualifications relate to personal information, the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information or the person concerned has consented in writing to such disclosure.

The officer also said that according to the Sri Lanka Constitutions Article 90, no references had been made to the educational qualifications of an MP. The only qualification to be elected as an MP, according to the Constitution, is that he or she should be an elector.

To begin with could (I am sure he could) or would the Information Office give us this information  who wrote this learned piece of rubbish? I ask because Ive passed (not the examinations which I refuse to disclose) through the same rigmarole when I called for some information under the RTI law from the then Information Officer of the Foreign Ministry who felt that quibbling provides a great escape route.

Parliaments Information Officer says an MPs educational qualification is personal information and its disclosure has no relationship to any public activity or interest.

If by personal information he means that only the MP should be aware of it or have knowledge of it, he is wrong as hell. Unless some among the present lot of MPs did not attend any school, did not sit for any public examination, never went to university, Law College or other institutes of higher learning granting professional qualifications and passed any examinations, there should be records at school, the Examinations Department, university, and other institutions that conduct professional exams.

So it is not only the individual MP who is privy to that information.

Add to that gibberish Tikiri Jayatillekes seemingly erroneous confession that what transpires in parliament is not public activity or interest. If that is so, what on earth is happening regularly in that ornate structure right through the year wasting so much public funds? If it is not public activity what private activity goes on there MPs counting each others boodelays or other private gains with an assistant secretary-general in attendance?

Is that Assistant Secretary-General of Parliament telling the citizens of Sri Lanka that parliament discusses only matters of private interest? If that is so can Mr Jayatilleke justify the waste of public funds to pay the salaries of ministers, MP and parliament officials including himself for this utter waste of time and money. Why are general elections held to elect MPs who are referred to as elected representatives and who do they represent? Surely not their families, relatives, lackeys, goons and some unsavoury individuals? Why are proceedings of parliament telecast if parliament is not conducting proceedings of relevance to the public? Or is it considered a teledrama in which even fisticuffs is permitted?

The Information Officer claims educational qualifications relate to personal information and so admits that it is not personal information per se. If so why is parliament keeping this information in its hamas pettiya? And what on earth is relate to and has no relationship to any public activity or interest?

If passing laws, announcing annual budgets, debating issues pertaining to the running of the country are not public activities relevant to governance and matters of interest to the people of the country, then could the learned Assistant Secretary-General define what is public activity who is the public he refers to and what are matters of interest and interest to whom?

Moreover would he specify what constitutes the larger public interest that would justify the release of the information sought? Obviously it seems to be more important than mere public activity.

As the public knows there are MPs who make very knowledgeable and educated speeches though they are sparse, in the course of debates or on adjournment motions etc. Some of them are known to the public some are not. It is the lesser known MPs who make interesting, knowledgeable, critical and controversial contributions from the floor that attract public attention and interest and wish to know their background. Why should that background be kept a deep, dark secret?

The official says such information could be released if the MP concerned has consented in writing to such disclosure. Are we to understand that since the Sunday Times applied for it under the RTI the Information Officer went round to each and every MP inquiring whether their qualifications should be released or not?

Pray what was the result? How many said yes, how many said no and how many were non-committal? Please avoid the Dinesh Gunawardena/GL Peiris arithmetic if you dont mind.

Some four or five years ago a survey of the educational qualifications of MPs revealed that 94 of them had not passed the O Level or sat for it.

Is this present gobbledygook an attempt to avoid what might be conceived by some as embarrassment or humiliation of the countrys legislature?

(Neville de Silva is a veteran Sri Lankan journalist who was Assistant Editor, of the Hong Kong Standard and Gemini News Service in London. Later he was Deputy Chief-of-Mission in Bangkok and Deputy High Commissioner in London.)
People began casting their ballots in the West African state of Benin on Sunday as voting started in presidential elections.

About five million people are registered to vote in Benin, where President Patrice Talon is seeking a second term in office.

"The atmosphere is not tense. It's peaceful," said Adama Farougou, a 40-year-old teacher who voted in Cotonou, Benin's largest city and the seat of government. "I pray it will be like this until the end (of the day.)"

The election campaign has been marred by violence, with at least two people reported dead during protests against Talon earlier this week.

When Talon took power in 2016, he pledged he would step down after a five-year term. But later, he decided to run again.

He's now considered the favorite to win Sunday's elections.

The opposition has accused Talon of "undermining" democracy in an attempt to remain in power.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Reporter

Stephanie Earls is a news reporter and columnist at The Gazette. Before moving to Colorado Springs in 2012, she worked for newspapers in upstate NY, WA, OR and at her hometown weekly in Berkeley Springs, WV, where she got her start in journalism.
Nairobi, April 11 : The United Nations refugee agency said it has shared with Kenya a proposed set of sustainable and rights-based measures aimed at identifying solutions for refugees living in camps in Kenya.

The Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps, located in Kenya, host some 430,000 refugees and asylum-seekers of more than 15 nationalities, Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

Fathiaa Abdalla, the UNHCR representative in Kenya, said the UN agency has proposed enhanced voluntary repatriation in safety and dignity, while taking into account the movement restrictions related to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

"We have heard the concerns expressed by the government of Kenya and hope that these measures will be a significant step forward in accelerating sustainable solutions for all those concerned," she said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

The UNHCR supports speeding up the issuing of national identity cards to more than 11,000 Kenyans who have previously been identified as registered in the refugee database, and continuation of the vetting process for others in similar circumstances, Abdalla said.

She said the UNHCR recognizes the tremendous generosity that the people and Kenyan government have demonstrated towards refugees for many decades and the need to resolve situations of longstanding displacement.

The UNHCR has suggested the provision of alternative-stay arrangements to refugees from the East African Community (EAC), which groups Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.

This would represent a major opportunity for refugees to become self-reliant and contribute to the local economy, the UNHCR said.

The UN agency also proposed resettlement to third countries for a small number of refugees who are not able to return home and face protection risks.

"We believe that through joint renewed actions we can put in place measures that respect refugee rights and lead to sustainable solutions," Abdalla said. "We look forward to continuing our dialogue and collaboration with the Kenyan authorities and partners on this important matter." On March 23, the Kenyan government announced its intention to close the two major camps, creating uncertainty for more than 400,000 refugees.

Nairobi told the UNHCR said that there is no room for further negotiations on the closure of Dadaab refugee camp, which mainly hosts refugees from Somalia, and Kakuma camp, which hosts refugees from South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda.

However, the High Court on Thursday temporarily blocked the closure of two refugee camps for 30 days pending the hearing and determination of a petition filed by a local politician.

Kenya, which hosted protracted negotiations that culminated in the formation of the transitional federal government of Somalia, says the refugee situation continues to pose security threats to Nairobi and the region, in addition to humanitarian challenges.
Just over one per cent of Australian diplomats are proficient in Mandarin or Cantonese, three times lower than the general population, heightening concern that the public service is seriously lacking expertise on China.

New research shows that Chinese Australians are opting not to join the Australian Public Service, or choosing to resign early in their career, because of issues with recruitment, retention and the difficulty presented by security checks.

One public servant said the federal government would never hire someone with my name to work on national security, while Chinese Australians complained that they were perceived to have a conflict of interest in working on China policy.

Yun Jiang warns the lack of Chinese language skills within the Australian public service could lead to significant misunderstandings.

Liberal MP Dave Sharma and former intelligence chief Allan Gyngell have previously called on the Australian government to boost its number of Chinese speakers and to look at its security vetting process, saying the lack of representation was a great waste of talent as relations between Canberra and Beijing deteriorate.
A mother was taken into custody in California on Saturday after her three children were found dead in a Los Angeles apartment, the authorities said.

Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a call about a possible death at an apartment in the Reseda neighborhood at 9:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, the police said on Twitter.

Firefighters pronounced all three children dead at the scene, the police said, adding that the victims appeared to be under 5 years old. Their ages and genders were not released.

We can confirm Liliana Carrillo is the mother of the three children who were killed, and she is considered the sole suspect in this case, the police said. The police said on Twitter that the cause of death and a motive had not yet been determined.
Mumbai, April 11 : Television actor Mahika Sharma has urged people not to adopt pets just to follow a trend. On the occasion of National Pet Day, the actress said that 'you need to be responsible for your pet'.

"Pets in the country are now a mode of showing off fashion trends and a sign indicating that someone enjoys a high profile status. But I feel this is a negative gesture and cruelty towards innocent animals and birds. People should only adopt a pet once they are ready to take up their expenditure. And can be responsible towards them," she says.

Mahika, who is known for her roles in shows like "F.I.R", "Tu Mere Agal Bagal Hai" and "Police Factory" is also working for the welfare of street dogs and wildlife. The actress has earlier stood for One-Horned Rhino in her home state Assam.

"It's sad that in the first phase of Covid, people abandoned their dogs and other pets because they were scared. Not only in such situations but in Mumbai, actors get a pet dog home but once after they can't make it big on the workfront, they return to their hometowns, abandoning the pet on the street," she says.

Mahika has also appeared in Bollywood films like 'Mr Joe B. Carvalho' and 'Chalo Dilli'.
SWEET HOME ALABAMA: SWJ TECHNOLOGY opens Alberta Technology Center on University Boulevard East

Construction is finished, and the doors are officially open at SWJ TECHNOLOGYs new USMCA headquarter in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The new facility spans more than 7000 square feet on a three-acre site near the Alberta School of Performing Arts and the Gateway digital library. The company will move its North American headquarters, the regional office for Alabama as well as equipment services, rapid prototyping and its metrology lab to new facility today.

SWJ TECHNOLOGYs new facility will have its own engineering workshop, operated by the subsidiary NGE EQUIPMENT, offering various solutions, such as advanced measurement and prototyping services, assembly of innovative specialty tools, equipment and handhelds, which will support and integrate into manufacturing operations.

Through the Alberta Technology Center, SWJ envisions to increase its current footprint in innovative cloud-based online engineering systems to provide value-added technologies in addition to its traditional industrial engineering services. SWJ has made plans to grow its internship and apprenticeship programs, to support young professionals and maintain its status as an attractive employer for graduates from local colleges and universities.

The Alberta Technology Center is a major investment for SWJ TECHNOLOGY and would not have been possible without the support of the City of Tuscaloosa and the local economic development initiatives. President and CEO, Dr. Wolfgang Kneer adds: We like to sincerely thank the City of Tuscaloosa, Major Walt Maddox and City Councilman Kip Tyner for their support and vision to make this first Technology Center of a German Engineering Company possible. In return, we have built a larger facility than initially planned, spent more money to make this Tech Center exceptional and believe that we will surpass our own expectations for growth and new services. I am certain, that this will be a milestone for Albertas appeal to stimulate more investment, attract more businesses, and provide more jobs for the local community and we feel honored to be part of it.

Together with Mayor Walt Maddox and City Councilman Kip Tyner, SWJ TECHNOLOGY will host a small ribbon-cutting on Wednesday, April 14, 2021, at 10:30 AM. Although we had wished to host a grand opening with a big barbecue for the entire community - it will be a much quieter and much smaller ribbon-cutting for now. Dr. Wolfgang Kneer further explains: When we can ensure the health and safety of all people in attendance, while still adhering to CDC guidelines, and when more people have received their COVID-19 vaccinations, we will definitely plan for a Grand Opening Ceremony later in the year.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Iran on Sunday described a blackout at its underground Natanz atomic facility an act of nuclear terrorism, raising regional tensions as world powers and Tehran continue to negotiate over its tattered nuclear deal.

In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani, second right, listens to head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi while visiting an exhibition of Iran's new nuclear achievements in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Iran said Saturday it has begun mechanical tests on its newest advanced nuclear centrifuge, even as the five world powers that remain in a foundering 2015 nuclear deal with Iran attempt to bring the U.S. back into the agreement. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Iran on Sunday described a blackout at its underground Natanz atomic facility an act of nuclear terrorism, raising regional tensions as world powers and Tehran continue to negotiate over its tattered nuclear deal.

While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, suspicion fell immediately on Israel, where its media nearly uniformly reported a devastating cyberattack orchestrated by the country caused the blackout.

This satellite photo from Planet Labs Inc. shows Iran's Natanz nuclear facility on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. Iran's Natanz nuclear site suffered a problem Sunday, April 11, involving its electrical distribution grid just hours after starting up new advanced centrifuges that more quickly enrich uranium, state TV reported. It was the latest incident to strike one of Tehran's most-secured sites amid negotiations over the tattered atomic accord with world powers. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)

If Israel was responsible, it further heightens tensions between the two nations, already engaged in a shadow conflict across the wider Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met Sunday with U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, has vowed to do everything in his power to stop the nuclear deal.

Details remained few about what happened early Sunday morning at the facility, which initially was described as a blackout caused by the electrical grid feeding its above-ground workshops and underground enrichment halls.

Ali Akbar Salehi, the American-educated head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, who once served as the country's foreign minister, offered what appeared to be the harshest comments of his long career, which included the assassination of nuclear scientists a decade ago. Iran blames Israel for those killings as well.

He pledged to seriously improve his nation's nuclear technology while working to lift international sanctions.

Salehis comments to state TV did not explain what happened at the facility, but his words suggested a serious disruption.

While condemning this desperate move, the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes the need for a confrontation by the international bodies and the (International Atomic Energy Agency) against this nuclear terrorism, Salehi said.

The IAEA, the United Nations' body that monitors Tehran's atomic program, earlier said it was aware of media reports about the incident at Natanz and had spoken with Iranian officials about it. The agency did not elaborate.

In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian Senior Vice- President, Senior Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri, right, and South Korea's Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun walk during a welcoming ceremony for Sye-kyun in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, April 11, 2021. (Office of the Iranian Vice President via AP)

However, Natanz has been targeted by sabotage in the past. The Stuxnet computer virus, discovered in 2010 and widely believed to be a joint U.S.-Israeli creation, once disrupted and destroyed Iranian centrifuges at Natanz amid an earlier period of Western fears about Tehran's program.

Natanz suffered a mysterious explosion at its advanced centrifuge assembly plant in July that authorities later described as sabotage. Iran now is rebuilding that facility deep inside a nearby mountain. Iran also blamed Israel for the November killing of a scientist who began the countrys military nuclear program decades earlier.

Multiple Israeli media outlets reported Sunday that an Israeli cyberattack caused the blackout in Natanz. Public broadcaster Kan said the Mossad was behind the attack. Channel 12 TV cited experts as estimating the attack shut down entire sections of the facility.

While the reports offered no sourcing for their information, Israeli media maintains a close relationship with the countrys military and intelligence agencies.

Its hard for me to believe its a coincidence, Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at Tel Avivs Institute for National Security Studies, said of Sundays blackout. If its not a coincidence, and thats a big if, someone is trying to send a message that we can limit Irans advance and we have red lines.

FILE - This file photo released Nov. 5, 2019, by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, shows centrifuge machines in the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran. The facility lost power Sunday, April 11, 2021, just hours after starting up new advanced centrifuges capable of enriching uranium faster, the latest incident to strike the site amid negotiations over the tattered atomic accord with world powers. Iran on Sunday described the blackout an act of nuclear terrorism, raising regional tensions. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran via AP, File)

It also sends a message that Irans most sensitive nuclear site is penetrable, he added.

Netanyahu later Sunday night toasted his security chiefs, with the head of the Mossad, Yossi Cohen, at his side on the eve of his countrys Independence Day.

It is very difficult to explain what we have accomplished, Netanyahu said of Israels history, saying the country had been transformed from a position of weakness into a world power.

Israel typically doesn't discuss operations carried out by its Mossad intelligence agency or specialized military units. In recent weeks, Netanyahu repeatedly has described Iran as the major threat to his country as he struggles to hold onto power after multiple elections and while facing corruption charges.

Speaking at the event Sunday night, Netanyahu urged his security chiefs to continue in this direction, and to continue to keep the sword of David in your hands, using an expression referring to Jewish strength.

Meeting with Austin on Sunday, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said Israel viewed America as an ally against all threats, including Iran.

The Tehran of today poses a strategic threat to international security, to the entire Middle East and to the state of Israel, Gantz said. And we will work closely with our American allies to ensure that any new agreement with Iran will secure the vital interests of the world, of the United States, prevent a dangerous arms race in our region, and protect the state of Israel.

The Israeli armys chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, also appeared to reference Iran.

The Israeli militarys operations in the Middle East are not hidden from the eyes of the enemy, Kochavi said. They are watching us, seeing (our) abilities and weighing their steps with caution.

On Saturday, Iran announced it had launched a chain of 164 IR-6 centrifuges at the plant. Officials also began testing the IR-9 centrifuge, which they say will enrich uranium 50 times faster than Irans first-generation centrifuges, the IR-1. The nuclear deal limited Iran to using only IR-1s for enrichment.

Since then-President Donald Trumps withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, Tehran has abandoned all the limits of its uranium stockpile. It now enriches up to 20% purity, a technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iran maintains its atomic program is for peaceful purposes.

The nuclear deal had granted Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for ensuring its stockpile never swelled to the point of allowing Iran to obtain an atomic bomb if it chose.

On Tuesday, an Iranian cargo ship said to serve as a floating base for Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard forces off the coast of Yemen was struck by an explosion, likely from a limpet mine. Iran has blamed Israel for the blast. That attack escalated a long-running shadow war in Mideast waterways targeting shipping in the region.

Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Josef Federman and Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th April, 2021) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not attend Prince Philip's funeral later this month in order to make room for as many family members as possible, amid strict coronavirus regulations, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

"The Prime Minister has throughout wanted to act in accordance with what is best for the Royal household, and so to allow for as many family members as possible will not be attending the funeral on Saturday [April 17]," the spokesperson said on Saturday, as quoted by The Telegraph.

According to the spokesperson, current coronavirus regulations will only allow 30 people to attend the funeral next weekend.

Earlier on Saturday, the Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Philip's funeral would take place on April 17 in Windsor. Prince Harry will attend the funeral, according to British media reports, but his pregnant wife Meghan will opt out, as she has reportedly been advised not to travel.

Queen Elizabeth II's husband and the longest-serving consort of any British monarch died on Friday morning at Windsor Castle at the age of 99. The Duke of Edinburgh's funeral will start on Saturday, April 17, with a national minute's silence at 3:00 GMT at St George's Chapel.

A full list of attendees is expected to be released next week.

A royal source told The New York Post that Prince Philip wanted to die peacefully in the comforts of his own home, not in a hospital bed  a last wish that came true on Friday. According to UK media reports, the Queen was at her husband's bedside when he died.

In February, the Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to the hospital for heart surgery, after which he was released in mid-March.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged governments to accept best-in-class rapid antigen tests in fulfilment of Covid -19 testing requirements following the publication of new research by Oxera and Edge Health.



The Oxera-Edge Health report commissioned by IATA, found that antigen tests are:



 Accurate: the best antigen tests provide broadly comparable results to PCR tests in accurately identifying infected travellers. The BinaxNOW antigen test, for example, misses just one positive case in 1000 travellers (based on an infection rate of 1% among travellers). And it has similarly comparable performance to PCR tests in levels of false negatives.

 Convenient: processing times for antigen tests are 100 times faster than for PCR testing

 Cost-efficient: antigen tests are, on average, 60% cheaper than PCR tests.



Restarting international aviation will energize the economic recovery from Covid-19. Along with vaccines, testing will play a critical role in giving governments the confidence to re-open their borders to travellers. For governments, the top priority is accuracy. But travellers will also need tests to be convenient and affordable. The Oxera-Edge Health report tells us that the best-in-class antigen tests can tick all these boxes. Its important for governments to consider these findings as they make plans for a re-start, said Alexandre de Juniac, IATAs Director General and CEO.



Options



Testing requirements are currently fragmented, which is confusing to travellers. Moreover, many governments do not allow rapid testing. If the only options available for travellers are PCR tests, these come with significant costs disadvantages and inconvenience. And in some parts of the world, PCR testing capacity is limited, with first priority correctly given to clinical use.



Travellers need options. Including antigen testing among acceptable tests will certainly give strength to the recovery. And the EUs specification of acceptable antigen tests offers a good baseline for wider international harmonization of acceptable standards. We now need to see governments implement these recommendations. The goal is to have a clear set of testing options that are medically effective, financially accessible, and practically available to all prospective travellers, said de Juniac.



Costs



If rapid tests are not an option for travellers, significant cost and convenience barriers are created. The Oxera-Edge Health report presented the following analysis:



 The cost of PCR testing can completely alter the economics of travel. A family of four travelling from the UK to the Canary Islands will take a total of 16 tests at a total cost of around GBP1,600 or EUR1,850 - a premium of 160% on top of the average air fare.

 A typical London-Frankfurt business trip sees a cost increase of 59% with the PCR test requirement.



The modelling shows that based on five routes studied (London-New York, London-Frankfurt, UK-Singapore, UK-Pakistan and Manchester-Canary Islands) the cost impact of PCR testing will reduce demand by an average of 65%. Replacing PCR with antigen testing would still have a cost impact on demand, but at 30%.



Financial barriers will dampen traveller sentiment which already displays some weakness. In a February poll of travellers, 58% said that they will travel less for leisure once the pandemic is contained. The same poll saw 62% of business travellers say they would be travelling less.



Convenience



In addition to dramatically shorter processing times for antigen testing when compared to PCR, the report also pointed to the scarcity of PCR tests. Current spare PCR testing capacity in the UK, for example, would cover only 25% of 2019 passenger levels. This could cause bottlenecks as and when passenger numbers rebound. Adding antigen testing as an acceptable option would help to alleviate this.



When international travel reopens testing is likely to remain part of the strategy for controlling Covid. The type of testing regime chosen will make the difference in how quickly the travel industry recovers. The choice of a rapid test would be a real boost to the global travel and international business community, and our research shows it can be as effective as other testing regimes and as effective as a ten-day quarantine, said Michele Granatstein, Partner at Oxera and Head of its Aviation Practice.



We are already seeing rapid testing becoming commonplace in non-travel settings such as schools and workplaces. Extending its use to travel is a logical step. Science backs this up. In real world conditions, antigen testing is as effective as PCR testing in reducing the risk of cross-border transmission. Meanwhile the cost and bureaucracy of PCR tests adds huge burdens to families and businesses looking to travel. These are important considerations in preparing for a successful re-start, said de Juniac.  TradeArabia News Service
The first week or so of April has always been a felicitous time of year for me, for no reason I can determine.

It was the first of April in 2001 when I left Washington, D.C. at the wheel of a rental truck, taking our small but growing family for a new adventure in Los Angeles, a city I had barely visited previously but quickly grew to love.

It was April 1, 2011 when the kids and I jumped in our Jeep to start a second adventure out West, after several years living in Philadelphia. We drove way up north of any reasonable cross-country route, visiting Devils Tower, Mount Rushmore, and other attractions.

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.

We arrived in Calistoga on April 8, with a light, wet snow falling, to join my wife, who had been working at Solage for several months while we organized the move back east.

On April 7 of this year, I scored one of the much-sought-after vaccines, in this case, a quick jab of the Johnson & Johnson version. Not much in the way of side effects either.

And it was April 7, 2014, when I first walked into the Napa Valley Register as editor, exactly the kind of job I had wanted since I started in journalism 24 years earlier.
Police say Alegray Damiah Jones, 30, who was in a relationship with the boy's mother, admitted to hitting the toddler until he passed out late on Thursday night

A man allegedly bit, beat and squeezed his girlfriend's two-year-old boy to death after flying into a rage when the boy urinated on a couch.

Police say Alegray Damiah Jones, 30, who was in a relationship with the boy's mother, admitted to hitting the toddler until he passed out late on Thursday night.

Rather than calling 911, Jones, from Winter Haven, Florida, began texting his girlfriend at 11pm while she was at work, prompting her to call for help.

Jones has now been charged with manslaughter over the attack, reports The Lakeland Ledger.

Police arrived at the apartment in Lakeland at around 12.45am before paramedics took the child to hospital, where he died shortly after arriving.

Jones reportedly told detectives he 'popped' the boy on the hand and leg and threw him onto an air mattress.

Officers say he then lifted the infant and held him forcefully against his own body by squeezing his own arm against the child's stomach.

Jones then took the boy to the bathroom, where he vomited, and put him back on the air mattress, it is claimed.

He later found the victim unresponsive and claimed he tried to 'wake him up' by biting his forearm, police say.

Police arrived at the apartment in Lakeland at around 12.45am before paramedics took the child to hospital. Pictured is a general view of the road

After texting the boy's mother, she called him back on FaceTime. After he showed her the child's body she immediately called for help.

Several bruises, brain bleeding, a laceration on the liver, and 'likely adult human bite marks to the left forearm' where found on the victim.

Medical examiner Dr Stephen Nelson ruled the boys death a homicide by blunt force trauma.

Jones has been charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and is being held in Polk County Jail without bond.
ADVERTISEMENT

Two security guards working at A.A. Rano filling station, Customs Junction, Ondo Road, Akure, were on Sunday found dead following an attack by armed robbers.

Although the police were yet to give details of the incident, workers arrived at the scene early on Sunday to find them in the pool of their blood.

One of the filling stations supervisors, Buhari Ashiru, said one of the victims whom he identified as Israel and his colleague were found dead when workers arrived at 5.30 a.m.

Mr Ashiru said Mr Israel was aged 45 while the other security man, whom he did not name, was 28.

According to him, the robbers had made an attempt to break into the stations safe but were unsuccessful.

He added that the robbers failed to access the strong money safe as their master key got broken in the process of trying to unlock the safe.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Leo Tee-Ikoro, confirmed the incident, saying the police had commenced investigation into the matter.

He said the corpses have been deposited at the morgue.

He also called on the public to give useful information that would lead to the arrest of the perpetrators.

Road accident

Also, three passengers lost their lives in a crash along Ondo-Ore Road on Sunday at 7 a.m.

It was gathered three other injured persons were taken to a hospital for treatment.

Eyewitnesses reported that the vehicle was at high speed, and as a result, lost control before it somersaulted.

Mr Tee-Ikoro also confirmed the accident, saying the dead had been deposited in the mortuary.
This week in Christian history: Japanese Pearl Harbor pilot accepts Christ; John Hagee born

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

Throughout the extensive history of the Church, there have been numerous events of lasting significance.

Each week brings anniversaries of impressive milestones, unforgettable tragedies, amazing triumphs, memorable births, notable deaths and everything in between.

Some of the events drawn from over 2,000 years of history might be familiar, while other happenings might be previously unknown by most people.

The following pages highlight events that happened this week  April 11 through April 17  in Christian history.

They include the birth of a well-known author and megachurch pastor, the conversion to Christianity of the Japanese fighter pilot who led the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the death of an influential Mexican nun.

John Hagee born  April 12, 1940

On Monday, notable megachurch pastor, author and politically outspoken televangelist John Hagee will celebrate his 81st birthday.

He was born in Goose Creek, Texas.

As the son of a pastor, Hagee went on to write around 40 books. He founded Cornerstone Church, a San Antonio, Texas-based congregation that boasts about 22,000 active members.

Staunchly pro-Israel, Hagee helped to found the activist organization Christians United For Israel. He has been outspoken about biblical prophecy unfolding in the modern day.

It is the charge of the Church to teach God's infallible Word to the next generation, stated Hagee in an interview with The Christian Post in 2018.

Man has always been fascinated with the future. When you consider that nearly one-fourth of the Bible was prophetic at the time it was written, it is vitally important that Christians are familiar with its teachings.

Leader of Pearl Harbor attack converts to Christianity  April 14, 1950

This week marks the anniversary of when Mitsuo Fuchida, the fighter pilot who led the Japanese attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, converted to Christianity.

According to a testimony published at the time, Fuchida explained that he first became interested in Christianity after the end of World War II upon reading the account of Jacob DeShazer, an American taken prisoner by the Japanese.

One portion of the pamphlet interested me particularly, and that was the confession of Mr. DeShazer that during his imprisonment, he one day came to feel a strong desire to read the Bible, recounted Fuchida.

He recalled to mind what he had heard before about Christianity which could transform human hatred to true brotherly love. This portion, as I read, drew my mind to the same state, and with a desire to read the Bible I purchased one and started reading.

Soon after he began reading the Bible, Fuchida recalled being strongly impressed and captivated." He wrote that he eventually opened my heart and accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour.

Later on, Fuchida became a traveling evangelist who preached in many parts of the world and even became friends with legendary evangelist Billy Graham.

Notable Mexican nun dies  April 17, 1695

This week marks the anniversary of when Juana Ines de la Cruz, a 17th-century Mexican nun renowned for her writing, scholarship and advocacy for womens rights, passed away.

Born out of wedlock circa 1651 when Mexico was still a colony of Spain, de la Cruz became a nun in 1667 in part to allow her a freer hand in pursuing academic studies.

Her works, which included poetry, scholarship and advocating for women to have equal access to education, became known throughout the Spanish Empire during her time and after.

Today, Sor Juana stands as a national icon of Mexican identity, and her image appears on Mexican currency, noted Biography.com.

She came to new prominence in the late 20th century with the rise of feminism and women's writing, officially becoming credited as the first published feminist of the New World.
Army top brass demanded answers as to why a military tank turned over on the Salisbury Plain mock battlefield this week.

The tank commander and his driver had to explain how the armoured vehicle ended upside down with the turret on the ground on Thursday.

Fire crews raced to the scene, fearing the crew was trapped and a photograph appeared to show blood on white blankets where those inside scrambled from under the tank.

But reports have claimed no one was badly injured and Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed it was not blood.

Fuel spilled from the tank when it toppled upside down and it is not clear whether the tank will be a write-off.

A military tank commander and his driver have been asked to explain how the armoured vehicle they were in ended upside down with the turret on the ground on Thursday (pictured)

Photographs from the scene appeared to show blood on some white sheets (pictured) but fire crews later confirmed it was not blood

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said 'A crew from Amesbury was called to Bulford camp to see whether we could assist with a fuel spillage from a military vehicle.

'Following inspection, no action was required by us.'

The Army controls thousands of acres of Salisbury Plain and regularly stages mock battles in the area.

In April 2014, two soldiers were crushed to death when their tank overturned during a training exercise on the plain.

The Challenger 2 tank toppled from a 6ft high (1.8 metre) bank and flipped on to its roof on a gravel track.

The soldiers both had their heads out of the turret and were crushed beneath the 62-ton vehicle.

Fire crews rushed to the scene on Thursday as it was feared people inside the tank may be trapped or hurt but it was later confirmed there were no injuries

Fuel spilled from the tank when it toppled upside down and it is not clear whether the tank will be a write-off (pictured)

Two other soldiers were treated for minor injuries and later returned to their units.

All four servicemen were from the A Squadron, 1st Royal Tank Regiment, based at Warminster.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said at the time that the soldiers were preparing for a training exercise in Canada.

'The two soldiers were not going to Canada themselves but were acting as supervisors during a training exercise to prepare other troops for the trip.'

In July 2001 two soldiers died and two were injured on Salisbury Plain when a Challenger 2 battle tank toppled over into a steep cutting near the village of Imber.

And in 1997 a soldier was crushed to death as he repaired the main gun on a Chieftain battle tank while on exercises on Salisbury Plain.

The Challenger 2 tank was introduced to the British Army in 1998 as a replacement for the less sophisticated Challenger 1 and saw action in the Bosnia and Kosovo.
Trudeau Winds up Liberal Convention With Election Campaign-Style Speech

OTTAWAJustin Trudeau wound up a threeday Liberal convention Saturday with a partisan speech that sounded much like the launch of an election campaign.

While the prime minister has insisted he has no interest in plunging the country into an election in the midst of the deadly third wave of COVID19, his speech was aimed at positioning the governing Liberals as the only party with real solutions to the real problems facing Canadians.

By contrast, Trudeau portrayed the Conservatives as disconnected climate deniers and peddlers of disinformation with a twofaced leader.

And he painted the Bloc Quebecois as a party thats all talk and no action, a manufacturer of jurisdictional squabbles, incapable of delivering the concrete measures Quebecers need.

He did not mention either the New Democrat or Green parties directly, although he urged Liberals to reach out to friends and neighbours who planted a blue, orange, or green lawn sign during the 2019 campaign to spread the word about the Liberal plan for surviving the pandemic and reviving the shattered economy.

Trudeaus wrapup speech came little more than a week before his minority Liberal government is to introduce its first budget in two years, a document that will be dripping in more than $380billion worth of pandemicinduced red ink and will lay out up to $100 billion more in new spending that Liberals say will stimulate more equitable, inclusive and environmentally sustainable economic growth.

If all three of the main opposition parties were to vote against the budget, the government would fall. However, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has promised his party wont trigger an election during the pandemic.

Trudeau could decide to pull the plug himself and Liberal insiders suggest that could happen during the summer, provided the vaccine rollout is going smoothly and the pandemic, currently spreading like wildfire once again, is brought back under control.

In his speech to the virtual convention Saturday, Trudeau reminded Liberals of all the measures his government hastily introduced to help millions of Canadians stay afloat during the health crisis: the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, the wage subsidy, rent relief, business loans, among others.

My friends, what it all comes down to is this: which party has a real plan for the real problems in the real world, he said, standing alone in a studio with red Liberal backdrop, facing a giant screen dotted with the faces of party supporters watching online.

Some refuse to accept reality, all while offering falsehoods and division.

He attacked Erin OTooles Conservatives, repeatedly asking how disconnected do you have to be to advocate cutting CERB payments during the pandemic, to call young people lazy when their summer jobs disappeared, to flirt with disinformation on public health and vaccines and to refuse to admit that climate change is real?

The problem for Erin OToole is that hes not interested in real solutions to real problems, Trudeau charged.

He accused the Conservative leader of being willing to say different things to different people at different times, claiming to want safer communities and to be personally prochoice while pandering to the gun lobby and the antiabortion faction of his party to win the Tory leadership.

As for the Bloc, the Liberals primary opponent in Quebec, Trudeau said it pretends to be the only party that can speak for Quebeckers while Liberals are the ones who deliver the goods for Quebecers with direct help for seniors, businesses, families and workers.

When the time comes to deliver for Quebeckers, it takes Quebeckers in government, he said.

He highlighted how his government has worked with Quebec authorities to combat the pandemic, including sending in the military and Red Cross to help in hardhit longterm care homes.

We prefer to choose action instead of division. We are always there for Quebecers, and for all Canadians, he said. And we will continue to have a unifying message instead of looking for squabbles.

Joan Bryden
MPs have backed plans to commemorate Prince Philip with a statue on The Mall in central London.

The proposals have secured cross-party backing, with MPs arguing a prominent statue would be a 'fitting tribute to mark a lifetime of public service and duty'.

It is thought that both Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer are in favour of the move.

One Downing Street source told The Sunday Telegraph that the idea was one that Mr Johnson is likely to support.

MPs have backed plans to commemorate Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, with a statue in central London

One potential location is The Mall which leads to Buckingham Palace. MPs said a statue would be a 'fitting tribute to mark a lifetime of public service and duty'

Meanwhile, a Labour source said: 'The Duke of Edinburgh dedicated his life to the service of our country and the Queen.

'A statue would seem a fitting tribute for his years of service.'

A petition calling for a statue of the Duke of Edinburgh has already been signed by thousands of people after it was launched in the wake of his death at the age of 99 on Friday.

Save Our Statues launched a change.org campaign calling on the Government to erect a monument to the Duke of Edinburgh in London.

The page has now been signed by more than 6,000 people as many left tributes to the Duke.

The petition said there should be a prominent statue of the Duke in recognition of his service to the country and his 'great personal dedication and support to Her Majesty the Queen'.

One Cabinet Minister said: 'Every sovereign and consort has a statue somewhere. It must be right to have a statue for the Duke.'

Sir Charles Walker, a vice chairman of the influential 1922 committee of Conservative backbench MPs, said: 'It would be a fitting tribute to mark a lifetime of public service and duty.'




FSIS ISSUES PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT FOR RAW GROUND TURKEY PRODUCTS LINKED TO SALMONELLA HADAR ILLNESS







WASHINGTON, APRIL 10, 2021  The U.S. Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert for approximately 211,406 pounds of raw ground turkey products, produced by Plainville Brands, LLC, a Pennsylvania establishment, due to concerns the products may have caused Salmonella Hadar illness. A recall was not requested because it is believed that the products are no longer available for consumers to purchase.







FSIS is concerned that some product may be frozen and in consumers freezers. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase. Retail locations that may receive returned product from consumers should destroy this product immediately.







The raw ground turkey products were produced on December 18, 2020 through December 29, 2020. The following products are subject to the public health alert:







1-lb. packages of Natures Promise Free from 94% LEAN | 6% FAT Ground Turkey with Use by/freeze/sell by date of 1/1/21, 1/3/21,1/4/21, 1/8/21 and 1/10/21 on the front of the package.



1-lb. packages of Wegman 94% LEAN | 6% FAT Ground Turkey with Use by/freeze/sell by date of 1/3/21, 1/4/21, 1/8/21 and 1/10/21 on the front of the package.



3-lb. packages of Wegman 94% LEAN | 6% FAT Ground Turkey with Use by/freeze/sell by date of 1/3/21, 1/4/21, 1/8/21 and 1/10/21 on the front of the package.



1-lb. packages of Plainville Farms Ground White Turkey 93% | 7% Fat with Use by/freeze/sell by date of 1/10/21 on the front of the package.



The products bear establishment number EST. P-244 inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to retail locations nationwide.







FSIS and its public health partners, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), public health and regulatory officials are investigating a multistate outbreak of 28 Salmonella Hadar illnesses in 12 states with onset dates ranging from December 28, 2020 through March 4, 2021. The traceback investigation for one case patient identified the patient consumed ground turkey produced by Plainville Brands, LLC. An intact, unopened package of Plainville Brands ground turkey collected from this case-patients home tested positive for Salmonella Hadar and was closely related genetically to the sample from the patient. Evidence collected to date does not link all illnesses to this establishment. Based on the continuing investigation, additional product from other establishments may be involved. FSIS continues to work with CDC and state and local public health partners on this investigation and will provide updated information as it becomes available.







Consumption of food contaminated with Salmonella can cause salmonellosis, one of the most common bacterial foodborne illnesses. The most common symptoms of salmonellosis are diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within 12 to 72 hours after eating the contaminated product. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days. Most people recover without treatment. In some persons, however, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. Older adults, infants, and persons with weakened immune systems are more likely to develop a severe illness. Individuals concerned about an illness should contact their health care provider.







FSIS advises all consumers to safely prepare their raw meat products, including fresh and frozen, and only consume raw ground turkey that has been cooked to a temperature of 165F. The only way to confirm the poultry item is cooked to a temperature high enough to kill harmful bacteria is to use a food thermometer that measures internal temperature, https://www.fsis.usda.gov/safetempchart.







Consumers and members of the media with questions about the public health alert can contact Yusef Robb at (323)384-1789 or by email at yusef@tkCommunicationsLLC.com.







Consumers with food safety questions can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) or live chat via Ask USDA from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Consumers can also browse food safety messages at Ask USDA or send a question via email to MPHotline@usda.gov. For consumers that need to report a problem with a meat, poultry, or egg product, the online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at https://foodcomplaint.fsis.usda.gov/eCCF/.




London, April 11 : The British Academy For Films and Television arts (BAFTA) awards saw an interesting line up of awards and honour being given out on the opening night gala. Eight craft awards were handed out virtually.

The highlight of the ceremony was actor, director, writer Noel Clarke, best known for "Kidulthood" Film triology, being honoured with outstanding British contribution to cinema.

Ma Rainey's "Black Bottom" won two awards in the category of Costume Design and Make-up & Hair.

The awards took place virtually from the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday. Eight craft based awards were given out, with the rest of the awards taking place on Sunday night.

The eight craft based awards were given out for casting, costume, makeup and hair, production design, sound, special visual effects, British short film and British short animation.

David Fincher's directorial "Mank" was awarded in the Best Production Design category, whereas, "Rocks", the coming-of-age drama film by Sarah Gavron, won in the category of Best Casting.

Director Christopher Nolan's "Tenet" which also stars Indian actress Dimple Kapadia, won a BAFTA for Special Visual Effects, whereas "Sound of Metal" won in the Best Sound category.

"The Owl and The Pussycat" took home the award for Best British Short Animation, whereas "The Present" won the Short Film Award.

The rest of the awards will be presented on the closing night on Sunday, where actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas will be one of the award presenters.
(Natural News) An exceedingly well-qualified physician, who was censored by YouTube last year, addressed the Texas State Senate Health and Human Service Committee last month providing thorough information on successful treatments of COVID-19, the present high-level of herd immunity from the disease, the very limited potential of vaccines, and the data that shows early treatment could have saved up to 85 percent of the over 500,000 deaths in the United States.

(Article by Patrick Delaney republished from LifeSiteNews.com)

Dr. Peter McCullough, MD is an internist and cardiologist, along with being a professor of medicine at Texas A&M University Health Sciences Center. He is distinguished as the most published person in history in his field and an editor of two major medical journals.

McCullough explained that from the beginning of the pandemic, he refused to let his patients languish at home with no treatment and then be hospitalized when it was too late, which was the typical treatment protocol being discussed, promoted and offered across the west.

He thus put together a team of doctors to study appropriately prescribed off-label use of conventional medicine to treat the illness and they published their findings in the American Journal of Medicine.

The interesting thing was, (that while) there were 50,000 papers in the peer-reviewed literature on COVID, not a single one told the doctor how to treat it, he said. When does that happen? I was absolutely stunned! And when this paper was published  it became  the most cited paper in basically all of medicine at that time the world.

With the help of his daughter, Dr. McCullough recorded a YouTube video incorporating four slides from the peer-reviewed paper published in one of the best medical journals in the world discussing early treatments for COVID-19. The video quickly went absolutely viral. And within about a week YouTube said you violated the terms of the community and they pulled it down.

Due to the near total block on any information of treatment to patients, Sen. Bob Johnson hosted a November hearing on this important topic where McCullough was the lead witness.

With such an aggressive suppression of information on early treatments, and the default policy in COVID-19 testing centers to not offer any such resources to those who test positive for the infection, McCullough said, No wonder we have had 45,000 deaths in Texas. The average person in Texas thinks theres no treatment!

And the blackout of such vital information goes well beyond the blatant censorship of big tech companies. McCullough said, What has gone on has been beyond belief! How many of you have turned on a local news station, or a national cable news station, and ever gotten an update on treatment at home? How many of you have ever gotten a single word about what to do when you get handed the diagnosis of COVID-19? That is a complete and total failure at every level!

Lets take the White House: How come we didnt have a panel of doctors assigned to put all their efforts to stop these hospitalizations? Why dont we have doctors who actually treated patients get together in a group and every week give us an update?  Why dont we have any reports about how many patients were treated, and spared hospitalizations?  This is a complete and total travesty to have a fatal disease, and not treat it, he said.

So what can be done right here, right now? McCullough proposed to the legislators. How about tomorrow, lets have a law that says theres not a single (test) result given out without a treatment guide, and without a hotline of how to get into research. Lets put a staffer on this and find out all the research available in Texas, and lets not have a single person go home with a test result with their fatal diagnosis, sitting at home going into two weeks of despair before they succumb to hospitalization and death. It is unimaginable in America that we can have such a complete and total blind spot.

In reference to early treatments that have been widely used outside the west with great success (with around 1 percent to 10 percent of the death rates of the first world), McCullough turned his attention to broad media suppression of information once again asking, When was the last time you turned on the news and ever got a window to the outside world? When did you ever get an update about how the rest of the world is handling COVID? Never. Whats happened in this pandemic is the world has closed in on us.

Theres only one doctor whose face is on TV now. One. Not a panel. (As) doctors, we always work in groups, we always have different opinions. Theres not a single media doctor on TV whos ever treated a COVID patient. Not a single one. Theres not a single person in the White House Task Force who has ever treated a patient, he said.

Why dont we do something bold. Why dont we put together a panel of doctors that have actually treated outpatients of COVID-19, and get them together for a meeting. And why dont we exchange ideas, and why dont we say how we can finish the pandemic strongly.

Isnt it amazing?! Think about this. Think about the complete and total blind spot (regarding home treatments), he said.

Herd immunity and vaccination

The calculations in Texas on herd immunity  right now with no vaccine effect (is) 80 percent, McCullough said. And more people are developing COVID today. Theyre going to become immune (as well).

People who develop COVID have complete and durable immunity. And (thats) a very important principle: complete and durable. You cant beat natural immunity. You cant vaccinate on top of it and make it better. Theres no scientific, clinical or safety rationale for ever vaccinating a COVID-recovered patient. Theres no rationale for ever testing a COVID-recovered patient, he continued.

My wife and I are COVID-recovered. Why do we go through the testing outside? Theres absolutely no rationale (for such testing).

Given the high levels of herd immunity, McCullough said any impact from broad vaccination in preventing COVID-19 can only be minimal at best.

Theres plenty of COVID-recovered patients. Let them forgo the vaccine and let people who are clamoring for it get it. But at 80 percent herd immunity, in the vaccine trials fewer than one percent  in the placebo actually get COVID. Fewer than one percent. The vaccine is going to have a one percent public health impact. Thats what the data says. Its not going to save us, were already 80 percent herd immune, he said.

If were strategically targeted we can actually close out the pandemic very well with the vaccine, the cardiologist stated. But strategically targeted. (For) people under 50 who fundamentally have no health risks, theres no scientific rationale for them to ever become vaccinated.

Addressing the broad misinformation of asymptomatic transfer of COVID-19, which has supported the need for lockdowns due to the notion that the virus can be unintentionally spread by infectious, asymptomatic people, the medical professor said, One of the mistakes I heard today as a rationale for vaccination is asymptomatic spread. And I want to be very clear about this: My opinion is there is a low degree, if any, of asymptomatic spread. Sick person gives it to sick person. The Chinese have published a study  [of] 11 million people. They tried to find [evidence of] asymptomatic spread. You cant find it. And thats been, you know, one of important pieces of misinformation.

Finally, McCullough highlighted the impact of suppressing information on effective and safe early treatments during this last year. Citing two very large studies, he said when doctors treat patients early who are over age 50 with medical problems, with a sequence multi-drug approach  theres an 85 percent reduction in hospitalizations and death.

We have over 500,000 deaths in the United States. The preventable fraction could have been as high as 85 percent (425,000) if our pandemic response would have been laser-focused on the problem: the sick patient right in front of us, he concluded.

RELATED:

Outpatient Early Treatment Algorithm for COVID-19  a Webinar with Dr Peter A. McCullough  This Oct. 2020 webinar includes a great deal of additional information, many incredibly useful slides from Dr. McCullough as well as some participation from Dr. Brian Tyson.

Only a one in 17 billion chance hydroxychloroquine doesnt work: medical professor

Frontline Doctors: Experimental vaccines are not safer than COVID-19

EXCLUSIVE  Former Pfizer VP: Your government is lying to you in a way that could lead to your death.

Its entirely possible vaccine campaigns will be used for massive-scale depopulation: Former Pfizer VP

Asymptomatic transmission of COVID-19 didnt occur at all, study of 10 million finds

The anti-hydroxychloroquine campaign was based in politics, not science: biologist

Read more at: LifeSiteNews.com
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 07:17:21|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

SANTIAGO, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Chile reported 8,124 new cases of COVID-19 and 105 more deaths on Saturday.

Some 1,068,522 people have been infected with the virus in the country and 24,213 people have died, according to the Ministry of Health.

Minister of Health Enrique Paris said at a press conference that Chile has done everything possible to combat the new coronavirus pandemic, in the face of criticism that has arisen against the government for the handling the health and economic crisis.

Paris said that the world is facing "an onslaught of the coronavirus, not only in Europe, but also in India and particularly in South America," which has led Chile to increase testing, strengthen the healthcare system, and advance the mass vaccination program to combat the disease.

Two weeks ago, the government decreed lockdown measures for more than 80 percent of the population, including the entire Metropolitan region, to reduce the spread of the disease. Enditem
LAS VEGAS (AP)  A desert city built on a reputation for excess and indulgence wants to become a model for restraint and conservation with a first-in-the-nation policy banning grass that nobody walks on.

Las Vegas-area water officials have spent two decades trying to get people to replace thirsty greenery with desert plants, and now they're asking the Nevada Legislature to outlaw roughly 40% of the turf that's left.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority estimates there are almost 8 square miles (21 square kilometers) of nonfunctional turf" in the metro area  grass that no one ever walks on or otherwise uses in street medians, housing developments and office parks.

They say this ornamental grass requires four times as much water as drought-tolerant landscaping like cactus and other succulents. By ripping it out, they estimate the region can reduce annual water consumption by roughly 15% and save about 14 gallons (53 liters) per person per day.

Las Vegas might be known for splashy displays like the Bellagio fountains on the neon-lit Strip, but officials say residents of bedroom communities and sprawling suburbs embrace conservation measures, including aggressive monitoring of sprinklers and leaky irrigation systems.

The public perception outside of Las Vegas is certainly much different  and has been for a long time  than the water conservation ethic within the community, said Colby Pellegrino, Southern Nevada Water Authority water resources director.

California imposed a temporary ban on watering ornamental grass during last decade's drought, but no state or major city has tried to phase out certain categories of grass permanently.

The scale of this is pretty unprecedented in terms of a full ban on this nonfunctional turf, said John Berggren, a water policy analyst at Western Resource Advocates.

The proposal is part of a turf war waged since at least 2003, when the water authority banned developers from planting green front yards in new subdivisions. It also offers owners of older properties the region's most generous rebate policies to tear out sod  up to $3 per square foot.

Story continues

Those efforts are slowing. The agency says the number of acres converted under its rebate program fell last year to six times less than what it was in 2008. Meanwhile, water consumption in southern Nevada has increased 9% since 2019.

Last year was among the driest in the region's history, when Las Vegas went a record 240 days without measurable rainfall. And the future flow of the Colorado River, which accounts for 90% of southern Nevada's water, is in question.

The waterway supplies Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming and Mexico. As drought and climate change decrease what the river provides, the amount allocated to Arizona, California and Nevada is projected to be cut further.

Justin Jones, a Clark County commissioner who serves on the water authority's board, doesn't think ripping out ornamental turf will upend people's lives.

To be clear, we are not coming after your average homeowners backyard, he said. But grass in the middle of a parkway, where no one walks: That's dumb."

"The only people that ever set foot on grass thats in the middle of a roadway system are people cutting the grass, Jones said.

The agency has different regulations for yards and public parks. Based on satellite imaging, it believes banning ornamental grass will primarily affect common areas maintained by homeowner associations and commercial property owners.

Jones said the proposal has drawn resistance in some master-planned communities, but water officials say years of drought-awareness campaigns and policies like the rebates have cultivated a cultural change.

Southern Nevada Homebuilders Association lobbyist Matt Walker said consumer preferences have reached the point that potential homebuyers from wetter regions aren't turned off from neighborhoods that have parks but no ornamental grass.

Conservation frees water, reduces per capita consumption and strengthens builders arguments that the desert can accommodate more growth, Walker said. "And the benefits are the ability to keep doing what we do, which is building homes.

Weve really gotten a comfort level that buyers are very much willing to go along with responsible development practices when it comes to water use," he added.

Other desert cities aren't so sure. Salt Lake City has an ordinance that requires a certain amount of yard and median greenery. Phoenix, where some neighborhoods remain lush from flood irrigation, has never offered grass removal rebates.

Water officials elsewhere are loath to compare their policies to southern Nevada. Particularly in cities where water consumption per person is high, they say theres no one-size-fits-all approach for a drier future.

Las Vegas, for example, mostly ignores toilets, showers and dishwashers because the water authority is able to treat and recycle indoor wastewater and let it flow through a natural wash into Lake Mead  the Colorado River reservoir behind Hoover Dam. It is filtered again for reuse.

A draconian anti-grass policy might not work in downtown Phoenix, said Cynthia Campbell, water resources adviser for the nation's fifth-largest city. Trees and grass blunt public health dangers of  urban heat islands   areas lacking green landscaping to offset heat through evaporative cooling.

Regional water officials understand future consumption will have to be reduced but fear the preparation and perception could backfire if the community doesn't buy in.

There comes a point when peoples demands start to harden," Campbell said. Theyll say, This is the point of no return for me.' For some people, its a pool. For some people, its grass.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority isn't sure the idea of banning grass will spread to other cities. But Pellegrino, the water resources chief, said other places will have to make changes.

"Particularly every community that relies on Colorado River water.

___

Metz reported from Carson City, Nevada, and is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Jennifer Emmi, 43, a well known Colorado animal rights attorney, was charged in January with trying to hire a hit man to murder her husband's girlfriend

An animal rights attorney accused of attempting to hire a hitman to kill her estranged husband's girlfriend has a history of violence, an affidavit alleges.

Jennifer Emmi, 43, from Evergreen, Colorado was arrested back in January on charges that include solicitation of murder, stalking and retaliating against a witness or victim.

Jennifer had been locked in a divorce battle with her estranged husband, Donnie Emmi, last year when she allegedly attempted to have his girlfriend murdered.

The girlfriend - who has not been publicly named - had worked as the family's au pair.

Early last year, Jennifer is alleged to have asked 28-year-old ranch hand, Timothy Lindsey, to help kill the woman.

Jennifer is currently behind bars on a $3 million bond, but new legal documents allege she had threatened her estranged spouse prior to the murder-for-hire plot.

In January 2020, she is alleged to have threatened her husband with a knife as he held one of the couple's three young children.

Jennifer is currently behind bars on a $3 million bond, but new legal documents allege she had threatened her estranged spouse prior to the murder-for-hire plot

Jennife is facing charges of solicitation of first-degree murder, two counts of retaliating against a witness or victim and three counts of stalking

The documents - obtained by Fox News - state: 'While Donnie's back was to Jennifer, he felt someone grab the hood part of his hooded sweatshirt... At the same time, he felt his hair being pulled. Then, he felt a piece of cold metal come across his neck and press into it.''

The following month, Jennifer is alleged to have grabbed one of her three children 'by the neck' to 'strangle' her.

'I didn't think I was going to live,' the young child is quoted as telling investigators in the affidavit.

Donnie was additionally 'fearful' that Jennifer would 'commit a murder/suicide and kill him, the kids and herself',

According to the legal documents, Donnie claims Jennifer 'threatened to kill one of their children by driving into a tractor trailer'.

Donnie alleges that Jennifer was suffering from substance abuse issues and was taking 'several medications for a condition called optic neuritis'.

Her attorney disputes the claims made in the affidavit.

The murder-for-hire arrest followed a six-month investigation by the local sheriff's office

Jennifer's attorney, Colin Bresee, said the police evidence suggests his client did not plan to go through with the plot

Around the same time as those alleged threats and violent incidents, Jennifer is accused of contacting ranch hand Timothy Lindsey about the murder for hire plot.

She was allegedly recorded in a series of telephone calls asking if Lindsey knew anyone who could 'get rid' of Donnie's new girlfriend - who had allegedly served as the family au pair..

She is said to have provided the girlfriend's name and workplace, the affidavit states.

Timothy Lindsey 'played along' telling Jennifer it would cost her about $100,000.

'Jennifer responded that the money would not be a problem,' Lindsey told investigators, according to CBS4 reported.

Lindsey then notified Donnie along with the police, before the sheriff's office began a six-month operation that resulted in Jennifer's arrest.

Jennifer's attorney, Colin Bresee, said the police evidence suggests his client did not plan to go through with the plot.

'The allegations, at least the way the warrant reads, is she's understandably upset,' Bresee told news station KDVR.

Jennifer (pictured) is well known in her Colorado community for founding The Animal Law Center - a nonprofit ranch in Evergreen to accentuate the bond between humans and animals

'She finds out that after sacrificing her body and had three beautiful kids that her husband literally traded her in for a much younger girl.

'It's not unusual for someone whose husband is having an affair with the au pair to be upset and mad,' Bresee later said to the Denver Post.

'The line of saying how mad you are and how enraged you are and saying it to other people  it seems odd one of them was then a confidential informant who was working with police.'

Jennifer's trial is forthcoming.

She is well known in her Colorado community for founding The Animal Law Center - a nonprofit ranch in Evergreen to accentuate the bond between humans and animals.
Commissioner Bergin described the failure to advise Packer of these matters as inexplicable but from another perspective, these so-called system errors look like an entirely familiar corporate strategy. But where do we find the corporate mind? Traditionally, the law says that a corporations directing mind and will is found in its board of directors. What the directors know and intend, the company knows and intends. But heres the problem. Modern corporations are often structured to create information silos, and to keep relevant knowledge below board level. Knowledge about the corporations activities will often be dispersed through its lower-level employees (the corporations arms and legs) who carry out its activities. In a complex corporation like Crown, employees number in the thousands and employees may well have no idea of how their individual role contributes to what is, overall, unlawful conduct. They are just doing their job. Crown Perth resort and casino in Burswood, Perth. Credit:Philip Gostelow This diffusion of responsibility can ensure that a corporations board (and, through it, the company itself) remains blissfully ignorant of unlawful activities being carried out on its behalf.

In other words, while the corporations behaviour is shameful, its conscience is kept clean. We may have already seen this play out in relation to Crown. One of NSW Commissioner Patricia Bergins most damning findings was that Crown actively facilitated money laundering, likely worth hundreds of millions of dollars, over many years. This was done through the accounts of two Crown subsidiaries; WA company Riverbank and its Melbourne counterpart, Southbank. But Commissioner Bergin also concluded that Crown was not knowingly or intentionally involved. This reduced its level of blameworthiness. Commissioner Bergin based this conclusion on the fact that low-level cage staff at Crown carried out an aggregation process of individually suspicious transactions occurring through Riverbank and Southbank accounts. Individual cage staff were no doubt honest and just doing their job. Nonetheless, this aggregation process wholly and unavoidably undermined other Crown employees capacity to do their jobs of spotting money laundering activity. On top of this, key Crown officers failed to ask relevant questions, and read relevant documents, relating to the accounts that would have revealed the problem, and did not report available warning signs further up the chain.

Consistently, James Packers evidence was that, even though he was Crown chairman and director at the time, he was kept entirely in the dark. He knew nothing about even the existence of the companies, let alone banks warnings that the accounts showed signs of money laundering. Commissioner Bergin described the failure to advise Packer of these matters as inexplicable but from another perspective, these so-called system errors look like an entirely familiar corporate strategy. James Packer said he was kept entirely in the dark. Credit:Getty/Nick Moir Does this mean that we can expect more of the same before the WA Royal Commission? Not necessarily. The law, slowly but surely, is coming to grips with corporate Frankensteins. My research into corporate fraud, funded by the Australian Research Council, has identified a powerful new model of corporate responsibility emerging in Australia, called systems intentionality, which operates in addition to traditional approaches.

It may be a game-changer, turning excuses of systems errors on their head and making it far harder for corporations to whitewash their guilt. On this approach, a corporations state of mind is manifested, or revealed, in the systems, policies and processes it applies. This idea is something we can all understand. Systems are inherently and obviously purposeful they aim to produce some outcome  and a certain amount of knowledge is necessary to make a system work and so can be taken as read when the system is applied. When I intend to make a cake, for example, I use a system (a recipe) designed for the purpose. And I must follow the recipe by using my knowledge of the required ingredients (flour, eggs and so on) and process (what is meant by beating eggs). So too, the model of systems intentionality explains that corporations intend the systems they implement and know what is necessary for those systems to function. It is even possible to say that corporations must think and act through systems. Individual directors and employees come and go: what remains behind are the systems, policies and processes that dictate the behaviour of the next round of directors and employees. Systems intentionality might not sound exciting or novel but its implications are profound, including for the Crown inquiry.

Judging by the Bergin report, the cage staff at Crown, for example, were carrying out a well-established data entry system that actively facilitated money laundering. They were individually honest cogs in a system that was inherently apt to break the law. This perspective may require an uncomfortable re-assessment of Crowns organisational culpability in such cases. Loading While individual (or even all) directors might have been oblivious of the systems in play, that is not the key question for the royal commission. The inquiry cannot and must not stop with its human figureheads. The key question, after all, is whether the corporation is an appropriate person. To answer that question, the royal commission must have a close look at Crowns character as revealed through its day-to-day systems, policies and processes. It can readily assess whether Crowns character has reformed by examining whether it has engaged in real, systemic change. Anything less by Crown is arguably just window-dressing.
Pesticide is a chemical or biological agent intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest. They represent the last input in agriculture and are used to prevent the spoilage of crops from pests such as insects, fungi, weeds, etc., thereby increasing the overall productivity.

Mayank Mohanti for Indiatimes

Pesticide pollution a cause for worry

But a new study has found that 64 percent of agricultural land all over the world had levels of pesticide chemicals higher than what industry standards consider 'no-effect concentrations.' A third were considered high-risk, with pesticide levels more than 1,000 times higher than no-effect concentrations.

The study, published in Nature Geoscience, pointed to a 'widespread global pesticide pollution risk by examining nearly 100 agricultural chemicals used across 168 countries. The risk to soil, the atmosphere, as well as surface and groundwater were taken into consideration.

AFP

The research found that Asia houses the largest land areas at high risk of pollution--1.9 million square miles--with China accounting for more than half. Scientists are concerned that the overuse of pesticides will tip the balance, destabilise ecosystems and degrade the quality of water sources that humans and animals rely on to survive.

Indian farmers have a larger problem at hand

The impact of pesticides in a farmers life can be gauged by the fact that farmers in India lose around 20-25 per cent of their total production to pests and diseases. Also with urbanisation and rising population levels, the total available arable land per capita has reduced over the years encouraging farmers to use more pesticides in order to improve crop yields.

Mayank Mohanti for Indiatimes

Currently, India is the 4th largest producer of pesticides in the world and according to a research, the Indian pesticides market was worth 197 billion in 2018. The market is further projected to reach 316 billion by 2024, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.1 per cent during 2019-2024.

As of October 2019, a total of 292 pesticides were registered in India. However, the agriculture ministry recently proposed a ban on the manufacture, sale, and use of 27 pesticides in the country over concerns that they could cause a risk to humans and animals alike. This is estimated to cause a loss of about a quarter of the total pesticide industry and a business loss of worth 6,000 crore, besides affecting farmers' interest as substitutes are four-times costly.

Mayank Mohanti for Indiatimes

The 37th Standing Committee of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers in the year 2002 estimated that every year, Indian farmers face losses amounting to 90,000 crores due to pests and diseases. This despite the fact that we use over 55,000 tons of pesticides every year.

But youd be surprised to know that the use of pesticides in India is one of the lowest (~0.3 kg/ha) in the world. Comparatively, countries like China (~14.82 kg/ha), Japan (~11.85 kg/ha) and South Koreas (~11.70 kg/ha) pesticide use is over 50 times higher.

The government introduced the new Pesticides Management Bill (PMB), 2020 in Rajya Sabha in March 2021 to replace The Insecticides Act, 1968. It seeks to regulate the manufacture, import, sale, storage, distribution, use, and disposal of pesticides, in order to ensure the availability of safe pesticides and minimise the risk to humans, animals, and environment, PRS India said.


DANBURY  The city health department has been without a full-time director since last year but has made a deal with the state that would allow the acting position-holder to assume the role after she checks off one more requirement for the job.

Kara Prunty was working as the associate director of community health when the director, Lisa Morrissey, suddenly left the department last April to take on another position.

That put Prunty in charge as the acting director of health and human services.

Mayor Joe Cavo said Prunty was the natural person to step in and that shes been doing a fabulous job for the city and its citizens.

She is on track to hold the title permanently, just after she earns another degree.

"Im hoping that it happens, Prunty said, but theres a process that we have to go through.

Per Connecticut statutes, health directors must be licensed physicians holding a degree in public health  a degree Prunty lacks but is working to complete. She already has a masters in public administration.

Connecticut typically requires health directors to be replaced within 60 days.

In the hopes that Prunty will become the full-time director, Danbury arranged with the state to allow Prunty to continue serving as the acting director while she finishes her schooling.

Under the agreement, Cavo said Prunty has until September 2021 to achieve her degree, but she anticipates itll be completed by August.

We dont want to look any further. We dont need to look any further, Cavo said. We have the person here who we believe will be the next full-time public health director in the city of Danbury.

Morrissey  who headed the department for about three years  left her position in Danbury for a similar one in Bridgeport. She worked at the Bridgeport Department of Health for close to nine months before moving to her current position at the New Milford health department.

Morrisey told the News-Times she had left Bridgeport in January after getting what she called a COVID-19 wake-up call that made her to realize she needed to be closer to home.

When the time comes, Cavo will have to officially appoint Prunty to the role and get approval from the City Council. He said hes confident the council will confirm her appointment.

In fact, one council member is already begging for her to get the full time job.

Frank Salvatore, Jr. and other council members have praised Prunty and the health departments work throughout the pandemic and vaccine rollout.

Mr. Mayor, when does she [Prunty] get rid of the acting title? Salvatore asked at a recent City Council meeting. Because anybody who runs a department like that  as well  shouldnt be acting, should be the director.
By AFP More by this Author

The funeral of Queen Elizabeth IIs husband, Prince Philip, will take place next week, Buckingham Palace said on Saturday, announcing a stripped-back ceremony due to coronavirus restrictions, and a return for exiled royal Prince Harry but not his wife, Meghan.

The announcement came as the couples eldest son, heir to the throne Prince Charles, 72, paid a heartfelt tribute to his dear Papa, and said he and the royal family missed him enormously.

My dear Papa was a very special person who I think above all else would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that have been said about him, and from that point of view we are, my family, deeply grateful for all that, he added.

It will sustain us in this particular loss and at this particularly sad time.

The Duke of Edinburgh  the 94-year-old queens husband of 73 years  died peacefully on Friday just two months short of his 100th birthday, triggering eight days of national mourning.

Royal officials said his funeral, which will be televised, will take place at 1400 GMT on Saturday, April 17 in St Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle, west of London.

It will be preceded by a national minutes silence.

Government guidelines restrict mourners to just 30 people and close attention has been paid to the pared-down guest list for the funeral, particularly whether the dukes grandson Harry would attend.

Palace officials confirmed he would but his American wife, Meghan, who is pregnant with their second child, had been advised against travelling from the United States on medical grounds.

The couple, who quit frontline royal duties last year, have launched a series of broadsides against the royals, including accusing them of racism, and of failing to treat Meghans mental health.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will also not be attending the funeral because of Covid restrictions, Downing Street said.

The Prime Minister has throughout wanted to act in accordance with what is best for the Royal household, and so to allow for as many family members as possible will not be attending the funeral on Saturday, a spokesperson said.
India on Sunday reported a net increase of 61,456 in active cases to take its count to 1,108,087, the most at time since the outbreak early last year. That is over 108 per cent of the previous high of 1,017,754 on September 18. Indias share of global active cases now stands at 4.45 per cent (one in 22). The country is 4th among the most affected countries by active cases. On Sunday, it added 152,879 cases, the most in a day so far, to take its total caseload to 13,358,805. And, with 839 new fatalities, its Covid-19 reached 169,275, or 1.27 per cent of total confirmed infections.

With 3,519,987 more people getting Covid-19 vaccine shots on Saturday, Indias total count of those inoculated reached 1,015,95,147. The count of recovered cases across India, meanwhile, reached 12,081,443  or 90.44 per cent of total caseload  with 90,584 new cured cases being reported on Sunday.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 00:26:16|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

LONDON, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Another 2,589 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,368,045, according to official figures released Saturday.

The country also reported another 40 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 127,080. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

More than 32 million people have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the official figures.

The estimated coronavirus reproduction number, also known as the R number, in England is unchanged at between 0.8 and 1, according to the latest official data.

It means that, on average, every 10 people who have coronavirus will infect between eight and 10 others.

Government advisory scientists said the situation is too variable to produce a Britain-wide R rate, but the number is believed to be above one in some parts of the country, which means the outbreak could grow exponentially in these areas.

From Monday, non-essential shops will reopen and pubs and restaurants will reopen outdoors as Britain moves to step two of the roadmap out of the COVID lockdown, the third of its kind since the pandemic started in the country.

Meanwhile, hairdressers and barbers as well as gyms can reopen, along with zoos, theme parks, libraries and community centers.

Experts have warned that despite progress in vaccine rollout, Britain is "still not out of the woods" amid concerns over new variants and the third wave of pandemic on 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
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in Washington, DC on July 30, 2020. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Fauci told Insider that life in the US may start returning to pre-pandemic normal by the end of summer.

After that, he said, the US could approach "a considerable degree of normality" in the winter.

His optimism comes in part from studies that show vaccinated people are unlikely to spread the virus.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

It's the million-dollar question: When can life go back to normal?

Anthony Fauci gets asked this a lot.

"It's very difficult to predict, but I would think that we would approach some degree of normality as we get towards the end of the summer and into the fall, and a considerable degree of normality as we get into the winter of this coming year," he told Insider in a recent interview.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was referring specifically to life in the US. He pointed to two main factors that will determine whether his timeline is correct: "If we get the overwhelming majority of the population vaccinated, and it turns out how I suspect: that vaccinated people don't transmit."

Both of these variables are trending in a positive direction. Growing evidence shows that US-authorized shots do indeed keep vaccinated people from readily transmitting the virus, thereby stymieing its spread.

"I think ultimately, that's going to be the case," Fauci said.

As for the number of Americans getting vaccinated, and how quickly, the ramp-up has been impressive. Vaccination rates in the US doubled from February to March, then again from early March to early April. More than 3 million doses are now given daily in the US, on average, and 20% of Americans are fully vaccinated.

If enough people get vaccinated, the US could approach herd immunity

In clinical trials before their shots were authorized, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson only showed that their vaccines prevent symptomatic COVID-19. They didn't test whether their vaccines prevent asymptomatic cases.

Story continues

But of course, without curtailing symptomless infections, it's difficult to stop transmission. Now, an expanding body of research suggests that people who get the vaccines are less likely to spread the virus after all.

Still, Fauci said, "we haven't definitively proven it yet."

Studies are also increasingly showing that the shots offer protection that lasts at least six months.

A member of FDNY EMS receives a COVID-19 vaccine on December 23, 2020 in New York City. Michael Santiago/Getty Images

Once enough Americans get vaccinated, the US could approach herd immunity: the point at which enough people are either vaccinated or immune due to an infection to stymie the virus' overall spread. Fauci has estimated this threshold could be between 70% and 85% of the population.

"If we could just hold on for a while, we'll reach a point where the protection of the general community by the vaccine would really make it very unlikely that we're going to have another surge," he said.

If the rate of US vaccination continues to double month-over-month, the country could reach that threshold as early as June.

Already, President Biden has asked states to move the date when every American over 16 will be eligible for a vaccine up to April 19. According to a Kaiser Health News poll, the percentage of Americans who said they were hesitant to get vaccinated has halved since January. And on Friday, Pfizer asked US regulators to make its shot available to adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15, since a recent trial showed it works for that age group.

"We ultimately would like to get, and have to get, children into that mix," Fauci said during a March Senate hearing.

Fauci said the US shouldn't 'pull back prematurely'

Patrons at the West Alabama Ice House in Houston, Texas, June 2020. MARK FELIX/AFP /AFP via Getty Images

Determining when we'll get back to normal, of course, depends on how that's defined.

If normal means a return to nonessential travel, things are looking up: The CDC announced last week that vaccinated Americans can travel by plane, train, or bus in the US without needing to quarantine or get tested. They do need to wear masks, however.

But if normal involves a return to frequent dining at indoor restaurants, or regularly going to bars, concerts, and sporting events without much risk of coronavirus infection, that's a more complicated question.

States like New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have already loosened coronavirus-related restrictions on gathering sizes and relaxed capacity limits at restaurants and gyms. Texas, meanwhile, eliminated capacity restrictions for all state businesses, including bars.

But all of those changes contradicted recommendations from the CDC, and the recent reopenings have coincided with spikes in cases. The rate of new infections is trending upward in 18 states.

"We're at an interesting crossroads, where we have the virus in this country plateauing at a really concerning level, more than 60,000 new infections per day," Fauci said. "So it's kind of a race between the vaccine and the possibility that there'll be another surge."

In his own life, Fauci said, he still avoids crowded, indoor places where people remove their masks, even though he's vaccinated. The CDC, too, recommends that vaccinated Americans avoid large- and medium-sized gatherings and continue to mask up. For most people, that means continuing to approach restaurants, bars, and movie theaters with a lot of caution.

Still, Fauci is optimistic about avoiding a fourth coronavirus surge, given the speed of the US vaccine rollout: "We're absolutely going in the right direction," he said.

"I think if we play it right, if we continue to vaccinate at the rate that we're vaccinating people, and we don't pull back prematurely on our mitigation, then we should be fine," Fauci added.

We may need to keep wearing masks for a while

A person works on her laptop in Central Park on March 23, 2021 in New York City. Noam Galai/Getty Images

If being back to normal means everyone can throw away their masks, that's likely the longest timeline.

At least 18 states currently don't have mask mandates - several of them, including Texas and Mississippi, rescinded their statewide mandates last month.

But Fauci thinks masks could stick around into next year, given the overwhelming research showing how effectively masks reduce the coronavirus' spread.

When asked for a prediction about when masks will stop being the default, Fauci "didn't want to go there."

"Somebody'll come back and throw it in my face," he said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Things to remember

 Pre-registration is encouraged; 800-525-0127, https://www.yakimacounty.us/2472/COVID-19-Vaccine

 Those eligible include restaurant, food service, construction and manufacturing workers; anyone 60 and older; and anyone older than 16 with two or more underlying conditions; people who work in agriculture, grocery stores, corrections and public transit; people who are pregnant; those who have a disability that puts them at high risk; everyone 50 and over in multigenerational households; preschool through grade 12 educators; child care providers; health care workers; first responders; and staff and residents of long-term care facilities

 On Thursday, eligibility will expand to include anyone 16 and older

 The majority of doses at the center  the 1,000 per day from the federal government  are first doses. Starting April 21, the majority will be second doses. If you have questions about whether the dose you need is available, call 800-525-0127 or visit https://www.yakimacounty.us/2472/COVID-19-Vaccine
President Mary McAleese and Prince Philip in Dublin, Ireland, 2011

The Duke of Edinburgh was on a 'mission to heal history' when visiting Ireland in 2011 and was even willing to meet those who were linked to the death of his uncle, the country's former president says.

Belfast-born Mary McAleese was president of the Republic when Philip accompanied Queen Elizabeth on the historic visit, the first by a British monarch to the country in 100 years.

It was seen as a momentous step on the path to reconciliation after the Good Friday Agreement.

Ms McAleese said the duke was not just there to support the Queen, but to further the cause of peace between the two islands.

Appearing on the Andrew Marr Programme today, she said: 'You can understand that security was very high, concerns were high. So he was there, as she has described in the past as her rock, but he was also there as a character in his own right.

'A man who had come on a mission, as she had come, both of them had come on this mission in their own right to try and heal history, to ensure that for the future these two neighbouring islands would be characterised by good neighbourliness.

'He wasn't just there as her company, if you like, her inevitable company, he was also there making a statement.'

Plans had been made for a meeting with Martin McGuinness, the former IRA man who became deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, but this was opposed by his party, Sinn Fein.

Although the pair subsequently met the following year, Ms McAleese said Philip would have been perfectly happy to do so during the State Visit, despite the murder of his beloved uncle, Lord Mountbatten, by the IRA during the Troubles.

Irish President Mary McAleese, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Martin McAlesse attend a State Dinner on May 18, 2011 in Dublin

She said: 'He was willing even then to meet people who have been so closely associated with the murder of a man who had meant so much to him, Lord Mountbatten.'

The royal couple felt a 'duty' to bring about reconciliation between Britain and Ireland, she said.

Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show on the BBC, the former Irish president said: 'I was lucky to have an insight into the desire of both Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip for precisely that reconciliation.

'They both gave me to understand that they really wanted to visit Ireland, they wanted it to be part of a process of reconciliation.

'They saw themselves as people who had a duty to do whatever they could, by way of bringing about that reconciliation between neighbours.

'And so, when they came in 2011, it was at the end of a long process. We had the Good Friday Agreement and that was a long, long, political journey to get to the point where we could offer that visit to Her Majesty the Queen.

Ms McAleese said the duke was not just there to support the Queen, but to further the cause of peace between the two islands

'And, of course, when they both came they were greeted very warmly. Why? Because people recognised in them, in every gesture and everything they did, in the speech that the Queen gave, they recognised people who weren't just there as state visitors but in some ways were on a kind of pilgrimage of reconciliation.'

Asked about the recent unrest in Northern Ireland, the former president said young people in the region are still being 'taught to hate'.

Reflecting on recent violence, she said: 'It's very familiar territory. Regrettably, it arises because they're in a vacuum, and there is undoubtedly a vacuum of the leadership.

'There is bound to be the consequences of Brexit, which, if we go back to Brexit, we realise how little consideration was given in the planning of Brexit and the referendum, of the impact that would have in Northern Ireland. There's all of that.

'You're also dealing with young people, regrettably, who are still being taught to hate and who are bringing that hatred and expressing it out on the streets.

'They are 13 and 14 years of age. What experience do they have of life?

'When I think of the Duke of Edinburgh, and how he could see how important it was to galvanise the curiosity and the wonder and the energy of youth, and to give it a focus, as was done for the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

'These are young people, I guarantee you, none of them will ever have done a Duke of Edinburgh Award, unfortunately.'
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.
An MDC-T activist on Friday lodged a complaint with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) accusing the partys leader Douglas Mwonzora of stealing over $6 million from the opposition partys coffers.

Patson Murimoga, a former Mwonzora ally, accuses the MDC-T leader of conniving with the partys finance director Toddy Mapingire to loot the money, which they allegedly used to buy foreign currency on the parallel market.

In December last year, Murimoga made an initial police report t under RRB /2236/12/2020 on the eve of the discredited Supreme Court-ordered party extraordinary congress, which propelled Mwonzora to the helm of the party.

However, police are still to charge Mwonzora over the matter. In his Zacc complaint, Murimoga said police appeared reluctant to act on the matter despite him writing to the Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi, where he raised concern over lack of action by the law enforcement agency.

The case was reported on December 26, 2020, CASE- RB# 2236/12/2020, Murimoga wrote.

Several members of the MDC-T standing committee have deposed affidavits with the ZRP attesting to the theft and laundering of funds.

The ZRP has conducted its own investigations and evidence exists in support of both theft and illegal exchange of foreign currency on the black market.

The persons, who participated in the illegal exchange of foreign currency are known to the police.There are recorded statements from some members of the MDC-T standing committee attesting to the theft and money laundering.

That the laundering was in total contravention of the countrys Foreign Exchange Act and the prevailing official exchange rate, which was US$1:83RTGS as established by the auction market.

He said the MDC-T standing committee violated the government policy on the use of foreign currency in local transaction.

That the funds from the Political Parties Finance Act are public funds that should not and cant be laundered on the black market in total contravention of the countrys monetary and fiscal policies, he said.

Murimoga wants Zacc to investigate why police have not arrested Mwonzora for the theft of funds despite overwhelming evidence.

Arrest and depose all MDC-T standing committee members for their complicity in money laundering stemming from inability to report the theft and laundering of party funds, he added.

Take up the issue as a matter of urgency in light of police inaction and the soon-to-be-disbursed $29 million as gazetted by the government.

In his letter to Nyathi dated February 3 this year, the MDC-T activist said there was enough evidence for the police to arrest Mwonzora.

I strongly believe it is in the best interest of justice that Douglas Mwonzora, Todd Mapingire and others be arrested just like any other citizens will if they are accused of a similar crime, Murimoga wrote.

Justice is blind and should be dispensed without fear or favour. Mwonzoras stranglehold on the opposition party has come under constant test after his protagonists including his deputy, Thokozani Khupe put pressure on him over the missing funds.

Last month, Khupe made a statement to the police on the alleged raiding of the from partys coffers ahead of its disputed extraordinary congress. Standard
Auckland: New Zealand has reported a second positive case of COVID-19 following the infection of a worker at a managed isolation facility that was announced on Thursday.

Because the new case has been self-isolating at home since being identified as a close contact late last week, there is considered to be very little additional risk to the community, New Zealands Ministry of Health announced on Sunday evening.

The person had returned an earlier negative test before returning a positive test on Sunday.

New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern and Minister for COVID-19 Response, Chris Hipkins. Credit:Getty Images

The worker and their partner moved to the Auckland quarantine facility on Sunday afternoon.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 18:14:08|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

MANILA, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines and the United States will start their annual joint military exercise dubbed "Balikatan" on Monday, the Philippine military chief said on Sunday.

This year's exercise is a "scaled-down version" of the previous drills due to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Philippine defense and military authorities.

Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said this year's "Balikatan" will only involve 1,700 troops -- 700 from the U.S. and 1,000 from the Philippines.

"Some portions of the exercises will be virtual, but we also have minimal physical contact. There will also be actual field training exercises but not as big as those done in the previous years," he said.

Sobejana said the two-week joint military drills will officially open on Monday at the AFP's main headquarters in the capital.

Unlike in previous opening ceremonies, he said Monday's event is closed to the public and the media as part of the safety precautions due to COVID-19. The rest of the drills will also be closed for coverage.

"Balikatan", a Tagalog phrase for "shoulder-to-shoulder", is the most comprehensive among several regular U.S.-Philippines joint military exercises. Enditem
Weeks after CPS Energy sued 16 energy companies, alleging price gouging during Februarys winter storm, legal experts say the utilitys chances of victory in court are slim.

At stake are bills totaling $670 million for natural gas that CPS bought the week of Feb. 14 at what it says were excessive prices.

But flaws in CPS legal strategy could tank the utilitys efforts to win relief in court.

That would leave one option for paying the bills: a rate hike for CPS customers.

The city-owned utility has sued 14 natural gas suppliers and two pipeline operators. CPS also has taken the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the states electricity grid operator, to court.

The gas suppliers position is clear: A declared natural disaster is a business opportunity, CPS CEO Paula Gold-Williams said in a statement. They are trying to force customers to make the decision to either purchase natural gas at excessive and exorbitant prices or not provide power to consumers.

Without recourse, they want to charge up to 15,000 percent more for natural gas supply during a declared Texas disaster, and that is plain and simple price gouging, she said.

Robin Jerstad, Freelance / San Antonio Express News

Yet legal analysts question the logic behind CPS litigation. They say it either targets the wrong parties or cites price gouging laws that arent applicable to power companies buying natural gas on the spot market.

It would be bizarre to apply a price gouging statute to natural gas sales, said James Coleman, a professor of energy law at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Because we all know that the price varies all the time. In fact, its designed to vary.

On ExpressNews.com: As price-cutting measure dies in Legislature, CPS lawsuit seeks to shield San Antonians from winter storm bill

The utility is under intense financial pressure  both from its more than $1 billion in storm-related expenses and customers past-due bills. Customers were $93 million in arrears as of Jan. 31, a sharp increase from the $38 million in past-due bills the year before.

CPS plans to resume disconnecting customers power for nonpayment in late spring or early summer, more than a year after suspending the practice because of the pandemic.

Center stage

CPS legal battle is currently one of its highest priorities. Utility officials dismissed questions about possible holes in their argument and said they are confident in their legal strategy.

During the storm, gas pipelines and wellheads froze over and icy roads prevented gas deliveries. Supplies of the fuel, used to power electricity-generating plant and heat homes, shrank fast. The shortage hit as demand for power spiked, with Texans across the state cranking up their heaters.

Natural gas prices surged. In its lawsuits, CPS has alleged that suppliers raised prices from around $2.50 per unit of gas before the storm to $150 per unit and higher during the deep freeze. CPS has accused one supplier, Koch Energy Services, of increasing prices by more than 16,000 percent.

Gas companies have fired back. Houston Pipe Line Co., a subsidiary of Dallas-based midstream company Energy Transfer, countersued the utility. ConocoPhillips also is taking CPS to court, alleging the utility has violated its contract by not paying for delivered gas.

The Houston-based oil major is not one of the companies CPS has sued.

HPL and ConocoPhillips say CPS knew the price of the gas it was purchasing  and still carried out the transactions.

CPS knowingly agreed to the prices and, in so doing, secured gas for itself that other buyers would have bought from defendants instead, HPL said in its counterclaim.

CPS contends the extreme cold effectively broke the natural gas market. Gas prices swung from lawful commercial terms to unlawful and unconscionable price gouging over a period of days, the utility said.

CPS cited a chapter of Texas law covering deceptive trade practices as the basis for its price gouging claims. Under state law, taking advantage of a disaster declared by the governor by selling or leasing fuel, food, medicine, lodging, building materials, construction tools or another necessity at an exorbitant or excessive price is unlawful.

But that law is meant to cover basic consumer goods during an emergency. Think bottled water, food and gasoline. The statute was never meant to apply to the price of natural gas on the spot market, SMUs Coleman said.

Efforts to cap natural gas prices in the 1970s caused supply shortages in parts of the U.S., so state and federal regulators have since allowed the market to set the price for the fossil fuel.

Sometimes youll read this conventional wisdom about priceg ouging, that, Well, if prices rise more than 10 percent in a crisis, the rule of thumb is that could be price gouging, Coleman said. Obviously, it would be insane to apply that standard to natural gas. West Texas prices have gone negative several times, so they vary from negative to potentially very high.

To try to make its case, CPS could analyze data from gas suppliers to see whether they withheld gas they had under contract at fixed prices to sell the fuel on the spot market at much higher prices, said Carey King, assistant director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.

But even if a court decides the price gouging law applies to natural gas, multiple exemptions in the statute appear to preclude CPS from invoking the law.

The contracts CPS is contesting vary in size, but each one is for well over $1 million. The state price gouging law doesnt apply to transactions involving total consideration by the consumer of more than $100,000.

Also, the statute is meant to protect consumers, not a business consumer that has assets of $25 million or more. CPS owns assets totaling more than $11 billion.

Typically, these price gouging laws are adopted with the idea of protecting consumers, not sophisticated businesses or these sorts of business-to-business transactions, Coleman said. Theres no doubt that this would be a very odd case to apply price gouging.

On ExpressNews.com: Gas suppliers sue CPS, say utility must pay winter storm bill

Counteroffer?

In its 16 lawsuits, CPS said its willing to pay suppliers $38.83 per unit of gas, a price it deemed the outer reaches of any commercially justified price for natural gas.

CPS said it came to that amount after examining price changes of natural gas and other goods in previous natural disasters in Texas, as well as other states price gouging statutes.

ConocoPhillips and HPL have called the utilitys price arbitrary and invalid. And legal experts said a court is unlikely to rule that CPS can single-handedly determine the price at which it can settle its debt.

You can see (CPS) position, which is, OK, were willing to pay 10 times more for natural gas  were just not willing to pay 100 times more, Coleman said. But how is a court supposed to set that limit?

One Austin energy attorney took the $38.83 price as a tacit settlement offer by CPS, meant to entice suppliers to accept a rate still well above the typical price for natural gas.

Natural gas companies operate at different points in the supply chain. Some extract the fuel and sell it to suppliers. Pipeline companies transport it. And other companies only trade it.

A company extracting gas directly from the wellheads likely reaped big profits during the storm  assuming its wellheads werent frozen. During the crisis, executives at Comstock Resources and Energy Transfer told investors in conference calls about the windfall that high gas prices were generating for their companies.

But companies that only trade gas would take big financial hits if they bought gas at high prices but sold it at only $38.83 per unit.

CPS says ($38.83) is the outer reaches of any commercially justified price for natural gas, Coleman said. But if the court was to consider other cases, would it generally use that price?

CPS also employed a shaky legal argument in its lawsuit against ERCOT, filed in state District Court in Bexar County in mid-March.

CPS sued ERCOT after state lawmakers chose not to force the grid operator to reprice sales of electricity that took place over a 32-hour period during the storm. An independent analysis company, hired by the state to monitor ERCOT, found that the grid operator set power prices too high in that time period. As a result, utilities such as CPS paid exponentially higher prices for wholesale power than normal.

CPS lawsuit seeks to wipe out about $350 million of the utilitys $1 billion-plus tab.

But its suit includes several problematic statements, such as the suggestion that ERCOT erred in not mandating the weatherization of Texas power plants.

Legal experts noted that ERCOT is not responsible for weatherization; the Public Utility Commission is. But the PUC, which oversees the grid operator, wasnt named in CPS lawsuit against ERCOT, likely because it would be more difficult to extract monetary damages from a state regulator.

While CPS currently has enough cash and credit available to pay its worst-case charges of more than $1 billion, utility officials have said spending the lions share of its cash could jeopardize its day-to-day operations and hurt its credit rating.

Gold-Williams has conceded CPS likely will have to set up a long-term plan to pay off the storm-related expenses. That could mean creating a regulatory asset: an accounting mechanism that would allow CPS to sell bonds to pay the debt and spread out the cost of repaying investors over a decade by upping the monthly charge to customers for fuel costs.

A rate increase, in other words.

Such a plan would require approval from CPS five-member board of trustees and the City Council.

It could also lead to a credit rating cut, increasing interest payments on the utilitys debt.

In the event the financial impact to be absorbed by CPS Energy is large, requiring the issuance of long-term debt and the creation of a regulatory asset, there would be negative pressure on the rating, analysts at Moodys Investor Services wrote in March.

Part politics

The utility has set up multiple pages on its website to allow the public to track its efforts in contesting the charges.

To convince city leaders to approve a rate hike, CPS has to show it made a wholehearted effort to slash its costs, Coleman said. Pointing to a stack of lawsuits  no matter how viable  would be one way for the utility to highlight its seriousness.

When the public is in a sense paying your bills, you have to show youre representing them aggressively and trying to keep costs down for them, Coleman said. Even if they think they might lose, they invested public money, and youve got to show that youre doing everything to keep it.

diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net
On April 10, 2021, the Australian Navy has commissioned its new HMAS Supply (II), the lead ship of two Supply-Class Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment (AOR) built for the Royal Australian Navy by Spanish shipbuilder, Navantia.

On April 10, 2021, the Australian Navy has commissioned its new HMAS Supply (II), the lead ship of two Supply-Class Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment (AOR) built for the Royal Australian Navy by Spanish shipbuilder, Navantia.

Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

On 10 April 2021, the Royal Australian Navy welcomed into service HMAS Supply (II), the first of two new Supply Class Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment (AOR) ships. (Picture source Australian Navy)

The contract to build these vessels was awarded in 2016 with both ships due to be delivered in 2020. The design of these vessels is based on the Navantia built and designed, Spanish oiler Cantabria that is currently operated by the Spanish Navy.

The HMAS Supply was laid down on 18 November 2017 and launched at the Navantia Shipyards in Ferrol, Spain on 24 November 2018. The second ship was launched in September 2019 during a ceremony in Ferrol, Spain.

Carrying fuel, water, food, parts and dry cargo, the HMAS Supply will primarily provide logistics replenishment to naval combat units at sea. They will also be able to support Humanitarian and Disaster Relief operations domestically and regionally. The ship is able to carry 8,200 m of marine diesel fuel, 1,450 m of JP-5 jet fuel, 1,400 m of freshwater, 270 tons of ammunition, and can supply 470 tons of provisions.

In addition to replenishment, the HMAS Supply (II) can be used to combat environmental pollution at sea, provide logistics support for the armed forces, and to support humanitarian and disaster relief (HADR) operations following a natural disaster.

The HMAS Supply (II) has an overall length of 173.9 m, a displacement of 19,500 t, and a full-load deadweight of 9,800 tons. Its design draught and beams will be 8 m and 23 m respectively.

The vessel can accommodate up to 122 personnel including crew. She has a flight deck at the stern to support the operation of a single helicopter. The propulsion system consists of two MAN 18V 32/40 main engines and four MAN 7L21/31 generator sets. She can reach a top speed of 20 knots (37 km/h) with a maximum cruising range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) at 13 knots (24 km/h).
Three young children were found dead in an apartment in Los Angeles, California, triggering a search that arrested the children's mother for a different offense. The bodies of the three young children were discovered by their grandmother in Reseda Apartment, according to an NBC Los Angeles report.

The tragic discovery of the children happened around 9:30 in the morning in the 8000 block of Reseda Boulevard, Sgt. David Bambrick.

READ NEXT: Maryland Mom Arrested After Stabbing Toddler Daughter in the Neck With Scissors

Children Found Dead

The bodies of the children were identified by the authorities as three years old, two years old, and six months old, according to a Fox News report. The grandmother saw the tragic crime scene after returning from work.

Today at about 9:30 AM, West Valley Patrol Officers responded to the 8000 block of Reseda Blvd for a radio call involving a possible death at one of the apartments. The officers went inside an apartment and discovered 3 children at scene.  LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) April 10, 2021

In a tweet, Los Angeles Police District (LAPD) announced that the West Valley Patrol officers have responded to a radio call that involved a possible death at one of the apartments in the building. Meanwhile, the LA City Fire Department pronounced the death of the kids at the scene. The LAPD furthered that the Robbery-Homicide Division and Juvenile Division will be taking care of the case and the investigation that will be conducted.

Meanwhile, the mother of the children is not found on the scene, and the police noted that they were tipped that the mother carjacked in the Bakersfield area, according to a Daily Bulletin report.

The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) from Los Angeles County was also present in the scene as part of the investigation. However, the authorities did not identify if the father of the children is present or whether the family has issues with DCFS.

"An angel shouldn't have to go that way," said Lupe Cuevas, a Reseda neighbor who lives in the same complex. Cuevas noted that one of the children was drawn to her pet dog. "Those babies were such sweet little ones," said Cuevas.

Los Angeles Mother Arrested

The cause of death has yet to be determined, as well as a motive. At this time we are asking for the public's help in locating a person of interest in this case, a female Hispanic 30 years old named Liliana Carrillo. pic.twitter.com/cbwPSuldvh  LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) April 10, 2021

The mother of the three children was identified by the authorities as Lilliana Carillo, a 30-year-old Hispanic woman. Initially, LAPD posted a tweet asking for the people to help them locate the woman describing the carjacking incident she was involved in.

After several hours, Carillo was arrested in the Ponderosa area of Tulare County, according to an ABC7 report. The arrest took place around 2:30 in the afternoon, approximately 180 miles north of the crime scene in Reseda. Fox News noted that Carillo was arrested for allegedly stabbing her three children in the Los Angeles apartment. The police also pointed out that the mother might be driving the stolen silver Toyota pickup truck. The license plate of the stolen vehicle was traced by the authorities as No. J258T0.

"Usually you go where you're safe," said Los Angeles police Lieutenant Raul Jovel. Jovel highlighted the possibility that Carillo has a connection to the place where she was arrested.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Anthony Cato noted that they have not yet identified the background of the family and they are still trying to "puzzle" the events at the moment.

Investigators are still trying to determine a motive for the killings of the three young children in the Reseda Apartment in Los Angeles.

READ MORE: Brazilian Girl Beaten to Death by Stepfather for Wetting Bed; Teen Mom Also Charged

WATCH: 3 young children found stabbed to death in Reseda - from Action News
(Natural News) The State of New York has passed a new budget with major tax increases that will only drive more business from the declining state.

(Article republished from BeckerNews.com)

It is also carving out billions to cut one-time checks for illegal immigrants who lost work due to the states lockdowns.

The size of the checks? Over ten times that given to Americans in the last round of stimulus sent out by the Biden administration.

The bill includes $2.1 billion fund to provide one-time payments for undocumented workers who did not qualify for federal stimulus checks or unemployment benefits, the New York Times reported, according to budget highlights released by the governors office.

New York will now offer one-time payments of up to $15,600 to undocumented immigrants who lost work during the pandemic, the report continued. The effort  a $2.1 billion fund in the state budget  is by far the biggest of its kind in the country and a sign of the states shift toward policies championed by progressive Democrats.

The last round of stimulus payments sent to under the Biden administrations plan began to be issued on Friday.

That brings the total disbursed payments from the latest stimulus package to more than 156 million payments, worth about $372 billion, reported USA Today. The payments, which total up to $1,400 each per individual, were distributed mostly by direct deposits and paper checks.

New York rewarding illegal immigrants with massive one-time payments comes amidst a surge in illegal migrants that has the Biden administration taking flak from all sides. While Biden now tries to deflect from his record by telling prospective illegal migrants such things as dont come to America, his lip service only serves to underscore that the president knows his administrations policies are harmful to America.

The president campaigned on easing immigration controls, including a moratorium on deportations, an end to former President Donald Trumps wait in Mexico policy for asylum-seekers and halting construction of the border wall, an NBC opinion piece noted in March. That platform gave migrants good reason to believe it would be easier to get into the United States if he were elected.

Biden has also begun building parts of the southern border wall begun under President Trump, drawing fire from radical critics. Meanwhile, New York state is handing out $15,600 checks to anyone from around the world who can make it into the state illegally  but not to American citizens whose livelihoods were decimated or destroyed by the governors reckless and unlawful lockdown policies.

The $15,600 checks being cut for illegal aliens while millions of Americans are struggling is the latest sign that the Democratic Partys policies are a recipe for social discord and budgetary disaster.

The Big Apple is collapsing and surreal policies like the ones just passed in Albany is a primary reason why. The state is run by a governor whose corrupt administration hid thousands of nursing home deaths from the public and who has been credibly accused of sexual harassment by multiple aides. Meanwhile, the states draconian and arbitrary lockdowns have crippled small businesses, shuttering hundreds of them permanently. It has gotten so bad that many New Yorkers are throwing in the towel on the disastrously managed state.

Last year, tens of thousands of the richest New Yorkers fled the state  as many as 70,000, according to a Unacast report cited by Reuters. The spendthrift measures passed by Albany have set the state on a course for budgetary implosion and another round of blue state bailouts from the Biden administration.

Read more at: BeckerNews.com
There are more vacant council houses in Limerick than there are people who are registered as homeless, according to latest figures.

However, more than half of the nearly 300 vacant properties belonging to Limerick City and County Council (LCCC) are in need of refurbishment before they can be occupied.

Out of the 297 properties registered as vacant at the end of March, 157 need work done before they can be allocated to tenants.

According to the council, 80 of the properties are in need of major refurbishment, meaning they would require a 'deep retrofit', including the installation of windows and bathrooms and electrical work.

Out of that 80, 54 would be classed as derelict, meaning they require structural repairs such as work on the roof, or works to fix damage caused by fire or flooding, while 77 are in need of minor refurbishment.

However, Una Burns, policy officer with the housing charity Novas, says although these figures indicate that there is enough social housing to meet the demand of homeless people in Limerick, there are a number of critical points that these figures dont reveal.

What type of housing is available? How many of these units are one-bed properties? Ms Burns asked.

She said February's figures, which show 221 people registered as homeless in Limerick, mostly include single adults and a small number of couples.

By in large, this group would only be entitled to a one-bed social housing unit, with a national deficit of these types of properties, Ms Burns said.

Limerick is no exception. Even if all the social housing mentioned here was available today, the people who are recorded as homeless would be ineligible to access many of the units, she added.

Ms Burns said this figure of 221 registered homeless does not include those who feature among the countys "hidden homeless".

These are people who have no secure or safe home, who sofa surf, and move from place to place from night to night. We can assume, with certainty, that the number of people in need of housing is much greater.

And we know from recent European evidence that women comprise a large portion of people who are hidden homeless, the research particularly points to Ireland in this regard, she added.

According to Ms Burns, Limerick is not unique in having a lack of sufficient one and two-bed accommodation units, describing it as a national problem and one, the council is keenly aware of and seeking to address.

Single people spend really protracted periods of time in homeless accommodation because their move-on options are so limited.

"If you look at Daft.ie today, there are just two one-bed properties to rent in Limerick City and both far exceed the limits of HAP, even with a 20% uplift, Ms Burns said.

As well as those registered as homeless, there are people who are waiting to be allocated a council house.

She pointed to the Repair and Lease Scheme as a possible answer to the shortage of one and two-bed units in Limerick.

Cities such as Waterford have done very well in using this scheme, Ms Burns added.

As well as those registered as homeless, there are people who are waiting to be allocated a council house.

According to Limerick City and County Council chief executives Report for February 2021, there are also 2,374 on the housing waiting list.

We have a housing crisis, said Sinn Fein TD Maurice Quinlivan. We have over 2,300 people on the social housing list, and obviously a lot more people than that are in need of a home."

Mr Quinlivan says the issue of vacant council-owned properties has been ongoing for years.

I think the Government needs to step in here. Release the funds to the local authorities, and get rid of all the unnecessary red tape.

We need to prioritise this stuff. It's not rocket science to get those houses delivered, and you're not spending the money on the cost of emergency accommodation, he added.

Included in the 297 vacant properties, a total of 26 houses are available for letting and are waiting to be allocated to tenants. Another 34 are homes that have been refurbished and allocated to tenants but not yet accepted by them.

One house is classed as mortgage to rent, while 79 are classed as other, and awaiting allocation of funding so works can begin.

According to the council, between April and December 2020, 146 homes were brought back into use by LCCC, who prioritised these works when the coronavirus pandemic impacted the provision of services throughout the country.

Local Fianna Fail TD, Willie ODea has called for a scheme to be introduced where would-be tenants are allowed to move into properties and complete work on the houses themselves, with financial support from the council.

More than half of the nearly 300 vacant properties, belonging to Limerick City and County Council are in need of refurbishment before they can be occupied.

Its simple, its practical, and right now, there is too much bureaucracy in the housing area anyway. Thats one of the problems with the state providing housing directly, he said.

Not included in the 297 vacant houses are 60 properties earmarked for demolition.

This programme, the council said, has been curtailed due to the impact of Covid-19 and public health restrictions imposed by the Government.

A number of houses, which were knocked in March, were located in the St Marys Park area of Limerick City.

An Garda Siochana, along with LCCC, created a joint task force as part of Operation Copog, which aimed at assisting the community in St Marys Park with a specific programme of works.

It comes as a number of vacant houses in the area had been reported by residents, as being hubs for anti-social activities.

Since then, eight of the planned 12 houses due for demolition have been completely demolished.

The remaining four houses are attached to homes currently occupied so will take a little bit longer to demolish, a council spokesperson said. An old takeaway structure in the estate has also been demolished.

When a council-owned house becomes vacant, Limerick City and County Council ensures it cannot be occupied until refurbishment works are carried out. If illegal activities do take place, the gardai are informed, the spokesperson said.
St. Paul police on Saturday held an auto care clinic in which the department marked catalytic converters with brightly colored paint to make them less appealing to thieves.

The Police Department staged the event after seeing a sharp increase in thefts of the pollution-control devices, which are coated with precious metals like palladium, rhodium and platinum. There have been 560 thefts reported this year, according to the department.

More than 1,000 people snapped up all available slots within hours after the event in the parking lot of Allianz Field was announced last Monday, and another 3,000 were placed on a waiting list, said spokesman Steve Linders. He said the demand didn't surprise him.

"They're tired of having the catalytic converters stolen," Linders said, noting the department will schedule another clinic "in the near future."

Several Drive readers wondered if it can be a do-it-yourself job.

"What kind of paint will work for this? Does it have to be heat resistant?" Drive reader Janet asked in an e-mail. "I think many could mark their catalytic converters themselves or ask their mechanics."

Be careful crawling under your car, but yes, it is a job you can do in your own driveway or garage. All that is needed is a generous amount of bright, high-temperature (1,300- to 2,000-degree Fahrenheit) automotive exhaust spray paint. It's available from shops selling auto supplies and from online retailers.

"Many scrap yards won't purchase marked catalytic converters," Linders said.

Watching for distracted driversLaw enforcement statewide is looking for distracted drivers, particularly those who are using their phones while behind the wheel, in a monthlong enforcement campaign that runs through April 30.

A hands-free law that went into effect in August 2019 prohibits drivers from holding a phone, even if they are not talking, texting or surfing the web. Last year, nearly 19,800 drivers were ticketed for failing to comply with the law. One was a driver's education instructor in St. Paul who took a call from one of his students.

Story continues

"Troopers continue to see drivers across the state using cellphones that are not in hands-free mode," said Lt. Gordon Shank with the Minnesota State Patrol. "Drivers are telling troopers that they are aware of hands-free laws but have a hard time breaking habits. We remind people that if they must use their phone while driving, it needs to be hands-free."

Distracted driving was a factor in crashes leading to 2,612 injuries and 29 deaths last year, the Department of Public Safety said.

To review: The hands-free law allows drivers to use their cellphones to make calls, text, listen to music or podcasts and get directions, but only by voice commands or single-touch activation without holding the phone. Multiple touches and scrolling are illegal. Video streaming, gaming and using apps for anything other than navigation also are against the law.

Drivers can have phones legally mounted on the windshield or dashboard, placed on the passenger seat and even tucked into a head wrap or stocking cap provided the device does not block their vision.

Distracted driving isn't limited to phone use. Being lost in thought, changing music, reaching for something on the floor or disciplining a child in the back seat "are all real distractions," the DPS said.

Follow news about traffic and commuting at The Drive on startribune.com. Got traffic or transportation questions, or story ideas? E-mail drive@startribune.com, tweet @stribdrive or call Tim Harlow at 612-673-7768.
Kyle MacLachlan in his film debut. Photo: Universal Pictures

Sir Patrick Stewart charging into battle cradling both a wide-eyed pug and a gun should be the subject of absurd fan art, and yet its a real scene from David Lynchs 1984 adaptation of Dune. Like the rest of his widely panned take on Frank Herberts landmark 1965 sci-fi novel, the sight is a feast of contradicting yet amazing ideas that continues to astound nearly four decades later. Dont believe the cynicism: Lynchs great shame remains a great undertaking worth watching, especially as we wait on Denis Villeneuves retelling. Beneath the reportedly $40 million flop and stains of studio interference lies a work that reveals Lynchs creative ethos, young talent (including a 24-year-old Kyle MacLachlan), and the Herculean task that is adapting Dune onscreen.

Lynch may have been the first director to bring Dune to the movies, but he wasnt the first to try. As chronicled in the documentary Jodorowskys Dune, director Alejandro Jodorowsky made a Hail Mary pass to adapt Dune into more than ten hours of cinema in the 70s, but there wasnt enough studio budget in the world for his lavish ideas. Among them: eyeing Orson Welles, Salvador Dali, and Mick Jagger for the cast as well as Pink Floyd and Magma for the soundtrack. Between Jodorowsky and Lynch came a little saga called Star Wars that compelled producers to find the next space blockbuster, and Dune was ripe for the taking. Producers Dino and Raffaella De Laurentiis eventually tapped Lynch to direct following his eight-time Oscar-nominated film The Elephant Man in 1980, his second feature-length project after Eraserhead in 1977, and the rest is Arrakis history.

Lynch summarizes the galactic stakes of Dune in an opening monologue delivered by a young Virginia Madsen playing Princess Irulan. To recap some, but certainly not all, of the story, we learn that control of the spice melange is crucial for traversing through and effectively ruling the universe, and that it can only be harvested from the desert planet Arrakis, a.k.a. Dune. In the four corners of this match are Arrakis inhabitants the Fremen, the cruel House Harkonnen, the ruling House Corrino, and the dignified House Atreides hoping to take control of Arrakis. Yet within House Atreides lies the young prince Paul, destined to liberate the Fremen and restore peace. He just doesnt know it yet  but we certainly do thanks to endless narrative wink-wink nudge-nudges.

Still, Lynchs Dune has many undersung merits that rise above the cracks. Among its wins is a fantastic debut film performance by MacLachlan as our Welp, guess Im the Messiah hero Paul Atreides. In Dune, MacLachlan first proves himself as Lynchs go-to innocent in a cruel world, believably conveying a range of emotions: the immense pressure of duty, wonder over a greater destiny, love for his family, and subsequent loyalty toward the Fremen. As a vessel for the audiences own bewilderment, MacLachlan is the glue that holds Dune together, and he went on to ground Lynchs further masterworks Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks. Lynch fans will also be delighted to spot Jack Nance (Henry Spencer in Eraserhead, among others), Freddie Jones (Bytes in The Elephant Man and more), Dean Stockwell (Ben in Blue Velvet), Everett McGill (most notably Ed Hurley in Twin Peaks), and Alicia Witt (Gersten Hayward in Twin Peaks) onscreen as well as Lynchs own cameo as a spice worker on Arrakis.

Even if youre not a Lynch devotee, Dune remains an engrossing sci-fi feature. Brian Enos Prophecy Theme sets the dramatic stage and helps the opening Dune 101 monologue sink in. Aided by cinematographer Freddie Francis, there are genuinely stunning shots of House Atreides approaching Arrakis, the desert-planet landscape, the Fremen charging across its sands, and our concluding view of capital city Arrakeen surrounded by victorious Fremen. Sets are opulent and rich with detail, including the ruling emperor Shaddam IVs (Jose Ferrer) throne room with gold-pipe organlike features adorning the walls. At their best, special effects, such as Harkonnens bombing House Atreides, alight both the planets night sky and the audiences imagination. Dunes practical and creature effects are also impressive for its time, including the brainlike Guild Navigator with slow blinks that unnerve. And as promised, Stewarts Gurney Halleck plays a charming ally to both Paul Atreides and a royal battle pug.

Time has turned many of Dunes stylistic flaws into thoroughly entertaining space camp as well. Its enough to forgive choices like our beloved space pug, absent from Herberts novel, joining the mix. Surprisingly, Totos score succeeds overall and amuses in moments when their wailing guitars feel more 80s prom than battle charge. Paul Atreides successfully commanding a sandworm as Toto let it rip to signify his heightened power is incredible to behold. Speaking of rock stars, Sting as a carrottopped Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen is hilariously impossible to divorce from his Tantric front-man persona, especially when hes glistening with sweat wearing only That Codpiece. Its likewise a riot to see the supposedly menacing Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, played by Kenneth McMillan, continually undone by flying that has aged as well as a grade-school production of Peter Pan. Perhaps Dunes greatest practical effect is how MacLachlans 80s-college-bro orb of hair remains intact the entire movie.

Dunes failings are most evident in Lynch not having final cut, forcing him to whittle down a three-plus-hour runtime closer to two hours to appease Universal and producers. Characters give overrepetitive internal monologues that shoehorn in what weve just witnessed, most notably Paul Atreides & Co. coming to realize that he is the Kwisatz Haderach, or superior being of the universe. It is most egregious in the third act when the narration fast-forwards through Paul falling in love with Fremen warrior Chani (Sean Young); Pauls sister, Alia (Witts debut role), being born with a convenient set of powers; the Fremen bringing spice production to a halt; and Paul becoming the hand of God. Phew! Its also a shame to watch Lynchs special-effects budget run out in real time, leaving viewers with ridiculous 2-D spaceships, cartoonish defense and combat shields that look more yawn than Tron, and a B-movie attack on a sandworm by the movies end.

Despite these compromises for the suits, Lynchs imprint remains on Dune through unnerving dream sequences, layered images that confound our sense of time and reality, and flashes of the hyperreal, such as a fetus in the womb so vivid its grotesque. Dunes imprint likewise remains on Lynch through his present and steadfast desire for creative control, from requesting final cut on his 1986 follow-up, Blue Velvet, to briefly walking away from Twin Peaks: The Return in 2015 due to budget disputes. Thats the big lesson, Lynch later reflected. Dont make a film if it cant be the film you want to make. Its a sick joke, and itll kill you. We can only hope that Villeneuve incorporated Lynchs lessons into his forthcoming adaptation, and its grandiose trailer is certainly promising. Even with all its disasters, from pacing to Sting, Lynchs 1984 journey to Dune remains an absorbing and enlightening spectacle of potential.

David Lynchs Dune is streaming on HBO Max.

An earlier version of this story mistakenly stated that Freddie Francis worked on Lawrence of Arabia.
(@FahadShabbir)

Gastroenteritis and measles have also spread rapidly in and around Dera Ismail Khan with week time 50 children were admitted into civil hospitals, doctor at the civil hospital confirmed

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Apr, 2021 ) :Gastroenteritis and measles have also spread rapidly in and around Dera Ismail Khan with week time 50 children were admitted into civil hospitals, doctor at the civil hospital confirmed.

With the onset of summer, various epidemics began to break out in and around Dera. Measles broke out in children with gastroenteritis in Dera, the doctor of the civil hospital told media persons.

In just one week, more than 50 children were admitted to the Civil Hospital with measles. Measles began to spread rapidly among young children. Dozens of children are currently being treated at the Civil Hospital Dera for the deadly disease.

The number of gastroenteritis and measles patients in different parts of Dera as well as in the adjoining areas started increasing rapidly.

The parents of the affected children appealed to the government to take preventative measures for this deadly disease.

It is worth mentioning last year many children died of measles. The parents of young children became terrified of this terrible disease. In the month of March alone, five hundred and fifty children were admitted to the Civil Hospital with gastroenteritis. Public social and civic circles of Dera have demanded the provincial health minister and the higher authorities to take precautionary measures to control various epidemic diseases including gastroenteritis, measles, pneumonia, diarrhea, vomiting, etc in and around Dera.
President Joe Biden speaks about jobs and the economy at the White House in Washington on April 7, 2021. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Republican Attorneys General Plan to Create Legal Roadblocks for Biden Agenda

Republican attorneys general are determined to mount numerous legal challenges against President Joe Biden, creating a formidable roadblock to the presidents agenda.

In less than three months since President Joe Biden was sworn into office, Republican states have waged war on his agenda, suing the administration on climate change, energy, immigration and taxation policy. But the conservative attorneys general who started filing the lawsuits in March said they arent done yet and expect to continue challenging the administration in court.

We are sharpening the pencils and filling up the inkwells, Louisiana Attorney General and former Republican Attorneys General Association Chairman Jeff Landry, who is leading two of the ongoing lawsuits against the Biden administration, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (C) speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 22, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Landry said there will be plenty of legal action and success in court against the president and his administration.

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said Republican attorneys general believe that with a gridlocked Congress, states are the last line of defense for Constitutional rights. The attorney general added that he will continue to focus his efforts on Bidens reliance on executive action, which the president has used to forward several key policy items.

When you step in on day one and start issuing edicts and executive orders like King George, I and a lot of other conservative Republicans are going to start having problems, Knudsen said in an interview.

State attorneys general are coming into their own and realizing they can be an effective pushback against an overreaching executive, he said.

In his first 11 weeks, Biden has outpaced his immediate predecessors in issuing executive actions, according to The American Presidency Project. Biden has signed 38 executive orders compared to former Presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama and George W. Bush who signed 23, 18 and 8 orders respectively during their first 11 weeks in office.

Biden signed more executive orders in his first two days in office than Trump signed in his first two months, according to The Economist.

In March, Knudsen led a coalition of 21 states to sue the Biden over his executive order revoking the federal permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. Weeks earlier, Montana joined forces with Arizona, filing a lawsuit against the president over his executive order blocking deportations.

Landry, meanwhile, has led legal challenges against Biden over his executive order banning new oil and gas leases on federal lands and his orders that have allegedly contributed to immigration authorities releasing criminal illegal immigrants into the U.S.

Democrats are basically hell bent on overreaching, overspending, over-regulating, Landry said. All things that have detrimental long term effects on job creation, and overall stability for the country.

And last week, West Virginia led a group of 13 states challenging the Treasury Department over an American Rescue Plan provision prohibiting states from cutting taxes after accepting coronavirus relief funds.

The Biden administration has already gone much further than Barack Obama. The Obama administration would sometimes pause on various topics and really be very sensitive to the public relations appearance, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey told the DCNF. Biden is going a lot further across the board.

Frequently people talk about separation of powers between the three branches on the federal side: the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, he continued. But theres also a critical need to ensure that the states dont get run over by the Feds.

Both Morrisey and Knudsen told the DCNF that they expect to soon challenge Bidens recent spate of executive actions targeting gun violence in court.

Over the last four years, Democratic attorneys general led an unprecedented blitz against Trumps policies, filing hundreds of lawsuits. The Trump administration suffered defeat in nearly 80% of the 207 cases brought against it in court, according to The Institute for Policy Integrity.

A large majority of the cases challenging the Trump administration accused the president of violating the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), The Washington Post reported. The 1946 law mandates that federal agencies provide sufficient reasoning for rules and regulations they put in place.

But Republican attorneys general have now turned the tables, accusing Biden of violating the APA. The first lawsuit filed against Biden in March accused him of violating the APA when he declared there were social costs of continued greenhouse gas emissions in a January executive order.

They didnt like the Trump administration violating APA, Landry told the DCNF. But they were quick to violate the APA, as soon as Biden became president.

In addition, regulatory experts said the Biden administration is in for rough sailing when it comes to the potential lawsuits it may face, according to the Wall Street Journal. Because it is expected to continue issuing numerous regulations, the administration will be more vulnerable to challenges.

The White House, though, is reportedly gearing up for the onslaught of court battles, spokesperson Mike Gwin told the WSJ. Gwin said the administration has a firm legal footing while Republican attorneys general have reiterated that they are prepared to win these cases.

Im not interested in filing lawsuits just for the sake of a headline, Knudsen told the DCNF. We wouldnt file these things if we didnt think there was a legitimate violation and a legitimate chance of winning in court.

I file cases because its the right thing to do and I think someones rights have been violated, he continued.

By Thomas Catenacci

From The Daily Caller News Foundation
Lucknow, April 11 : The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is planning to provide employment opportunities to the youth in fish farming.

The state government sees considerable employment potential in this sector and believes that it can play an important role in rural development and the economy.

This easy-to-start business can be started with low capital.

According to the government spokesman, the chief minister plans to launch many beneficial schemes through the Department of Fisheries, which will not only promote fisheries business but will also provide jobs to the needy that will help them become self-reliant once again.

This will also help in increasing the income of the village panchayat from the ponds built on the barren Panchayati land in the village.

"Along with imparting training on fisheries, efforts are being made by the government to expand this business on a larger scale. Now farmers can increase their income by farming as well as fisheries," the spokesman said.

It may be recalled that the state government has already increased the duration of fishery reservoirs from 3 years to 10 years. This is the reason that the state has produced 26.44 lakh MT of fish during the last four years.

As many as 1,191.27 crore fishery seeds were produced in four years and 5,902 fish farmers were provided Kisan Credit Cards.

The state government has also provided the benefit of free fishermen accident insurance scheme to the farmers by implementing the 'Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana' under the Atmanirbhar campaign.

The state government has also allotted 2,215 fishermen, houses in the state in the last four years.

Along with this, the facilities for fishermen of Uttar Pradesh are now available through the fish farmer app.

Farmers are directly being benefitted from the construction of 57 fish seed hatcheries and 385 fish seed rearing units in the state.

Recently, Uttar Pradesh has also received the first prize of the best state of inland fisheries under the leadership of the chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
H-E-B CEO Charles Butt is getting lots of praise on social media for his letter to Gov. Greg Abbott regarding public school funding, including from Texas Representative Vicente Gonzalez.

The congressman, who represents District 15 in Texas (covering Seguin and McAllen area), tweeted on Thursday Butt's letter is "spot on." The letter, which was sent on Tuesday, urges Abbott to send all federal dollars intended for Texas schools as quickly as possible.
The death of a legend brings as much closure as it does controversy, and Twitter wont let Dancehall artist Sean Paul forget his twenty-year beef with late icon DMX.

The Grammy-winning Jamaican deejay was among those who poured out tributes to hip hop legend DMX, who died on Friday at the age of 50 following complications from a heart attack. R.I.P Big G. Thanks for all you have given us. Condolences to your fam, friends, and fans. You are missed. @DMX, Paul wrote on Instagram.

The Twitterverse, however, wasted no time after the Blackout rappers passing to rehash the details of Xs beef with Sean Paul who he felt snubbed him for a Gimme Di Light Remix. In a VLAD-TV interview in 2005, DMX told a hip-hop journalist that he was turned off from Reggae music due to the incident. Reggae lost me; music is music. I respect it as an art form, I respect the people who do it as being talented artistes, I just dont like the music.

DMX believed they were friends after he featured Sean Paul and Mr. Vegas on Top Shotter (Here Comes The Boom) from 1998s Belly soundtrack. When he approached Sean three years later to hop on a remix for the smash hit Gimme Di Light, he claims he got the runaround and then heard Busta Rhymes on the track weeks later.

It was like he had this joint and I just wanted to do a remix. You dont have to come out of your pocket or nothing. I just wanna blaze it, the beat is hot. He was like oh mi dont know if they gonna do a remix and he put me on a phone with another lady. Im like; hold up, when we were in Jamaica you and me were sitting down talking about the song and you gonna do me like that? Im like alright, cool, and two weeks later I hear Busta Rhymes on the remix, he said.

This clip of DMX explaining that he didnt fuck with Sean Paul because he fronted on putting him on the Gimme the Light remix used to have me weak. We was in Jamaica going hard.. eating chicken off the fucking grill niggas walking barefoot and shit pic.twitter.com/x0fkVukgYo  Autumn (@APL212) April 9, 2021

Though Sean Paul claimed in subsequent interviews he wasnt quite sure what caused the beef, hes also acknowledged on record that the Belly feature gave his budding career an edge. Citing DMX as the biggest hip hop artist at that time he told 247HH of the impact that one feature and 10 seconds in the movie had on his current hitmaker status.

[DMX] came to Jamaica to shoot pieces of the movie and it just ended up that director Hype Williams was like lets do some work with some of these artists and put it on the soundtrack, Sean Paul began. Me and Mr. Vegas was two of the most talked about artists in Jamaica at the time and so that was a great big stepping stone not only for my Jamaican fans to see that but for getting me on to the hip hop world. A lot of people were like, who dem two dudes in the movie? I was in the movie for like ten seconds but that helped a lot.

DMX said Sean Paul eventually hit him up again while working on a later project with first preference for a remix, but he declined because of the previous dealings.

When I was doing my fourth album, he was now like; yo mi have a hot song, mi want you to do the remix. I was like; no dawg get the fk out of here with that bt, you know what Im saying? I just wanted to do something  I wasnt asking you for no money or anything, he said.

The Who We Be rapper sounded peeved with his patois impressions and details of his island days, but had no regrets about his decision. We was in Jamaica going hard.. eating chicken off the fg grill niggas walking barefoot and st. If I do a n-gga greasy, its cause I meant to do him greasy, and he deserved that one.

As tributes for the snarling superstar fill timelines, Twitter users trolled SP over his snide dealings and the missed opportunity.

One fan wrote, Almost impossible to get NY dudes out their shoes. to which another responded, When he said that shit I heard his pain. DMX was hurt fr lol I get it doh.

This so hilarious cause you know you really bonding & going hard when you walking around barefoot @duttypaul you wrong for this, said one Twitter user.

Another user who thought the 2002 crossover hit could have used some of Xs signature growls and vocal antics said Bruh the DMX adlibs on gimme the light? SMH you f**ked up big time Sean Paul, while another popular comment read, Damn that wouldve been fire too.
Nigel Farage has launched a scathing attack on Prince Harry and Meghan following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh.

The former party leader claimed the couple's 'contempt' for Prince Philip and the monarchy will mean the 'British public will not welcome them back', even for his funeral.

Buckingham Palace confirmed on Friday that Philip, who had recently returned from hospital, had died at Windsor Castle, the Queen reportedly at his side.

As the monarch's children were seen rushing to the royal residence to comfort their mother, news outlets reported that Harry would fly to the UK for the funeral, set to be held on Saturday.

Heavily pregnant Meghan, who is due to give birth to the couple's daughter this summer, will stay home in California on her doctor's advice.

Nigel Farage has launched a scathing attack on Prince Harry and Meghan following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh

The former party leader claimed the couple's 'contempt' for Prince Philip and the monarchy will mean the 'British public will not welcome them back', even for his funeral

The couple also made a short tribute to Harry's grandfather on their Archewell organisation website.

'In loving memory of His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, 1921-2021,' the message reads.

'Thank you for your service... you will be greatly missed.'

But in a terse statement, Mr Farage slammed the couple's response to the Duke's death, saying: 'For a couple that do public emotion as a career, this third person and one sentence statement shows their contempt for this great man and the monarchy,' Farage tweeted Friday.

Buckingham Palace confirmed that Harry would fly to the UK for the funeral, set to be held on Saturday, while heavily pregnant Meghan, who is due to give birth to the couple's daughter this summer, will stay home in California on her doctor's advice.

Mr Farage slammed the couple's short tribute to Prince Philip (pictured) as a 'third person and one sentence statement'

'The British public will not welcome Harry and Meghan back, even for the funeral,' he added.

Shortly after the announcement of Philip's death, Mr Farage made an appearance on Fox News in which he paid tribute.

When asked for his thoughts on Harry and Meghan however, he did not hold back, launching an attack on their decision to air their interview with Oprah Winfrey.

He claimed that the couples decision to go ahead with the broadcast while Prince Philip was in hospital will see their standing with people drop 'very, very fast'.

Mr Farage claimed that it was known that Philip 'only had a few weeks to live' following his hospital stay, 'and yet despite that, despite the fact the Queen must have been in a state of deep distress, they proceeded to do an interview at which they attacked, effectively, the older members of the royal family,' he added.

Harry's return to the UK ahead of Saturday's funeral will be his first visit since March 2020 when he moved to Canada, and will be the first opportunity to reunite with brother William. Pictured: Prince Harry and Meghan attend the Commonwealth Day Service 2020

'Given that today is the day that Philip has died, I wont use the words about Meghan and Harry that I would like to, but I think it was deeply disrespectful.'

In their bombshell interview with Oprah, Meghan made several claims against the Royal Family including that one family member raised concern over Archie's skin colour before he was born.

Harry later told Oprah that the person was neither Philip or the Queen.

Harry was last pictured with Philip on May 8, 2019, when they were seen posing for a photograph with baby Archie at Buckingham Palace.

His return to the UK ahead of Saturday's funeral will be his first since March 2020 when he moved to Canada, and will be the first opportunity to reunite with brother William.

The pair would almost certainly have met anyway on July 1 for the unveiling of a statue of Diana in London, but there was always a question mark over that reunion because of Meghans imminent due date, which has not been publicly confirmed.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is likely to issue guidelines on the implementation of production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes for manufacturers in the sector and start inviting applications for the same in about a week, according to government officials.

Telecom gear makers firms such as Ericsson and Nokia are keen to expand their operations in India, and global companies like Samsung, Cisco, Ciena and Foxconn have "shown interest" to set up manufacturing bases in the country for telecom and networking products for domestic and export markets.

"Telecom PLI has already been approved by the government. The DoT is ready with guidelines to implement it, application format, incentive allocation, etc. It should be published on the DoT website within a week," the official, who did not wish to be named, told PTI.

The DoT notified the PLI scheme for telecom and networking products on February 24, 2021, with a financial outlay of Rs 12,195 crore, over five years.

The scheme for telecom gear manufacturing in India is expected to encourage the production of equipment worth Rs 2.44 lakh crore and create direct and indirect employment for about 40,000 people.

The investor can earn an incentive for incremental sales up to 20 times the committed investment enabling them to reach global scales and utilise their unused capacity and ramp up production.

The scheme is expected to bring an investment of over Rs 3,000 crore and generate tax revenue of about Rs 17,000 crore.
Washington: Following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh- Prince Philip, his grandson Prince Harry is set to reunite with his family to pay his last respects at the funeral.

E! News reported that after Prince Harry and his pregnant wife Meghan Markles bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, this will be the first time that the Duke of Sussex will reunite with his royal family by flying overseas to pay last respects to his late grandfather.

Harry who currently resides at California with his wife Meghan Markle and son Archie Harrison will likely be in attendance at the service, which is set to take place at his and Meghans wedding venue, St. Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle.

However, it is still unconfirmed if pregnant Meghan who is due to give birth to a baby girl this summer will join him for the same or not.

The couple did honour Philip following his passing. "Thank you for your service. You will be greatly missed," read a message on their Archewell website in memoriam to Philip.

Buckingham Palace announced on Friday (April 9) that Philip, the longtime husband of Queen Elizabeth II, died "peacefully" at Windsor Castle at the age of 99.

Philip became the queen's consort, or official companion, after her father, King George VI, suddenly passed in 1952. He was the longest-serving British consort over his 73-year marriage to the queen.
(CNN)  Airlines have panned the UK government's plan to restart foreign travel, arguing that expensive mandatory coronavirus tests will make vacations and family visits unaffordable for everyone but the rich.

Under the "traffic signal" framework unveiled by the government on Friday, even Brits who travel to "green" countries deemed to be low risk must take a coronavirus polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test when they return to the United Kingdom. Each test costs around 120 ($165), adding 480 ($660) to the travel bill for a family of four.

Travel from the United Kingdom has been banned for months except for people with a "reasonable excuse." But foreign trips could resume as soon as May 17 under the government's roadmap for easing lockdown restrictions introduced in January.

"The insistence on expensive and unnecessary PCR testing rather than rapid testing  even for low-risk countries  will pose an unsustainable burden on passengers, making travel unviable and unaffordable for many people," said Tim Alderslade, CEO of Airlines UK, which represents carriers including British Airways, EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic.

"It is also a further setback for an industry on its knees," he added.

EasyJet, the biggest UK airline, called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to reconsider the plan, which also requires people to quarantine at home for 10 days upon return from an "amber" country, or spend 10 days in a hotel if they've been to a "red" destination. Travelers to destinations that fall into either category will need to take two PCR tests following their return to the United Kingdom.

"This risks reversing the clock and making flying only for the wealthy," EasyJet CEO Johan Lundgren said in a statement. "It is hugely frustrating that the taskforce has not delivered what the Prime Minister said they should achieve in making this flexible and affordable."

Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss said that travel to and from "green" countries should be unrestricted without testing.

The testing and quarantine requirements could deter many Brits from traveling abroad, meaning a second consecutive summer without the quick and easy budget getaways to countries including Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece that have largely replaced domestic holidays in recent decades.

The UK government won't confirm the restart date for foreign travel, or announce which countries fall into which risk category, until early May.

Travel companies said the timetable doesn't provide enough clarity for their businesses or consumers. Jet2, which sells packaged holidays and operates tours, said Friday it would extend its suspension of flights until June 23 because of continued uncertainty.

"We still do not know when we can start to fly, where we can fly to and the availability and cost of testing. Rather than answering questions, the framework leaves everyone asking more," CEO Steve Heapy said in a statement.

The UK government said that foreign travel restrictions would be reviewed on June 28, "to take account of the domestic and international health picture, and to see whether current measures could be rolled back." Subsequent reviews will take place no later than July 31 and October 1.

"The framework announced today will help allow us to reopen travel safely and sustainably, ensure we protect our hard-won achievements on the vaccine roll out, and offer peace of mind to both passengers and industry as we begin to take trips abroad once again," Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said in a statement.

 Chris Liakos contributed reporting.

This story was first published on CNN.com "'Only for the wealthy': Airlines slam UK foreign travel rules".
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

The fight to preserve the Multicultural mural by Gilberto Guzman is not over.

The mural was set to be retired by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs in preparation for the new Vladem Contemporary Art Museum, but the murals future isnt dead yet.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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

Guzman recently filed a federal lawsuit over his murals preservation, claiming the department breached his artists contract and the Visual Artists Rights Act. His attorney, Penelope Quintero, did not return requests for comment.

Daniel Zillmann, director of communications and marketing for the Department of Cultural Affairs, previously told the Journal that the department doesnt comment on pending litigation.

The litigation in federal court is still awaiting a formal hearing. Federal Judge Kea W. Riggs has already ruled that Guzman needs to formally serve the lawsuits defendants before requesting a temporary restraining order on the mural.

Now, the department has filed motions to dismiss the case due to lack of cause, claiming the issues raised in the lawsuit were moot because the Visual Artists Rights Act applies only to art created after June 1, 1991. Guzman first painted his mural in 1980 and it was restored in 1993.

In addition, one of the claims in the contract is over the murals natural life, which has been the subject of debate. The department says the 40-year-old murals natural life has passed, citing the lack of recent restoration and the buildings crumbling wall.

The department plans to pay homage to the mural at the new Vladem museum. The mural will be commemorated with a plaque on the wall where it used to be and will be digitally recreated in the lobby of the museum.

Multicultural depicts an Indigenous woman spreading her arms across the wall of the old Haplin Building, which is being remodeled to become the Vladem art museum. The mural also features other New Mexican elements, such as a train, a canyon and people from different races coming together.

Money unspent

State Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, had about $53,000 earmarked for the murals restoration during the 2018 legislative session.

Ortiz y Pino grew up in Santa Fe and said he knew Guzman in the 1970s when he was part of an activist group in town. He recalled meeting Guzman and seeing the murals the group had created around town.

Ortiz y Pino said he was approached by someone who knew Guzman and asked for funding. They reminded him he once knew Guzman and he was willing to help.

However, he said the Cultural Affairs Department later told him they didnt think the mural could be restored because the wall was coming down as part of the remodeling.

I thought it had been resolved. I thought they had accepted the reality of the fact that the mural, as it exists now, couldnt be restored there and the building was still being constructed, Ortiz y Pino said. I dont think the efforts to preserve the mural should block the museums plan.

He said he thought the museums plan to digitize and recreate the mural was a pretty good idea. When push comes to shove, he said, this seems to be a battle about something other than the mural.

Im not in Santa Fe anymore; I left because I thought the culture war had been lost back in the 70s, he said. I just dont see much in the way of the Santa Fe that I knew growing up left in town  Im afraid the changes are irreplaceable.

Ortiz y Pino said he admires from afar the people fighting against those changes, but he doesnt think theyre going to win. Theres a fight to hang on to the Hispanic traditions of Santa Fe, but the city seems less and less interested in doing so, he said.

(Its) an ongoing, but losing, battle to hang on to a romanticized image of what New Mexico was like, he said.

Complicated questions

Taylor Spence, postdoctoral teaching fellow in the history department at the University of New Mexico, said the cultural shift in Santa Fe is likely due to Santa Fe becoming richer and whiter over the years. Spence has painted murals himself. In addition to his doctoral degree in history, he has a master of fine arts degree in painting.

I think its disturbing that an elite institution that frankly is probably largely funded by white, wealthy, privileged people seems so willing to just get rid of a piece of art like this with impunity, he said.

Community art practices are looked down on by established art world figures, with the view that theyre not painted by real professional artists. He said it begs the question of what fine art is. The market underlying it? The fact that its in a museum?

A public mural like Mr. Guzmans, which is painted on the side of the building that will be degraded by the elements, contradicts all of those things, he said. It undermines the questions of value, the questions of fineness.

Spence recently painted a mural in the University of New Mexicos Information Technology building. His mural was inspired by the Pueblo Revolt.

It isnt part of the outdoor tradition, he said. He is a fresco painter who values permanence. He painted his mural to be there forever and his artists contract for the mural, which took a year to negotiate, reflects that.

The mural took five months to paint, he said.

Guzmans contract is a big part of the story. The problem with these contracts is someone has to enforce them, Spence said, and that costs money.

In Guzmans contract, it uses the term natural life, which makes it more difficult to determine how long the mural is supposed to last.

Youre just asking for trouble, Spence said. Because defining the natural life of an outdoor mural in New Mexico is quite a complicated question. It all depends on how much political will there is to refresh the mural and maintain it.

Assessing value

Ray Hernandez-Duran, professor of art history in the Department of Art at UNM, said the presence and history of murals in New Mexico has been a major topic of discussion lately.

The history of muralism goes back thousands of years to the ancient world, and it existed in the Americas in Indigenous communities, he said. The combination of Indigenous and European painting practices with the arrival of the Spanish created new, original forms of art in New Mexico, he said.

In New Mexico, mural art first arose in the churches to facilitate worship, rituals and instruction, he said.

Chicano murals, such as Guzmans, typically reflect the community, its history and cultural traditions, Hernandez-Duran said. Because the murals reflect life experience in the community, in a way, it belongs to everyone, he said.

I think this is where one of the problems with the destruction of this kind of mural surfaces, he said. We have been seeing for the past two decades, just the wholesale destruction of Chicano, Latino, murals across the country.

When murals are erased, the art isnt just being destroyed. The memory and significance of the local community gets destroyed along with it, he said.

When you touch it, or destroy it, theres like a larger kind of comment being made here that has to do with the lack of representation of certain voices, the lack of inclusion of certain voices, the erasure of certain communities histories (and) the marginalization of certain communities, he said.

Hernandez-Duran said he doesnt buy the Cultural Affairs Departments stance that the mural couldnt be saved or restored. There have been more ancient murals than this one that have been saved.

The idea of digitizing the mural also ignores the significance of this kind of work of art, he said. The power of this art is precisely in its form, he said. By having the mural in its prominent location, it also expresses and reinforces that communitys presence.

I and my colleagues, who are trained art historians, were laughing at this. Its preposterous, he said. If they can save (Leonardo) da Vincis Last Supper, a 500-year-old mural that was flakes on the floor  theres just no way that this mural cannot be saved.

Irene Vasquez, Chicana and Chicano Studies department chair at UNM, said that to remove the Multicultural mural is to diminish how artists reflect aspects of their culture and communities they find beautiful.

This fight to preserve the mural is reflective of the erasure of local Hispanic people from public arts and museums, she said, and the struggle is as real today as it was in the 1970s.

It is confounding to me that there is widespread discussion about the value of the Multicultural mural, she said via email. The move to take the mural down, regardless of how it is being couched, asserts a value judgment (that) it is not important within the context of development efforts in Sante Fe.

Supporters of the mural feel overshadowed and overlooked in the decision-making process. The value of the mural is also being determined by the people who have the power and resources to make it go away, she said.

New mural planned

Despite the uncertain future for Guzmans mural, there might still be a multicultural mural in Santa Fe  just by a different artist and at a different location.

The city of Santa Fe recently announced it is looking for an artist to paint a multicultural mural at the citys Community Convention Center. The city has an all-inclusive budget of $50,000 for the mural, which would be located under the portal of the community gallery off Marcy Street.

Pauline Kanako Kamiyama, director of the arts and culture department at the city, said the city is reserving two finalist spots for Black, Indigenous and people of color, or people from traditionally underserved communities within the city.

The murals goal is to activate and celebrate the people of Santa Fe, according to the city. The application described the history of Santa Fe, from the Native Tewa communities to the Spanish occupation.

Kanako Kamiyama said the city is defining culture very broadly for this mural, which she said she thinks is a good idea.

Murals are capturing our history at a certain point of time. Its storytelling, she said, adding that all public art has a story to tell and sometimes there are multiple stories, she said.

While the new mural is intended to reflect Santa Fes multiculturalism, Kanako Kamiyama said it doesnt have anything to do with Guzmans mural.

Applications for artists interested in taking on the project are due by the end of business April 22. The hope is to have the mural completed by September.
NSW Police have established a crime scene and are conducting an investigation

The 57-year-old man was taken to Liverpool Hospital with critical head injuries

A pedestrian was hit by a Toyota Yaris near the Hume Highway on Monday

A pedestrian has suffered critical head injuries when he was hit by a car on a highway in Sydney's south.

A 57-year-old man was struck by a Toyota Yaris on Monday at about 4am on the Hume Highway near Highland Avenue in Yagoona.

The man was treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being taken to Liverpool Hospital.

A pedestrian was struck down by a Toyota Yaris on on the Hume Highway near Highland Avenue in Yagoona (pictured)

The 56-year-old driver was taken to Bankstown Hospital for mandatory testing.

NSW Police established a crime scene and specialist officers are investigating the circumstances that led to the pedestrian being struck.

Two of three eastbound lanes were closed on the Hume Highway at Highland Ave, but had since reopened.
Reminiscing my experience in the JVP insurrection of April 1971 View(s):

By 1970, SLFP leader Sirimavo Bandaranaike had decided to form a coalition with the Trostkyite LSSP and the Communist Party under the banner United Front (UF) to contest the General Election. Their common programme featured extensive nationalisation, a pro-Soviet foreign policy, expanded social programmes, and replacement of the Soulbury Constitution with a Republican Constitution that would restore Buddhism to its rightful place. The UF resurrected communal emotions as a timely and powerful campaign weapon.

The UNP was portrayed as a party of the rich and being out of touch with the aspirations of the ordinary people. The UFs socialist platform had much greater appeal and it enabled the coalition to win 118 seats as against 17 by the UNP, 13 by the Federal Party and two by the Tamil Congress.

Right from the start, the Coalition Government had problems from the radical left. We, in the police, especially those of us in the Special Branch, had, prior to the 1970 General Election, filed reports revealing in minute detail plans by the Rohana Wijeweera-led Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) for a Blitzkrieg operation to take over the government. The government of Mrs. Bandaranaike did not take the intelligence reports seriously.

Pushing forward their propaganda with catchwords such as Indian expansion, unstable economy and inability of the traditional leftist parties to deliver the goods, and alleging that the leaders of the Old Left were leading bourgeoisie lives, the youth uprising gathered momentum. JVP cells started spreading, committing robberies and collecting funds and weapons.

A past pupil of a leading school in Kandy had acquired the knowhow to manufacture bombs from a forensic book in the British Council Library and was teaching his accomplices in the Peradeniya University and elsewhere the art of assembling the bombs. According to him, Victor Ivan a.k.a. Podi Athula received severe injuries to his hand from an explosion whilst demonstrating bomb manufacture.

This self-taught bomb expert is now a thriving entrepreneur, useful to himself and the country. He is manufacturing hardware for local use as well as export. I have the privilege of developing close acquaintance with him after he contacted me on reading my articles in the Sunday Times.

What I write now in regard to bomb manufacture is what I have received straight from the horses mouth: Components for lethal bombs were collected by him and concealed in the ceiling of Jayathilake Hall at the Peradeniya University. It was important that the components be kept separately to avoid explosion if mixed up. But due to the heat in the ceiling and melting of some components, they had got mixed up and resulted in a massive explosion. Another accidental explosion took place at Nelumdeniya.

To his good fortune he had been arrested in connection with the bomb explosions, before the insurrection. Interrogation by HQI Kandy, Rodney Kithulagoda, revealed he had become disillusioned with the JVP leadership. He made a clean breast of all what he knew. With his arrest and interrogation, the lethal bombs were not to be. The bombs that the militants did make were not that lethal. They were mainly smoke bombs that we just kicked out of the way. He was, however, charged with the offences disclosed and dealt with by courts. The case record was to come in good stead for him to show that he had been already dealt with by courts for offences committed by him, when JVP suspects were being rounded up after the insurrection. He expresses much gratitude to Rodney Kithulagoda.

By March 1971, the intentions of the JVP militants became blatantly clear and a State of Emergency was declared. The militants, however, went ahead with their attempt to seize power through armed insurrection. Their strategy was to overpower all police stations simultaneously, seize arms, arrest political leaders and seize power.

JVP cadres had been duped into believing that there were highly placed politicians, foreign countries, and military personal backing them. They came perilously close to overthrowing the lackadaisical government, but by the end of April were completely suppressed by military means. The JVPs top leadership and about 15,000 suspected insurgents were imprisoned.

The timing for the blitzkrieg was to be just past 12 midnight on April 5, 1971. The group assigned to attack Wellawaya Police miscalculated the date and attacked the police station on the night of April 4, dawning on 5th. They failed to overpower the police station. By the time the JVP attacked other police stations on the night of April 5, the stations had been alerted and none was overpowered. But many stations, including the one in Deniyaya, withdrew for tactical reasons, with arms and ammo and lived to come back and fight another day. Several police stations were set on fire after the police withdrew.

At the time the insurrection broke out on April 5, I was on loan to the Customs Department to help establish the Customs Intelligence Unit headed by SP E. Egodapitiya. This was in addition to gathering intelligence on subversion. On April 8, 1971, SP Egodapitiya was ordered to proceed on special duty to Matara and I, together with Inspectors D.N.S. Perera and Selwyn de Silva, volunteered to join him.

When we reached Matara, we found all outstations withdrawn to Matara HQ Police Station and the policemen were chock-a-block in the building as well as the compound. No specific assignments had been given to them. The divisions SSP and the ASP were closeted inside the HQI office. The only police officer on his feet was HQI D. S. Sumanaweera.

A short while after our arrival, an alarm was given from a high rise building in front of the police station (Dr. Mohottis) that a CTB bus was moving at high speed along Hakmana Road in the direction of the police station. It was curfew time. HQI Sumanaweera took position near the parapet wall in front of the police station. The bus turned around at several junctions bordering the Matara Esplanade and started to head in the direction of the police station. When the bus was close enough for the driver to observe the police, it was signalled to stop, but the bus kept moving. HQI Sumanaweera fired two shots with a .303 rifle and the bus jerked to a halt. The driver died of gunshot injury to his head. It was later revealed that the driver had been required to report elsewhere for an official purpose and he had driven in that manner because he had been drunk.

While the HQI went forward to confront the bus and then opened fire, the rest of the policemen in all nooks and corners started to fire their rifles indiscriminately in the air, and those inside the police station fired through the roof.

I was watching the proceedings from behind cover of the parapet wall when I saw the SSP Matara also behind the parapet wall in his birthday suit, and asking HQI Sumanaweera to come inside. The HQI assured him that the situation was under control and requested him to go in and wear something. That was the panic-stricken situation that prevailed at the Matara Police station when we arrived there.

False alarms of large groups of insurgents marching towards the Matara police station and of flotilla of boats approaching from the sea, were galore. Radio operator constable Yasapala came wailing away several times claiming to have intercepted all kinds of ominous messages. One such message was that Kosgoda Police had been overrun and all policemen killed, and its OIC Inspector Mahath was hung on a temple flower tree in front of the police station. The fact as it turned out was that Kosgoda Police was the only outstation that did not withdraw but was successfully defended by OIC Tony Mahath and his men.

SP Egodapitiya soon took control of the situation at Matara Police and with our assistance organised guard points covering the perimeters of the station. Once the guard points were manned and a proper intelligence network was in place, it was realised that the situation was not as bad as had been made out, and along with the Army we started to go out on patrols and road clearing operations. Soon the outstations were reopened one by one. With the reopening of these police stations the insurgents were pushed towards Deniyaya.

There was no stiff armed-resistance as we pushed our way towards Deniyaya. Trees were cut down across the road and boulders rolled to block the roads. Improvised claymore mines were placed on embankments near the road blocks. The Army and Police, however, systematically cleared the mines and other obstructions and we reached Deniyaya town on April 24 without any casualties on our side.

By the time we reached Deniyaya, the police station was completely burnt down. It was reopened in the Deniyaya UC office building which was on a hillock surrounded by paddy fields. The Army Unit occupied the Rest House which overlooked the UC building. SP Egodapitiya shared a room in the Rest House with the commanding officer of the Army unit from where he directed police operations. The three of us Inspectors operated from the newly opened Deniyaya Police till the yearend.

The mopping up operations were quite easy as the insurgents offered no resistance. In fact, they were keen to surrender to safe hands. They too were disillusioned with what they had been brainwashed, especially about the police. Their response to kindness was marvelous.

In regard to attitudes of the police, I am constrained to write about a cross-talk that ensued over a difference of opinion. A senior SP from Police HQ visited Deniyaya Police whilst on official circuit. He did not approve of the kind treatment afforded to the detainees. He questioned why we brought them to the police station whilst other stations had disposed of them. He was told that we look at it differently, believing that the misguided youth must be reined in and rehabilitated. The talk ended there with the officer from Police HQ leaving with a glum face.

When investigations were completed and the detainees had to be taken to Colombo to be handed over to the Prison authorities, many of them wept openly saying that even their parents had not treated them so well.

Kusuma Buddhakorale, a JVP leader in Deniyaya, was charged in the main case for her complicity in the insurrection. In her evidence, she spoke inter alia about the kind treatment meted out to them while in custody at Deniyaya Police. She spoke of a police officer who looked into all aspects of their welfare and stated that she would refrain from mentioning his name lest that officer may have to face reprisals from government agencies.

A common feature in the militants in custody was disillusionment. All this reveals how the downtrodden people are brainwashed with fantasies and used as fodder by unscrupulous politicians for their political ends.

(The writer is a Retired Senior Superintendent of Police.

He can be contacted at

seneviratnetz@gmail.com.

TP 077 44 751 44)
People take part in an anti-curfew protest in Montreal on Sunday April 11, 2021. Hundreds of people gathered in Old Montreal tonight in defiance of a new 8 p.m. curfew. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giuseppe Valiante
CA Sri Lanka, University of Kelaniya to increase collaboration and strengthen Accounting profession with new MoU View(s):

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) recently entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Kelaniya which will pave way for both institutions to increase collaboration and strengthen the Accounting profession in the country.

The MoU signed by President of CA Sri Lanka, Mr. Manil Jayesinghe and Vice Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, Senior Prof. Nilanthi de Silva aims to reinforce the long-standing relationship between both institutions while also facilitating students and lecturers of both institutions to participate in various forms to develop their knowledge on accountancy.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Jayesinghe said that a key feature of this MoU is that it will allow CA Sri Lanka to offer scholarships and awards for best performing students at the University, while both institutions will share resources to improve the knowledge of the students of both the University and CA Sri Lanka. The MoU will also create a path for both institutions to jointly undertake research work.

He said that it was important for institutions to foster an environment of collaboration without restricting to the borders of their own organisations, or institutes, The ability to work together, will be critical for the future success of our country, he said.

Mr. Jayesinghe said that both the University of Kelaniya and CA Sri Lanka, have contributed immensely towards supporting Sri Lankas vision of a skilled nation. Therefore, there is an underlying need to strengthen the partnership between professional and academia if we are to overcome challenges we face and will face, he said.

Mr. Jayesinghe highlighted that members of CA Sri Lanka, who are Chartered Accountants influence and give leadership to a wide spectrum of businesses across all industries. He added that he was certain the MoU with the University of Kelaniya will provide new opportunities for the undergraduates who are interested to take up a successful career in accountancy or wish to enhance their knowledge on the subject as an additional qualification.
The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power  which groups have it and which do not.

New York Times journalist Isabel Wilkersons assessment of US culture is a devastating critique of the land of the free. Her 2020 book, Caste: The Lies That Divide Us suggests that actually America is not one of the finest examples of a meritocracy  despite its innovation and excellence  based simply on equal worth and the free selling of your skills, but it is much more like a caste system.

Journalist Isabel Wilkerson suggests that America is not one of the finest examples of a meritocracy. Credit:Mike Bowers

Wilkerson examines caste in India and draws the parallels. She examines how Hitler drew on the Jim Crow laws in the US to construct his Nuremberg laws in 1934, and was incensed that America retained a stellar reputation as a democracy when Jim Crow was so harsh.

Caste is an embedded hierarchy of privilege that assumes different worth for humans. Casteism is when actions or structures put someone in a defined ranking and keep them in their place by elevating or denigrating them on the basis of their perceived category.
Haryana Home Minister has written to Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Sing Tomar, urging him to resume talks with farmers protesting against the Centre's farm laws as the coronavirus scare looms large.

Maintaining that a surge in coronavirus cases is being seen across the country and the situation is turning bad in Haryana too, Vij said he is worried about the farmers protesting on the state borders with Delhi.

All possible efforts are being made to bring the corona situation under control in Haryana but my worry pertains to thousands of agitating farmers who are sitting on the borders of Haryana and I have to save them from corona, the minister said.

There is also a worry that because of them the disease may not spread in the rest of the state, wrote Vij in his letter, dated April 9.

He also mentioned that being in agitation mode, farmers are not able to follow all COVID-related guidelines.

The Centre has made a lot of efforts to resolve the problems of farmers and held multiple rounds of talks with them but due to some reasons, the solution is yet to come, he said.

A situation of uncertainty prevails as there have been no talks for a long time. I am of the belief that a problem can be solved through dialogue, he said.

Therefore, I request you that the talks should be resumed so that the issue is resolved and the protest ends, Vij said in his Hindi letter.

A few days ago, Vij had said that he would be writing to the Union agriculture minister for the resumption of talks.

In his letter, he further mentioned that going by the infection numbers, it seems the fight against the pandemic will go on for a long time and for this, cooperation of all sections of society is necessary.

Haryana has recorded a spike in COVID cases in the past several days, prompting the government to shut schools for students of Classes up to 8 till April 30.

Meanwhile, thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at three border points of Delhi -- Singhu, Tikri (along Haryana), and Ghazipur -- demanding a repeal of the three farm laws enacted by the Centre in September last year.

The Centre says the new farm laws will free farmers from middlemen, giving them more options to sell their crops.

The protesting farmers, however, say the laws will weaken the minimum support price (MSP) system and leave them at the mercy of big corporates.

(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.)
Saturday Night Live's latest show opened with a satire of black and white Americans' differing views on Derek Chauvin's murder trial over the death of George Floyd.

In the cold open on Saturday night, comedians Kate McKinnon, Alex Moffat, Kenan Thompson and Ego Nwodim played local news anchors discussing how 'emotional' Chauvin's trial - which wrapped up its second week on Friday - has been thus far.

All four newscasters agreed that the prosecution had presented a very strong case and that former Minneapolis cop Chauvin, who is white, should been convicted of second-degree murder and other charges for the death of Floyd, who was black, last May.

However a debate broke out when Moffat and McKinnon, who are white, expressed confidence that Chauvin would be convicted - while Thompson and Nwodim, who are black, shared deep skepticism, saying: 'We've seen this movie before.'

Saturday Night Live's latest show opened with a satire of black and white Americans' differing views on Derek Chauvin's murder trial over the death of George Floyd. Ego Nwodim, Kenan Thompson, Kate McKinnon and Alex Moffat (left to right) played local 'Eye on Minnesota' news anchors discussing how 'emotional' the trial has been in its first two weeks

A debate broke out when Moffat and McKinnon, who are white, expressed confidence that Chauvin would be convicted - while Thompson and Nwodim, who are black, shared deep skepticism, saying: 'We've seen this movie before'

All four anchors on the fictional 'Eye on Minnesota' show were in agreement about the Chauvin trial until Moffat said: 'Hopefully, justice will be served.'

'That sounds like we all agree,' McKinnon replied. 'There is no way Derek Chauvin walks away from all of this.'

Sitting across the table Nwodim and Thompson scrunched their noses and said in unison: 'Well....'

'Wait - you guys aren't buying into Chauvin's defense are you?' Moffat asked.

'Of course not,' Thompson said before Nwodim added: 'The defense trying to make a case that George Floyd's drug use was somehow responsible is just deplorable.'

'It was a clear act of desperation to create doubt where there is none,' Thompson said.

'Exactly, and there's no way the jury's going to fall for that,' McKinnon responded.

Nwodim and Thompson again recoiled with skepticism, with Nwodim saying: 'Let's just say, we've seen this movie before.'

Trying to keep the peace, McKinnon acknowledged that 'historically, police officers have gotten away in other cases like this'.

'Historically?' Thompson asked incredulously. 'She means every single time,' Nwodim replied.

Moffat then chimed in: 'You guys can least admit this country has made a lot of progress recently.'

Thompson and Nwodim cut him off, asking: 'For who?' and 'When?'

The skit made light of the differing ways black and white Americans may be viewing the ongoing legal proceedings, with McKinnon and Moffat playing politically correct white anchors making tone-deaf comments to their black colleagues

Nwodim and Thompson repeatedly pushed back at their co-anchors' tone-deaf comments

'Maybe don't go there Craig,' McKinnon cautioned Moffat.

'No please, go there Craig!' Thompson hit back.

'Look, I want to choose my words carefully here, so to quote Thomas Jefferson - ' Moffat said before he was interrupted once again by his frustrated black colleagues.

Moffat then suggests asking the weatherman Calvin for his thoughts.

'Man don't put me into this mess,' Calvin, played by black cast member Chris Redd, said.

'Look, I don't want to get fired but obviously it's an open and shut case,' he continued, drawing praise from Moffat and McKinnon.

But Calvin then adds: 'That being said, he's a white cop in Minnesota so I'm going to guess probation with pay,' to which Thompson and Nwodim agreed.

The group then briefly discuss how they hope violence won't break out surrounding the trial, with Moffat saying: 'I think we can all agree that no matter how bad things are, destroying property is never the answer.'

'We'll be sure to tell the others,' Nwodim replied.

Toward the end of the sketch the group found themselves at odds again when talking about news that 'royalty' had died.

'You mean DMX!' Thompson said.

'I mean Prince Phillip of England,' McKinnon shot back.

They did manage to agree on one thing at the end of the sketch when Moffat brought up Matt Gaetz, the Florida congressman currently under investigation for sex trafficking.

The group did manage to agree on one thing at the end of the sketch when Moffat brought up Matt Gaetz, the Florida congressman currently under investigation for sex trafficking

The SNL producers delved deeper into the Gaetz controversy on Weekend Update, where host Colin Jost poked fun at the Republican lawmaker for his decision to speak at a Women For America First event amid the scandal.

'Our favorite Florida congressman Matt Gaetz... allegedly sent $900 on Venmo to a sex trafficker who then forwarded that same exact money to three young women in payments labeled "Tuition and school". If true, it would make him the only congressman actually helping with student loans,' Jost joked.

He added: 'At least Gaetz is taking the allegations seriously. That's why yesterday he spoke at the Women For America First summit, which is a nice change to see women pay for an hour with Matt Gaetz.'

During the Women For America First event - which was held in Miami on Friday night - Gaetz took to the podium, where he declared he had the support of former President Donald Trump, as well as the backing of Reps Majorie Taylor Greene and Jim Jordan.

Th mention of those three names amused Jost, who wisecracked on the Weekend Update segment: 'Did he think those were good character references? Who is next on his list? The ghost of Jeffrey Epstein?'
Television

Fear the Walking Dead: The zombie apocalypse series returns for hiatus to continue Season 6. (9 p.m. Sunday, AMC)

The Nevers: New series set late in Queen Victorias reign, about touched individuals, who have strange powers that let them stand up for those who need help and battle those who would try to hold them back. (9 p.m. Sunday, HBO)

The People v. The Klan: A new documentary series about an infamous case involving a lynching of a young man in Alabama, and the Black mother who went up against the Ku Klux Klan to seek justice for her murdered son. (9 p.m. Sunday, CNN)

Our Towns: A documentary inspired by the nonfiction book by journalists James and Deborah Fallows travels to towns around the country to see how they have dealt with economic and other challenges. Communities visited include Bend, Oregon; San Bernardino, California; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Columbus, Mississippi; Eastport, Maine; and Charleston, West Virginia. (9 p.m. Tuesday, HBO)

Related: HBO documentary looks at Bend, Oregon, and other U.S. towns facing challenges

Streaming

Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!: Jamie Foxx stars in and created a comedy about a single father and businessman whos adapting to his teenage daughter moving in with him. The show was inspired by Foxxs relationship with his own daughter, Corinne. (Available to stream beginning Wednesday, Netflix)

Younger: The series moves to streaming for Season 7. (Available to stream beginning Thursday, Hulu and Paramount Plus)

Already streaming

Them: A new horror series executive produced by Lena Waithe, this first season looks at a Black family that, in the 1950s, moves from North Carolina to California, and then has to deal with their neighbors, and other scary threats. (Amazon Prime Video)

Subscribe to our free weekly What to Watch newsletter. Email:



-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist
Roxana Ramos went to church Saturday, but more for physical health than the spiritual solace typically associated with houses of worship. Along with about 400 other people, the 36-year-old Richmond domestic worker was able to get her coronavirus vaccination at Iglesia Fuente de Salvacion in San Pablo.

Ramos learned of the churchs clinic from a friend who attends Iglesia Fuente de Salvacion, after a disappointing realization that she was not eligible by age or employment category when she tried to sign up for a vaccination with Kaiser. To get a slot at the church, all Ramos had to do was call.

Iglesia Fuente de Salvacion is one of many Bay Area churches that have opened vaccination clinics to serve communities that have been hit hard by the coronavirus. These include Black, Latino and Pacific Islander neighborhoods where people may have limited access to arrange vaccinations elsewhere.

Churches are a valuable link in Californias coronavirus vaccination campaign, health equity experts say. Vaccination rates in the Bay Area are lower in Black and brown communities, even though data shows these residents are not generally reluctant to get the shots.

Paul Kuroda / Special to The Chronicle

The stature and deep roots of churches in these local communities make them well suited for the outreach needed to ensure as many as possible are inoculated as the region, state and nation work to stem the coronavirus spread, the experts say.

When we started thinking about vaccine distribution and equitable allocation, we wanted to help build trust within communities as opposed to sending patients to a brick-and-mortar site that was run by the government, said Gilbert Salinas, the chief equity officer for Contra Costa Countys public health department. The county provided Johnson & Johnson vaccine supply for the Iglesia Fuente clinic, and has collaborated with several churches.

Churches provide an atmosphere of trust and familiarity. They also can help breach the digital divide that often makes it harder for people of color, and low-income and older residents, to navigate the online appointment system.

Iglesia Fuente de Salvacion organized its clinic with the nonproft Community Clinic Consortium and opened it to all, with hopes of drawing residents from areas in San Pablo and Richmond with significant infection rates.

Faith leaders and community organizations have partnered with counties or pharmacies, such as Walgreens, to procure vaccine for their clinics.

It is an approach many churches are using to ensure vaccination of community members with whom they have established long-standing relationships and trust, said Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, a health equity researcher and chair of UCSFs department of epidemiology and biostatistics.

Paul Kuroda / Special to The Chronicle

Its something we will continue to see more of, particularly as we move to a phase where were going to really rely a lot on community-based vaccinations, she said, referring to Californias expansion of eligibility to everyone age 16 and older as of Thursday.

Its really important for us to meet people where they are at, said Salinas. To bring the vaccine to them.

Pastors and other locally known leaders can help boost vaccination uptake within the communities they serve and will be crucial to an equitable vaccination rollout, faith leaders and health equity experts say. Churches and community organizations are seen as key because of the respect and the reputations for service they established long before the pandemic.

Places of worship also traditionally have been considered safe havens, regardless of a persons immigration status, background or religious beliefs, said Blanca Gutierrez, program manager for the Community Clinic Consortium, which advocates for community health centers in Contra Costa and Solano counties.

Prior to COVID, the Black church has been the institution that people come to in times of crisis and need, said UCSF researcher Dr. Jonathan Butler, executive director of the San Francisco African American Faith-Based Coalition and a pastor at Third Baptist Church in San Francisco.

So when the time does come up, like a pandemic, people just generally gravitate to the church, he added.

UCSFs Black Health Initiative and the S.F. African American Faith-Based Coalition have hosted five vaccination clinics at two churches that have long-standing ties in their Bayview-Hunters Point and Western Addition communities. They have administered about 550 doses at the churches, Butler said.

Courtesy of Jonathan Butler

Shots were administered at the churches by medical students and physicians who were Black or other people of color from USCF, a trusted institution, which was important in relaying information about vaccines and the virus, Butler said.

These are all reasons that faith-based groups and churches should be part of the vaccination effort, he said.

If you dont include the faith community, youre making a big mistake, Butler said. If we really want to achieve health equity, particularly in the Black community, we certainly need to collaborate and include the institution that has always been the foundation of a community.

Churches have been essential locations for food drives, coronavirus testing and vaccinations for the Pacific Islander community, said Natalie Ah-Soon, co-executive director of the Regional Pacific Islander Task Force in the Bay Area.

Churches have always been the vantage points for outreach and engagement for the Pacific Islander community, Ah-Soon added.

The task force has held several such pandemic-related events at churches in San Lorenzo and San Jose to reach out to Pacific Islanders. With help from county officials and faith leaders, the task force has administered about 1,500 doses at Tafatolu Congregational Church in San Jose.

Courtesy of the Regional Pacific Islander Taskforce

Its amazing to have any (vaccination clinics) facing the Pacific Islander community at all because we are such a small population across all counties, so it takes a lot of advocacy to argue for these at all, said Kekoa Lopez-Paguyo, program coordinator for the task forces vaccination efforts.

Lopez-Paguyo also said many members of the Pacific Islander community welcome a chance to get immunized and they just want to know how to actually get linked to a vaccine.

Churches and community organizations that have that deep reach within the communities are essential in all of the health departments health promotion (and) prevention efforts, Ah-Soon said. Because without us, they cant hire 100 Pacific Islanders to come in and provide culturally and language-specific services.

Jessica Flores is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jessica.flores@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jesssmflores
Algiers, 11 April 2021 (SPS) - Minister of Transport and Energy, Mr. Salek Baba Hasna, was received today, Sunday, by the Algerian Minister of Energy and Mines, Mr. Mohamed Arkab.



Both ministers discussed ways to strengthen energy cooperation between the SADR and Algeria, "described as historical and fraternal, especially in electricity supply. They agreed to continue efforts to finalize energy projects to meet the needs of the population, especially in the summer period, the same source said.



During this meeting, the Sahrawi minister thanked Algeria for its support to Western Sahara and the efforts made by the energy sector in the implementation of various projects to supply Sahrawi cities with electricity.



Speaking on this occasion, Arkab expressed the willingness of the energy and mining sectors to speed up the finalization of electricity supply projects and to train Sahrawi technicians in the monitoring, management and maintenance of electrical facilities.



The minister also stressed the importance of the project to create a Sahrawi body tasked with managing and developing electricity facilities.



Algeria will provide assistance and expertise for the implementation of this project, he continued.



In addition, both sides agreed to coordinate efforts and develop a work programme to meet electricity supply needs and training. (SPS)



062/090
To stop the Biden agenda from causing more damage, Republican attorneys file legal challenges against the President. Since assuming office, his executive actions have caused havoc on energy, immigration, and taxes that are not beneficial for the United States.

Republican attorneys determined to block the Biden agenda

President Biden's administration has been less than unifying after staying 90-days in office. Republican states have been fighting him on his executive orders on climate change, energy, immigration, and taxation policy. Conservative attorneys of the Republican party said the cases are not done, and more will be filed to challenge the Democrat president, reported the Epoch Times.

According to the Louisiana Attorney General and former Republican Attorneys General Association Chairman Jeff Landry, they are preparing an extensive plan to slow down the White House. He also told the Daily Caller News Foundation thru the Epoch Times what they'll do.

He added that many cases would be filed in court and successful in lawsuits against the Biden administration.

Austin Knudsen, the Montana Attorney General, said Republican AGs think that The House is jammed up too much with bills, having states file cases will be the last option to defend the constitution. Knudsen said that Biden uses his executive orders to get policy results, putting legal roadblocks will keep him in check.

Knudsen, one of the Republican attorneys, gave a derisive description of Biden's plan and unconstitutional executive orders that have become oppressive. He said, "When you step in on day one and start issuing edicts and executive orders like King George, I and a lot of other conservative Republicans are going to start having problems."

GOP House Members Sponsor Bill to Lessen Biden's Reach

During the Trump administration, state AGs had things easy as ex-president Trump followed the constitution. Biden is hardly constitutional with the Democrats behind him. State AGs like Knudsen is the last pushback left against the federal government.

No one can match the number of executive orders signed by the new President; it was 38 in just 11 days, as reported by the American Presidency Project. Compared to Presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush, with 23, 18, and 8, Biden outpaced in a record number of days.

The Economist noted that Biden even signed more presidential orders in two days than Donald Trump in his first two weeks in office.

Last March, President Biden killed the federal permit to build the Keystone XL Pipeline. About 21 affected states sued the White House for stopping the construction of the pipeline. The Montana and Arizona AG questioned the presidential order to stop deporting illegal aliens.

More of the President's blunders that led to lawsuits are disallowing leasing of federal lands for oil production; much worse is denying that the President's policies were more important than illegal immigrant criminals left loose in the US.

Landry was quoted saying the following statement. "Democrats are basically hell bent on overreaching, overspending, over-regulating." He added, "All things that have detrimental long-term effects on job creation, and overall stability for the country."

A week ago, the West Virginia AG let 13 states question the Treasury Department why they can't cut tax after accepting coronavirus relief funds, which is included in the Biden agenda that Republican attorneys will oppose.

Senators Question Forced Removal of Most Trump-Appointed US State Attorneys, Sees Move as Negative

State Attorneys General Remind Biden Any Unconstitutional Actions Will Not Go Unchallenged

Republican Senator Moore Reintroduces Constitutional Amendment to Stop Court Packing by Biden Administration





@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
New Delhi:

After Yashwant Sinha, former Cabinet Minister and World Bank economist Arun Shourie on Wednesday categorically blamed the economic slowdown on Prime Minister Narendra Modis policies.

Shourie said that Modi government does not pay any heed on experts' advice and decisions on countrys economic policies are being taken by two and a half persons - Amit Shah, PM Modi and an in-house lawyer  in a sealed echo chamber.

Terming the demonetisation an idiotic jolt to the economy, Shourie told NDTV that it was the largest money-laundering scheme ever, conceived and implemented entirely by the government.

The Reserve Bank of India had said that 99 per cent of banned currency notes came back into the banking system and which suggests governments aim to destroy black money was not achieved.

Shourie was also quick to take on Modi governments another major policy reform - the Good and Sevices Tax (GST) - and said the move was implemented poorly.

The rules have been amended seven times within three months, Shourie said the event management of the GSTimagine! A tax reform is being compared to the independence of India.

Also Read | Yashwant Sinha lashes out at Modi govt; says demonetisation, GST have shoved economy into shambles

Shouries comments on governments economic mismanagement came days after BJP leader and former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha blamed Modi government for making economy a mess.

Sinha showing a picture of Indias economys had said, Private investment has shrunk as never before in two decades, industrial production has all but collapsed, agriculture is in distress, construction industry, a big employer of the workforce, is in the doldrums.

Sinha has also criticised Modi government for banning old currency notes and termed the demonetisation as an unmitigated economic disaster.

Like Shourie, Sinha too raised questions on the implementation of GST and said the move was badly conceived that played havoc with businesses.

BJP, however, terming both Sinha and Shourie as frustrated politicians, has dismissed their claims.

Reacting to BJPs response, the former cabinet minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayees govt, Arun Shourie said: this is their Standard Operating Procedure.

They should publish a list in advance of frustrated persons, he added.

He also echoed similar voices to Sinha that others in BJP also share their views on governments economic policies but are scared to raise their voices.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Senior Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Asah Asante Friday took listeners of Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' down an emotional journey when discussing the tragic incident at Kasoa last Saturday.



Two teenagers murdered an 11-year old boy for money rituals.



The teenagers lured the young boy to an uncompleted building, killed him and buried his body to later exhume for ritual money purposes.



The murder suspects have been arrested and are in Police custody.



Reacting to the issue, Dr. Asah Asante shed tears over the deceased.



The Political Science lecturer recounted the painful loss of a child with an example of him losing his own three children.



"If you have witnessed the death of your child before, you will know that this situation is highly critical'," he said in an emotional state.









Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Sir John Major today said the Queen must be given 'time and space' to grieve following the death of Prince Philip.

The former prime minister said the Duke of Edinburgh had been an 'astonishing support' to the monarch and his passing will leave an 'enormous hole' in her life.

He also said he hopes the Duke's funeral will help to heal a royal family rift caused by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's exit.

Sir John said that 'the friction that we are told has arisen is a friction better ended as speedily as possible'.

The former Tory leader told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that 'at times of difficulty' Prince Philip was the person to whom the Queen could 'unburden herself'.

The former prime minister said the Duke of Edinburgh had been an 'astonishing support' to the Queen and his passing will leave an 'enormous hole' in her life

He said: 'When you are facing a sea of problems, as she so often was, and sometimes when you are overwhelmed by what has to be done, someone who understands that, someone who can take part of the burden, someone who can share the decision making, someone who can metaphorically, or in the case of Prince Philip I think probably literally, put their arms around you and say it is not as bad as you think, this is what we have to do, this is how we can do it, this is what I think.

I think when you talk of him being a great support that was it... in every way I think he was an astonishing support.

Asked how the Queen will manage without her husband, Sir John replied: Well, it will be difficult. There are no doubt millions of people watching this programme who have lost a partner, a spouse, and it is a very lonely time.

The Queen and Prince Philip had 73 years of marriage together, that is extraordinary, I can think of no one else who has had a marriage of that length in my experience.

So it will be an enormous hole in her life that suddenly Prince Philip isnt there. How will the Queen manage? I think there are several things to say about that.

Firstly, I hope she will be given some time and space. I know she is the monarch, I know she has responsibilities but she has earned the right to have a period of privacy in which to grieve with her family.

After that I think there are two things effectively to say. Firstly, Prince Philip may physically have gone but he will be in the Queens mind as clearly as if she was sitting opposite him.

She will hear his voice, metaphorically, in her ear, she will know what he will say in certain circumstances, he will still be there in her memory. The echo will be there and it always will be, it is with very close relationships.

I think after that the Queen is both a stoic and a remarkable public servant. She will return to her work but I do hope she is given a little space and a little time and a little freedom to grieve in the way anybody else would wish to do so after having lost their spouse.'

Prince Harry is due to fly back to the UK from the US to attend Prince Philip's funeral next Saturday.

Prince Harry is due to fly back to the UK from the US to attend Prince Philip's funeral next Saturday

He will reunite with Prince William as they are expected to stand shoulder to shoulder as they form part of the royal procession at the service for the Duke of Edinburgh in Windsor.

It will be the first time the pair will be seen together since Harry's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey - in which he claimed his older brother was 'trapped' inside the Monarchy.

However, the Duchess of Sussex, who is pregnant with the couple's second child at home in California, will not be attending following medical advice.

Asked about suggestions that funerals can help families to mend broken relationships, Sir John said: The friction that we are told has arisen is a friction better ended as speedily as possible and the shared emotion, the shared grief at the present time because of the death of their father, of their grandfather, I think is an ideal opportunity.

I hope very much that it is possible to mend any rifts that may exist.
British authorities have implored people to stay away from royal palaces as they mourn the death of Prince Philip in this time of COVID-19, but they keep coming. Not just to honor him, but to support Queen Elizabeth II, who lost her husband of 73 years.

The mix included children, seniors, Sikhs and the children of African immigrants. A cross-section of British society and admirers from abroad descended on Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle on Saturday. They laid bouquets at the gates, offered prayers or just paused for a moment of reflection as they remembered a man who dedicated much of his life to public service.

Mourners talked about Philips work with some 780 charities and organizations, particularly his Duke of Edinburgh Award, which seeks to build confidence and resilience in young people. But they also recalled his role as the consummate royal consort, supporting the queen at thousands of public engagements and state visits.

We had a really hard year all of us and theres people uniting in a very special moment,'' said Carolina Przeniewska, originally from Poland, who came to Buckingham Place with her 5-year-old daughter Grace. So I wanted her to see it and I wanted to pay respect.

At Buckingham Palace, the queens London residence, well-wishers braved a chilly, gray day to line up and snake their way past the black iron gates, where tourists normally wait to watch the changing of the guard. People were allowed to approach the gates one at a time to lay their tributes as police tried to control the crowd amid Britain's coronavirus restrictions.

The crowd was smaller at Windsor Castle, west of the capital, where a steady stream of mourners quietly approached the gates to leave bright spring bouquets on a strip of lawn.

People want to show their respect for both Philip and the queen, who turns 95 this month and will celebrate 70 years on the throne next year, said Nick Bullen, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of True Royalty TV.

If the queen wasnt already loved enough, this is just going to move it to another level now, Bullen said. This is a woman whos going to bury her husband and then in a matter of days later be celebrating her birthday and stepping into her platinum jubilee year.  So I think people will just be rallying around the queen as much as they will the Duke of Edinburgh.

Philip, the son of a Greek prince, and the future queen first met as teenagers. They were married in 1947 when she was 21 and he was a 26-year-old naval officer.

Elizabeth became queen when her father died in 1952. At her coronation, Philip swore to be his wifes liege man of life and limb and settled into a life of supporting the monarch.

Philip retired from public life in 2017. At the time, he had conducted more than 22,000 public engagements on his own, given 5,496 speeches and made 637 solo trips abroad, in addition to countless more appearances by the queens side.

He was a hero to me because he was the man I could look up to, Nurtr Omar, a 20-year-old who was born in Somalia and now lives in Britain, said outside Buckingham Palace. He showed me what I can achieve with my life, whether you are royal or not. You need to make hard work to achieve what you want to.

The floral tributes grew throughout the day, even after the Royal Family on Friday asked people not to visit royal residences to pay their respects due to public health concerns. Instead of flowers, the family asked people to consider making donations to charity.

But for Windsor resident Billy Dohil, the day was about history. He took his children to the castle so they could be part of it.

As they grow up, well remember this, Dohil, 39, said. Well remember the royal family and (it) will be part of their life. So we wanted to come here to pay our respects. My oldest son  five years old  wanted to bring some flowers and just put it down himself.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
LOUISVILLE, Ky.  People talk a lot about getting back to pre-Covid normal. But our traditional art museums can forget about that. After a year of intense racial justice reckoning, a paralyzing pandemic and crippling economic shortfalls, aging hidebound institutions are scrambling just to stay afloat. And the only way for them to do so is to change. Strategies for forward motion are needed. One is in play here at the Speed Art Museum, in the form of a quietly passionate show called Promise, Witness, Remembrance, which might, with profit, be studied by other institutions in survivalist mode.

Conventional encyclopedic museums like the Speed, the largest and oldest art museum in Kentucky, are glacial machines. Their major exhibitions are usually years in the planning. Borrowing objects from other museums can be a red tape tangle. Historical shows, by definition, are usually confined to events and cultures of the past. Promise, Witness, Remembrance revises all of that. It speeds up exhibition production, focuses on the present, and in doing so reaches out to new audiences vital to the institutional future.

Combining works from the Speeds permanent collection with loans in several cases directly from artists and galleries, the show was assembled and installed (beautifully) in a mere four months. And it was conceived as a direct response to a contemporary news event: the killing, by Louisville police, of Breonna Taylor, a Black 26-year-old medical worker, in March 2020. A posthumous painting of Taylor by the artist Amy Sherald is the exhibitions centerpiece, accompanied by photographs of local street protests sparked by her death and by the lenient treatment of the white officers involved.
Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
The unsanitary conditions of America's prisons, jails and detention centers have become a breeding ground for the spread of the coronavirus. More than 2,700 inmates have died in the facilities since March 2020, while over 525,000 of them have been infected, according to data compiled by The New York Times. "So, we're basically just sitting back and biding our time until we get sick," an inmate said in an e-mail to the Times.

India reported 10,732 new COVID-19 cases Sunday in the previous 24-hour period. India trails the U.S. and Brazil in the number of coronavirus infections at 13.3 million cases. The U.S. has 31.1 million infections, while Brazil had 13.4 million.

A top Chinese health expert recently told a conference that public health officials must "consider ways to solve the issue that efficacy rates of existing vaccines are not high," citing Gao Fu, the head of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, according to The Paper, a Chinese media outlet, Agence France-Presse reported.

China said it is considering using vaccines developed in other countries in conjunction with vaccines developed in China to boost the efficacy of China's vaccines.

With more than 135 million coronavirus cases and nearly 3 million deaths from the virus, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center, signs of the virus' fortitude and lockdown fatigue abound.

Iran began a 10-day lockdown Saturday to tame a fourth wave of coronavirus infections, while in Bucharest about 1,000 people marched in protest of COVID-19 restrictions and in Paris, more than 100 people were fined while eating at a restaurant that broke rules against large gatherings.

In Iran, more than 250 cities, including the capital, Tehran, have been declared red zones, meaning they have the highest coronavirus positivity rates and the most severe restrictions. More than 85 percent of Iran is in a red or orange zone, authorities said.

The surge in cases and deaths -- more than 19,600 new infections Saturday and 193 deaths, according to the Health Ministry -- comes after the Persian New Year, during which millions traveled, packed markets and partied in homes despite government guidelines. According to the World Health Organization, so far about 200,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine have made it into the arms of a country of 84 million.

In Bucharest, protesters came to Victory Square and University Square Saturday to pushback against pandemic restrictions. "We do not agree with compulsory vaccination, with wearing a mask on our faces... the quarantine of cities, online schooling, the closure of churches, playgrounds, restaurants and shops," Dumitru Balan, leader of the civic movement Action for the Nation, told The Associated Press.

That same day, Romania neared 1 million coronavirus infections and nearly 25,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins. In France the Health Ministry announced that it will lengthen the time between the two shots of mRNA vaccines -- the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines -- to six weeks, instead of four weeks. "[It] will allow us to vaccinate more quickly without reducing protection," Health Minister Olivier Veran told the JDD newspaper Sunday.

France's vaccination rollout reached its target of 10 million first doses ahead of its mid-April target and aims to deliver another 10 million doses by mid-May. France has registered more than 5 million coronavirus cases since the pandemic began and nearly 100,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins.

Meanwhile, clandestine restaurants, where wealthy diners enjoy caviar and champagne, have been in the headlines. In a Paris restaurant, more than 100 diners were fined, police said Saturday. The restaurants manager was arrested. In a second incident, more than 60 people were fined for dining indoors at lunch. All restaurants and cafes have been closed for indoor dining in France for five months.

Britain, where the vaccine was developed jointly by the British-Swedish drugmaker and scientists at the University of Oxford, said it will offer alternatives for adults under 30. Oxford researchers have also suspended a clinical trial of the AstraZeneca vaccine involving young children and teenagers as British drug regulators conduct a safety review of the two-shot regimen.

Spain and the Philippines will limit the vaccine to people over 60 years old, Reuters reported, while The Washington Post reported Italy has issued similar guidelines.

The European Medicines Agency recently said blood clots should be listed as a very rare side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but it continued to emphasize that its overall benefits outweigh any risks.

AstraZeneca has been the key vaccine in Britain's exceptionally speedy inoculation campaign, which has outpaced the vaccination rates in the rest of Europe. However, the vaccine has had a troubled rollout elsewhere, initially because of a lack of information from its late-stage clinical trials on its effect on older people, which has slowed vaccination efforts throughout Europe. Many nations stopped administering the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports first surfaced of the blood clot incidents.

After 34 million inoculations of the Astra Zeneca vaccine, the European Medicines Agency said it has received fewer than 200 reports about the rare brain blood clots. Several nations have issued new guidelines over the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine after the European Union's medical regulator announced a link between the vaccine and the blood clots.


Texas Governor Greg Abbott slammed the Biden administration on Sunday saying that the situation on the southern border will get worse and the president should reinstate Donald Trumps remain in Mexico policy.

Since President Biden entered office in late January, there has been a significant spike in the number of illegal immigrants who have crossed the border from Mexico.

The Border Patrol encountered 52,904 families along the Mexican border last month, up from 19,286 in February and 3,455 in March 2020.

The US Customs and Border Protection reported that there were more than 172,000 border stops total in March - a 20-year record.

Only about one in three families encountered last month was quickly expelled from the US under federal pandemic-related powers that deny people a chance to seek asylum.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott slammed the Biden administration on Sunday saying that the situation on the southern border will get worse and the president should reinstate Donald Trumps remain in Mexico policy

The image above shows young children inside a pod at the Customs and Border Protection facility in the Rio Grande Valley town of Donna, Texas on March 30

Immigration authorities have been releasing families with children 6 and younger into the country while their cases are decided.

There are currently about 21,000 unaccompanied minors in the custody of the federal government.

Critics of the president said that his move to undo Trump's immigration restrictions led to the migrant surge on the border.

After entering office, Biden vowed to roll back one of Trump's most consequential policies to deter asylum-seekers from coming to the United States.

About 70,000 asylum-seekers were enrolled in the program officially called Migrant Protection Protocols since it was introduced in January 2019.

On Biden's first day in office, the Homeland Security Department suspended the policy for new arrivals.

Since then, some asylum-seekers picked up at the border have been released in the US with notices to appear in court.

The Trump administration said the policy was critical to reversing a surge of asylum-seekers that peaked in 2019.

But the policy also exposed people to violence in Mexican border cities and made it extremely difficult for them to find lawyers and communicate with courts about their cases.

DailyMail.com has sought comment from the White House in response to Abbotts remarks.

Abbott told Fox News on Sunday: This problem will continue to get worse because of the policies that have been adopted by the Biden administration.

The Texas governor said: What the president could do is to immediately put back in place the 'remain in Mexico' protocols that were established in the prior administration.

He could continue to build the wall along the border in south Texas. He could send a stronger message that these people should not be coming here.

Abbott said that the situation on the border was predictable since the Biden administration is doing exactly what they promised during the course of the campaign.

The governor said that both Democrats and Republicans are unhappy with the administrations immigration policies.

Abbott last week said Biden should shoulder blame amid allegations of child abuse and neglect at an overcrowded San Antonio migrant facility

Freeman Expo Center is pictured. The facility is currently holding 1,900 child migrants

Biden has come under fire for dismantling harsh Trump immigration policies, which has prompted a surge of migrants at the southern border.

This is a bipartisan response to the Biden administration because you have Democrat members of the United States Congress, you have Democratic members of the state legislature, as well as Democrat local officials who are pushing back against the Biden administration as much as conservatives in the state of Texas, Abbott said.

The governor specifically made mention of allegations that unaccompanied minors were being subjected to sexual abuse at Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio.

The arena has been repurposed to serve as a temporary shelter for migrant kids. As of Friday, there were about 1,900 children at the facility.

Abbott held a news conference outside the facility on Wednesday to call attention to credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors.

The governor claimed that complaints were filed with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Abbott has demanded that the Biden administration shut down the facility.

Democrats slammed Abbott on Friday, accusing him of playing pinata politics, according to KSAT-TV.

Governor Abbott made the allegations without ever going inside and visiting with the kids, House Rep. Joaquin Castro said after touring the facility with other Democratic lawmakers on Friday.

The governor didnt have the care to look these people in the face, in the eye, to see who they are and what theyre about.

Unaccompanied minors (left) and families and adults (right) are grouped separately as they wait to be processed

Massive amounts of Central American migrants continued to arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border overnight Saturday to Sunday

Migrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador wait in line to be processed by Border Patrol agents after crossing illegally into the U.S.

CBP data shows migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border is vastly higher in 2021 compared to 2020, which saw a decrease. Illegal crossing have reached an all-time high under Biden

Thats a special kind of cowardice.

Castro added: His intent was to drop a political bomb. Hes trying to use the issue of immigration as a wedge issue.

The governor doesnt care about these kids. He wants to send them back where they came from.

During his interview on Fox News on Sunday, Abbott was asked why he didnt sound the alarm about allegations of sexual abuse of migrant children during the Trump administration.

There are multiple differences between what happened in the Trump administration and what is happening now, Abbott said.

First, the Trump administration remained in constant communication with me and with my office and let us know what was going on.

Second, I saw reports about exactly what youre talking about and saw that those reports were filed with federal agencies And so, we had a duty to respond to any complaint about child sexual abuse in Texas as well as to investigate it, and thats exactly what I did to make sure it was addressed.

Abbott isn't the only high profile Republican to call attention to the plight of migrant children being housed in federal facilities near the border.

House Rep. Steve Scalise, the Republican from Louisiana, slammed Biden's border policies on Saturday as 'child abuse' as he shared images from the border including one of a migrant facility that is at 16 times its capacity.

'How could President Biden and Kamala Harris allow this to go on and not even come here and see it for themselves?' the House Minority Whip questioned during a press availability at the border. 'It's a disgrace.'

'We went into a facility  in the middle of a pandemic  that is designed to hold no more than 250 people. Today, there's more than 4,000 people,' Scalise continued as he was joined by a group of 10 other Republican lawmakers.

Last month, Harris was appointed by Biden as point person for the administration's response to the crisis, specifically to address the root causes in Northern Triangle countries that lead to the mass amount of migrants fleeing to the U.S.

In the vice president's 18 days in charge of the growing immigration crisis, she has not once visited the southern border or Central American countries from which migrants are traveling.

Biden has refused to call the surge in illegal border crossing a crisis.

Alejandro Mayorkas, Bidens head of the Department of Homeland Security, said on Thursday that he is looking to crack down on illegal immigration by taking more legal action against border jumpers and targeting cities that act as a safe haven for them.

GOP Whip Steve Scalise claimed the situation at southern border facilities are 'child abuse' as he shared images of massively overcrowded pens

'We went into a facility  in the middle of a pandemic  that is designed to hold no more than 250 people. Today, there's more than 4,000 people,' Scalise detailed in a press conference over the weekend

Images of the facility in a video shared to Twitter show migrant children crammed together on the floor of a see-through pen with only Mylar blankets to comfort them

Scalise slammed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for not yet visiting the southern border amid a growing humanitarian crisis there

'I see cases now where we apprehend and remove individuals that I think need to be prosecuted criminally,' Mayorkas said during a virtual town hall with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employees last week where he also revealed Biden is considering restarting construction on Donald Trump's border wall.

'Quite frankly, I'm going to have to understand why some of these individuals are not subject to a Title 8 USC 1326 case and I intend to work with the DOJ in that regard,' he added.

Entering the US illegally is a misdemeanor under Title 8 Section 1325.

Furthermore, reentering the country after being ousted is a felony under Title 8 Section 1326.

Mayorkas told ICE employees that DHS will also take on so-called sanctuary cities that refuse to work with the agency to turn over illegal immigrants hiding out there.

He also vowed during the meeting, according to notes of the conversation reviewed by the Washington Times, that he is opposed to some more progressive immigration and border protection policies, like the push from the far left to totally abolish ICE.

'I'm 100% opposed to the abolition of ICE,' he said. 'It is the opposite of what I think needs to occur. I think we need to strengthen our policies and practices and communicate more effectively what we do and why we do it.'


The police chief of the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, has been dismissed and dozens of other senior officers punished over the handling of a suspected murder-suicide that has mobilized public anger over the ongoing practice of "bride kidnapping."



The Interior Ministry on April 10 said it had relieved Bishkek police chief Bakyt Matmusaev of his duties, alongside three other senior police officials in the capital. Another 40 police officers and officials were reprimanded.



Earlier this week, outraged protesters intensified calls for officials all the way up to Interior Minister Ulan Niyazbekov to be fired over negligence in the death of 27-year-old Aizada Kanatbekova.



Niyazbekov, who earlier this week admitted he bears "moral responsibility" for what happened to Kanatbekova, saved his job.



The bodies of Kanatbekova and the man who is thought to have abducted her with the help of accomplices in broad daylight in the capital were found in the getaway car on April 7, two days after the kidnapping.



Investigators believe 36-year-old Zamirbek Tengizbaev strangled Kanatbekova with a shirt and then committed suicide by cutting a vein. They said that Tengizbaev had three previous criminal convictions in Russia.



Four people have been detained on suspicion of helping snatch Kanatbekova on the street on April 5, an event that was caught by surveillance cameras that also showed passersby failing to help stop the kidnapping.



The fact that police had failed to find the suspect even though the kidnapping had been caught on camera with the car model and number plates clearly visible added to outrage over how the case was handled.



Relatives of Kanatbekova have described a casually dismissive approach by an investigator at a crucial juncture when the young woman was still alive and able to call them.



Kanatbekova's mother, Nazgul Shakenova, and an aunt told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service that Kanatbekova phoned them separately almost 12 hours after her abduction.



She told them that her kidnapper, who initially intended to take her to the southern city of Osh, had agreed to release her and they were on their way back to Bishkek.



The women said they immediately called the investigator assigned to the case -- identified as "Olarbek" -- in hopes that the calls could help locate Kanatbekova but the officer responded dismissively.



Fluent in four languages, Kanatbekova was an only daughter and a graduate of the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University in Bishkek.

Kyrgyzstan sees thousands of bride kidnappings each year despite criminalization of the practice in 2013.



The UN Development Program and rights groups have highlighted the ongoing prevalence in Kyrgyz society of the practice, which they say often leads to marital rape, domestic violence, and other ills.



One of the most notorious cases involved the stabbing death in 2018 of 20-year-old university student Burulai Turdaaly Kyzy by a man who was trying to force her into marriage.
A surge in cases in



Indore, Madhya Pradesh's commercial hub and the district worst hit by the outbreak, has impacted its health infrastructure, leading to kin of patients uploading videos and messages on social media about shortage of beds and key medicines like Remdesivir.

Indore, with a population of 35 lakh, witnessed a record spike of 919 cases in the last 24 hours, with the positivity rate (number of detections per 100 tests) climbing to 14.5 per cent.

The district's caseload is 78,511, including 999 deaths.

Indore District Medical and Health Officer Dr BS Satya on Sunday said patient influx into local hospitals was very high, adding that 70 per cent of the 6,800 beds earmarked for the outbreak were occupied.

He said Remdesivir consignments were coming in at present and their distribution was taking place as per guidelines, though he admitted that supply was a problem, which should hopefully end soon.

"Doctors have been told to give Remdesivir injections only to those who absolutely need it," Satya said.

Sources said getting beds in reputed private hospitals was becoming tough as the spike gets more severe with every passing day.

Officials claimed the problem was getting magnified as people from other districts were also coming to Indore for treatment.

(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.)
Editors note: As part of the Staten Island Advance/SILive.coms year-long undertaking, The Disparity Project, we are shining a spotlight on the differences in opportunity and outcomes across the borough, focusing on key areas that include criminal justice, economic security, housing and education. This is the sixth of a series of stories focusing on educational inequities and struggles on Staten Island.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  It was only six years ago that Mayor Bill de Blasio made the bold pledge to increase diversity among New York City teachers through new initiatives and programs.

The city would launch the NYC Men Teach program with a plan to hire 1,000 men of color as educators in schools by 2018  a goal that would later be surpassed. The program engages and recruits men of color to become teachers in New York City public schools by providing early career support, professional development, mentoring and networking services.

The goal is to pretty much find men of color to become teachers and work within the NYC Department of Education in the school buildings, because theres a disparity there, said Andre Harrison, a teacher at PS 78, Stapleton. Theres a shortage of men of color. What I like about the program is, although its titled NYC Men Teach, they dont discriminate against anybody who would like to have extra training and resources on how to become a teacher or para or any other position in the NYC Department of Education.

INCREASING TEACHER DIVERSITY

NYC Men Teach considers itself the nations boldest effort to diversify the teaching pipeline by recruiting and retaining men of color to teach in NYC schools, where less than 8% of teachers are men of color. On Staten Island, that number is even lower at 3%.

The program is yielding more men of color in the new hire pool and pipeline into teaching, according to the city Department of Education (DOE). The yearly average men of color teacher hires in the DOE increased from 8% in 2015 to nearly 14% in 2020.

Through efforts like NYC Men Teach and other diversity initiatives, the total teaching force since the 2014-2015 school year grew by 3,400 non-white teachers  out of a total of 3,500 teachers hired citywide since that time, according to the DOE. This means, the DOE explained, that all of the net growth under the de Blasio administration was from non-white teachers.

The DOE could not provide Staten Island-specific numbers of how many non-white teachers were hired since the 2014-2015 school year.

Harrison explained that programs like NYC Men Teach will help diversify the staff on Staten Island. And while students of color would benefit from teaching staff that looks like them or comes from a similar background, he said all kids would benefit from a diverse staff.

You have students who are white who have access and exposure to responsible male and female Black and brown adults teaching them and be able to have a positive outlook, instead of what media tells them, or videos tell them about that specific demographic of people, he said.

On the flip side, he said, a diverse teaching staff will help Black and brown students see themselves in a teaching career  as they currently have very limited to zero exposure of any educator who looks like them.

So diversifying Staten Island is a benefit to anybody  even if people dont see it as such, he said.

But intentionally diversifying schools just for the sake of diversifying is not the answer, Harrison explained. There needs to be an assurance that educators have a goal to be great teachers, no matter their cultural or ethnic backgrounds, he added.

There are amazing adults from all backgrounds who would be amazing teachers, and when you have programs like the NYC Men Teach program that offer trainings, you have an opportunity and a network and a support and a resource that will help you grow in pedagogy and relationships and be a great educator -- no matter your background, Harrison said.

HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS

NYC Men Teach is a collaboration with the DOE, the mayors Young Mens Initiative and the City University of New York (CUNY). It seeks to impact people, practice and policy around diversity in New York Citys schools and classrooms.

Program participants can start their path to becoming a teacher through an alternative certification program or a traditional certification program.

Alternative programs, like NYC Teaching Fellows or NYC Teaching Collaborate, place participants directly into a classroom teaching full-time with salary and full benefits after completing a robust training period. These participants continue taking night classes working toward teacher certification at a partner university.

Traditional certification programs enroll participants in a two-year masters degree program and they are placed in a classroom after successful completion of coursework.

NYC Men Teach partners with the CUNY to offer participants a variety of programs at both the graduate and undergraduate levels across nine senior campuses  including the College of Staten Island (CSI).

A PARTNERSHIP AT CSI

CSI offers students the opportunity to be in the NYC Men Teach program, which is overseen by Jonelle Knox, special assistant to the dean at the School of Education. Students are able to apply to the program during different times of the school year.

Currently, the program at CSI supports nearly 30 students.

Were one of nine schools that actually has the program within the city, and what we do is we partner with the DOE to look for opportunities to pathway students who are education and/or non-education majors into a career into the DOE as a teacher, Knox said. So theres many times that we will partner with the DOE with recruitment, with supporting the men of color.

The program provides various supports, including: workshops to prepare for state exams; guest speakers; colloquiums; a semester parking pass. Knox said funds also help pay for students fingerprint processing fees as part of background checks required for teaching, as well as the cost of the state exam.

Michael Maceira, who was in the NYC Men Teach program at CSI, stumbled upon the initiative when applying to the Willowbrook school  which gave him more inspiration to pursue a career in education.

Their [NYC Men Teach] whole thing is there is not many men of color, Latin or African American or any type of minority, in education in this country. Its majority women; its one of the few institutions that are predominantly female. I liked the idea of finding inclusiveness and representation for young men of color who maybe dont have it in the classroom, he said.

As a program participant, he was able to take part in several events, including: meeting principals and assistant principals; learning professional development tools; discovering job opportunities.

SUPPORTING STUDENTS

Knox explained that the program is important for students of color to see education as a career, and once they do, to support them in that career path.

Students, I think, have had a hard time identifying with individuals who look like them on the campus, he said. And we have really created a village to network and to support those students who are on the campus -- pulling in people who look like them on a campus that is not quite as diverse as many other CUNY campuses.

Maceria added that more can be done to better educate students in New York City, and thats through more inclusiveness in teaching.

When you have that balance, you have that male/female balance and all races and creeds and what not are represented, that also kind of blends into this new type of pedagogy that teachers are utilizing, he explained. Theres more attention being paid to mindfulness in pedagogy and education and understanding where your students are coming from so you can better educate them.

Maceira completed his student teaching at Curtis High School, where he learned of new theories in education surrounding diversity. He explained its important to prepare students for a multicultural world.

Were in an age of immense upheaval, culturally and spiritually, at least in America, he said. As teachers, youre battling that, youre battling poor attention spans, youre battling poor mental health, anxiety, depression, and every little bit helps and by creating diversity in the classroom for teachers. Youre strengthening your numbers and youre strengthening your knowledge, because people come from all walks of life that can all put in their input and create a stronger net to catch.

During his time student teaching, he said hes seen students fall through the cracks -- some who wont graduate, and some with responsibilities that come before school.

So you just do your best, and one of the ways you can do your best is what NYC Men Teach is doing. Its putting in as many people as you can to shore up the frontlines, as it were, he said.

If youre a parent, student, or teacher who has been affected by disparities and inequities that exist in Staten Island schools on the North Shore, we want to hear from you. You can reach out to education reporter Annalise Knudson at aknudson@siadvance.com.

READ MORE STORIES ON EDUCATION FOR THE DISPARITY PROJECT:

This Curtis High School teacher connects with her students through community-based learning

Chronic absenteeism at challenged schools: How will student attendance rates be impacted by coronavirus?

More needs to be done to bring diversity to school leadership on S.I., experts say

Rate of learning loss amid coronavirus could be severe on North Shore, experts fear

Educational inequity: North Shore schools facing mounting obstacles, experts say

School Zone: A new newsletter with the updates you need as our schools try to get back to normal. Enter your email address here and hit "subscribe" to receive this weekly newsletter:



FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) speaks as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and President Donald Trump listen during a signing ceremony for H.R. 748, the CARES Act in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on March 27, 2020. (Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images)

Top Republican Senator Dismisses Trumps Critical Comments of McConnell

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, dismissed former President Donald Trumps criticisms of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and called on the GOP to embrace party unity.

Trump pilloried McConnell several weeks ago in a lengthy statement, saying that the longtime Kentucky senators leadership would lead to losses in 2022 and 2024noting that McConnell did not embrace his calls to provide $2,000 stimulus payments, while top Democrats did. It came after McConnell, in a Wall Street Journal opinion article, said it was Trumps post-election statements that led to the 2020 loss of the Senate.

The 45th president reportedly strongly criticized McConnell during a speech to donors on Saturday.

Thune was asked about the comment during a Fox News interview on Sunday, to which Thune, the Senate minority whip, replied that such rhetoric was just part of the style and tone that comes with the former president. He said that McConnell and Trump have the common goal of defeating Democrats during the midterms.

Trump also took aim at Thune in recent months, threatening to support a Republican primary challenger. Thune, in the Fox interview, did not comment.

I will announce something on my reelection plans as I typically do later in the year, Thune said.

The Epoch Times has contacted Trumps team for comment.

According to a draft copy of Trumps speech on Saturday, the former commander-in-chief predicted that the Republican Party would win the Legislature next year and a Republican would win in 2024.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) speaks in Washington on Jan. 26, 2021. (Tom Williams/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

We are gathered tonight to talk about the future of the Republican Partyand what we must do to set our candidates on a course to victory, Trump said in a copy of his prepared remarks, according to numerous news outlets. I stand before you this evening filled with confidence that in 2022, we are going to take back the House and we are going to reclaim the Senateand then in 2024, a Republican candidate is going to win the White House.

Earlier Saturday, Trump aide and spokesman Jason Miller told Newsmax that the former president would place emphasis on winning back the Senate and House in the midterm elections.

Obviously Im biased to who I hope that will be, if President Trump does decide to run again, Miller told the network. But I also think youre going to see President Trump go after Joe Biden again and in very strong terms with regard to the border [and] the woke corporate cancel culture.

President Joe Biden, meanwhile, said he intends to run for president again in 2024.

The answer is yes, my plan is to run for reelection, he said last month during his first news conference. Thats my expectation.
When European drug regulators acknowledged a link between AstraZenecas Covid-19 vaccine and a rare type of blood clot, it spread another dose of scepticism across the continent.

But in the poorer east, the doubts are more over the findings than the shot.

Most western members of the EU announced some restrictions of the vaccines use for younger age groups or halted it completely.

The opposite happened across the east, with nine of 11 nations in the region deciding to keep administrating the shot to all adults.

The former Eastern Bloc is home to almost a quarter of the EUs 440m population and is struggling to tame the pandemic.

For these countries  which dominate the worlds top 10 list of coronavirus deaths per capita  curbing a vaccine that is key to their supplies is unthinkable because they cannot afford to slow inoculation.

Germany, by comparison, has doubled the number of daily Covid-19 vaccinations, while France hit a key milestone a week early.

The world is counting on the Astra shot because of its price and ease-of-use, and it represents most of the vaccines ordered by about a third of eastern EU members.

The vaccine is more easily transported and stored than those from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, and the Anglo-Swedish company has promised to deliver as many as 3bn shots in 2021 on a not-for-profit basis.

Hungary, which strayed from the EU-orchestrated procurement programme and directly purchased vaccines from Russia and China, also has sought to express its support for Astra.

The debate surrounding AstraZenecas vaccine should be viewed as a business struggle between drugmakers rather than valid opinions on medical risks, the countrys government said.

A day earlier, the EU and UK regulators said there was a possible link between the Astra shot and blood clots, though both said the risks for most people were far outweighed by the benefits as the coronavirus remains rife.

In Bulgaria, the poorest and least vaccinated nation in the EU, the more expensive vaccines were used to inoculate priority groups such as doctors and teachers. Astra is the most widely available to the general public.

The countrys inoculation effort was already marred by poor organisation and a 37% refusal rate among its 7m citizens to get vaccinated.

Bulgaria will keep applying the Astra shot to all age groups but will offer a different jab to women with a high risk of thrombosis, in line with European Medicines Agency recommendations.

Leaders elsewhere have been vocal about their own inoculation with Astra, hoping to boost its credibility as citizens get restless over lengthy lockdowns and a continuous string of record coronavirus-related deaths and new infections.

The different stances being taken on the AstraZeneca vaccine are exposing an east-west divide within the EU, according to some.

In Croatia, among the nations that has predominantly ordered Astra, prime minister Andrej Plenkovic said he and other leaders have been administered the shot, stressing the vaccine is safe and people should get vaccinated.

In Estonia, premier Kaja Kallas, who at 43 would be considered to be in a more risky age category for the Astra shot in Western Europe, expressed disappointment in her coalition partner for postponing his vaccination.

The Estonian government and parliament decided last month to get Astra shots for all its members.

Meanwhile, Latvian prime minister Krisjanis Karins said last week that it is better to get any vaccine than risk getting the disease.

To Stjepan Oreskovic, public health professor at the University of Zagreb, the split between east and west over Astra has exposed the frailties of the EU.

The pandemic has also laid bare how the countries that joined the bloc since 2004 have done little to upgrade their healthcare systems, hurt by a lack of funds and an exodus of workers to western Europe.

It revealed the traditional distribution of power in the EU and showed we still have the centre and the periphery, said Mr Oreskovic. In other words, the West and the East.
The Louisiana Rural Ambulance Alliance recently gave St. Tammany Fire Protection District 4 eight new rugged Panasonic "Toughbook" tablets, each equipped with the hardware and software needed for EMTs to quickly collect and share patient data from the field and enroute to hospitals, all in hopes of improving patient outcomes.

The equipment will be part of the Electronic Rural Health Information Technology (E-RHIT) Network established five years ago to help in areas of rural Louisiana where because of limited internet services, ambulance services are often unable to connect and relay medical information to the destination facility in a timely way.

The network addresses this need by providing these new tablets where needed to make sure that EMTs can have mobile electronic reporting on site and during patient transportation to designated healthcare facilities. The network has provided advanced these advanced technological resources to more than 30 ambulance services across rural Louisiana. It isn't clear how Mandeville received the "rural" designation.

For more information, contact E-RHIT Program Coordinator Rachel Jackson, at rachel@louisianaambulancealliance.org.
DAVE KURTZ is the editor of The Star newspaper. He can be reached at dkurtz@kpcmedia.com.
The Duke of Edinburgh's funeral will be televised around the world next Saturday

The Queen announced her husband Prince Philip's death at midday on Friday

Tribute comes after Duke of Edinburgh died at Windsor Castle at the age of 99

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have shared a loving tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh online after he died at Windsor Castle at the age of 99.

Prince William, 38, and Kate Middleton's, 39, official website for the Royal Foundation was updated on Friday to feature a large black-and-white photograph of Prince Philip stretching across the full-width of the website.

The picture shows the late royal grinning broadly at the camera dressed formally in a suit, while the website also featured the official statement from the Royal Family announcing Philip's death.

It comes after the members of the Royal Family also changed their social media profile images to monograms and the crests following the Duke's death on Friday.

The Royal Foundation's homepage was updated on Friday to pay tribute to Prince Philip, featuring a large black-and-white photograph of the Duke of Edinburgh (pictured)

The couple also posted a statement online, which read: 'It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

'His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.

'The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.

'Further announcements will be made in due course. Visit www.royal.uk to find out more.'

Prince William and Kate's touching tribute to Prince Philip comes after he died at Windsor Castle at age 99 (all pictured with Princess Charlotte and Prince George in 2017)

The Royal Foundation is a charity which supports the work of Prince William and Kate, whose recent projects revolve around supporting Covid-19 frontline workers, conservation, early years, mental health, and emergency responders.

The Duke, 38, and Duchess, 39, of Cambridge's touching tribute to Prince Philip comes after William withdrew from the BAFTA awards coverage following the death of his grandfather.

This year's film awards were handed out over two nights in largely virtual ceremonies, with presenters attending London's Royal Albert Hall in person for Sunday's broadcast.

William, who is president of BAFTA, was due to feature on Saturday April 10 in a pre-recorded conversation with costume designer Jenny Beavan and make-up and hair designer Sharon Martin, talking about filming in lockdown and the craft of film-making.

The following day, he was to deliver a speech via video, celebrating the resilience of the film industry over the past year - but BAFTA has confirmed he will no longer be taking part in the ceremony.

The Duke of Cambridge, 38, also withdrew from the BAFTA awards coverage following the death of his grandfather (both pictured with Kate, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan in 2017)

The Duke of Edinburgh, who died on Friday at Windsor Castle at the age of 99, was BAFTA's first president, serving from 1959 to 1965, and continued to support the organisation throughout his life.

BAFTA said in a statement: 'In light of the Duke of Edinburgh's passing, the Duke of Cambridge will no longer be part of BAFTA programming this weekend.

'Our thoughts are with the royal family, to whom we offer our deepest sympathy at this time.'

The Queen announced her husband's death at midday on Friday as the Union Flag was lowered to half-mast outside Buckingham Palace.

The Duke of Edinburgh's funeral, which he planned himself, will be televised around the world on Saturday.

Philip's coffin was in Her Majesty's private chapel of worship at their Berkshire home before being moved to the nearby Albert Memorial Chapel, where he will rest during seven days of national mourning ahead of his scaled-back funeral next weekend.

Only around 30 relatives are expected to attend the family funeral at St George's Chapel, stripped back due to Britain's ongoing lockdown. Britons are being warned to stay at home and watch on TV to avoid spreading coronavirus.

His grandson Prince Harry is expected to return to the UK and be among the small number of mourners at the funeral, but his pregnant wife Meghan will not accompany him.
A woman sitting in her parked car waiting for her son to pick up a pizza has allegedly been stabbed and dragged down a road for 100 metres in a horrific carjacking in Melbourne.

Manasi Gore, 46, was seated in her parked Mazda CX-9 on Kerrie Road, Glen Waverley, about 8.40pm on March 17, when she was approached by two men.

The first man jumped into the vehicle on the passenger side and allegedly held a knife to the victim.

The second man then opened the driver door and demanded the woman get out before allegedly stabbing her in the hand.

Victoria Police have released footage of a man (pictured) they would like to speak to in relation to an alleged carjacking and stabbing in Glen Waverley on March 17

'He had a knife which he was holding to my throat and he said if I screamed he would hurt me,' Ms Gore told 3AW on Monday.

She was stabbed in the hand and tried to get out of the car, but got tangled in her seat belt.

With one man in the passenger seat, the other jumped into the driver's seat before she had freed herself properly.

He drove about 100m with her stuck on the outside of the car and being dragged along the road.

'My shoes came off. My feet were dragged along,' she said.

'I was begging for them just to stop for me just to free myself.

'He eventually stopped and I got the belt off and they drove off.'

Ms Gore was taken to hospital with serious injuries, police said.

'It was terrifying at the moment and it's still playing in my head. It's not something I can get over easily,' she said.

The man (pictured) is perceived as African in appearance, about 183 centimentres tall and was wearing a black puffer jacket and light grey tracksuit pants

Detectives arrested a 17-year-old Roxburgh Park teenager on 25 March and charged him with 19 offences including aggravated carjacking.

He was remanded to appear before a children's court at a later date.

But detectives are yet to identify the second male involved and have released CCTV footage of a male they would like to speak with as part of their investigation.

He is perceived as African in appearance, about 183 centimentres tall and was wearing a black puffer jacket and light grey tracksuit pants.

Anyone who recognises the man or with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
Do not believe the results of sociological polls in Armenia; they are all manipulative. Political scientist Armen Badalyan told this to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

"That is, there is no institute of independent sociological polls in Armenia; we cannot know whose [popularity] rating is rising and whose is falling," he added.

According to the political scientist, in order for the snap parliamentary elections to take place on June 20, PM Nikol Pashinyan must resign in late April or early May, and after thatunder the Constitution, he should not hold office. "Constitutionalists explain that if he resigns, he should not continue in office. But as we understand it, at the moment, the incumbent prime minister will resign and will not leave [office], holding the June 20 elections as acting [PM]as in the case of the previous snap elections," he said.

As per Badalyan, Pashinyan may use administrative resources in the June 20 elections, but not in full. "You can get 2-3% of votes with administrative resources, but you need to get 50+%. It is almost impossible to commit such degree of [electoral] fraud without distributing money; that is, in this case the ruling force does not have the network to distribute money, which its rivals have. But, also, it will preventthrough the police forcethem from getting votes by distributing money, he said in particular.

And assessing the chances of Pashinyan's political force in the forthcoming elections, Badalyan said that everything depends on the election campaign of the other forces. "If all the forces running in the elections be completely ignorant, of course the ruling political force can get even 100%. But if they conduct a successful election campaign, the ruling force has no chance not only to win, but also to become an influential force," he added.
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - April 10, 2021) - Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Emergent BioSolutions Inc. ("Emergent" or the "Company") (NYSE: EBS). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether Emergent and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

. On March 31, 2021, the New York Times published an article reporting on the accidental contamination at an Emergent manufacturing plant in Baltimore of coronavirus vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca PLC. According to reporting by the Associated Press, the Emergent factory where the contamination occurred had a series of lapses observed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in April 2020.

On this news, Emergent's stock price fell $12.45 per share, or 13.4%, to close at $80.46 per share on April 1, 2021.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

rswilloughby@pomlaw.com

888-476-6529 ext. 7980

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/80044
This is the first weekend in Alabama since July without a state-wide mask mandate, but for our neighbors in Lincoln County, Tennessee they never had one at all.

"I guess it was about 50/50, some people would wear them, some people wouldn't, said Erin Davis, store manager at Beautiful Me Boutique.

Right now Beautiful Me Boutique in downtown Fayetteville, Tennessee doesn't require masks. In fact, they never required them.

"We just left it up to the customers. It was a personal preference," said Davis.

"In general most people we're happy to come in with their mask on, if they didn't already have it on," said Karen Welch.

Welch, owner of Kudzu Antiques and Gifts, told us they did require masks for some time.

"We had a few people that refused to put masks on and would not come in the shop and that's their choice, that's their right," said Welch.

She says she's glad the choice on whether to require masks in her store was up to her.

"We know our health, we know our risks, its our choice whether to put a mask on or not," said Welch.

For the latest COVID numbers for Lincoln Co. click HERE.
The owners of Australian fashion label Jagger & Stone has failed their bid to trademark its brand name which bears a striking resemblance to Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger.

The iconic English rock band won a trademark battle against the Queensland-based label, which sells everyday and festival wear often spruiked by influencers.

Instagram stars Lucy Jackson and Nikki Westcott launched the brand in April 2018, and made an application the same year to register the name as a trademark.

Rolling Stones' company Musidor B.V. opposed the move, claiming the pair tried to trade off the name of the band and its famed frontman.

Instagram stars Lucy Jackson and Nikki Westcott (pictured) launched the brand in April 2018, and made an application the same year to register the name as a trademark

Influencers Em Davies, Tammy Hembrow and Lily Brown wear outfits by Jagger and Stone

Rolling Stones' company Musidor B.V. opposed the move, claiming the pair tried to trade off the name of the band and its famed frontman Mick Jagger

Ms Jackson denied the brand's name had any reference to the Rolling Stones or Mick Jagger.

'I am considered to be the "Jagger". Urban Dictionary defines "Jagger" as "psychotic demi god that you should not get on [their] bad side, he/she will mess you up big time"  Being the aggressive determined half of the duo, this is a word that I am often referred to by friends,' she said.

'The reference to "Stone" is more of a symbolic meaning and represents Nikki's personality and characteristics in being "grounded", "stable", "down to earth", and the "rock" of the business. The symbolism of a stone centres on the ideas of endurance, stability and permanence.'

Registrar of Trademarks delegate Katrina Brown found the pair's company We the Wild Ones Pty Ltd acted in bad faith in their bid to register the name, The Herald Sun reported.

Ms Brown said the Jagger & Stone Instagram account featured the trademark with photos of models posing in front of electric guitars and on top of amplifiers, and signs reading, 'If the music is too loud you are too old'.

'The applicant has provided no explanation for this conduct. Nor does there seem to be any obvious reason why the applicant would need to associate its clothing with being in a band, loud music, or electric guitars and amplifiers,' she said.

Registrar of Trademarks delegate Katrina Brown found the pair's company We the Wild Ones acted in bad faith in their bid to register the name

Australian fashion label Jagger & Stone has failed their bid to trademark its brand name which bears a striking resemblance to Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger

Ms Brown said the Jagger & Stone Instagram account featured the trademark with photos of models posing in front of electric guitars and on top of amplifiers, and signs reading, 'If the music is too loud you are too old'

Ms Brown said the trademark bid was 'designed to acquire a springboard or advantage and would be regarded as in bad faith by persons adopting proper standards'.

The refusal to grant the trademark comes after Brisbane pop duo The Veronicas launched their own 90s-inspired fashion range with the label.

Twins Lisa and Jessica Origliasso, 36, announced their edgy collaboration in January, which is part of a limited edition collection later this year

'We've been wearing Jagger and Stone at our festival shows for the past year,' Jessica said.

The collection has dresses, tops and dresses ranging from $99 to $149.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Jagger & Stone for comment.
The Caribbean nation has not yet received its allotment of the Astra Zeneca vaccine

The Miami Herald reports that after a year since the pandemic began, Haiti hasnt received a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for its population of 11 million people.

Haiti is scheduled to receive 756,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through COVAX, an initiative intended to help poorer countries most in need of receiving the vaccines.

The free doses were expected to arrive in May but were delayed due to administrative delays. India, which initially offered 10,000 doses of the Astra Zeneca vaccine they produce, now wants to delay exports of the vaccine as cases rise there.

Haitian immigrant Anaida Jean-Pierre, 92, receives a COVID-19 vaccine on March 14, 2021 in Stamford, Connecticut. T (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Read More: Trump officials gloated in emails about getting COVID reports altered: report

According to ABC News, health experts who expressed concerns about the well-being of Haitians are being pushed aside in light of the violence and political instability in the island nation.

More than 12,700 positive cases of COVID were reported and 250 deaths, significantly lower than in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. But health experts believe those numbers are underreported.

Esther Racine, a 26-year-old mother of two, who lost her father during the 2010 earthquake, says her people are more concerned with the escalating violence than the coronavirus. Racine sold 800 face masks during the beginning of the pandemic. Now says she barely sells 200.

People dont really believe in the coronavirus. Look around, she told ABCNews, as she waved at a maskless crowd of people in downtown Port-au-Prince. People worry more about violence than the virus.

A spike in kidnappings and gang-related killings has led to concern about how vaccines could be safely administered as a growing number of people are afraid of leaving their homes. Earlier this month, a Haiti pastor and three others were kidnapped by gunmen during a Facebook Live church ceremony.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, a Geneva-based public-private partnership that is co-leading COVAX said some of the documentation needed for delivery to the country was just recently completed.

Story continues

Haiti has only recently completed some of the essential documentation that are prerequisites for processing of a shipping order, Gavi told ABC.

It was also reported that the country didnt apply for a pilot program that wouldve helped it receive early doses, according to Pan American Health Organization.

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

Per ABC News, in a new U.S. State Department report cited by a human rights research center, it is alleged that Haitis government misappropriated more than $1M in coronavirus aid. The government reportedly bypassed an agency charged with approving state contracts so that $34M was disbursed with no government oversight.

Laure Adrien, general director of Haitis Health Ministry, said the delay in receiving vaccines was due to scrutiny around the AstraZeneca vaccine  which requires two doses  and the countrys lack of adequate infrastructure to store mass supply.

Read More: More Black Americans open to vaccines after outreach efforts

Its no secret that we dont have excellent conservation facilities, Adrien said. We wanted to be sure that we had all the parameters under control before we received vaccine stocks.

Have you subscribed to theGrios podcast Dear Culture? Download our newest episodes now!

TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!

The post As countries actively vaccinate against COVID-19, Haiti still awaits vaccines appeared first on TheGrio.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  The venue had been booked. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, a rising GOP star with an eye long set on higher office, was about to announce his run for U.S. Senate. But then scandal brought his political aspirations crashing down.

Merrills upward trajectory was shattered this week by a womans disclosure of their affair, prompting him to announce that he will not run for Senate or any other office in 2022.

Merrill declined to go into detail but told media outlet al.com Wednesday that he had an inappropriate relationship with a woman outside his marriage. The outlet reported that he had initially denied the affair before being confronted with a recording of a phone conversation between him and Cesaire McPherson.

Merrill, 57, told The Associated Press that he will not be a candidate because of choices I have made and the decisions I have made that were not in the best interest of me or my family.

He declined to discuss the relationship.

Its personal. Its impacted my family in negative ways. Its brought a lot of pain and suffering to other people that I care a lot about, Merrill said in a phone interview.

McPherson, a legal assistant, told The Associated Press on Thursday that she had a relationship with Merrill from November 2017 to November 2020.

Unfortunately, he was married, McPherson said. I had to deal with his unhappy butt for three years.

McPherson said she had been approached by someone asking if she would be willing to tell her story. She said she did have a conversation with them but didnt expect an article to come out at that time.

We had an affair. It was nice, but now its over, she said.

The bombshell first reported in rightwing blog National File  and amplified by the revelation of risque texts and salacious details of encounters and sexual preferences  came a week before Merrill was set to announce his Senate candidacy.

Merrill had planned to launch his run for the seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby on Thursday. It was unclear how he would have fared in the crowded GOP primary where the announced candidates are U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, who comes to the race armed with former President Donald Trumps endorsement, and Lynda Blanchard, who was Trumps ambassador to Slovenia.

Merrill had projected an image of a family man and his official state biography says he is a Baptist church deacon, Sunday school teacher and choir member.

I think in his mind he always saw himself as something bigger than the secretary of state, Alabama-based political consultant David Mowery said of Merrill.

Merrill had been a state legislator representing Tuscaloosa before being elected as secretary of state in 2014 and reelected in 2018. For years, he had been viewed as an ambitious politician with a packed schedule of appearances and a habit of freely handing out his cellphone number to anyone who asked.

As election issues came to the forefront of the national stage, Mowery said Merrill was very clear to pump up his bonafides, not just as a public official, but as a conservative.

Merrill is the latest in a string of Alabama politicians to see their ambitions thwarted by sex-related scandals.

As he ran for Senate in 2017, former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore faced accusations, which he denied, of pursuing romantic and sexual relationships with teens as young as 14 when he was a prosecutor in his 30s. Then-Gov. Robert Bentley resigned that same year amid an impeachment push over his relationship with an aide.

Its not necessarily the sex. Its the abuse of power and its the acting contrary to your public image, Mowery said.

Merrill faces a few calls to resign from both sides of the political aisle.

Democratic Rep. Juandalyn Givan told reporters Thursday that she believes there should be a hard look at whether Merrill misused any state resources to carry out the affair and added, I think it would just be in Johns best interest, if he truly loves the state of Alabama, that he would step down.

Im not here to judge him in that regard. But in this instance, he is a public official. Had that been me, I would have been asked to step down yesterday, Givan said.

Conservative talk radio host Matt Murphy posted a tweet Wednesday accusing Merrill of lying to him when he first denied the affair during an on-air appearance.

I hope he gets help he needs to heal his personal life. That said, John has to resign as Secretary of State ASAP. While his prior performance is exemplary ... the public trust is gone, Murphy tweeted.
More travel voucher schemes could be on the cards for people to visit battered Queensland regions in a bid to revive the tourism sector.

Queenslands tourism minister Stirling Hinchliffe on Sunday said work was being done in regards to other locations that could benefit from a similar scheme to the one rolled out for Cairns, where thousands of Queenslanders were offered free $200 travel vouchers to visit the tourist hotspot.

Tourism minister Stirling Hinchliffe. Credit:Felicity Caldwell

When we announced the Cairns holiday dollars, we flagged at that time that was effectively going to be a trial we were going to learn from and look at how we could apply it and work with the tourism authorities and operators in other locations around Queensland that had been significantly affected by the closure of international borders, he said.

Were doing that, we are doing that work, weve made some real links ... and were applying that in work were doing with others.
The discovery of corrosion in the hulls of the NSW governments new fleet of Emerald-class ferries has sparked concerns about the structural soundness of the vessels in the longer term.

Major inspections by a maritime survey company commissioned by Transdev, which operates the government-owned ferries in Sydney, found corrosion in five of the six Emerald-class ferries, including the Catherine Hamlin which was among the worst affected. The Catherine Hamlin was the first of the Emerald-class ferries to enter service on Sydney Harbour in 2017.

The Emerald-class Pemulway, in the foreground, passes the Fred Hollows. Credit:Anna Kucera

Reports of the inspections last year, which were obtained by the Herald using freedom of information laws, also shows evidence of seawater entering three of the vessels hulls.

Graeme Taylor, from Action for Public Transport, said the reports raised concerns about the structural integrity of the hulls of the Emerald-class ferries, and an investigation was needed to work out the underlying cause of the corrosion in the four-year-old vessels.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 20:36:53|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

ADEN, Yemen, April 11 (Xinhua) -- More than 47 people were killed in Yemen's oil-rich province of Marib over the past 24 hours as fighting continued to intensify in the conflict-battered Arab country, a local government official told Xinhua.

The government forces engaged in violent armed confrontations with scores of the Houthi militia who were desperately attempting to militarily advance towards the city of Marib, the local source said on condition of anonymity.

He said that "the Houthis simultaneously carried out large military operations and shelling attacks against key government-controlled villages located around the city of Marib."

He confirmed that the Houthis' military operations against Marib continued despite the intensified airstrikes launched by the Saudi-led Arab coalition to support Yemen's government forces on-ground.

More than 27 Houthi fighters and about 20 soldiers of the government forces were killed during the past 24 hours in Marib's fighting, he added.

Earlier in the day, both warring sides continued exchanging heavy artillery shelling outside Marib, causing an unknown number of deaths and injuries.

Another source close to the country's pro-government forces confirmed to Xinhua that a number of military vehicles belonging to the Houthi militia were completely destroyed following the artillery shelling.

In cooperation with local tribesmen, the government forces succeeded in aborting more than 15 armed attacks against the densely populated city of Marib.

On Saturday, scores of Yemeni people were killed and many others were injured as non-stop fighting struck various areas of the war-torn Arab country.

According to local government officials, the most ferocious fighting occurred between the government forces and the Houthi rebels over the control of the country's oil-rich province of Marib.

Fighting continues heating up as regional and international powers are still making efforts to end the long-lasting bloody conflict and achieving permanent peace in the impoverished Arab country.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemeni military conflict in March 2015 to support Hadi's government. Enditem
EDMUNDSTON, N.B. - New Brunswick reported nine new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, including five more in an area in the northwest of the province now mostly under lockdown following a recent outbreak of the virus.

New Brunswick's provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa on July 6, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

EDMUNDSTON, N.B. - New Brunswick reported nine new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, including five more in an area in the northwest of the province now mostly under lockdown following a recent outbreak of the virus.

The new figures followed an earlier update on the status of the Edmundston Regional Hospital, which has been bearing the brunt of the recent surge in cases.

The Vitalite Health Network issued a news release saying the hospital had 13 patients who were sick with the virus, with seven in intensive care and five on respirators.

Officials said the hospital has nine intensive care beds and to date had transferred two patients to a health-care facility in Fredericton.

The province's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Jennifer Russell, later urged residents to remain vigilant.

Given the current risk posed by variants of concern, it is even more important now that everyone follow public health guidelines, especially those living in areas which are in the red or lockdown level, Russell said in a news release.

The Edmundston and the Upper Madawaska region went under full lockdown as of midnight Sunday after 15 of 19 new COVID-19 cases announced in the province the day before were identified in the area.

Russell also announced one new COVID-19 related death in the region on Saturday  the province's 33rd since the onset of the pandemic  and said that moving forward all cases in the province would be presumed to be caused by virus variants of concern.

The variant found thus far has been the one first identified in the United Kingdom, known as B.1.1.7.

The outbreak prompted Elections New Brunswick to announce that it was suspending municipal elections in the area set for May 10 until the lockdown ends.

Legislation was recently passed to allow the municipal electoral officer to pause nominations and voting in a particular zone.

Municipalities where elections are suspended include Edmundston, Upper-Madawaska, Lac Baker, Riviere-Verte, Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska and Saint Leonard.

Electors in the impacted areas will not be sent their voter information cards until such time as we are advised the lockdown has been lifted and that we are able to ensure we can rebook polling locations and provide the necessary training to poll workers," Chief Electoral Officer Kim Poffenroth said in a news release Sunday.

The suspension of voting also means the reporting of results for the rest of the province will be delayed until all electors have had the opportunity to cast a ballot. Poffenroth said the move was necessary because an elector from one part of the province can cast their ballot at another returning office if they are away from the area where they normally vote.

Meanwhile, health officials said four of the five new cases identified in the Edmundston region on Sunday were contacts of previously confirmed cases, while the other one was under investigation.

The remaining cases in the province included two in the Saint John area, and one each in the Moncton and Fredericton regions.

New Brunswick now has a total of 148 known active infections, with 20 patients hospitalized and 13 in intensive care units.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2021.

By Keith Doucette in Halifax
London: Prince Harry will reunite with his family for the first time in more than a year, but how warm is his welcome likely to be?

The subtle briefings were designed to give Prince Harry the softest possible landing on his arrival back in the UK ahead of his beloved grandfathers funeral on Saturday.

Prince Harry, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and Prince William in 2015. Credit: Getty Images

From sources suggesting he was united in grief with the rest of the royal family following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, to the couples unofficial spokesman Omid Scobie insisting  should anyone be in doubt  that Harry was incredibly close to Philip, the Sussex spin machine was in evidence as the displaced Prince prepared for his first transatlantic flight in 13 months.

Members of the royal family also sought to calm serves ahead of what is feared could be a difficult reunion for the House of Windsor, with a palace source suggesting that Charles, the Prince of Wales, was particularly looking forward to seeing his youngest son. Its been more than a year, they pointed out.
GREENWICH  Even as affordable housing has become a contentious topic in Greenwich, Hartford and across Connecticut, the town celebrated 18 new townhouses at Armstrong Court and funding to push forward with further rehabilitation of the 70-year-old site.

Greenwich Communities, which was formerly known as the Greenwich Housing Authority, formally dedicated a plaque Saturday morning to mark the completion of the 18 townhouses. And it has closed financially on the second phase of the project, redeveloping 42 existing units allowing the construction to move forward later this year on what is expected to be a $27 million project.

The financial close of Phase II is an extraordinary accomplishment for our organization and will contribute greatly to furthering our commitment to provide quality, safe and affordable housing now and well into the future in the town of Greenwich, Anthony Johnson, Greenwich Communities CEO and executive director, said on Friday.

Johnson noted that major improvements at Armstrong Court have not occurred since the 144 units were constructed in 1951. According to the current schedule, the construction is slated to begin later this month. Johnson said on Friday that construction is expected to take about 12 months to complete.

No residents will have to be relocated outside of Armstrong Court during the construction. Johnson said they purposely held open 42 units in the complex where residents have been moved to during the redevelopment work on their apartments.

This all comes at a time when there has been increased focus on the availability of affordable housing in the state thanks to the Desegregate CT movement and new bills before the state legislature that advocates say will create more affordable housing. There has been significant pushback to those bills from Greenwichs municipal leaders, who have said it would impose mandates on the town and that it ignores work being done by Greenwich Communities to try and address the need for more affordable housing units in town.

These buildings further our vision for quality, affordable housing in Greenwich, Johnson said. We are not just talking the talk. We are walking the walk. We are the solution.

Sam Romeo, chair of Greenwich Communities Board of Commissioners, was among those who have testified against the new bills during recent public hearings and he blasted the critics of Greenwichs policies while adding that plans were being developed to add in 300 more units of affordable housing in town.

It seems to me they dont know anything about how housing is created, Romeo said during his testimony last month. They dont know anything about a lot of the towns theyre supposed to be representing. I know Greenwich is totally misunderstood throughout the state. Im willing to bet that people dont know we have 1,250 units of affordable housing that we manage here in the town of Greenwich. We are a very diverse community.

The towns Planning and Zoning Commission is putting together the final details on a housing trust fund that could provide more opportunities for Greenwich Communities, as well as other developers, to access private money for affordable housing.

As for the next phase of work at Armstrong Court, current one- and two-bedroom units will be combined to create three-bedroom and two-bathroom apartments. Greenwich Communities said these larger units have been in high demand for families and will provide a higher standard of living.

There will be also be expanded living space, new kitchens with dishwashers and stainless steel appliances, air conditioning units, upgrades to the electrical and insulation, improved rooflines and the creation of new and renovated meeting and laundry facilities.

Last April, Greenwich Communities was awarded $10.5 million in tax credits from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority through its Low Income Housing Tax Credit program, which provides tax credits to developers in the state who best meet the criteria of being able to provide affordable housing to residents.

Now those tax credits have been purchased by a capital investor called Enterprise and along with loans Greenwich Communities received from the states Department of Housing, the money has been secured to go forward with the project.

Additionally the federal department of Housing and Urban Development is providing 14 Section 8 vouchers to provide housing to low-income residents.

Greenwich Communities is exceptionally versed at directing and controlling these building projects without the need for a private development partner, which sets us apart from other housing authorities, Johnson said.

The Armstrong Court redevelopment project is being done over the course of four phases.

The first phase was for the new townhouses, which came in at a cost of $15 million. Phase two construction is the 42 units in Armstrong Courts buildings 1, 3 and 6 and phase three  with a projected price of $25 million  will see a new building of 42 units that is slated for construction in late 2021 or early 2022.

Phase four is rehabilitation of the two remaining buildings in Armstrong Court. Johnson said they will be seeking financing in the future for that.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
Denton_city_council

featured

Questions of transparency? Denton city meeting procedures unique for region

DRC file photo Denton City Council and staff members talk on April 6 about recording closed meetings. Gerard Hudspeth Deb Armintor

Jesse Davis

Denton City Council members often spend considerable time during meetings talking about how and when issues should be discussed and the extent to which they are deliberated  a dilemma thought to be solved more than a year ago when the 1-minute pitch was created.

I think the 1-minute pitch solves the problem we have at times, Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Davis said recently. The process had to be curtailed because council members felt it was their job and duty to pose every request all at once. Having limited staff and resources is how the 1-minute pitch came to be.

The pitch concept was proposed by council member Paul Meltzer during the councils 2020 retreat. Heres how it works: Council members must ask for their pitches to be placed on meeting agendas. During the meetings, they are given one minute to show why they believe their items of interest warrant council members time. If four members do not agree, those items do not advance to work sessions.

Issues of transparency can become contentious for council members, even as recently as Tuesday, when they debated whether the audio of closed sessions should be recorded and Mayor Gerard Hudspeth raised the possibility of making it a misdemeanor for elected officials at the municipal level to openly reveal matters discussed in closed session.

The Texas Open Meetings Act defends the publics right to government meetings and those of committees and subcommittees  and most deliberations of those entities. But some procedures and protocols, such as Dentons 1-minute pitch, limit the ability of council members to have full discussions on issues they feel are important to constituents  a practice eschewed by most municipal governments in the region and called into question by experts on the law.

Quote The process had to be curtailed because council members felt it was their job and duty to pose every request all at once. Having limited staff and resources is how the 1-minute pitch came to be.  Jesse Davis, Denton City Council member

Sensitive to staff time

The express purpose of the 1-minute pitch is to make sure we are sensitive to staff time and make sure the entire council participates in that discussion so one member wont monopolize that time, Mayor Gerard Hudspeth said. With that goal, its effective. Is it perfect? No. But the alternative wasnt working, either.

The alternative, Hudspeth said, was council members inundating staff members with emails and requests for information following council meetings.

And then staff would work on that project, he said. The 1-minute pitch is effective in what it was tasked to do.

But Meltzer, who first conceived of the pitch, asked for a change to that concept during a March 16 council meeting. Later, he explained his motivation for the request.

Former Mayor Chris Watts would say that if youre not for the proposal exactly as it was worded, then youre against it, Meltzer said. And, sometimes, I hear [Hudspeth] say things like that. I was asking for a change in the rules to explicitly say that he can seek a consensus even if thats not precisely around the original wording of the 1-minute pitch.

Ive been very public about my concerns  about these 1-minute pitches, council member Deb Armintor said during the meeting on March 16. I would like us to have a work session just to review the 1-minute pitch policy in general. It feels a lot like polling.

Most Denton City Council meetings, scheduled for Tuesdays, are preceded by work sessions that typically last at least four hours. That is when 1-minute pitches are allowed per city policy.

In work sessions, under the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA), governing bodies may not vote on agenda items. They may only discuss them.

Quote The express purpose of the 1-minute pitch is to make sure we are sensitive to staff time and make sure the entire council participates in that discussion so one member wont monopolize that time.  Gerard Hudspeth, Denton mayor

Behind the scenes

In Denton, members of municipal government  elected, appointed and otherwise  discuss public business with each other. TOMA prohibits council members, though, from creating forums outside of public meetings.

In other cities around North Texas, that process is not the same.

Its the city managers job to say, Yes. I will get that to you. Or No, I wont, said Shanae Jennings, Irvings city secretary and chief compliance officer. Its his job to delegate to his staff. Our mayor sometimes, if he feels like the council wants information, he may ask the city manager to look into it.

Under the council-manager form of government, the city manager is responsible for day-to-day operations of all departments, including hiring and firing department heads, and implementing council priorities and policies.

Most of the time, individual council members come to the city manager or me, Jennings said of the procedures for handling requests for information in Irving. The city manager runs the city.

That is the case for every council-manager form of government in Texas. The city manager, essentially, is the CEO.

All of us are trained

Its not unusual to have a conversation or even a couple of conversations ahead of a meeting, Davis said. But all of us are trained in the Texas Open Meetings Act. We all know what equals a quorum. I cant think of a time its happened that I got a call from a council member saying, Hey, how are leaning on an item? Its more about what you know about this.

Davis is also an assistant district attorney for Denton County.

The communication process between council members and staff is similar in Plano as it is in Irving.

The council members are asked to first go through the city managers office, said Steve Soler, director of media relations in Plano. The thinking behind that is the city manager and his team can loop in all council members so that everyone receives the same information. It seems like a really good policy, and its fair.

And in Dallas, council members are careful not to inadvertently violate TOMA, said Catherine Cueller, director of communications, outreach and marketing.

In the event information is sent electronically to all council members, they are either blind-copied as to prevent any unintentional reply-all or instructed not to reply so as not to deliberate on a matter, she said. They are very mindful of inherence to the Texas Open Meetings Act. And if they travel to a site together, they are instructed to be separate and not discuss public business.

In Denton, the process is similar. Council members often ask for information through the city manager or a director or department head and copy the city manager on these emails.

But when a staff member responds, we will blind-copy the other council members to make sure they do not reply-all, said Ryan Adams, director of customer service and public affairs.

In Dentons case, a quorum is created if four of the City Councils seven members are gathered in the same place. And if that happens, state law defines that as a meeting, which must be posted at least 72 hours in advance.

But TOMA does not prohibit the majority of the council from attending other events and cannot, of course, preempt chance encounters. An example of that would be if four Denton City Council members attended a rally on the downtown Square.

State law does, however, prohibit council members from deliberating the publics business privately among themselves  often called walking quorums  including on personal devices through email, text messages and social media apps. And all communication between council members and other municipal employees is subject to the Texas Public Information Act, especially and including if such communication is done through the citys networks and servers.

Quote I think the bulk of council members questions should be answered before the meeting. I think it makes all the sense in the world. This is essentially a $1.3 billion corporation, and we dont have time in every meeting to answer every question a council member may have."  Jesse Davis, Denton City Council member

Communicating with staff

Each week, through city staff members Friday report, pie charts, bar graphs and other data are included to show how many requests council members submit by email, the nature of the requests, how much time it takes for staff members to answer their questions or provide additional information and the top requestors.

I think the bulk of council members questions should be answered before the meeting, Davis said. I think it makes all the sense in the world. This is essentially a $1.3 billion corporation, and we dont have time in every meeting to answer every question a council member may have.

Following work sessions, regular and special council meetings generally last about four or five hours. It is not uncommon for some discussions to take one or two hours.

These are complex issues sometimes, like engineering and the law, Davis said. Giving staff time to fully answer those questions is honestly done before the meeting. Discussion between council members is what should be happening during the meeting. The purpose of the council meeting is not education but deliberation and decision-making.

Quote I dont like to see debate and discussion on important public matters getting stifled at meetings, and I don't think it should be up to the mayor to decide how council members ask their questions and get them answered. That is really frustrating to me."  Deb Armintor, Denton City Council member

Chairing the meetings

As mayor, Hudspeth is charged with keeping decorum and maintaining order during council meetings. Before being elected mayor in December, he was mayor pro tem for two years.

He often asks council members during the meetings to email staff officials so that the matter would not have to be discussed further or at all  something with which Armintor disagrees.

I dont like to see debate and discussion on important public matters getting stifled at meetings, and I dont think it should be up to the mayor to decide how council members ask their questions and get them answered, she said. That is really frustrating to me. If I ask something at a meeting, its because I want that answer at the meeting.

And Meltzer said that while the mayor has the right to keep the meeting rolling along, he prefers all of his questions be answered during the meeting.

If I ask the question in public, I may want the question answered in public, he said. It may not be for my own edification. I want things said, and I want things heard.

Quote Its not a violation of the letter of the law, but it may be a violation of the spirit of open government. It sounds like there is a push to discuss public matters in private and to cut off discussion. Those things are not in the spirit of open government.  Kelley Shannon, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas

Kelley Shannon, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, took a similar position.

Responding to council members questions outside of public meetings is not a violation of the letter of the law, but it may be a violation of the spirit of open government, she said. It sounds like there is a push to discuss public matters in private and to cut off discussion. Those things are not in the spirit of open government.

Asked about deferring council members questions to staff, Hudspeth said that as much information as possible should be delivered in the council meeting to both parties. If my goal is to disseminate information to my constituents, is it easier to point them to a City Council video that is eight hours long or is it easier for me to go to my personal Facebook page and post that snippet or create the information?

Still, everything flows from the top, Shannon said.

If youve got a leader who is very much for open government and transparency, that filters down, she said. If youve got a city trying to clamp down on transparency, that also affects all parts of government. It is a tone set from the top.

Hudspeth responded, saying, My stance stays the same regardless.

Denton Chief of Staff Sarah Kuechler said how council members respond should be left to them.

That is up to the mayor and council on how they proceed on discussion, she said. Its our goal to be responsive.

City size and staff size A look at the number of city staff employees and population size: Irving: 25 employees; population 243,000

25 employees; population 243,000 Denton: 26 employees; population 145,000

26 employees; population 145,000 Plano: 27 employees; population 290,000 SOURCES: Cities of Denton, Irving and Plano
Prince William and Kate Middleton have been dating since 2002. Though it took a while for the couple to walk down the aisle, the two shared plenty of fun times together before they became a working-royal couple.

Throwback images of the couple living their best lives show a side of William and Kate that the public hasnt seen in years. And they exemplify just how much the royal family can change a relationships dynamic.

Prince William and then-girlfriend (now wife) Kate Middleton attend his RAF Cranwell graduation ceremony in 2008 | Tim Graham Picture Library/Getty Images

Kate Middleton and Prince William began dating early on in college

Prince William announced in 2001 that he would be attending the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. During his first semester, he met Kate Middleton, and the two became instant friends. There were reports that they were each dating separate people at first, but once William saw Kate walk in a campus fashion show, he realized he wanted to date her.

The two hid their relationship from the public until around 2004, when Kate was spotted vacationing with the royal family. From there, they went public, though they took a brief hiatus in 2007 while William was training with the military.

William finally proposed to Kate in 2010, after the tabloids had nicknamed her Waity Katie for waiting eight years for him to pop the question. The two tied the knot in 2011, and once Kate became an official working royal, the couples dynamic seemed to shift.

Prince William and Kate Middleton share a laugh in London in 2012, a little more than a year after marrying. | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

RELATED: The Public Caught a Rare but Sweet Moment Between Prince William and Kate Middleton on Their Royal Train Tour

Throwback photos of Prince William and Kate Middleton show how much fun they used to have

Its no easy feat being a working royal. There are plenty of rules to follow, and a strong reputation is paramount. But when William and Kate were younger and had less to worry about, they seemed to have far more fun.

A royal fan account recently posted throwback images that show just how much fun the two had before tying the knot. In 2006, William and Kate vacationed in Ibiza, Spain, with the Middleton family. The photos show them jumping off the boat, holding each other, and laughing. In 2008, William and Kate attended a social event together, and photos were snapped of the two dancing excitedly with one another. Their big smiles were visible, and it was clear they were living in the moment  and living for each other.

Prince William and Kate Middleton cant stop smiling at each other at an event in 2011 | George Pimentel/Getty Images

The couple has become more serious now that theyre preparing for the throne

The public would be hard-pressed to find any images of William and Kate having so much fun today. Their dynamic has changed quite a bit after a decade of marriage and three children. Plus, theyre continuously building their royal reputations, which doesnt allow them to let loose in the spotlight.

Now, William and Kate hardly hold hands in public. They have been seen laughing together with the occasional touch, but for the most part, theyre hands-off. Though it appears the couple still has a strong marriage, their change in demeanor could certainly be an example of the toll royal pressure can take on a highly publicized relationship.
TRINIDAD and Tobago Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) executive director, Nigel Edwards, says the changes the 39-year-old financial institution is undergoing at this time are transformational.

The UTC is now in the middle of a three-year cycle of strategic changes that will culminate in 2023 and beyond, he said.
An Army second lieutenant was driving his brand new car with his dog in the back seat when the night took a violent turn.

Moments later, the Black and Latino driver would be pepper-sprayed, threatened and thrown to the ground in a caught-on-video traffic stop that has sparked outrage across the country.

The military officer has now filed a lawsuit accusing two Virginia police officers of violating his constitutional rights by holding him at gunpoint, suggesting he was facing execution, assaulting him and illegally detaining him in a December 2020 encounter in the town of Windsor.

Newly released body-cam footage shows Caron Nazario, who was wearing his Army uniform that night, holding both of his hands in the air outside the drivers-side window and telling the officers he was honestly afraid to get out.

Yeah, you should be! officer Joe Gutierrez told him as the two cops pointed their weapons at Nazario.

Moments earlier, that same officer was heard telling the driver that he was fixin to ride the lightning, an expression referring to an execution by electric chair, according to the lawsuit and a police video obtained by The Virginian-Pilot.

The two officers deny the allegations, claiming they stopped Nazario over his extremely dark tinted windows and because they couldnt see his rear license plate. They also wrote in their incident reports that the driver was eluding police, repeatedly failed to comply with their commands to get out of the car and even slapped their hands away at one point.

Nazario, whose temporary license plate was posted in the rear window of his Chevrolet Tahoe, acknowledged he didnt immediately pull over because he was trying to find a well-lit area for his and the officers safety. The lawsuit says he slowed down, activated his turn signals and drove for less than a mile until he found a BP gas station.

Gutierrez admitted during the encounter that driving to a well-lit area is a common maneuver that happens to him a lot and that he knew with at least 80% certainty that Nazario would be a person of color, according to the lawsuit.

The 27-year-old driver was released without any charges after Gutierrez decided he did not want to see Nazarios military career ruined over one erroneous decision, according to a police report attached to the court filings.

The case has prompted accusations of racism and calls for the two officers to be fired.

These cameras captured footage of behavior consistent with a disgusting nationwide trend of law enforcement officers, who, believing they can operate with complete impunity, engage in unprofessional, discourteous, racially biased, dangerous and sometimes deadly abuses of authority, the lawsuit states.

Democratic politician and former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro called for an immediate investigation into the incident.

This is racism. Its about the domination and humiliation of a Black man because he asked questions and didnt comply, he wrote in a tweet Friday night.

The shocking footage shows Nazario repeatedly asking why he was being pulled over as officers Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker were heard ordering him to get out of the car more than a dozen times. The officers also shouted conflicting orders at him, telling Nazario to keep his hands outside the window while also telling him to open the door and get out, according to the video and the lawsuit.

Gutierrez eventually pepper-sprayed Nazario multiple times, causing substantial and immediate pain, choking and blinding him, causing his lungs and throat face and skin to burn, the complaint alleges. The spray also hit Nazarios dog, who began choking in the back seat, according to the suit.

In this image made from Windsor, (Va.) Police video, Caron Nazario is helped by an EMT after he was sprayed with an agent by Windsor police after a traffic stop on Dec. 20, 2020, in Windsor, Va. (Windsor Police via AP)AP

When Nazario finally got out of the SUV, Gutierrez responded with knee-strikes to his legs as the Army lieutenant continued to ask why he was being detained and treated that way.

Because youre not cooperative. Get on the ground, one of the cops responded.

This is really messed up. This is (expletive) up, Nazario said in tears.

The body-cam footage stops soon after that. Gutierrez wrote in his report that his camera stopped recording after it got compressed between him and Nazario during a struggle. Nazario also recorded part of the incident from his cellphone.

The two cops later offered not to file any charges if Nazario agreed to chill and let this go, according to the lawsuit. If he didnt agree, the complaint alleges, police would charge him with assault on a law enforcement officer, eluding an officer, obstruction of justice with force and improper display of license plate.

The lawsuit called the officers actions an illegal attempt to extort silence from Nazario.

The complaint, filed in federal court last week, accuses Gutierrez and Crocker of false imprisonment, illegal search, assault, battery and violating his First and Fourth Amendment rights. Nazario is seeking $1 million in damages.

Windsor Police Chief Rodney Dan Riddle, who also went to the gas station the night of the traffic stop, did not immediately return a request for comment Saturday morning.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Nazarios attorney said his client graduated from Virginia State University and was commissioned out of the schools ROTC program.

Hes an officer in the United States armed forces, Jonathan Arthur said. These guys decide to do this to him... Hes definitely not doing too well.
South Korean battery manufacturers LG and SK Innovation have reached a settlement that will allow SK to complete its $2.6 billion factory in Georgia that had been threatened by a federal intellectual property theft ruling.

The deal means President Joe Biden and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai will not have to decide whether to overturn the International Trade Commission ruling that led SK to threaten to abandon the plant and its 2,600 jobs. Sunday was the deadline for the Biden administration to have its say.

The $1.8 billion agreement will enable SK to complete the Commerce, Ga., facility that will supply batteries for a suite of Volkswagen vehicles and the electric Ford F-150, advancing the White Houses goal of building an American electric vehicle manufacturing sector. Biden hailed the deal in a statement from the White House on Sunday.

"We need a strong, diversified and resilient U.S.-based electric vehicle battery supply chain, so we can supply the growing global demand for these vehicles and components  creating good-paying jobs here at home, and laying the groundwork for the jobs of tomorrow," Biden said. "Todays settlement is a positive step in that direction, which will bring some welcome relief to workers in Georgia and new opportunity for workers across the country."

Backstory: The ITC in February ruled that SK stole trade secrets from rival LG and ordered a blockade on shipments of materials needed to make batteries at the plant. Though the ITC gave a grace period for automakers to switch battery suppliers, SK threatened to abandon the project if the ruling was not overturned.

The ruling presented a potential blow to Bidens ambitious electric vehicle goals. Though the ITC gave VW two years and Ford four years to find new suppliers, the automakers said it would take them at least that long, potentially causing them to turn to imported batteries or delay their new model releases.

Federal law gives the president and USTR 60 days to overrule any ITC decision, and the ruling sparked an intense lobbying campaign aimed at the White House.

Story continues

SK Innovation retained former EPA Administrator Carol Browner and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates to pressure Biden and Tai to overturn the decision. SK warned that Chinese battery suppliers might fill the void if it abandoned the plant.

LG maintained that SK was bluffing and would likely finish the factory. And even if it didnt, LG argued, the abandoned plant would quickly be snapped up by another supplier eager to fill automaker demand.

Settlement: Throughout the process, LG said it was open to a deal that would allow SK to build its factory in exchange for compensation for stolen intellectual property.

On Sunday, the companies announced that SK would pay $1.8 billion to LG, as well as a running royalty on batteries produced at the plant. The firms did not respond to inquiries about the size of the royalty payments, or how long they will continue.

In return, LG agreed to resolve the ITC dispute, a parallel case at the D.C. Circuit Court, and all legal issues in Korea, as well as promising not to sue SK on the intellectual property disputes for 10 years.

Reaction: The settlement is welcome news for the Biden White House, which now gets to avoid a sticky decision pitting swing state jobs against its commitment to upholding U.S. trade laws.

Had Biden upheld the decision, Republicans were ready to pounce on the potential job losses. But had he overturned it, progressives were ready to argue he should also waive IP protections for Covid vaccines, which the White House has so far resisted.

Tai, whose office would have been tasked with deciding whether to overturn the ITC decision, pushed the companies to strike a deal in more than a dozen phone calls with the CEOs and other executives in recent weeks, according to a person with knowledge of the conversations.

She also spoke with senior Biden administration officials and members of Congress, including those from Georgia, and Biden thanked her for "tireless work to resolve this dispute" in his Sunday statement.

I congratulate both companies for working through their significant differences to resolve this dispute, which builds confidence in their reliability and responsibility as suppliers to the U.S. auto industry, Tai wrote in a release of her own.

The deal was also welcome news to Georgias two new Democratic senators, who had publicly pushed the companies to strike a deal, rather than pressuring the Biden administration to overturn the decision.

Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff also rushed to take credit for the settlement on Sunday, saying they spoke repeatedly to the battery company leaders, as well as the Biden administration, in recent weeks.

Given the outstanding litigation between the companies, it has always been clear that the best way to protect workers in Commerce  and the jobs Georgians were promised  is for the companies involved to negotiate a settlement in good faith, Warnock said in a release.
gettyimagesbank



By Anna J. Park



Ahead of the much-anticipated public listing of U.S.-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase last week, one of the frequently talked-about issues in Korea's crypto trading circle has been the so-called "kimchi premium"  the price gap between cryptocurrencies on Korean and foreign exchanges.



During the past week, the kimchi premium soared up to 23 percent, meaning that the price of a bitcoin on Korean exchanges was 23 percent higher than that on foreign ones. The price gap is easily checked in real time at various crypto-related sites in Korea; as of 3:25 p.m. Sunday (KST), the kimchi premium stood at 17 percent for the bitcoin price at Korea's largest coin exchange Upbit compared to the overseas-operated Binance.



This has led some local investors to take arbitrage profits, as they purchase cryptocurrency on foreign exchanges where they're sold at a lower price and then resell on domestic exchanges for higher prices. Due to active arbitrage trading in the past week, the kimchi premium fell below 10 percent, but later rose again up to the 10-percent range.



One of the main reasons why the kimchi premium still exists is that there's more demand for cryptocurrencies in Korea than in other countries. However, more than the imbalance between supply and demand, a key reason behind the price gap is that global coin investors find it difficult and cumbersome to trade cryptocurrencies on Korean crypto exchanges with Korean won. If the process was easier, active arbitrage trading would remove the price gap among global exchanges. Yet procedural difficulties involving foreign exchanges of Korean won on the part of global coin investors, as well as local investors' preference to trade on domestic exchanges, maintains the kimchi premium.



Kimchi premium increases ahead of Bitcoin plunges?



What is more concerning for coin investors here is whether the recent increasing level of the kimchi premium is an omen for an imminent price plunge in cryptocurrencies.



This concern is not entirely groundless. The kimchi premium reached up to 50 percent back in 2017 due to local investors' frenzied entry into the crypto asset world as well as the country's strict foreign exchange laws. This huge price gap was followed by a nosedive in cryptocurrency prices during the following years. Until last February, the local price for bitcoin was around five percent to six percent lower than that of foreign exchanges, experiencing a "reverse kimchi premium" for the past couple of years.



Investors who experienced the dark period are reminded of that shock amid the rising crypto price gaps in the country. Market experts, however, say the current situation is different from 2017, when Korea's daily cryptocurrency trading volume was the highest among all countries. Watchers say the price fall following the kimchi premium negatively affected the global crypto market, but times have changed.



"Back in 2017, the Korean crypto market led the world's digital assets with much more global influence. However, the dominance has been not only transferred from Korea to the U.S. but also from retail investors to institutional investors," Han Dae-hoon, an SK Securities analyst specializing in cryptocurrencies, said.



"It's true that the high level of the kimchi premium is burdensome, and the bitcoin price in Korea could be corrected as the price gap narrows. However, it won't lead to any drastic changes in the crypto market," the analyst added, explaining that demand for cryptocurrencies remains solid, and institutional investors are making moves to embrace it into their asset allocation.



Following the very first bitcoin ETF listed in Canada, Fidelity Investments is set to launch a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), heralding the digital asset joining the traditional asset market. Both global financial giants and global companies, such as Square, Visa, PayPal and Tesla have announced plans to strengthen their cryptocurrency-related businesses.


Sorry, no valid subscriptions were found for this Publication. Please select from an option below to start a subscription.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

24 Hour Access
GOP congressman enters NY gubernatorial race amid 'long line' of Cuomo scandals, 'lies'

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

Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin has announced that he'll be entering the 2022 New York gubernatorial race following what he decried as Gov. Andrew Cuomo's "cover-ups, abuse and self-dealing.

Zeldin made the announcement Thursday morning on Twitter, where he accused Cuomo of being at the helm of New Yorks downfall due to the "deadly nursing home order and cover-up," as well as a long line of scandal, lies and harassment."

To save NY, #CuomosGottaGo!, Zeldin tweeted. Ill bring the kind of relentless, fighting spirit towards helping to save our state that Cuomo reserves for multi-million dollar self-congratulatory book deals, cover-ups, abuse & self-dealing.

Zeldin, who was first elected to Congress in 2015, lamented the one-party rule in New York, which he said has contributed to many of its residents' problems.

New York, he said, has long been a "beacon of hope, progress and patriotism" throughout United States history: "From Washington leading the Continental Army from Manhattan, to Lincolns Cooper Union speech, & the rebuilding of NYC after 9/11."

But now, he added, residents are fleeing the state due to lost jobs, high taxes and rising crime.

Cuomo has abused the power & trust granted to him & it's time for him to immediately exit stage left, Zeldin continued. I'm ready to go all in on this mission and bring New York back from the brink and return it to glory.

In March, New York Republican lawmakers said they'd be filing an impeachment resolution against Cuomo due to his mishandling and cover-up of COVID-19 nursing home deaths and sexual misconduct allegations.

Top Democrats in the legislature also called on the three-term governor to resign and questioned his ability to continue to lead. And in February, over a dozen Democratic state senators urged the Senate to remove Cuomos emergency powers.

A report released in January by New York Attorney General Letitia James revealed that Cuomo underreported nursing home deaths by as much as 50%.

After the report was published, officials disclosed nearly 4,000 additional deaths among nursing home residents.

During a press briefing, Cuomo derided the report on nursing home deaths as nothing more than a political attack.

Where this starts is frankly a political attack from the prior federal administration, Cuomo said at the time.

New York has one the highest COVID-19-linked death rates per 100,000 residents in the country.

Along with suffering the high death toll, the state's widespread lockdown regulations in response to COVID-19 also led to nearly 1.9 million New Yorkers losing their jobs from March to April 2020.

New York City was among the hardest-hit areas due to ongoing government-mandated business closures that have led to high unemployment rates, the shuttering of small businesses that won't be reopening and the depleted tourism industry.

Zeldin added that many New Yorkers feel this is the last stand to save the state and losing is not an option.

We have two choices, Zeldin said in a campaign video on his website. We can raise the white flag and surrender to mediocrity, corruption, coverups, more job losses and even higher taxes. We might as well just turn the lights off. Or we can roll up our sleeves and get to work to save our state. Thats what Im going to do as New Yorks next governor. Lets do it together and show the world the real New York.

Zeldin, an attorney and lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, is a native of Long Island. He is the only Jewish Republican in the 117th Congress. He lives in Shirley, New York, with his wife and their twin daughters.

The fourth-term congressman is an ally of former President Donald Trump and was appointed to serve on Trumps impeachment defense team during his first impeachment trial.

Zeldin isn't the only prominent Republican entering the 2022 gubernatorial race, however.

Andrew Giuliani, who served as a special assistant in the Trump administration and is the son of former New York City mayor and Trump's former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, told the Washington Examiner that he also plans to run for governor in 2022.

Outside of anybody named Trump, I think I have the best chance to win and take the state back, and I think there's an opportunity in 2022 with a wounded Democratic candidate. Whether it's going to be Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo, whether it's going to be a radical [Attorney General] Letitia James, whether it's going to be a no-name lieutenant governor, I think there's a very, very real chance to win, Giuliani said.

Multiple former female staffers have accused Cuomo of sexual harassment, bullying and inappropriate behavior, which is another reason why many have called for his resignation.

Cuomo has denied the allegations and has refused to resign.
For Australia to maintain its reputation as a first-world country, the government should allow foreign investments only by those willing to abide by the principles of best practice in all fields of endeavour, and, indeed, demand that any company operating here, regardless of who owns it, locals or a foreigner, behaves appropriately.

Anne-Lydie Teese, Greensborough The Treasurers inaction is a national disgrace

It is a national disgrace that Josh Frydenberg has not acted immediately on a series of letters from Senator Peter Whish-Wilson describing the shocking conditions on the foreign-owned Van Dairy farming business in Tasmania. Way back in June 2019, there were widespread media reports that senior staff warned of serious animal welfare issues on this foreign-owned farm. The federal government must intervene immediately to force this company, Moon Lake, to comply with Australian standards. As someone who grew up on a dairy farm, I would like to see this cruel companys dairy licences cancelled permanently. Further, Australia should stop exporting live dairy heifers to China and other countries, where their treatment is surely much worse than that described in these news reports. It is scandalous that even in Australia these companies are getting away with sickening cruelty right under the governments nose.

Jan Kendall, Mount Martha Wake up to the reality of all dairy farms

Three cheers for the whistleblower and Adele Ferguson, who made public the horror of Van Dairy farms.

The story is a gruesome tale of neglect for both the cows and the environment. But much of the horror, the mastitis, the dead calves, the effluent, is true of every dairy farm. Its about time we all woke up to the reality of dairy farms  that they are places of suffering, death and pollution, not the bucolic places where happy animals romp and play, as we are led to believe by the advertising mush we are fed by the dairy industry. Dairy products are bad for the environment, bad for the animals and increasingly seen as responsible for human health issues. Its time to get rid of this industry altogether.

Judith Crotty, Dandenong North THE FORUM You must come to the table

Housing Minister Richard Wynne, you cannot abandon the City of Yarra and your electorate of Richmond and its social housing needs (Social housing row exposes tensions, The Age, 10/4). Since when was negotiation banned as a way to achieve an outcome that we all agree responds to an urgent and legitimate need? Yarra Council has not rejected the need for social housing, it just disagrees with you that there is a need for private housing on the Collingwood Town Hall precinct site.

Yarra Council also believes your tenants on the Ministry of Housing estate opposite the precinct need to be provided with a library and a maternal health and childcare centre. Im sure you would not argue against that. A social housing response, together with a community hub, jointly owned by the city and the state government seems to be a good use of that site. The Fitzroy Residents Association views the standoff as not befitting our council or our Housing Minister and local member. We encourage you both to come to the negotiating table to ensure that the social housing needs and community needs are provided for in our suburb and across the City of Yarra.

Martin Brennan, chair, Fitzroy Residents Association, Fitzroy. Selective recognition

I note that Labor MP Andrew Giles stated on ABC Weekend Breakfast regarding Prince Philip: I think it is important that we recognise that 70 years in public life is something that is extraordinary ... Yet he is among a group trying to replace Senator Kim Carr, 65 and a near-30-year veteran of the Parliament, under the guise of renewal. As a more senior Victorian still working in my 60s, I would like him to explain why the senator needs to retire when he wishes to continue another term.

Does federal Labor actually believe older workers are in the way and need to move aside? Maybe they should reconsider their attitude towards older working Australians who have much to offer.

Isobel Jensen, Clifton Hill The timing is perfect

Spot on, Louise Kloot (Letters, 10/4). With such a minimal risk factor involved, and the worsening rollout figures, this is the perfect situation for the Morrison government to increase panic among the population and once again blame someone else for their incompetence.

Glenn Murphy, Hampton Park An honoured place

In 1982, I approached several news outlets to cover the Tasmanian Wilderness Societys forthcoming blockade of dam works in the Franklin and Gordon river valleys in remote western Tasmania. The then editor of The Age, Creighton Burns, was unexcited by the prospect but nevertheless sent junior reporter Rosslyn Beeby to Strahan for the saga. She, along with other journalists, was subject to repeated cold and wet crossings of Macquarie Harbour and up the Gordon River to witness the hundreds of people who were arrested blocking the bulldozers invading the World Heritage wilderness.

Beebys reportage was incisive, descriptive and powerful. It was a crucial ingredient in the successful motivation of Australians, in particular Victorians, to vote for the change of government in March 1983. New prime minister Bob Hawke announced the dam will not be built and so the Franklin, one of the worlds top 10 whitewater rafting rivers, still flows free to the sea. Beeby went on to a distinguished career in journalism. She died in Queanbeyan this Easter. Saving Tasmanias wild rivers from their extraordinary peril in that summer of 1982-3 involved the dedication of thousands of Australians and among them I would reserve an honoured place for Rosslyn Beeby.

Bob Brown, former director of the Tasmanian Wilderness Society and leader of the Australian Greens. A poignant tale

Lawyer and activist Nyadol Nyuon writes poignantly of her former powerlessness (Your world, and peace, was never mine, Comment, 10/4). But here now she loves Australia, is doing so well, and contributing positively. I and others think as she does. Her clear thinking, with her stand for minorities, assists as our politics heads towards an increasingly real opposition, and hopefully more independents in Parliament.

Barbara Fraser, Burwood

No place for politics

Political stoushes should not have any part in determining the fate of much-needed and vital projects (Social housing row exposes tensions, The Age, 10/4). At a time when so many people are being evicted from their rental properties by landlords without a conscience, social housing should be a No.1 priority for every council. Those out on the street do not have the luxury of waiting to find decent accommodation and need immediate help now.

Helen Scheller, Benalla More misery ahead

The Victorian gaming regulator has just approved yet another 70 poker machines for Victoria. The new machines are, as usual, located in a low socioeconomic area and will, as usual, cause yet more abject misery to families who can least afford the consequences of the inevitable losses.

A cynic might reason that more poker-machine losses will mean more government revenue for the states dwindling treasury coffers. The government has, most fortunately, in its repertoire a magic cure-all solution for problem gambling  their trite and useless slogan: gamble responsibly. There you are, problem solved in two easy words.

Erica Grebler Caulfield North Time to play their game

To describe the operation of Van Dairy farms as a total balls up seems a massive understatement.

If Adele Fergusons report is accurate, then this truly is a national disgrace. Any sensitivities we may feel about calling out Van Dairys Chinese owners for the abysmal conditions on their farms should be set aside. The Chinese government has already shown its willingness to punish Australia by imposing restrictions on Australian imports such as wine. The Australian government should show China that two can play that game. Van Dairy should either comply with the conditions under which it operates in our country, or be told to get out of a business it seems to know little about.

Rod Wise, Surrey Hills Nothing secure about it

It is nonsense to claim that 20 million more doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which are said to be due to arrive from October, have been secured (More Pfizer on way but confidence takes a hit, The

Age, 10/4).

In the context of the lack of progress to date in Australias vaccine rollout, very little is secure. The vaccine has only been ordered. October is a long way down the track and it may or may not turn up then. Well see. Meanwhile, wishful thinking and spin-doctor words from Scott Morrison and his marketing team wont make any difference.

Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills Make another run

Julia Gillard, I have nothing but respect for you. Your time as prime minister was too short-lived. Please come back to politics, to Parliament and hopefully as prime minister you might get the misogynistic old boys club to get real and society to understand and adhere to the message of your poignant misogyny speech. I dont think anyone in Australia could attend to the issues of family violence, entitled violence and workplace violence with more effect. One vote already.

Jae Sconce, Moonee Ponds

Weve done it for years

Vale Prince Philip. A lot of talk about how he sacrificed his promising career to support his wife, Queen Elizabeth, in her working life. Such a familiar story for so many women who have done exactly the same thing but without the plaudits accorded to him, rather the expectation that this is how it is.

Belinda Burke, Hawthorn Beyond the reputation ...

Prince Philip may have, at times, played up to the caricature of him as a cranky uncle type but that doesnt do him justice. His work for the world environment, outdoors schooling and an ethic of public duty relating to youth was forward thinking. As yet another displaced royal emigre in the early 20th century, his life trajectory and connections to a number of European royal houses in what was for them a fraught era has its own fascination.

As a parallel, his eldest son, Prince Charles, may yet surprise those who have delighted in underestimating his abilities.

As a king, and not having to walk a few paces behind a monarch, his knowledge of environmental issues and empathy for religions such as Islam may be allowed to come fully to the fore.

Jon McMillan, Mount Eliza Heres why it happened

Your correspondent (Letters, 10/4) wonders how after Australia responded so well in controlling community spread we have failed in the vaccine rollouts. One was led by Dan Andrews, with Annastacia Palaszczuk and Gladys Berejiklian, and the other one wasnt.

Carlo Ursida, Kensington Leadership looks like this

On many occasions during my working life I had the privilege of being a team member developing and delivering leadership programs to unions, public sector organisations and private sector companies, including one of Australias largest corporations. Successful leaders display traits including courage, honesty, integrity, humility, empathy and a genuine commitment to those they lead. They readily admit to and learn from their mistakes and inspire with their openness and work ethic.

Unfortunately the Morrison government regularly resorts to denial, obfuscation, attack, blame and misinformation. Currently, we are getting slogans and political hype. Australia needs honesty and real leadership if we are to survive in an increasingly complex world.

James Young, Mount Eliza AND ANOTHER THING Politics

Continuous calamities in Canberra. Where is John Kerr when we really need him.

Jeremy Sallmann, Crib Point The likelihood of complications and clots resulting from the jab, pales into insignificance when compared with the consequences of both the actions and inactions of the clots on the government benches.

Brian Williams, Vermont

Scott Morrison may have perfected the art of announcements and word salads, (And another thing, 10/4) but now that winter is coming, he needs to work on concocting some hearty, heavy-duty word casseroles.

Susan Caughey, Glen Iris The vaccine rollout

The government has finally told us that some clots are the cause of the delays in vaccine rollout. We knew that already.

Greg Tuck, Warragul Rollout recalibration: how about more emphasis on plausibility, and less on self-serving applause?

Bernd Rieve, Brighton Michelle Leeder (And another thing, 10/4), Id add that the time has come, Prime Minister, for less talk and more action. Otherwise theres a risk all our collective sacrifices of the last year will be for nought.

Kate McCaig, Surrey Hills Bring it on

Advertisements for retirement living always show couples socialising with the omnipresent drink in hand. If such a boozy existence awaits, I am almost looking forward to my dotage.

Ralph Frank, Malvern East
* Username

This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely!
Advertisement

A murder investigation has been launched by police after a teenage boy was found stabbed to death in south east London.

Metropolitan Police officers were called Sydenham at around 7.20pm on Saturday following reports of someone lying in the road.

Crews from the London Ambulance Service and London Air Ambulance also arrived at the scene, but he was pronounced dead shortly after 8pm.

The 17-year-old boy, who has not been named by police, was found stabbed in the street and was pronounced dead at the scene

Forensic officers attended the scene in Sydenham, south London, after the incident was reported earlier on tonight

A police cordon has been put in place with residents warned to expect an increase in the number of officers in the are in the coming hours

The Met Police say the young man's relatives have been told.

A crime scene is in place and forensic officers were seen combing the area after the incident.

The public have been warned to expect to see an increased police presence in the area in the coming hours.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is urged to call 101, providing the reference CAD6072/10APR, or to contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

The Metropolitan Police say the relatives of the stabbed 17-year-old have been informed as an investigation gets under way

Officers attended the scene in south east London with medics from the London Ambulance Service and

One shocked resident wrote on Twitter: 'Will put flowers down tomorrow. Was horrible to watch the cpr being given.

'We deserve safe streets for young people.'

Another added: 'My sincerest condolences to his family & friends may God rest his beautiful soul.'

Another said: 'Such a tragic waste.'

The incident comes a week after a man was knifed to death and two others were left in hospital after a 'triple stabbing' on a street in south London.

It followed a man, aged 19, being stabbed to death on the same street at around midday on March 3.

Multiple attacks also took place in Croydon on February 5, with one man killed and 10 people left injured.
Can non-violence bring down military thugs? By Gamini Weerakoon Doublespeak View(s): View(s):

The determination and courage of the people of Myanmar since February 1 to regain their freedom lost to a military junta will indeed go down in the annals of freedom fighting as one of the greatest in recent times.

People of all ages, particularly the youth, have been braving bullets, batons and the vicious kicking of boots of their own so-called army in the streets of Yangon, other cities and towns unarmed, with only the picture of their leader Aung San Suu Kyi before them. She had been arrested after dealing a humiliating defeat recently at a parliamentary election on the puppet party of the army, making it clear that the people want the armed forces that had forcibly ruled them since 1962 to get out.

Most countries, the Western powers as well as developing countries, are shedding copious tears on Myanmars fate. Britain and the US have imposed sanctions on coup leaders while some foreign investors have halted their industrial development projects and pulled out. But the military junta carries on regardless.

The brutal slaughter of unarmed civilians has raised the question whether non-violence against the brutal military dictatorship can succeed. It is estimated that around 500 civilians have been shot dead and hundreds arrested and tortured during the last two months. Civilians are also reported to be fleeing to borders of North East India and Thailand.

Mahatma Gandhis leadership of Satyagraha (Non-Violence Movement) that led to the mightiest empire the world had known, giving up its most prized possession, is often cited as the power of non-violence held by the masses.

But some analysts point out that the opposition that Gandhi encountered markedly differed from those facing the lawless inhumane dictatorship of the Myanmars junta that has no tolerance of any opposition.

Gandhis satyagraha was possible, it is said, because of the British Colonial Government being bound by British criminal law in administering their colonies. Most of their Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code are still extant in some of their former colonies, including India and Sri Lanka. However, when interests of the British Crown were threatened, that the inborn British perfidy came into play and their laws were supposed to protect the people took a holiday.

The well-known Jallianwala Bagh Massacre that took place in Amritsar in April 13, 1919, close to the Golden Temple sacred to Sikhs, is an outstanding example.

The origin of this incident is traced to the proposal of the British colonial government to implement the 1919 Rowlett Act that extended measures in force during World War I in India even after the War ended. These measures included incarceration of suspects without trial, arrest of political leaders and political cases to be tried without juries.

It had enraged those Indians who had served in the British army and fought for them in their War. Even Gandhi had favoured the British in the War in the hope that after the War ended, India would be granted independence.

Reports say that about 10,000 unarmed people gathered in Amritsar on April 13, 1919 for a protest meeting against the laws when an Acting Brigadier General Reginald Dyer led some British troops and ordered troops to fire on the unarmed Indians. Troops fired into the crowd till their ammunition was exhausted, reports said. A near 400 Indians were estimated to have been killed.

This massacre caused not only an uproar in the Indian sub-continent but in the British political establishment as well. Reports say that Brig Gen Dyer received support in the House of Lords and the British poet of that time, Rudyard Kipling, who called Dyer, the Man who Saved India.

However, Winston Churchill who had been Secretary of State for War called the massacre, monstrous and the Prime Minister Herbert Asquith said it was: One of the worst outrages in whole history. Dyer was stripped of command and forced into retirement.

The Jallianwala Massacre showed the double-faced, ambiguous nature of British imperialism. Yet, it enabled the half-naked fakir with his home spun rags draped around him and his walking stick to hobble into the mighty London edifices of the British Empire and discuss vital issues with the men that mattered.

This partial tolerance of the Opposition and also observation of the Rule of Law, except when British interests were threatened, helped Gandhi to proceed with his Satyagraha towards Indian independence. Numerous other factors too helped such as the impact of World War II on the British economy and the defeat of Churchills Conservative government by a left-leaning Labour Party.

Would civil disobedience work against rigid dictatorships that are not bound by civilised laws and care not about human rights and values?

In the Cold War years, it was argued that civil disobedience would not work against in Communist countries that were under the Dictatorship of the proletariat. In 1958, the Hungarian Revolution broke out students and workers took to streets protesting against the neo-Stalinism that was being imposed on them. A massive student demonstration attracted over a million protestors to Budapest demanding free elections and withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary. As the protests gathered momentum, Yuri Andropov the Soviet Ambassador (later became the KGB Chairman) tricked the rebels into believing that the Soviet troops would be withdrawn and the demand of Hungarians to leave the Warsaw Pact that bound Eastern European states to Moscow was being considered.

The Hungarian Defence Ministers delegation was being toasted by Soviet officials at talks on withdrawal of Soviet troops when troops broke into to the conference hall and arrested the revolutionary leaders. Imre Nagy, the Hungarian Prime Minister who had broadcast to the nation that he was forming a multi- party democratic system and leaving the Warsaw Pact was kidnapped by Soviet officials, taken to neighbouring Romania and put on trial. On Being asked to confess to his errors Nagy with his key officials refused. They were found guilty, executed and buried in unmarked graves.

The attempt by Czechoslovakians to transform their socialism to socialism with a human face under the leadership of Alexander Dubcek (47) in 1968 was rejected by the Soviet Union though it was not to break away from the Soviet Union or the Warsaw Pact as the Hungarians had attempted to do. Western analysts believed that Moscow feared that socialism with a human face would do irreparable damage to the leading role of the Communist Party globally.

Dubcek at the start was a favourite of Moscow as he had his early education in the Soviet Union and graduated from a Moscow School. His appointment as first Secretary of the Czechoslovakia replacing the veteran Antonin Novotny was welcomed by Moscow. But as Dubcek moved towards liberalising Communist rule, he was considered to be an agent of Western powers and moves were made to thwart his progress.

The invasion of Czechoslovakia took place on August 20, 1968 when the party congress meeting was to take place. It was suspected, this would democratise Czechoslovakia beyond repair. On that day the Soviet Air Force took control of the main airports and guided in thousands of Antonov air transport planes carrying troops, and tanks. Simultaneously Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces crossed into the country and sealed the border with West Germany.

Dubcek and the presidium were arrested and transported across the Soviet border and interned in KGB barracks. Later Dubcek was made to sign a treaty allowing a permanent stationary force of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia. The Prague Spring ended and a long winter began which lasted 20 years.

A defeat of a military junta through non-violence would be unique and is possible only if Myanmars army crumbles internally and the rank and file join the rebels. That, if it happens, would to take time and many-many, more lives.

(Gamini Weerakoon is the former editor of The Sunday Island, The Island and

former consultant editor of

the Sunday Leader.)
Former congressman and presidential candidate Beto ORourke visited Laredo on Saturday to canvass the community through his organization Powered by People.

Laredo Canvass is a two-day event planned by ORourke. During his visit Saturday, he spoke to locals about the issues that matter to them.

We gathered with other volunteers to go knock on doors and talk to voters of Laredo at their homes and check out how they are doing following the winter storm as a lot of people lost power and water for a while, and then we want to make sure that everything is okay, ORourke said. Also, we want to know what is on peoples minds and what they care about most and what is important to them so that when the next election comes around, whether it is two years, four years or whenever, they know that we are talking to voters now and not only just when there is an election and not just talking to them when we want their vote.

Although it has long been speculated that ORourke may be setting his sights to run for governor in Texas in 2022, he said Saturday he has not made a decision yet.

I have not made a decision about that, so for the time being Im just going to focus on helping to register voters and also talking to voters and listening to voters, ORourke said.

While he is not sure if he will run for office again, he said if he runs and wins then canvassing is something he would like to continue to do. The former congressman said going door to door is vital as it shows the respect people deserve as voters and constituents.

ORourke said he chose Laredo for his event instead of a large metropolitan area like Dallas or Houston, or even his own home of El Paso, because he believes Laredo is one of the most important cities for the future of Texas.

During Saturdays canvassing, ORourke said he saw there was an array of issues and perspectives the people of Laredo cared about including immigration, guns and the latest bill that might restrict minority voting.

He said the bill passed by the Texas Senate that could restrict voting worries him as he already sees veterans who might need assistance to cast their votes.

Senator (Judith) Zaffirini was on the committee on that bill, and she was working to stop it as she knows that it would make it harder for Laredo and Webb County, and probably the rest of Texas, to be able to vote, ORourke said. Weve got to stop these bills because they are going to make it harder for some people to vote like those with disabilities and veterans as they will now have to prove their disability if they want to vote by mail. We should trust those veterans to go out and vote as they went ahead and gave their lives for this country.

ORourke also discussed the possibility of reopening the borders.

People in Laredo want the border to reopen as people want to see their families, they want shoppers to come and spend money in Laredo and they want people with visas to come back and forth as all this is really hurting the economy here if we keep the border closed, ORourke said.

Although many other issues were discussed during his door-to-door visits, he was surprised to find out how much Laredoans are worried about the state of the economy, jobs and education in the state. A counselor at a local school told him she is concerned about how there is not enough attention being provided to students while also stating teachers are not getting enough money to make ends meet.

She was concerned that there are not enough teachers and counselors in schools, so children were not getting enough individual attention, and then she was also concerned about teacher pay, ORourke said.

Volunteers who assisted in going door to door were excited by ORourkes visit and the interest he showed in the concerns of Laredoans.

Betos repeated visits to Laredo demonstrate how important our community is to him and his organization, Sergio Mora said. His emphasis on visiting voters where they live has proven to be very effective in motivating people to participate in the democratic process. People appreciate being visited in their homes and being asked their opinion. You gain valuable insight into what their most pressing concerns are and what they expect from their government. I look forward to many more events like this in the months to come.

ORourke wants the people Laredo to know that their voices are still being heard even though it is not election season.

I want them to know that they are very important to the rest of the state, ORourke said. Thats why I drove 10 hours to be here, to be at their doors and to listen to them and just to find out what it would take for more people in Laredo to get to vote as you know only 50% of registered voters in Webb County voted in 2020. If we want the rest of the state to pay attention to us, a city like Laredo, and like my own town of El Paso, weve got to turn out in greater numbers. So, we are here to organize and get people to volunteer to get to do that and to get behind great Laredo leaders as well.

ORourke made it a point for his organization to recruit many people who were fluent in Spanish so he could reach everyone.

Although ORourke is very outspoken about his love for his hometown of El Paso, he said he also loves Laredo as he considers the people of the town to be friendly and loving. The culture is similar to his hometown, he appreciates that Laredo is a greener city than El Paso and he loves the food.

However, he claimed tacos from El Paso continue to be superior to those of Laredo.

Born and raised in El Paso, Ive got to tell you that I love El Paso tacos, but Laredo comes in a close second, ORourke said.

The second leg of the Laredo Canvass event is scheduled for Sunday, April 11 starting at 1 p.m. People may still sign up to volunteer by visiting events.poweredxpeople.org.

jorge.vela@lmtonline.com
Natalie Ceeney, the country's leading authority on the damage done to communities when banks and cash machines close, says the Government and regulator have just 'months left' to introduce rules that will safeguard nationwide access to cash.

Failure to act swiftly, she says, will leave hundreds of communities up and down the country facing an uncertain future.

Deprived of services that allow residents and local businesses to readily access and deposit cash, she fears many will become wastelands as shoppers go elsewhere and retailers close.

Passionate: Banking expert Natalie Ceeney says 'banking hubs' are the answer to the increasing number of closures of high street branches

Ceeney believes 'urgent action' is needed because of an impending wave of branch and ATM closures in the coming months as banks shrink their high street presence.

These closures are primarily in response to a customer shift towards online and mobile banking, a trend accentuated by the lockdowns of the past year.

Last month, Santander said it would shut 111 branches by the end of August while TSB is still working its way through a programme announced in September that will see more than 160 branches axed from its network. HSBC is also axing 82 branches.

Some experts believe 40 per cent of bank branches nationwide could close by the end of the year.

Ceeney argues that some of these doomed branches  and others being shut by rival banks  should not be left empty. Instead, they should be swiftly converted into 'banking hubs' that offer basic banking services to customers of all the country's main banks.

Such a shared branch idea  first put forward in the late 1990s by the now disbanded Campaign for Community Banking Services  is one that The Mail on Sunday has championed for many years.

The banking hubs would allow customers  both personal and business  of all banks to deposit and withdraw cash, as well as deposit cheques. They would give customers a chance (on certain days) to meet a representative of their own bank to discuss a financial issue  as well as allow people to open accounts.

The Post Office-branded hub in Rochford opened five days ago in a former carpet shop

'Such hubs would breathe life back into struggling communities,' Ceeney enthusiastically told The Mail on Sunday late last week. They would be run by the Post Office.

But without regulatory backing for such an idea, she believes the banks would be nervous about getting behind it. Their main worry is falling foul of competition laws by being seen to be working in collusion.

To compound matters, the Government has yet to introduce legislation to safeguard access to cash, despite a pre-pandemic promise to do so. Any legislation would add pressure on all parties  regulators and banks  to come up with access to cash solutions.

Ceeney, author of a ground-breaking report two years ago on access to cash, spoke to The Mail on Sunday as the green light was given for the launch of eight cash pilot schemes across the country.

These community access to cash pilots are an initiative backed by leading banks, consumer groups and small businesses  and are overseen by a board chaired by Ceeney.

The idea is to test new ways of making cash available in communities. These include allowing people to get cashback from local shops through new means such as pre-ordering it on an app; improving post office facilities; and introducing free-to-use cash machines in communities that previously did not have access to one.

Last month, Santander said it would shut 111 branches by the end of August

Two of the pilot schemes  in Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire, and Rochford, Essex  are trialling the banking hub model that Ceeney passionately believes could transform many community high streets. A third was to be tested in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, but suitable premises could not be found, so the pilot was shelved.

Separately, as we report here, Lord Holmes of Richmond is hoping tomorrow to put pressure on the Government to introduce legislation that would allow retailers to offer cashback without customers having to buy something first.

All eight pilots went live in the past few days, but are scheduled to run for just six months because of the limited funding made available to them. This small window is one of the main reasons why Ceeney is keen to get the regulators and Government onside so that if the banking hubs prove popular, they could be quickly rolled out nationwide.

The Post Office-branded hub in Rochford opened five days ago in a former carpet shop. As a director of Rochford Financial Centre, George Ioannou has been instrumental in getting the project off the ground. Rochford no longer has any banks  Barclays was the last to leave in 2017  and one of its two cash machines is fee-charging.

'It's taken 12 long months to get the hub operational,' says George, a former director at an American ratings agency, who has lived in the town for the past 30 years. 'And of course lockdowns haven't helped.'

The hub provides a free-to-use ATM and an automated deposit machine that allows personal customers and businesses to bank cash and cheques. There is also a post office counter where people can do personal banking  it doesn't sell stamps.

Then, on each day of the working week, two representatives from one of five banks (Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander) come to help customers who want to discuss specific financial issues  or open an account.

'We had 70 people in on Tuesday, then 50 the following day,' says George. We're delighted with the positive reaction the hub has received from local businesses and the broader community.'

Aware that the shared branch has probably only three months to prove to the banks and the Post Office that it is a viable operation, George says he will 'move heaven and earth' to ensure it is a success. He adds: 'Either the community uses it or we will lose it.'

On Ceeney's wish to have a national rollout of such hubs, he is four square behind it, especially in towns like Rochford, where all the banks have gone. The hubs, he believes, could help stimulate local businesses and local communities battered hard by lockdowns.

Derek French, a former retail banking executive, founded the Campaign for Community Banking Services in 1998. He championed shared bank branches, but after similar trials to those being conducted in Rochford and Cambuslang, the banks refused to back the idea.

Given this bitter experience, he is understandably sceptical about Ceeney's grand vision of a national network of banking hubs.

On Friday, he told The Mail on Sunday: 'The cash pilots are ill timed, look like a random assortment of ideas, and the fact that only two hubs are being tested suggests the banks are lukewarm about the idea. I fear the pilots have been set up to fail.'

Martin Kearsley, director of banking at the Post Office, also appeared to downplay the banking hubs. He said: 'While they offer much promise, they are not a solution to this [access to cash] problem in isolation. Post Office branches provide critical cash deposit and withdrawal services for millions of personal and business customers every week.

'There must be a continued obligation on retail banks to provide access to cash withdrawal services free at the point of service for both consumers and businesses across the country.'
Employees of Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) say they have were blindsided with a 33 1/3 per cent pay cut in their salaries.

While some workers were under the impression the cut was supposed to occur next fortnight, many were unprepared for managements move.

One employee told the Express yesterday while talk was being bandied about a few days ago with regard to the pay cut, she thought more notice would have been given to staff since globally theres a pandemic. I am hurt and disappointed.
China-Brunei trade grows by over 70 pct in 2020: ambassador

Xinhua) 09:34, April 11, 2021

Chinese Ambassador to Brunei Yu Hong (L) presents an award to a participant during the awards ceremony of the Logo Design Competition for the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Brunei and China in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, on April 10, 2021. China and Brunei saw their bilateral trade volume rise 72.5 percent last year, ranking top among China's ASEAN partners, Chinese Ambassador to Brunei Yu Hong said on Saturday. (Photo by Jeffrey Wong/Xinhua)

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, April 10 (Xinhua) -- China and Brunei saw their bilateral trade volume rise 72.5 percent last year, ranking top among China's ASEAN partners, Chinese Ambassador to Brunei Yu Hong said on Saturday.

During the awards ceremony of the Logo Design Competition for the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Brunei and China, Yu said that China and Brunei enjoy a long history of friendly exchanges and a good relationship that dates back to as early as 2000 years ago when the Maritime Silk Road brought the two peoples together.

"On Sept. 30, 1991, our two countries officially established diplomatic relations, heralding a new chapter of bilateral friendship," the ambassador said.

"The past 30 years have witnessed deepening cooperation and closer ties between the two countries. Bilateral trade volume increased from 719 million U.S. dollars in 2016 to 1.91 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. In particular, bilateral cooperation grew against all the odds in 2020, with trade volume up by 72.5 percent, ranking first among ASEAN countries," she said.

China's investment in Brunei covers a multitude of areas, which has not only contributed to oil and gas downstream industries, and improvement of port operation efficiency and local employment, but also help boost Brunei's efforts in achieving the targets of economic diversification, digital Brunei and healthy Brunei, the ambassador added.

"Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries have shown sympathy and support to each other and carried out effective cooperation in epidemic control. When most countries were facing severe vaccine shortages, China donated vaccines to Brunei despite its strong domestic demand, which fully reflects the solidarity and profound friendship between our two countries," Yu said.

"Through the joint efforts of both sides, the China-Brunei relationship has become a model of equality and mutual benefit between large and small countries," the ambassador said.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)
A poster with George Floyd's picture and a sign reads that "I Can't Breathe" hang from a security fence outside the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis, on March 31, 2021. (Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images)

After Black Lives Matter Protests, Police Lethal Force Decreases: Study

Places where Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests occurred from 2014 to 2019 experienced a decrease in lethal use of force by police but an overall increase in murders, according to an upcoming soon-to-be peer-reviewed academic study.

The study from the University of MassachusettsAmherst may bolster the so-called Ferguson Effect hypothesis, which holds that police officers are reluctant to do their jobs and follow proper police procedure when dealing with blacks because they fear their actions will be characterized as examples of race-driven police brutality. Ferguson, Missouri, was the site of prolonged violent protests in 2014 after Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, was killed there in a physical altercation with a white police officer who eventually was exonerated.

After Ferguson, police reforms followed, including the U.S. Department of Justice distributing 21,000 police body cameras to law enforcement during 2014, and eight cities were the subject of consent decrees aimed at improving policing, the study notes, adding, While the correspondence between police reform, cultural shifts, and BLM is close, BLMs direct role is yet uncertain.

The study came as Patrisse Khan-Cullors, a self-described Marxist and co-founder of the well-funded, influential Black Lives Matter movement provoked a headline-grabbing backlash by purchasing a $1.4 million home in Topanga Canyon, an exclusive, overwhelmingly white suburb of Los Angeles.

The movement took in at least $90 million last year and led nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in police custody in May 2020, according to the New York Post. The closely watched trial of Derek Chauvin, one of the police officers accused in Floyds death, is currently underway in Minnesota.

The report, by economics doctoral student Travis Campbell, found that Black Lives Matter protests have had an observable effect on the lethal use of force by law enforcement officials.

Campbell examined upwards of 1,600 large BLM protests across the United States from 2014 to 2019. He found that there was a 15 to 20 percent reduction in deadly force by police in census places that experienced BLM protests, amounting to about 300 fewer police homicides.

After BLM protests, lethal use-of-force fell by 16.8%  on average. This suggests that for every 5 of the 1,654 protests in the sample correspond with approximately one less person killed by the police over the following years. The police killed one less person for every four thousand participants.

Protests also influence local police agencies, which may explain the reduction, Campbell writes. Agencies with local protests become more likely to obtain body-cameras, expand community policing, receive a larger operating budget, and reduce the number of property crime-related arrests.

But at the same time, murders jumped by 10 percent in areas that saw BLM protests, Jerusalem Demsas writes in a news analysis at Vox.

From 2014 to 2019, there were between 1,000 and 6,000 more homicides than would have been expected if places with protests were on the same trend as places that did not have protests, Demsas writes, adding that the study doesnt take into account the wave of BLM protests that rocked the nation last year after George Floyds death, because reliable data arent yet available.

Campbells research on homicides seems solid, said Omar Wasow, a professor at Princeton University who has conducted research on the effect of protests. He told Vox the results are entirely plausible and not surprising, given existing protest research.

The underlying data about crime, use of deadly force by police, and protests can be faulty, Demsas notes.

For lethal force data, theres no federal database to turn to. Instead, Campbell and other researchers have to rely on nonprofit- and media-collected data, which has some drawbacks. This means Campbell may be missing some police homicides in his research.

Harvard University sociologist Joscha Legewie said the design of the study is very well suited for the kind of data Campbell examined, according to Scientific American.

Its extremely important [to have] a better understanding of the processes behind this, he says. Are these reductions [in police homicides] driven by reforms initiated in response to protests? Thats a key area we need to understand to draw more conclusions about policy implications.
Pictures released by Concord police show damage caused to a Walmart store on 2 April (Concord Police Department)

A former Walmart employee has been arrested for driving his car into the front of a store in the town of Concord, North Carolina.

According to police, Lacy Cordell Gentry continued to drive through the Walmart Supercentre, after they arrived at the scene on 2 April.

In a statement, police said the 32-year-old was found at the wheel of a 2015 Volkswagen Passat by officers who were called to the Walmart.

The Concord Police Department said that eventually, officers were able to get Gentry to stop the vehicle.

Although there were no injuries, and no customers were inside the building at the time, the merchandise inside the store suffered considerable damage, according to police.

Pictures from the scene showed the crashed vehicle, and the destruction caused to the inside of the Walmart.

Items and shelves were thrown by the path of the car, which appeared to have come to a stop after colliding with an aisle for cosmetics.

Fox 5 reported that the 32-year-old, who remains in custody, was fired by Walmart before the incident. Police added that they were still determining a motive.

Mr Gentry faces a number of charges, including two counts of assault against officers, for breaking and entering, and other misdemeanour charges, Fox 5 reported.

The former Walmart employee is currently being held on a $100,000 bond at Cabarrus County jail, according to reports. It was unclear if Mr Gentry had a lawyer.

Read More

Prince Philip: Buckingham Palace announces death

AP News Digest 2 p.m.

Elon Musks company unveils first look at the Las Vegas loop
In the capital of Nigeria, a member of the Commonwealth and former British colony, newspaper front pages on Saturday commemorated the Duke of Edinburgh's death, as members of the public expressed their sorrow at his passing.

People in the streets honoured Prince Philip's life of service to his wife, Queen Elizabeth II, and the British nation after hearing of the death of a man who had been at the centre of public life longer than most of them have been alive.

Dickson Obule said that "a great vacuum" had been created with the loss of the Prince, while Mt Michael Chukuemeka Umeh said his death was "a very big loss, not just to England but to all the English colonies of the past."

"I know that he has been a very good husband, very supportive to Queen Elizabeth" he added.

Philip, who has been married to Queen Elizabeth II for seven decades, died on Friday. He was 99 years old.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
OTTAWA - New Democrats reconvened Saturday for the second day of a national policy convention as they struggled to push past the hiccups and frustrations of the virtual event's opening sessions and rally around keynote speaker John Horgan.

NDP Leader John Horgan celebrates his election win in the British Columbia provincial election in downtown Vancouver, B.C., Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. New Democrats are reconvening for the second day of a three-day policy convention as they look to push past the glitches of the virtual event's opening sessions and rally around keynote speaker John Horgan. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

OTTAWA - New Democrats reconvened Saturday for the second day of a national policy convention as they struggled to push past the hiccups and frustrations of the virtual event's opening sessions and rally around keynote speaker John Horgan.

The premier of British Columbia, and the only NDP leader who currently heads a government, kicked off the proceedings by citing B.C. as proof positive that Canadians are ready to see New Democrats in power.

What we demonstrated in British Columbia is you can govern like New Democrats," he said, stressing the B.C. and federal parties' role in shoring up pandemic relief such as paid sick leave.

"Lets say to those parties that like to campaign as New Democrats, 'Get out of the way, were already here.'"

Horgan addressed more than 2,000 delegates assembled via screens around the country who sought to debate resolutions on social security, green programs and issues of human rights and discrimination.

But glitches, delays and accusations overshadowed much of that back-and-forth throughout the first two days of the convention, occasionally threatening to sideline policy discussions.

Meanwhile a resolution that demands Canada suspend arms dealing with Israel and halt trade with Israeli settlements passed with 80 per cent support, but drew controversy as well.

Only seven of the 80 resolutions on deck made it past the slog of amendments and procedural holdups to the virtual floor for debate. In contrast, more than two dozen non-binding resolutions were endorsed at the simultaneous Liberal convention on Saturday morning alone.

Nonetheless, six of the seven NDP policies passed with at least 95 per cent support, restoring a sense of cohesion following testy exchanges.

Delegates complained some meetings lacked closed captioning, sign language and translation services, prompting an apology from organizers. Others criticized party brass for assigning only 40 minutes of debate for each set of 20 policy proposals  there were seven sets, arranged by category  plus a 20-minute block to vote online.

Multiple points of order and privilege from delegates derailed debate Saturday afternoon, while spotty internet connections and mute buttons disrupted the flow of the NDP's first-ever national virtual gathering.

"Im extremely disappointed with the way things are going," one delegate told convention co-chair Jeremy Boulanger-Bonnelly. "This is not working."

Delegate Dorian Pearce dubbed the event an "absolute failure."

"Its been a complete mess, everything from interpretation to reading from the wrong resolution," he said.

Pearce requested the entire event be postponed  one of several such demands  "because the party is clearly unable and too incompetent to be able to pull this off."

That sparked backlash from another delegate, further bogging down the process.

Divisions between the grassroots and party brass also bubbled up, revealing tensions over how far left the party can veer without losing its shot at power.

Jessa McLean, a two-time NDP federal candidate from Ontario running for party president, criticized Leader Jagmeet Singh on social media for calling on police agencies across the country to create anti-hate crime units.

"We are going to fight systemic racism through more policing???" McLean asked Saturday on Twitter.

An NDP motion in the House of Commons received all-party support last month to create and fund dedicated hate-crime units and host a federal-provincial meeting on the problem.

The Israel-Palestine resolution, which calls for "an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian land," echoes a similar proposal that failed to reach the floor at the last New Democrat policy convention in 2018.

Shimon Koffler Fogel, president of the Toronto-based Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said it reveals "a toxic obsession with Israel" that ignores catastrophes unfolding in Syria, Myanmar, Hong Kong and elsewhere.

Advocacy groups including Independent Jewish Voices Canada and the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute congratulated New Democrats for the move, which they said holds Israel accountable for violations of international law in spite of pressure from anti-Palestinian organizations.

A sweeping proposal to create green jobs and cut emissions passed with 97 per cent support Saturday, but only after an amendment opposing all new fossil-fuel projects narrowly failed.

"We are not going to be able to make the changes we need for a green recovery if we do not have support in provinces like Saskatchewan and Alberta and British Columbia," said delegate Andrew Mackenzie, a United Food and Commercial Workers union representative.

This is a political party, and there are times we do need to think politically.

Horgan seemed to anticipate the friction earlier in the afternoon, saying that arguments are a "good thing."

"That's why we are a fresh and robust party, because we take these things head on," he said. "We argue with each other to come to the best possible outcomes."

Horgan, who took the helm of a minority government in 2017 and won a majority last October, encouraged the rank and file to keep pushing for better health care, affordable housing and national child care  a notion proposed repeatedly by the Liberals starting in 1993, but never realized.

On Friday, delegates voted in favour of the only two resolutions that reached the floor, committing to raise the federal minimum wage to $20 and impose a one per cent tax on fortunes over $20 million.

Saturday's successful proposals included pledges to mandate at least seven days' paid sick leave for federally regulated workers and weave long-term care into Canada's universal health-care system  in part by eliminating for-profit long-term care.

Delegates also passed resolutions to address boil-water advisories in Indigenous communities and stand up for Indian farmers suffering "human rights abuses" by that country's government amid protests against its new farming laws.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili also spoke on Saturday, followed by pre-taped statements from all 24 federal New Democrat MPs except their leader.

Singh aims to rally the base with a keynote speech Sunday, hoping to light a fire despite pandemic burnout and the dearth of drum-beating and spectacle that typically attend an in-person political convention.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2021.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version referred to the president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs as Shimon Koffler. In fact, his name is Shimon Koffler Fogel.
Jeremy Clarkson has claimed that a section from one of his latest columns was removed, with a new paragraph written by somebody else put in its place.

Writing in his Sunday Times column this weekend, the Grand Tour host said that he had intended to include a section in his column last week about how 'some people in this country cant speak English'.

However, he appears to allege that his work was censored and that a ghost writer was used to produce a paragraph to replace his own.

Jeremy Clarkson (pictured) has claimed that a section from one of his latest Sunday Times columns was removed, with a new paragraph written by somebody else put in its place

In his latest Sunday Times column, Clarkson said that while the removed words were 'patently true', they may have been 'deeply offensive' to a small number of people

'So it was all removed,' he said. 'And that meant some poor soul had to sit down at his, or her  or their  laptop and fill the gap with a new passage that sounded as if it had been written by me, while expressing an opinion that I dont have.'

He also said that in his latest column he would write about what he isn't thinking 'to save them the bother of changing it'.

MailOnline has approached the Sunday Times for comment.

The Grand Tour host said that he had intended to include a section in his column last week about how 'some people in this country cant speak English' and that this week he had written his column so as 'to save them the bother of changing it'

It comes after Clarkson joined Richard Hammond and James May in returning to Top Gear this month to pay tribute to late racing car driver Sabine Schmitz in a special 30-minute episode.

Sabine passed away at a hospital in Trier, Germany, on March 17 aged 51 following a three-year battle with cancer.

Jeremy, 60, Richard, 51, and James, 58, who all left the show in 2015, returned to Top Gear for the episode called 'a tribute to Sabine Schmitz' on April 4.

Sabine, known as the Queen of the Nurburgring, regularly appeared on the show alongside the trio before their departure to launch The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime Video in 2016.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to form
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 19:33:06|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (L) and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz are seen at a ceremony at the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel on April 11, 2021. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin started a two-day visit to Israel on Sunday, in the first official visit by a U.S. official since President Joe Biden's inauguration in January. (Gideon Markowicz/JINI via Xinhua)

JERUSALEM, April 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin started a two-day visit to Israel on Sunday, in the first official visit by a U.S. official since President Joe Biden's inauguration in January.

The U.S. official's visit comes amid indirect U.S. talks on the renewal of the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and the world powers.

In joint statements alongside Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz following a meeting between the two, Austin reiterated the U.S. commitment to protecting Israel's security, adding that they also discussed the normalization of ties between Israel and several Arab nations.

Gantz said Israel "will work closely with our American allies to ensure that any new agreement with Iran will secure the vital interests of the world, of the United States, prevent a dangerous arms race in our region and protect the State of Israel." Enditem
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2021) Over a half of the Central African Republic's population need humanitarian assistance and protection, Mankeur Ndiaye, the head of the UN peacekeeping force MINUSCA told Sputnik.

"More than half of the population (2.8 million people) are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. 1.9 million people are in acute need. In the last five years, there have never been as many people in humanitarian need in car as there are today," he said.

The UN official said he expected the warring parties to understand the role of humanitarian workers in the impoverished country and guarantee their freedom of movement.

"I do believe that the delivery of humanitarian assistance to all people in need across CAR is a collective responsibility, which deserves adequate contributions from the international community, "he added.

The UN refugee agency estimates that 742,000 people had been forced out of their homes as of late February, the highest number since 2014 and an increase of 19 percent since October. From mid-December to mid-March, 336,000 people were newly displaced because of election-related violence and 115,000 people fled to neighboring countries.
A video released online shows the moment a police officer in New Mexico was shot and killed during a traffic stop. (New Mexico State Police)

Chilling Footage Shows New Mexico Officers Shooting Death During Traffic Stop

A video released online shows the moment a police officer in New Mexico was shot and killed during a traffic stop.

According to the New Mexico State Police in a news release, Officer Darian Jarrott initiated a traffic stop on a white Chevrolet pickup on Interstate 10 on Feb. 4. The driver, identified later as 39-year-old Omar Felix Cueva, was asked to exit the vehicle.

When he exited the truck, Cueva, according to the video footage, was holding a small rifle. He then fired several shots at Jarrott as he was walking around the rear of the vehicle, officials said.

Cueva fired several more rounds at Officer Jarrott who was struck by gunfire and killed. As Cueva ran toward the front of the truck on the passengers side, he shot Officer Jarrott point-blank in the back of the head, said the news release.

The video can be seen below (Warning: graphic content):

Later, a Homeland Security Investigations agent arrived on the scene and told the New Mexico State Police dispatch that an officer was shot and was down.

Cueva was located traveling east on I-10 near mile marker 116. Cueva pulled over his vehicle and fired at two New Mexico State Police officers, who returned fire. Cueva then continued to evade police and traveled east on I-10, officials said.

Several state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies including the U.S. Border Patrol assisted the state police in capturing Cueva.

Later, various law enforcement officers engaged Cueva in gunfire as he fled and attempted to deflate his pickup trucks tires, the state police wrote.

Prior to the pickup coming to a stop, Cueva exited the pickup armed with a firearm and shot multiple rounds towards the officers and deputies, the state polices release said. [Las Cruces Police] Officer Adrian De La Garza and [sheriffs] Deputies Diego Herrera and Obed Marte returned fire towards Cueva, who was struck several times by gunfire.

Cueva ultimately died after being shot by officers.

It added, Officer De La Garza was struck by gunfire and was airlifted to a trauma hospital in Texas where he was treated and released for non-life-threatening injuries. Officers rendered aid to Cueva until emergency medical personnel arrived on scene. Cueva sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased on scene by the Office of Medical Investigator.
The Himachal Pradesh government on Sunday made it mandatory for people coming from seven states which have witnessed a spike in cases to show a COVID-19 negative test report on entering the state.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said people coming from Punjab, Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh need to carry a negative RT-PCR report not earlier than 72 hours while visiting Himachal Pradesh from April 16.

The decision has been taken to check the spread of COVID-19 in the state, he said.

Thakur said an advisory in this regard will soon be issued.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As he waited for a food delivery at his home in Los Angeles on April 8, Ryan Wentz, an anti-war activist and producer for the online viral program Soapbox, heard two men calling his name from over his front gate. When he approached, he realized they were not delivery drivers, but police officers flashing badges of the California Highway Patrol.

The cops informed Wentz that they had received a call from the Capitol Police, the federal law enforcement agency tasked with protecting the US Congress, about a tweet he had sent that allegedly threatened Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Wentz told The Grayzone, The officers said, We got a warning about a sitting member of Congress. And it was because of your tweet, which tagged them in it. And then they just wouldnt back down from this accusation that I threatened to kill her.

(1/X) Im really shaken up right now. I was just visited by two plainclothes police officers from California Highway Patrol at my home. They said they came here on behalf of the Capitol Police and accused me of threatening @AOC on Twitter yesterday. This is provably false. pic.twitter.com/NGR8KViy93  Human Rights Watch Watcher (@queeralamode) April 8, 2021

The California Highway Patrol indicated on Twitter that it had acted on a call from Capitol Police.

Update: A spokesperson for AOC has denied to Intercept reporter Ryan Grim that their office reported Wentzs post, and has asked Capitol Police to look into what happened here.

The police visit Wentz received may have been part of a wider trend of post-January 6 law enforcement intervention in social media criticism of members of Congress.

The CHP often assists in investigations at the request of allied agencies. Please contact the U.S. Capitol Police for additional information.  CHP Headquarters (@CHP_HQ) April 9, 2021

Though AOCs office has denied falsely informing Capitol Police of an online threat by Wentz, the Democratic congresswoman has in the past asked her supporters to report critics to social media censors.

Whoever called the police on Wentz furnished law enforcement with a patently false allegation, as he has never threatened violence against any member of Congress.

In the tweet that triggered the police action, Wentz merely posted video of AOC delivering a vapid and embarrassingly convoluted answer to a question about resolving the crisis in Israel-Palestine. Describing her answer as incredibly underwhelming, he let the congresswomans cringeworthy commentary speak for itself.

On April 1, @AOC did a livestream with Michael Miller, the head of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. She was asked about peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Her response was incredibly underwhelming, to say the very least: pic.twitter.com/qHdwTy5pVO  Human Rights Watch Watcher (@queeralamode) April 7, 2021

Asked by Michael S. Miller of the New York Jewish Community Relations Council about actions that could be taken to support movements towards peace between Jewish Israelis and Palestinians, AOC responded as follows:

Earlier just now you and I were talking about the what and the how. And I think that when we talk about peace, centering peoples humanity, protecting peoples rights  its not just about the what and the end goal which actually gets a lot of focus, but I actually think its much more about the how, and the way we are coming together, and how we interpret that what, and how we act in, you know, the actions we take to get to that what. So what this really is about is a question more than anything else about process. And we really need to make sure that we are valuing a process where all parties are respected and have, you know, a lot of equal opportunity to really make sure we are negotiating in good faith, etcetera. That being said, you know, I think theres just this one central issue of settlements, because if the what  if the what has been decided on as two state, then the action of settlements, its not the how to get to that what. And so, you know, I think thats a central thing that, you know, we center. And that we value Jewish and rather, we value Israeli, uh, uh, uh, we value the safety and human rights of Israelis, we value the safety and human rights of Palestinians, in that process that is similar, and that is on equal footing. And so all of that is extremely important in that process.

The video that Wentz tweeted of AOCs long-winded dodge of a fundamental question about resolving the Israeli occupation of Palestine prompted a flood of online mockery and contempt, mostly from leftist Twitter users. Many derided AOC as a careerist who had abandoned progressive causes like Palestinian liberation in order to curry favor with Democratic Party power brokers, while others ridiculed her meaningless word salad.

This is a very easy issue for a leftist, why is AOC struggling? Isreal is an apartheid state that should be Defunded  Nick is a Fred Hampton Leftist  (@SocialistMMA) April 7, 2021

I'm incredibly impressed with @AOC's Obama-like ability to fill large amounts of time with words while saying absolutely nothing. I challenge anyone to tell me what she just said. https://t.co/hIkWTNR5Rp  Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) April 7, 2021

Within hours of the online pile-on, someone reported Wentz to the Capitol Police for tweeting the video that embarrassed AOC. Because Wentz does not provide any information about his personal identity in his public Twitter profile, the social media giant appeared to have provided his private details to federal law enforcement.

Another weird thing is usually I would get a report [from Twitter], Wentz said, because Ive gotten my tweets reported before. But I didnt get any notification about this.

AOCs staff has previously appealed to social media censors to suppress online criticism. On February 4, 2021, her campaign sent a mass email to supporters asking them to scan your social media to find posts with misleading information about the congresswoman, and use the built-in report feature to flag them for moderators.

Team AOC issued its appeal for supporters to police social media in response to right-wing mockery of a dramatic livestream in which AOC suggested that the mob which stormed the Capitol building on January 6 nearly assassinated her.

I just hear these yells of WHERE IS SHE? WHERE IS SHE? she recounted in the livestream. This was the moment where I thought everything was over. I thought I was going to die.

However, the source of the yells which had terrified AOC turned out to be a Capitol Police officer who had been dispatched to protect her. Further, the congresswomans office was located in the Cannon House Office Building, which had not been penetrated by any rioters on January 6.

Right-wing activists and other political foes of AOC exploited these points to launch a viral hashtag likening the congresswoman to Jussie Smollet, the actor who faked an attack on himself. After attempting to challenge her critics directly, AOC delegated her staff to dispatch its army of supporters to report critics en masse to Twitter and Facebook censors.

Weeks earlier, podcaster Jimmy Dore had initiated a Force The Vote campaign to pressure AOC and fellow members of the progressive congressional Squad to withhold their votes for Rep. Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House until Pelosi agreed to bring a bill for Medicare for All to the floor for a vote.

In response to incendiary criticism from Dore for her refusal to buck centrist party leadership, AOC declared, Thats not tone, thats violence.

RT: briebriejoy 15 million people have lost their employer-based health care in the middle of a global pandemic, and barely half of House Democrats support Medicare for All even though 88% of their constituents do. Thats violence. #ForceTheVote https://t.co/fSD8qwsINJ  Jimmy Dore (@jimmy_dore) January 2, 2021

According to Wentz, the police officers that visited him asked if he had any violent intent behind his tweet, then left. If this was like a purely intimidation thing, he reflected, then I guess it did its job. Its not comforting to be on the receiving end of that. But at the same time, theyre not going to shut the left up.

Wentzs disturbing encounter with law enforcement appears to be part of an emerging trend. On the same date law enforcement visited him, a Twitter user posted photos of alleged federal agents on their front lawn and claimed, FBI just came by my house for a tweet to Ted Cruz.
PORT ARTHUR  Ryan Wilkenfeld had hit the patch of ice in Port Arthur earlier in the day.

So, when a vehicle blew by him, headed toward it, the 36-year-old Acadian Ambulance Service Emergency medical technician already had the mic in his hand ready to call in a 10-50  a major car crash.

As Im calling it in, it was the worst radio tag Ive ever had, he said. It was a 10-50, and as Im watching and talking, a flip with rollover with entrapment and then, boom, underwater. That was it. You knew immediately theyre under water, and without help theyre going to die.

Paramedic Heather Waites acknowledged that shes had a number of dramatic calls in her five years as a paramedic and 20 in the medical field, but seeing the crashes happen isnt typically part of the job.

This usually gives EMS workers time to make a plan of attack once on the scene. But even without that time, the pair said it didnt take any thought to decide to pull over on Feb. 17, during the worst winter storm the state has seen in years.

Related: Winter storm death toll nearly double official count

The two were transporting a non-critical patient when they saw the wreck happen.

We just knew what we were going to do and what needed to be done. You could hear the screams from inside the vehicle. They were yelling for help. Babies were crying, Waites said. Ryan has a special tool he carries all the time, and after nine attempts, throwing his body into the attempts, he was able to break the windows.

Wilkenfeld said the force of the water pressure on the windows actually dented the steel tool.

Ultimately, the pair got five passengers out of the vehicle, and they thought their work was done.

We were like, Awesome, but for (one of the passengers) to turn around and say, Wheres the baby? Wheres the newborn? Thats all I needed, Waites said. I dove right back in the water and started searching until I pulled up the baby. He was limp. I couldnt find the pulse, and he was not breathing. I immediately started CPR in the vehicle and then crawled out with him.

Just as the fire department was pulling up, the pair took all six of the vehicles passengers, plus the one they were already transporting, the less than 1-mile distance to the Medical Center of Southeast Texas.

Top hits: Get Beaumont Enterprise stories sent directly to your inbox

Waites said on the drive, she continued chest compressions and treating the 1-month-old baby while instructing the other people who were in the car, which included two 2-year-old children, to remove their clothes and wrap in warm blankets to avoid hypothermia.

After they arrived at the hospital, the baby was stabilized and taken to Texas Childrens Hospital in Houston.

Just three days later, the baby was awake, alive, eating and breathing with no deficits, said Acadian Ambulance Quality Improvement Coordinator Cal Bynum.

The act of heroism earned the pair a Distinguished Service Award from Acadian  the first two awarded in the past 14 years and two of fewer than a dozen that have been awarded in the companys 49-year history.

According to a news release, the award recognizes medics who perform actions considered above and beyond the call of duty.

Waites and Wilkenfeld both said they were honored to be recognized, but they also acknowledged the courageous work all first responders do on a daily basis without recognition.

This one was especially emotional because it involved a child, Waites said after the award ceremony, while holding her granddaughter. I dont want a parent to ever have to bear the loss of a child. I would never, ever want another person to feel that.

kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/KaitlinBain
General Assignment Reporter

Chris Mays is a general assignment reporter for the Brattleboro Reformer. He has been with New England Newspapers Inc. since 2012.
Cleanaways $2.5 billion bid for the Australian assets of Suez could be imperiled by an escalation in tensions between the French waste giant and its own suitor, Paris-listed rival Veolia, ahead of a critical upcoming shareholder meeting.

Veolia, which owns 29.9 per cent of Suez, has been trying to take control of Suez through a hostile 11.2 billion ($17.5 billion) takeover. Last week, it blasted the companys plans to sell its Australian business to ASX-listed Cleanaway, including some key assets for what it described as a knock-down price.

Suez suitor Veolia has been scathing about the $2.5 billion deal that would sell Suezs Australian business to Cleanaway for $2.5 billion. Credit:Louise Kennerley

In a fresh statement released after the ASX close on Friday, Veolia intensified its criticism of the deal. The attempt to sell Suez Australia is a new provocation towards Veolia, who is asking Suez board of Directors to stop its destructive tactics, which makes neither industrial nor financial sense and puts all stakeholders simultaneously at risk, it said in a statement Friday evening.

Veolia declined to comment on a Reuters report that it had applied to European Union competition regulators for permission to vote its shares at Suez annual shareholder meeting that must be held by the end of June.
The big news for Microsoft Office 365 this week is users with personal Microsoft accounts can earn Microsoft Rewards points in connection with their work searches on Bing when the Link Microsoft Azure Active Directory with Rewards feature is enabled.

You might ask what the most pressing bugs and feature enhancements needed in Office 365 are. If you said youre desperate for your workplace users to accrue Microsoft Rewards points when they conduct searches with Bing, connecting their personal Microsoft accounts and their company Azure AD accounts, then youre clearly in sync with Microsofts product team.

Microsoft's latest announcement concerning Office 365 feature rollout is precisely this; it is roadmap ID 70634, being rolled out at the tenant level. The toggle is available as of April 10th, 2021, and will be live from May 10th, 2021.

Users in your Office 365 tenancy with personal Microsoft accounts can earn Microsoft Rewards points in connection with their work searches when the Link Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) with Rewards feature is enabled.

If this feature is enabled for your tenant, unless a user opts out of this feature, their personal Microsoft account will be associated with their workplace Azure AD account, if they sign in with both on Bing and are opted into Rewards.

For clarity, Microsoft Rewards gives you points for performing your web searches with Bing, as well as purchasing selected items in the Microsoft Store.

Earn enough points and you can redeem them for gift vouchers, competition entries, and more. For example, earn 6,750 points and you can redeem them for a $5 Coles voucher. You can earn up to 90 points per day from Bing searches, at three points per search (30 searches), so thats 75 days for your well-earned $5 reward. You can accelerate this by earning points from searching with Bing on your mobile device, clicking daily links, playing daily surveys, and a monthly bonus if you are using the Edge browser.

As an Office 365 administrator, you need to decide if you want your users to have this ability to link their accounts and decide whether to disable it before May 10th, 2021.

Within the Microsoft 365 admin centre, select Organisation Settings then scroll to Microsoft Rewards. Highlight and select Allow users to connect their Azure AD and Microsoft Rewards Accounts and adjust there according to your organisation policy on this delicate and highly important feature enhancement.
KAMPALA, Uganda  Armed men in white minivans without license plates picked up people off the streets or from their homes.

Those snatched were taken to prisons, police stations and military barracks where they say they were hooded, drugged and beaten  some left to stand in cellars filled with water up to their chests.

The fear is still so palpable in the capital, Kampala, that many others have gone into hiding or left the country.

Three months after Ugandas president, Yoweri Museveni, won a sixth five-year term in office in the most fiercely contested election in years, his government appears to be intent on breaking the back of the political opposition. The president of Uganda, a strategically located country in East Africa, is a longtime U.S. military ally and major recipient of American aid.
After imposed a record antitrust fine on Holding, the e-commerce giant did an unusual thing: It thanked regulators.

Alibaba would not have achieved our growth without sound government regulation and service, and the critical oversight, tolerance and support from all of our constituencies have been crucial to our development, the company said in an open letter.



For this, we are full of gratitude and respect.

Its a sign of how odd Chinas crackdown on the power of has been compared with the rest of the world. and Tim Cook would not express such public gratitude if the US government were to hit or with record antitrust fines.

But almost everything about Chinas regulatory push is out of the ordinary. Beijing regulators wrapped up their landmark probe in just four months, compared with the years that such investigations take in the US or Europe. They sent a clear message to the countrys largest corporations and their leaders that anti-competitive behavior will have consequences.

For Alibaba, the $2.8 billion fine was less severe than many feared and helps lift a cloud of uncertainty hanging over founder Jack Mas internet empire. The 18.2 billion yuan penalty was based on just 4 per cent of the internet giants 2019 domestic revenue, regulators said. While thats triple the previous high of almost $1 billion that US chipmaker Qualcomm handed over in 2015, its far less than the maximum 10 per cent allowed under Chinese law.

The fine came with a plethora of rectifications that Alibaba will have to put in place  such as curtailing the practice of forcing merchants to choose between Alibaba or a competing platform  many of which the company had already pledged to establish.

Alibaba Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang on Saturday declared his company now ready to move on from its ordeal, while Chinas Communist Party mouthpiece Peoples Daily issued assurances that Beijing wasnt trying to stifle the sector.

The Hangzhou-based firm has escaped possible outcomes such as a forced breakup or divestment of assets. The penalty will not shake up its business model, either, said Jet Deng, an antitrust lawyer at the Beijing office of law firm Dentons.

Still, neither Zhang nor state media addressed lingering questions around the extent to which Beijing remains intent on reining in its internet and fintech giants, a broad campaign thats wiped more than $250 billion off Alibabas valuation since October. The e-commerce giants speedy capitulation also underscores its vulnerability to further regulatory action  a far cry from just six years ago, when Alibaba openly contested one agencys censure over counterfeit goods on Taobao and eventually forced the State Administration for Industry and Commerce to backtrack on its allegations.

Beyond antitrust, government agencies are said to be scrutinizing other parts of Mas empire, including Ant Groups consumer-lending businesses and Alibabas extensive media holdings. And the shock of the crackdown will continue to resonate with peers from Tencent Holdings and Baidu to Meituan, forcing them to tread far more carefully on business expansions and acquisitions for some time to come.

What Bloomberg Intelligence Says

Chinas record fine on Alibaba may lift the regulatory overhang that has weighed on the company since the start of an anti-monopoly probe in late December. The 18.2 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) fine, to penalize the anti-competitive practice of merchant exclusivity, is equivalent to 4 per cent of Alibabas 2019 domestic sales. Still, the company may have to be conservative with acquisitions and its broader business practices.

The investigation into Alibaba was one of the opening salvos in a campaign seemingly designed to curb the power of Chinas internet leaders, which kicked off after Ma infamously rebuked pawn shop Chinese lenders, regulators who dont get the internet, and the old men of the global banking community. Those comments set in motion an unprecedented regulatory offensive, including scuttling Ants $35 billion initial public offering.

It remains unclear whether the watchdog or other agencies might demand further action. Regulators are said, for instance, to be concerned about Alibabas ability to sway public discourse and want the company to sell some of its media assets, including the South Morning Post, Hong Kongs leading English-language newspaper.

Chinas top financial regulators now see Tencent as the next target for increased supervision, Bloomberg News has reported. And the central bank is said to be leading discussions around establishing a joint venture with local technology giants to oversee the lucrative data they collect from hundreds of millions of consumers, which would be a significant escalation in regulators attempts to tighten their grip over the countrys internet sector.

The high fine puts the regulator in the media spotlight and sends a strong signal to the tech sector that such types of exclusionary conduct will no longer be tolerated, said Angela Zhang, author of Chinese Antitrust Exceptionalism and director of the Centre for Chinese Law at the University of Hong Kong. Its a stone that kills two birds.
Two South Korean electric-vehicle reached a last-minute settlement in a bitter US trade dispute, sparing President from choosing between undermining intellectual property rights or dealing a politically toxic blow to his climate agenda.

SK Innovation agreed to pay 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) to LG Energy Solution, a unit of LG Chem, according to a statement from the two The payment is divided equally in cash and royalties, they said.

The two will work to help the development of EV battery industry in and the US through healthy competition and friendly cooperation, according to the joint statement. In particular, we will work together to strengthen the battery network and environmentally-friendly policy that the Biden administration is pursuing.

The settlement will avert a 10-year import ban of SK Innovations batteries into the US and ends the two-year dispute between the two The import ban threatened to complicate the rollout of Ford Motors new F-150 electric pickup truck and the Volkswagen AGs ID.4 SUV.
Described as a gripping drama of revenge and murder, the second series of Dry Water takes up the story after the shocking end to the first series and stars, alongside Victoria Guerra (Casanova Variations, Wilde Wedding), Monti Castineiras (Neboa, Farina/Cocaine Coast), Sergio Pazos (Caiga Quien Caiga, Serramoura) and Adriano Luz (Mysteries Of Lisbon, Night Train to Lisbon).The second series of Dry Water (8 x 60) sees a traumatised detective Teresa (Guerra) pick up Frans investigation into the notorious Galdon familiy. Shes certain that Mauro, the family patriarch, has ties to arms trafficking  but how to prove it? Meanwhile, Mauro desperately seeks revenge for his sons murder, coming into further conflict with the police as a result. As each pursuit comes to a head in the present, Teresa unexpectedly finds herself digging deeper into the past, and a moment that ties Mauro and Lazaro to the death of her father, Joao.The Spanish/Portuguese drama co-production is produced by Portocabo and SPi with the participation of RTP, HBO Spain & Portugal and TVG Galicia. The first series of the drama was previously picked up in Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Portuguese-speaking Africa.Commenting on the deal, DCD Rights CEO Nicky Davies Williams said: Dry Water is a prestige drama jointly created by two of the leading producers in Southern Europe with the support of their public broadcasters, along with HBO. This unique creative and financial arrangement has facilitated the production of a premium drama series which highlights the talent of the region to global viewers.
BALTIMORE  Imagine a race where not only is your opponent finding ways to run faster, but hurdles pop up unpredictably and the finish line keeps moving.

This is where COVID-19 vaccination efforts are, health experts say, seeking to quickly immunize more people against as a coronavirus that has mutated into faster-spreading variants.

Despite the challenges that poses, many believe there is reason for hope that at some indefinable point, we will reach herd immunity  when so much of the population is immune that the virus ability to spread drops dramatically.

I see a lot of optimism for where we are, said Gypsyamber DSouza, an epidemiology professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

That doesnt mean there arent barriers  there are multiple barriers, she said. It just makes our race a little harder.

The stepped-up pace of vaccinations, in which about 3 million doses are administered every day in the U.S., has many envisioning a return to some semblance of normalcy after more than a year shadowed by the pandemic and the restrictions imposed to curtail it.

About 20% of the country is fully vaccinated, and while there is some disagreement on the threshold for herd immunity, experts often place it at 70% of the population having some kind of immunity. That would include both those who have been vaccinated and those with antibodies from previous infections  groups with some overlap because doctors recommend even those who have had the disease get vaccinated.

As the focus remains on vaccinations, a recent rise in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations in several states has raised fears of a fourth surge in cases.

Concern is centered on the so-called British variant of the coronavirus, known as B.1.1.7, which is now responsible for most of new infections in the U.S. The variant is considerably more contagious and fatal than the original virus  although current vaccines are effective against it and overall COVID deaths remain on a downward trend.

Its another reason to have more people vaccinated, said Dr. James Campbell, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

The more people who are immune to the virus, the less chance it has to continue mutating into ever more dangerous variants, he said.

Timetables vary for when we might achieve herd immunity, and depend on some largely unknowable factors: How quickly can vaccines get distributed? How many of those currently resisting them might change their minds? When will the FDA approve vaccines for use on children? Will more jurisdictions lift pandemic restrictions, and how closely will people adhere to existing ones and help prevent transmission?

Were seeing a lot of states removing mask mandates, or opening up businesses too soon, said Dr. Wilbur H. Chen, an adult infectious disease physician at the University of Maryland Medical School. Or people not adhering to mask mandates.

I think people are tired of this so there might not be the compliance we need, said Chen, who advises Republican Gov. Larry Hogan and serves on the national committee that makes recommendations to the CDC on how to use and distribute vaccines.

Still, Chen said he is optimistic that rising vaccine rates will prevent a repeat of this past winter, when COVID cases and deaths spiked.

Well be in pretty good shape by late fall, early winter, he said, when normally we would see a surge without the vaccine.

The number of people who need to be immune to protect the entire population from COVID is something of a moving target, experts say.

A range of factors comes into play, but one thing is certain, Campbell says: Children, who make up 24 percent of the U.S. population, have to be part of the equation.

In the end, that is whats going to be the answer to keeping COVID-19 at bay, he said.

Campbell is the principal investigator of a trial of the Moderna vaccine on children under 11 years old at the Maryland medical school, part of a multi-site study that could lead to FDA approval for that population. Currently only the Pfizer vaccine is authorized for those as young as 16.

Expanding vaccines to younger age groups is critical with recent national polls showing one-fourth of adult Americans saying they wont get the vaccine, he said.

Lets say 75 percent of adults will get vaccinated. Youre going to be lower than the herd immunity threshold if you dont have children vaccinated, Campbell said.

In Maryland, a Goucher poll conducted in February found nearly two-thirds of residents saying they wanted to be vaccinated. That was up from October, when almost half said they would not get a shot.

We have a population thats really willing to get the vaccine, said Mileah Kromer, the associate professor who directs the poll.

Many, particularly in the past, have pointed to African Americans as being particularly wary of vaccinations, stemming from a long history of mistreatment by the medical profession. But the Goucher poll found little difference between Black and white Marylanders, with 62% and 68%, respectively, saying they planned to get vaccinated.

In October, the narrative was it was the African American community, Kromer said. Thats not where we are now.

Now, she said, the resistance to vaccines is more political, with polls showing Republicans, particularly men, against getting vaccinated. Close to half of Republican men have told pollsters they wont get the shot, alarming health officials who have watched the fight against the pandemic  from mask mandates to restrictions on businesses to now vaccinations  get drawn into political partisanship.

Campbell said getting vaccines approved for children will happen in stages over time, as trials test younger and younger groups of them, and various dosage levels. There are already Pfizer test results for 12- to 15-year-olds, showing 100 percent efficacy, and data from a similar study for Moderna is expected shortly, he said.

That bodes well for potential authorization for that age group perhaps getting vaccinated before the next school year, Campbell said. Younger students, though, likely will have to wait longer, closer to the end of the year, he said.

He and others are warily watching the recent uptick in COVID metrics for signs of where the country is headed  toward another surge, or perhaps a leveling and dropping off.

DSouza of Hopkins said her heart sank when she saw photos of spring breakers partying in crowded locations, when there are ways to gather at the beach with friends without risking transmission.

We have the tools we need, she said. People just have to use them, from getting vaccinated and following the now familiar guidelines for wearing masks and social distancing.

The key point is, she said, we can achieve population immunity.
New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan asserted on Sunday (April 11) that no complete lockdown will be imposed in the state.

The MP CM also claimed that there is no dearth of oxygen and 4,000 Remdesivir injections are currently available in the state. There is no shortage of oxygen. 4,000 Remdesivir injections are already available and 5,000 injections will arrive today. We are observing Tika (vaccination) Utsav in the entire state. No Lockdown will take place in Madhya Pradesh, Chouhan was quoted as saying by ANI.

There is no shortage of oxygen. 4,000 Remdesivir injections are already available and 5,000 injections will arrive today. We are observing Tika (vaccination) Utsav in the entire state. No Lockdown will take place in Madhya Pradesh: Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan pic.twitter.com/9EifX3uVdV  ANI (@ANI) April 11, 2021

Chouhans statement comes amid allegations of vaccine shortage by CMs of non-BJP ruled states.

Meanwhile, on Saturday (April 10), the senior BJP leader conducted a meeting with nurses and paramedical staff via video conference. He urged people to follow COVID-19 protocols in order to curb the spread of virus.

MP extended the lockdown across 11 districts including Indore city, Rau, Mhow, Shajapur city and some districts like Ujjain, Barwani, Rajgarh and Vidisha till 6am on April 19. While lockdown will be imposed from April 12 till the morning of April 22 in Balaghat, Narsinghpur and Seoni districts as well as Jabalpur city, PTI reported.

On April 7, the MP government had announced lockdown for eight-day in Chhindwara from April 8 to 16, in Betul Khargone, Ratlam and Katni from the night of April 9 until 6 am on April 17 and a three-day lockdown in Shajapur from April 7 to 10.

According to Union Health Ministry data on April 11 at 8 AM, the total active cases stand at 32,707 with the state logging 2,221 new COVID-19 cases. With 24 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours, the death toll reached 4,160.

Live TV
(Support Free Thought) -

Concord, NH  According to a recent investigation by the state of New Hampshires attorney generals office, a state-run youth detention center has been ground zero for an utterly horrifying child torture and sex abuse ring spanning the course of decades. According to officials and a recent lawsuit, hundreds of victims have come forward alleging the abuse by over 100 government employees, and multiple arrests have been made.

The abuse took place at the Sununu Youth Services Center, formerly known as the Youth Development Center. In 2019, the taxpayer funded center became the subject of an investigation after two staffers were arrested. The two former staffers were charged with 82 counts of child rape.



According to investigators, however, those charges were all temporarily dropped in order to expand the investigation. Now, two years later, the original two staffers have been re-arrested as well as six others for their roles in the child rape and torture ring which spanned decades

Though, according to the AP, the attorney generals office didnt comment on the possibility of further arrests, they did announce that this was merely a step forward and that the investigation will continue  implying that there are many more abusers to go after.

Todays arrests make clear that this administration is committed to holding these perpetrators accountable for their detestable actions, said Gov. Chris Sununu  the facilitys namesake. This is not over, and we will continue to investigate these horrific allegations.

According to the Associated Press:

The new arrestees include Lucien Poulette, 65, of Auburn, who is charged with 33 counts  including rape and sexual assault  involving seven victims between 1994 and 2005. Bradley Asbury, 66, of Dunbarton, is charged with being an accomplice to the rape of a former resident between 1997 and 1998. And Frank Davis, 79, of Hopkinton, is charged with one count of rape and five counts of sexual assault involving two victims between 1996 and 1997. Instead of the dozens of charges they previously faced, Jeffrey Buskey, 54, of Quincy, Massachusetts, is now charged with five counts of rape involving four children between 1996 and 1999, while Stephen Murphy, 51, of Danvers, Massachusetts, is charged with five counts of rape involving three children between 1997 and 1999. James Woodlock, 56, of Manchester, was charged with three counts of being an accomplice to rape between 1997 and 1998. David Meehan, the lead plaintiff in the civil lawsuit, alleges that Woodlock repeatedly beat him, held him down while Buskey raped him and told him he had simply misunderstood events when he spoke up during a group counseling session.

In a worrisome move, after the original investigation was launched, Woodlock left the facility and became a probation officer  for children. However, he was fired this week from his position after his arrest was made public.

On top of the arrests this week, several of the alleged child rapists who were arrested have also been named in a lawsuit in which more than 200 men and women allege they were physically or sexually abused as children by 150 staffers at the Manchester facility from 1963 to 2018.

200 men and women allege they were physically or sexually abused as children by 150 staffers at the Manchester facility from 1963 to 2018.

According to the lawsuit, the facility was a magnet for predators. According to the lead attorney, Rus Rilee, children were gang raped by counselors, beaten while being raped and forced to sexually abuse each other, he said. Some ended up with sexually transmitted diseases; one ended up pregnant.

Staff members choked children, beat them unconscious, burned them with cigarettes and broke their bones, Rilee said. Counselors set up fight clubs and forced kids to compete for food. Children were locked in solitary confinement for weeks or months, sometimes shackled or strapped naked to their beds. Kept away from classrooms while their injuries healed, some cant read or write today, he said, according to the AP.

These broken, shattered children were then unleashed into society with no education, no life skills and no ability to meaningfully function, said Rilee.

Despite reassurances from the state Division for Children, Youth and Families claiming their mission is to protect children, the child rape and torture was systemic, according to the lawsuit.

The systemic, governmental child abuse that occurred was allowed to occur because there wasnt sufficient oversight, and the state was institutionally negligent in their hiring, training, supervision and retention polices, Rilee said. Its pretty clear to me that this facility was a magnet for predators.
A leading business lobby group says Australian governments should be supporting businesses and individuals to buy electric vehicles rather than slapping taxes on them.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox says new taxes on electric vehicle usage that are being developed in several states is putting 'the cart before the horse'.

He believes such taxes should not be implemented until clean vehicles are better established and the taxes are better designed.

'Road infrastructure needs to be paid for and it will be important in the long term to maintain the tax base as batteries and fuel cells replace petrol tanks in Australia's vehicle fleet,' Mr Willox said in a statement.

Pictured: A metallic red Tesla model X on show in Poland

'But Australia is currently well behind our peers in that transition. Our slow uptake of clean vehicles is holding back national progress towards emissions targets - and increasing the pressure on every other part of the economy to deliver cuts.'

He said all sides of politics have the opportunity to develop coherent, and preferably nationally coordinated, incentives that are consistent with overall plans for achieving a net zero emissions economy by 2050.

But he said unfortunately the most advanced EV tax proposal is due to start in Victoria on July 1 and looks like being a major disincentive that would undermine any other supportive policies.

'Victoria and the rest of the states should slam the brakes on these taxes and spend the next several years working together with the Commonwealth on a solution that is roadworthy, he said.

'That road pricing work should prioritise national consistency; ease of use; and effective incentives both for efficient road use and emissions reduction.'
Here is a sampling of the weeks events and how to tune in (all times are Eastern). Note that events are subject to change after publication.

Monday

Tune in to a talk between the conceptual artists Lorraine OGrady and Robert Ransick, the vice president of academic affairs at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Ms. OGrady and Mr. Ransick, friends and collaborators, will speak about their relationship as well as the retrospective of Ms. OGradys work that is currently on display at the Brooklyn Museum. This event, which is presented by the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, is free. Attendance is capped at 1,000.

When 7:30 p.m.

Where mcad.edu/visiting-artists

Join the National Postal Museum in Washington for story time. Children ages 3 to 6 and their caregivers will listen to an educator from the museum read Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty, as well as learn about inventors and look at a stamp of Rosie the Riveter from the museums collection. This event is free, and registration is required. Attendance is capped at 60, and the museum offers a story time every Monday.
Tessa Peterson has become accustomed to working at the front desk at The Hoxton over the last year, balancing that role with her job as the Portland hotels general manager. Its restaurant manager has similarly stepped in to wait tables at Tope, the only restaurant at the Old Town hotel currently open.

Theyve had to fill in ever since the hotel laid off more than 70% of its staff as restaurants closed and tourism plummeted early in the coronavirus pandemic.

Leisure travel has slowly started to rebound and the hotel is planning to hire back staff in anticipation of increased travel this summer. But only about 50% to 70% of the hotels rooms are filled on weekends, and the occupancy rate can drop as low as 10% during the week.

Before the pandemic, The Hoxton typically filled 9 out of every 10 rooms. Peterson believes it will take years for occupancy to rebound to pre-pandemic levels, especially if business travel is slow to return.

And even as tourism picks up, she and other hoteliers worry that travelers may avoid the central city if officials dont act quickly to clean up downtown and repair the reputational damage that Portland suffered in the aftermath of last summers civil rights protests.

Im optimistic when Im looking at 2021 compared to 2020, Peterson said. Theres hope. Its not all doom and gloom, which is the first time in probably 12 months Ive felt that way.  But I think theres still a lot of trepidation about whether downtown is a safe place to be and I think thats going to impact tourism.

Tourists slow to return to Portland

The number of people seeking hotel rooms in Oregon plummeted in the early days of the pandemic. That nosedive was particularly acute in Portland where occupancy plunged by more than 80%.

Tourism has rebounded significantly in much of the state, especially in areas close to Oregons outdoor attractions.

During the last week of February, hotel occupancy in Southern Oregon was actually up 29% from the same period a year ago -- just before the pandemic hit -- according to data from Travel Oregon. Occupancy was up 8.6% on the Oregon coast for the same week in February.

In Portland, though, travelers have been slow to return.

Portland hotels averaged 35% occupancy in February, down 47% from the year prior, according to Travel Portland, which promotes the citys tourism industry.

Downtown Portland and the surrounding area continued to suffer the most with hotels in the central city averaging 25.5% occupancy, down nearly 63% from the year prior. Occupancy rates in the central city increased only slightly in March, according to preliminary estimates.

Those occupancy rates dont take into account hotels that remain closed. There were 15% fewer hotel rooms available citywide and nearly 23% fewer rooms available in downtown Portland in February as compared to a year prior.

Those that were open were making significantly less per room with the citys average daily room rate down 26%.

With travelers avoiding downtown, hotels on Portlands eastside have fared relatively well. They were nearly two-thirds full last August, more than double the occupancy rate downtown. Airport hotels and those at Jantzen Beach were also somewhat fuller than in downtown.

Nick Pearson, general manager at The Jupiter hotel on East Burnside, said those areas benefited, in part, from having airline crews and other companies shift their workers away from downtown hotels. He said travelers also appeared to shift away from downtown last summer as the city drew negative national media attention as demonstrators and federal and local law enforcement clashed during nightly protests.

We actually had a pretty good summer, all things considered, Pearson said. Occupancy was obviously still way down and rates were down even further, but just not being in downtown Portland last summer, the eastside and the airport and even Vancouver kind of benefited from the unrest in the city center and the Portland narrative.

Its not just Portland, though. Hotels in downtowns elsewhere have faced similar declines amid the pandemic.

Occupancy rates in February were down 73% in downtown Seattle and 70% in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia compared to a year earlier.

While occupancy and rate have been depressed in Portland, were doing better than a lot of major markets or right in line with most, said Steve Halasz, Travel Portlands research director.

Demand for hotel rooms is slowly growing

Katherine Durant, CEO of Provenance Hotels, which operates six properties in downtown Portland, said she is cautiously optimistic that downtown hotels would see a bump in business in the coming months.

The hotel group saw an uptick in bookings at Hotel Lucia in the final two weeks of March. That coincided with a surge in air travel nationally, and through Portland. Passenger volumes at Portland International Airport jumped 66% from February to March.

Provenance closed all six of its downtown Portland hotels early in the pandemic. It reopened three later in the year and then reopened The Woodlark earlier this month, opting to reopen specific properties only when it felt it could lose less money open than closed.

The hotel group plans to rehire employees and reopen Hotel deLuxe in May in anticipation of heightened interest in summer travel, although the group isnt expecting to turn a profit anytime soon.

We have a plan, we have a budget for it, Durant said. Its not fun, its painful, but well make it through.

In December, The Benson in downtown Portland temporarily closed, shutting its doors for the first time in its 107-year history. The hotel reopened in February but customers have been slow to return. Managing director George Schweitzer said the hotel averaged under 20% occupancy in March.

Still, future booking trends give Schweitzer some hope for the summer. While he said many hotels have learned to operate more efficiently during the pandemic out of necessity, he said increased occupancy would allow him to start bringing staff back. Only about 25 staff members are currently working at the hotel, down from about 165 before the pandemic.

Booking trends are positive, they arent extraordinary, but they are moving in the right direction, Schweitzer said. Our summer months are going to be significantly better than we are now, not comparable to 2019, but well probably see occupancy in the 50% range for the downtown hotels.

The state of downtown remains a concern

There has been a notable uptick in foot traffic downtown recently as the state has ramped up its vaccine rollout, and restaurants, bars and businesses have reopened. Yet the central city still feels relatively empty with the majority of downtown office workers still telecommuting.

But even as office workers return and the pandemic recedes, hoteliers worry that the state of downtown Portland may continue to deter tourists.

Many buildings and storefronts around downtown still have boards covering their windows, a product of the property damage that occurred during nightly protests last summer and occasionally since then. And the number of people living in tents along sidewalks in downtown, and especially in Old Town, has spiked dramatically during the pandemic. Trash and graffiti around the city core have increased substantially, too, despite city and volunteer cleanup efforts.

Tourists have taken note.

Peterson said one hotel guest at The Hoxton questioned after her stay whether it would be safe for her daughter to move to Portland for college. Schweitzer said a couple from Washington who regularly travels to Portland sent him a letter after a recent stay, saying they had stepped over human waste on the sidewalk and been unable to walk a block without seeing businesses boarded up. Schweitzer said they wanted to know what happened to the city they had loved.

In November, another woman and her daughter who came to Portland to visit colleges drove all the way up to the loading zone at The Society Hotel in Old Town before cancelling their reservation from the car.

Upon arrival seeing the tents lined up on the sidewalk next to the hotel, we were shocked and did not feel comfortable getting out of the car, the woman wrote in an email to Society Hotel co-owner Jessie Burke.

Burke copied Mayor Ted Wheeler and other city officials on her reply to the customer, saying she and other business owners had been pleading for years for the city and county to find an empathetic solution for those in Old Town experiencing homelessness and dealing with addiction and mental health conditions.

Im sorry on behalf of the City of Portland and Multnomah County, Burke wrote. While my job is to host visitors and provide excellent hospitality inside my doors, that those responsible for making this City and County livable and worth visiting arent holding up their end of the bargain in Old Town.

An uncertain recovery

An October survey by Travel Portland found more than a third of potential tourists considered the city an unappealing vacation destination. Thats slightly more than found it appealing and a dramatic decline from the start of 2020.

However, in the same survey, 75% of respondents who said they had previously visited Portland said they were likely to visit again. Travel Portland President Jeff Miller said those results were heartening. He remains optimistic that tourists will return to Portland -- including to downtown -- as the pandemic recedes.

While Miller said business travel is unlikely to substantially return this year, he said it could rebound quickly in 2022 and 2023. The city had 61 conventions booked for those years as of December.

Miller said Travel Portland is also focused on enticing leisure travelers to return to Portland this year through targeted marketing campaigns aimed at tourists on the West Coast and those who have visited Portland before.

We really want to talk to the people who love Portland, Miller said. Well save for another day changing the hearts and minds of those people who are a little worried. We want to bring back our fans who love us already and thats going to be our focus for now.

Burke said the more government officials and travel organizations can do to build confidence among travelers, the better. But she said she hasnt seen much in the way of confidence campaigns aimed at drawing in travelers.

The Society Hotel closed temporarily in December because it was losing roughly $80,000 a month to stay open with occupancy hovering around 10 to 15%, according to Burke. It recently secured a Paycheck Protection Program loan, which will enable the hotel to reopen in May. Burke said she is hopeful that will coincide with greater confidence around travel.

Were about to do our second reopening, Burke said. I was telling some of our elected officials, eventually you run out of money. You cant sustain three reopenings in your lifetime. Were just trying to be as careful as possible and see if were successful.

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com | @jamiebgoldberg
Mumbai, April 11 : Actor Amitabh Bachchan posted an interesting trivia about his 1975 film 'Chupke Chupke' as the film completed 46 years of release on Sunday.

The superstar, who played the role of a English professor Sukumar in the comedy film, revealed that the house used in the film to shoot some scenes is now his current Mumbai residence Jalsa.

Amitabh took to Instagram on Sunday as he shared a fascinating fact from the film.

He uploaded a still from the movie and captioned it as: "Chupke Chupke " our film by Hrishikesh MUKERJI.. closing today at 46 years ..!! This house you see in the picture is Producer NC Sippy's house .. we bought it , then sold it , then bought it back again .. rebuilt it .. this is our home now JALSA !! Many films were shot here .. Anand, NamakHaram , Chupke Chupke , Satte pe Satta , and many more .." The film also starred Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Asrani, Jaya Bachchan and Om Pakash in pivotal roles.
OTTAWA - Erin O'Toole assured Conservative supporters that he never hid who he was in his bid to secure the party leadership, telling a high-profile conference on Saturday that the "true blue" campaign he ran to secure the party helm does reflect his true colours.

Conservative leader Erin O'Toole holds a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 6, 2020. Top Tory leaders of past and present will speak with supporters today about what a conservative economic recovery from COVID-19 could look like. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA - Erin O'Toole assured Conservative supporters that he never hid who he was in his bid to secure the party leadership, telling a high-profile conference on Saturday that the "true blue" campaign he ran to secure the party helm does reflect his true colours.

O'Toole fielded questions about his authenticity during an evening question-and-answer session that closed out a conference hosted by the Canada Strong and Free Network, formerly the Manning Centre.

He's being branded as "Liberal-lite" in some quarters, the same descriptor O'Toole once leveled at former rival and ex-parliamentarian Peter MacKay during last year's leadership race.

O'Toole, who during the contest pitched himself to party members as a "real Conservative," said he finds those now making similar comments about him to be "humorous."

He said he's been trying to grow the party's appeal to a wider swath of Canadians since assuming the party reins. O'Toole contended that bigger tent should include those who identify as Indigenous, working-class and LGBTQ if the party wants to ensure success in the next election.

"I didn't hide who I was when I was running for leader," said O'Toole.

"All of the things I ran on, I'm still running on now. I'm also, though, reaching out and trying to communicate our Conservative ideas to more people in new ways."

O'Toole told conference attendees that Conservatives must fight an election on the issues of today rather than those of decades past.

Those issues include his willingness to slash millions from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and modernize its mandate, as well as crack down on illegal rail blockades, positions he said help set him apart from Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The theme of Saturday's conference was "build back right," which played off Trudeau's oft-expressed wish to "build back better" when helping Canada's economy recover from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The think tank's annual convention  moved online in accordance with public health advice to avoid in-person gatherings  was billed as the largest networking event for both small-c and big-C conservatives to discuss current issues.

Among them was how to expand the scope of the Conservative movement.

Lilly Obina, a black woman who campaigned for different Conservative candidates and ran for a nomination in 2015, said one reason the party doesn't resonate with the black community is its messaging around cuts, which needs to be better explained.

The senior project executive withImmigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada told a panel that economics are important to the black community, who she said can feel targeted when the party talks about reducing the size of government.

"We need to be able to empathize with what goes (on) in the black community," she said.

"For example, when they say we are experiencing systemic racism, let's recognize that, let's be empathetic. You might not have solutions to everything, but at least just acknowledge that the problem exists."

Tenzin Khangsar, who did cultural outreach for Alberta Premier Jason Kenney when he served as Immigration Minister under former prime minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government, said the party has had previous success with reaching newcomers despite the present-day challenges.

The former candidate pointed to how a large number of their votes were captured under former prime ministers Brian Mulroney and Harper, the latter of whom was aided by Kenney's efforts to build relationships with immigrant communities.

"He was dubbed the minister of curry in a hurry for a reason," said Khangsar, citing how he would attend upwards of 15 community events in a weekend.

"No one likes when it you're approached just during an election, that's very transactional."

He suggested forging personal relationships is an important way to sway votes among new immigrants and ethnic-Canadians,, even more so than with non-ethnic residents.

"Our playbook was very simple: We were very confident that most new Canadians were small-c conservatives. We just had to make them big-C Conservatives," Khangsar said.

"And I would even add that applies to most Canadians."

Harper was among those who appeared at Saturday's conference in a pre-taped panel discussion with former British prime minister David Cameron.

Moderated by Senator Linda From, the centre's president said their talk couldn't be publicized beyond the conference because of a contract with the former leaders.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2021.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version identified one delegate as Tenzin Khangdsar. His name is, in fact, Tenzin Khangsar.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had planned to hold its zonal congresses this weekend. That of the South-west was, however, rescheduled for Monday in Osogbo, Osun State, following a disagreement over the initial arrangement to hold the event in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Saturday. Like that of the South-west, that of some other zones were also rescheduled due to different crises.

The forced rescheduling of the South-west congress, however, reflects the critical state of the PDP in the region. For many years now, protracted leadership crises have left the PDP in factions in almost all the six states in the zone.

The crises vary from state to state but have generally led to the defection of some prominent members such as former governors, former lawmakers and other bigwigs.

However, political analysts argue that the current crises in the party in the South-west are connected to the next general elections, especially permutations on the 2023 presidential race.

President Muhammadu Buharis final term ends in 2023 and his successor is expected to come from the southern half of the country under Nigerias informal policy of political office rotation. The prospects have led to more divisions within the PDP in the South-west and exacerbated the battle for the regional leadership of the opposition party.

Endless Crises

The crises began long ago under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo who himself was forced out of the party by a crisis in his home Ogun State.

But these have worsened over the years, most noticeably during the bitter fight between Ahmed Makarfi and Ali Modu-Sheriff over the chair of the party.

As to be expected, different factions in most states of the South-west declared their allegiance to either of the two gladiators. Thus in 2016, the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) said it was confused as to which of the PDP factions to allow to present candidates for the council elections.

That time, a faction led by Segun Adewale was loyal to Mr Modu-Sheriff while the other led by Tunji Shelle was for Mr Makarfi. The two factions held parallel primaries to select candidates for the election.

That crisis in Lagos has not been resolved even after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Mr Makarfi, allowing the party to later organise a convention and elect new national leaders.

Since last year, the chairmanship of the PDP in Lagos has been a subject of litigation between two claimants, Adegbola Dominic and Deji Doherty. While a former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Bode George, is behind Mr Dominic, the national leadership of the party recognises Mr Doherty.

In Ekiti, former governor Ayodele Fayose is at daggers drawn with senior party leaders like a former national spokesperson of the party, Dayo Adeyeye, and Ekiti South senator, Biodun Olujimi.

Mr Adeyeye later dumped the PDP for the APC where he ran against Ms Olujimi for the senatorial seat in 2019.

But Mr Fayose and Ms Olujimi have continued to play cat and mouse and daily deride each other on the pages of newspapers.

Challenges in other states

In Ogun State, the state executive committee led by Adebayo Dayo had in 2016 thrown its weight behind Mr Modu-Sheriff. But another faction led by Sikirulahi Ogundele recognised Mr Makarfi.

Further muddling the water was a local battle between the late Buruji Kashamu and ex-governor Gbenga Daniel. Mr Kashamus faction in 2016 expelled Mr Daniel and some other leaders like Ladi Adebutu, a member of the House of Representatives representing Remo Federal Constituency, and Tolu Bankole, a former member of Ogun State House of Assembly.

Mr Daniel eventually fled from PDP to the Labour Party (LP). He is now in the All Progressives Congress (APC) after briefly returning to the PDP and serving as the Director-General of the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign in 2019.

In Ondo State, while the then governor, Olusegun Mimiko, endorsed Mr Makarfis faction, some other leaders went along with Mr Modu-Sheriff.

ADVERTISEMENT

There were parallel state executive committees led by Biyi Poroye and Clement Faboyede and each produced its candidate for the years off-season governorship election  Eyitayo Jegede and Jimoh Ibrahim.

It was not until a week to the election that the court finally declared Mr Jegede the right candidate. Many said the late resolution of the dispute by the court contributed to the defeat of Mr Jegede by Rotimi Akeredolu of the APC.

However, Mr Akeredolu repeated the feat by again beating Mr Jegede to win re-election in 2020.

Osun and Oyo

In Osun State, two men have for many years claimed to be the chairmen of the party  Soji Adagunodo and Sunday Akanfe.

The influential Adeleke family is behind Mr Akanfe but the crisis directly touched the family when Gboyega Oyetola of the APC beat Ademola Adeleke in the governorship election in 2018 after Iyiola Omisore dumped the PDP and later supported the APC candidate in the supplementary poll.

The next governorship election is just over a year away but the PDP remains a divided house in Osun.

All is also not well with the PDP in Oyo, the only state in which it has a governor. Some members of the party have accused Governor Seyi Makinde of causing disunity. At a recent meeting, they urged the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to dissolve the executive committees of the party from the ward to the state levels.

The government of Engr. Seyi Makinde has relegated the party and party leaders while recognising non-party members and non-politicians. If not properly checked and appropriately addressed headlong, may lead to implosion within our party. It is like he has an agenda to destroy the party before he moves, the communique they issued at the end of the meeting read.

Those at the meetings include a former deputy governor of the state, Hazeem Gbolarunmi; Nureni Akanbi; Bisi Olopoeyan, a former Commissioner; and Oribayo Okeyode.

From states level to national level

After the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Mr Makarfi on July 12, 2017, as the national chairman of PDP, top members of the party in the Southwest began another internal war over who would contest at the December 2017 national convention.

Mr George of Lagos, Mr Daniel of Ogun, a former Minister of Education, Tunde Adeniran; former governorship candidate, Jimi Agbaje; and a stalwart of the party from Oyo State, Taoheed Adedoja, all wanted to be national chairman.

None of them agreed to step down to enhance their zones chances in the race, unlike the South-South zone, which presented Uche Secondus who went on to win the election.

After the election, angry members accused Mr Fayose and late Mr Kashamu, among others, of betraying the South-west wing of the party.

Fayose, Makinde feud now tearing zone apart

s the PDP elects new leaders at all levels, the crises in its Southwest zone have predictably intensified. The current feud is, largely, between Mr Fayose and Mr Makinde. This was what affected the plans for the regional congress of the party. The congress was initially scheduled for Ibadan on Saturday but has now been rescheduled for Osogbo on Monday.

Mr Makinde, as the only governor of PDP in the South-west, is seen by some members as the natural leader of the party in the zone. But Mr Fayose said a baby governor cannot be his leader. Mr Makinde is serving his first term while Mr Fayose is the only person in the zone and still in the party who served two full terms as governor on the PDP platform. The only other person, Mr Daniel of Ogun, has defected to the APC. Mr Mimiko of Ondo only concluded his second term as a member of the PDP but even he has left the party.

Mr Fayose also accused Mr Makinde of backing Mrs Olujinmi to challenge his leadership of the party in Ekiti.

At a meeting of the party leaders from the zone held in Ibadan, to which some prominent members, including Mr Fayose, were not invited, Mr Makinde was declared the leader of the party in the zone. The meeting also elected Dayo Ogungbenro as the caretaker chairman of the PDP in the zone and set up a five-member reconciliation committee headed by former Osun governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

But barely 24 hours later, Mr Fayose and some other leaders held a meeting of their own in Lagos where they set up a parallel reconciliation committee.

A major issue in the dispute is over who should be the next PDP National Vice Chairman for the Southwest. Mr Fayose said the leaders had agreed at a meeting hosted by Mr Makinde in his house in Ibadan that a former Ondo State Information Commissioner, Eddy Olafeso, should take the position.

But Mr Makinde is insisting that a former deputy governor of Oyo, Taofeek Arapaja, is better suited for the position.

It was, however, unclear at the time of this report if Mr Makinde and his supporters will attend the zonal meeting in Osogbo on Monday as he had warned the party against rescheduling it.

Crisis narrowing partys chances

There have been reports that Mr Makinde and his supporters may dump the party.

But the governors spokesperson, Taiwo Adisa, has denied that the governor was considering this.

However, Jide Ojo, a political analyst, said the partys future in the zone is bleak.

If care is not taken, PDP may lose the only state it is controlling. Fayose for instance is feeling like the godfather of the party in the Southwest. Already, the party is dead in Lagos because Bode George is the only bigwig there and that is the situation across all the states in the region.

To a large extent, the Osun and the Ekiti states elections in 2022 will determine the future of the PDP in the southwest.

We can see the defection that is happening across all states. If people like Gbenga Daniel, Iyiola Omisore and Dimeji Bankole could leave, then there is trouble for them.

Also, Kazeem Israel, a political scientist, said the partys efforts at reconciliation being led by former Kwata governor, Bukola Saraki, may prove too little too late given the recent defections from the party.

Right now, defections from the PDP to the APC are a serious threat for the party ahead of the 2023 general elections, he said.

The recent events in the Southwest zone of the party are pointers to the fact that the partys reconciliation committee cannot change much as regards what the performance of the party would be in 2023.

Massive defections

Since the 2019 general election, many bigwigs have dumped the party for the ruling APC.

In December 2020, a PREMIUM TIMES analysis, showed how defections have consistently marred the progress of the party.

Several defections are also happening at the local level in the six South-west states.

But the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in an earlier interview with this newspaper, said the party remains stable and strong.

The party is stable and we (NWC) have made the party a very viable platform which many Nigerians are attracted to despite the mistakes of the past, Mr Ologbondiyan told PREMIUM TIMES then.

Nothing has gone wrong with the party and I say it with all sense of clarity. As far as the party is concerned there is no division. Maybe one or two persons felt that they may not be able to achieve their ambition or their interest.

Reconciliation efforts

Last week, a chieftain of the party, Adetokunbo Pearse, while speaking with journalists in Lagos, urged the members to sheathe their swords and give room for peace to strengthen the party in the South-west.

There is no need for us to be fighting ourselves within the PDP when our real opponents are in the APC. We should desist from actions, disposition and utterances that are tearing the party apart, Mr Pearse said.
New York federal judge Sandra Feuerstein was killed when she was struck while walking on a sidewalk in Boca Raton, Florida, by an alleged hit-and-run driver, who also ran over a 6-year-old boy, leaving him seriously injured, according to police.

Feuerstein, 75, who was apparently vacationing in Florida, was walking on a sidewalk near the beach just after 10 a.m. on Friday when the operator of a red two-door sedan drove around stopped traffic and jumped the curb, hitting Feuerstein on the sidewalk, according to a police report of the incident obtained by ABC News.

After striking Feuerstein, the car continued on the sidewalk, hitting the child before speeding off, according to the report.

The driver kept going for another five miles before crashing in the neighboring city of Delray Beach, police said.

The suspected hit-and-run driver was identified as 23-year-old Nastasia Snape of North Lauderdale, Florida, who was arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide, hit-and-run involving death and leaving the scene of an accident with injury.

Feuerstein was taken to Delray Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, police said. The injured child, Anthony Ovchinnikov, was in serious condition at the hospital, according to police.

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

Witnesses to the hit-and-run crash provided police with a description and license plate number of the fleeing car.

About 15 minutes later, the same car was involved in the wreck in Delray Beach, according to a second police report.

Delray Beach police said Snape initially appeared to be unconscious and still behind the wheel of the red car. As officers approached the car, Snape regained consciousness and was getting out of the vehicle while apparently convulsing and exhibiting seizure-like movements, according to the report.

A police officer who first spoke to Snape, who was alone in the vehicle, said she refused to respond to questions and "stared into space," according to the report.

PHOTO: Nastasia Snape is seen in this undated photo released by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. (Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office)

Once placed in an ambulance, Snape "began to scream and fight with paramedics, stating that she was 'Harry Potter,'" according to the report. Paramedics gave Snape 400 milligrams of the anesthetic ketamine in an attempt to calm her down, police said.

Story continues

Snape was also taken to Delray Beach Medical Center, where an officer attempted to speak with her, according to the police report. Police said she denied being involved in an earlier hit-and-run incident in Boca Raton.

MORE: 'Anti-feminist' lawyer identified as shooter who killed Judge Esther Salas' son then self

After searching her car and finding several small containers labeled "THC Cannabis" and the synthetic designer drug called T salts, police obtained a warrant to test her blood, according to the report. Results of the toxicological tests are pending.

Snape was booked at the Palm Beach County Jail, where she was being held Sunday on a $20,000 bond, according to online jail records.

MORE: Judge returns to bench after son's murder: 'I will not be frightened or be afraid to do what I love to do'

A longtime Nassau County, New York, district court judge and New York Supreme Court justice, Feuerstein was appointed to the federal bench by former President George W. Bush in 2003 and was serving as a judge in the Eastern District of New York in Central Islip. She and her mother, Judge Annette Elstein, who died in 2020, made history as the first mother and daughter in the United States to serve as judges as the same time.

At the time of her death, Feuerstein was presiding over a high-profile murder-for-hire case in which a former New York Police Department officer is accused of hiring a hitman to kill her estranged husband. It's unclear how Feuerstein's death will impact the case.

MORE: Threats to judges are increasing, and experts say misogyny is a problem

Mark Lesko, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, issued a statement expressing condolences to Feuerstein's family.

"As we mourn her tragic death," Lesko said, "we also remember Judge Feuerstein's unwavering commitment to justice and service to the people of our district and our nation."

ABC News' Benjamin Stein contributed to this report.

New York federal judge Sandra Feuerstein killed in Florida by hit-and-run driver originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
QUEBEC - The Quebec Environmental Law Centre is coming to the aid of an environmental group targeted by an Alberta oil company threatening legal action.

QUEBEC - The Quebec Environmental Law Centre is coming to the aid of an environmental group targeted by an Alberta oil company threatening legal action.

Pieridae Energy Ltd. issued a letter last month threatening to sue Environnement Vert Plus and its spokesman, Pascal Bergeron, for having disseminated information that it considers confidential, concerning the Goldboro project, a liquefied natural gas plant project in Nova Scotia connected by a pipeline that would cross Quebec territory.

The centre said Friday it is in turn putting the Calgary-based company on notice to immediately stop any attempt to limit its client's freedom of expression.

In March, Environnement Vert Plus and other groups accused Pieridae Energy of lobbying the federal government to obtain nearly $1 billion worth of funding for its Goldboro LNG project.

In an open letter to federal and provincial leaders, the groups asked governments not to finance the project.

In its formal notice, Pieridae Energy accuses the environmental organization and its partners in other provinces of having failed in an obligation based on a relationship of trust. It accuses the environmentalists of illegally using confidential information with the aim of causing financial harm to the company.

"It was not confidential information, and even if it had not already been in the public space, it is information of public interest, so ... in principle, the questions which come under public funds feed the public debate and it is in the interest of the public to have access to it, law centre Director Genevieve Paul said in an interview.

Pieridae Energy is demanding, among other things, that the groups cease using the information, that the damage caused be mitigated, and that the persons concerned disclose their sources.

"This is akin to an attempted gag order that clearly aims to intimidate people who are mobilized, Paul said.

She described the threatened legal action as a SLAPP lawsuit  excessive and unreasonable legal action with the purpose of shutting down discussion of issues in the public interest and limiting freedom of expression of the persons concerned.

Paul said the non-profit environmental law group doesnt want to engage in a lengthy legal battle, it simply wants Pieridae Energy to renounce its threats of prosecution.

"The objective is not to go to court: it is that the people who aim to alert the population to questions of public financing and the environmental risks associated with this project can continue to do their work," Paul said.

In its documentation, Pieridae reports that the Goldboro project is to have two liquefaction units, each producing 4.8 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year. The production of one of its units has already been sold to a German company for a 20-year term, it added.

The court has previously issued rulings against SLAPP suits aimed at environmental organizations and conservationists.

In 2011, a Quebec Superior Court judge rejected a case initiated by Petrolia that was considered to be such a suit. That company has since merged with Pieridae.

In addition to Environnement Vert Plus, Pieridae's proposed legal action also targets others who signed the letter to the federal government: the New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance, Nova Scotia's NOFRAC, the Citizens Oil and Gas Council in Alberta, as well as an environmental activist based in Germany.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2021.
A male pedestrian was struck by a car around 9 p.m. Saturday and later died of his injuries at a local hospital.

The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with law enforcement investigating the crash, according to a police news release.

The collision occurred at the 4900 block of Northeast 82nd Avenue. Portland police, Portland Fire and Rescue and American Medical Response paramedics were called to the scene at 9:10 p.m., police said.

Paramedics treated the pedestrian at the scene and transported him to a hospital, where he died of his injuries.

Police provided no further details about the collision.

 Hillary Borrud
With more access to the COVID-19 vaccine amid a slow return to normal, at least two Connecticut businesses that interact directly with vulnerable people are requiring employees to get inoculated, but its unclear if others will follow suit.

Now that the vaccine is available to everyone 16 and older, the question turns to how companies will handle whether employees receive a dose. While at least two companies in Connecticut have publicly acknowledged they will require employees to get vaccinated, most remain focused on education and incentives.

The Jewish Senior Services of Bridgeport and Community Resources Team of Hartford, which work closely with people at risk of COVID-19, have required employees to get the vaccine to continue working.

Given the population CRT serves on a daily basis, who in the most cases are vulnerable, it makes perfect sense for us to want to ensure both our employees and the people we serve are going to be safe, and the best way to do that is asking them to get vaccinated, said Jason Black, a spokesman for Community Resources Team.

In a recent U.S. Census Bureau survey, nearly 80 percent of Connecticut companies polled said employees were not required to show proof of a vaccine, while another 18 percent said it was not applicable because employees were not going into the place of business.

It appears the decision will largely fall on employees, with Gov. Ned Lamont saying he has no plans to have a state mandate.

While many businesses have not taken a formal public stance on the issue, JSS and CRT stress a vaccine requirement simply comes down to safety.

I think most health care employers are moving in the direction of having it be a condition of employment, just as other vaccines are to work in health care, Andrew Banoff, president of JSS, said in an interview last week with Hearst Connecticut Media. Were here to protect the frail elderly. We exist solely to take care of everybodys parents and loved ones. Anything we can do to protect people is the most important priority of literally why we exist.

Incentives more common

With the vaccine rollout just opening to all adults in Connecticut, many residents are still not vaccinated, so it may be too soon to tell if companies will lean on mandating employees to get inoculated.

Im not sure its a step that most companies are ready to take at this point, said Diane Mokriski, human resources council for the Connecticut Business & Industry Association.

In conversations shes had with some CBIA membership, Mokriski said, its very rare for someone to tell me they are going to mandate vaccines.

While a requirement that employees get vaccinated may be in discussions, Mokriski said employers are more focused on educating and incentivizing their workers to get one.

I think most employers are either just doing their best to really educate employees on how to get it, what the benefits there are and that they are safe, Mokriski said. The second part would be incentives. I think thats becoming more and more common for employers to give some extra motivation to get the vaccine if [the employees] were kind of just neutral on it.

A number of companies from stores like Target, Dollar General and Aldi to the fast food restaurants like McDonalds have found ways to incentivize employees to get vaccinated from paid time off to get a dose or extra hours on their time cards.

Raytheon, which employees thousands of people in Connecticut through Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace, plans to give workers a small financial bonus to get vaccinated, first reported by Government Executive.

It will depend upon the individual, but we have highly encouraged all of our employees to get vaccinated, CEO Greg Hayes said during an interview streamed last week with the Economic Club of Washington. In fact, there is a small financial reward that people get for getting vaccinated. A health care benefit that they get some additional cash.

Can employers mandate vaccine?

Though few Connecticut companies are mandating vaccines, federal agencies have provided some legal guidance on the matter.

In December, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission published a guide that suggests employers can ask if an employee has been vaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it becomes a matter of state law whether to address if employers can mandate an employee get vaccinated.

Lamont said last week that he believes employers requiring people get vaccinated makes a certain amount of sense, referencing how some health care companies require people to get flu vaccines.

But again, Im not going to mandate that. I think every business will decide for themselves, Lamont said.

The legislature has not brought up requiring COVID-19 vaccines, but of the dozen or so bills addressing inoculations, theres one that would prevent employers from taking adverse actions against employees who refuse to get the shot.

Rep. Anne Dauphinais, R-Killingly, who proposed the bill, said she believes asking about vaccine status is another form of discrimination.

Theres so many rules and regulations with regard to discrimination and being discriminated against, Dauphinais said.

This is one of those additional things that would discriminate against a group of people ... that would chose not to participate in big pharma and the vaccine, she added.

The EEOC and CDC included language in the guidance acknowledging exemptions for medical and religious reasons. JSS and CRT have said employees can seek those exemptions from the vaccine requirement.

At this point, we are more than a third fully vaccinated and weve had four people that have requested exemption, CRTs Black said. We do allow for people to request exemptions.
(Natural News) The federal ban on bump stocks may be unlawful and needs to be put on hold, according to a ruling by a divided Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Michigan.

Bump stocks are devices that are attached to semi-automatic rifles that allow them to mimic a fully automatic weapon. They work by harnessing the guns recoil energy to quickly move the firearm back and forth. This bumps the shooters stationary finger right up against the trigger so it can be fired far faster. Some semi-automatic rifles equipped with bump stocks are capable of firing hundreds of rounds per minute.

They were first created to help people with disabilities to fire guns more easily. They were approved by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in 2010, and the government has estimated that more than half a million of them have been sold since then. The bureau maintained at the time that bump stocks did not convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic ones in a way that made them equivalent to machine guns.

However, bump stocks became a hot topic of conversation after the mass shooting at a concert in Las Vegas in 2017, where a gunman using semiautomatic rifles equipped with bump stocks killed 58 people. In response, President Trump instituted a ban on the devices.

Civilians are generally banned from owning machine guns that were manufactured after May 1986, and this includes any parts that can be used to convert a legal firearm into an illegal machine gun. A machine gun is defined in this case as a weapon that fires automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.

The ATF later issued a rule in which they reinterpreted the terms single function of the trigger as well as automatically in order to ban bump stocks.

Gun Owners of America and other groups sued on the grounds that the rule violates the Fifth Amendments takings clause, the 14th Amendments right to due process and the Administrative Procedure Act. However, a federal judge denied their motion for a preliminary injunction in March 2019.

Court rules bump stocks do not amount to machine guns

It was then brought before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, who has ruled in their favor, saying a lower court should have granted their request for a preliminary injunction against the rule because it is likely they will be able to prove the bump stock ban is indeed unlawful.

The court did not agree with the ATFs interpretation of the law, saying that single function of the trigger refers to the triggers mechanical process  its depression, release and resetting. A bump stock cannot, therefore, be considered a machine gun because it does not allow a semiautomatic firearm to fire more than one shot every time the trigger passes through the cycle. The shooter still has to pull the trigger multiple times to fire, which means it is not really akin to a machine gun.

In the panels majority opinion, Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Alice Batchelder wrote: A bump stock may change how the pull of the trigger is accomplished, but it does not change the fact that the semiautomatic firearm shoots only one shot for each pull of the trigger. With or without a bump stock, a semiautomatic firearm is capable of firing only a single shot for each pull of the trigger.

Under the federal bump stock ban, existing owners are not allowed to keep their bump stocks. Instead, they must destroy them or turn them over to authorities, although they are not being offered any compensation for them. Violators face as much as 10 years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines. Nevertheless, less than one percent of the bump stocks in circulation have been surrendered so far.

Sources for this article include:

TheNewAmerican.com

FoxNews.com

News.BloombergLaw.com
A young kitchen installer who purchased a rundown lakehouse and transformed it into three separate waterfront units makes thousands of dollars a month by renting it out on AirBnB.

Mark Johnson, 24, bought the 70s-style property for $690,000 in March 2020 and renovated it over six months at a cost of $39,000. He now has the option of quitting full-time work thanks to his savvy investment.

Over the past four months the two rented units on the bottom floor have generated an average of $1750 per week, which is more than enough for Mark to pay his $560 weekly mortgage repayments plus the $230 weekly bills and utilities.

The units make a total of $7,000 per month, leaving nearly $4,000 for Mark to use as he pleases.

Mark, who lives in Lake Macquarie, told Daily Mail Australia his main goal was to own and invest in hundreds of properties to create a prime source of income, while teaching others different investing strategies on YouTube.

Scroll down for video

In March 2020 Mark Johnson, 24, (pictured) purchased the old 70s-style property for $690,000 - which took six months to renovate for a total of $39,000 - and now has the option to quit working full time

Before: The space was originally outdated and looked dull with exposed yellow brick and orange flooring throughout

After: But the renovation brought the property into 2021 with a modern uplift that now looks luxurious

When Mark bought the property, it was outdated and looked dull with exposed yellow brick and orange flooring. But the renovation brought it into 2021 with a modern upgrade.

The newly renovated 100sqm lakehouse now has three separate units with five bedrooms in total, three bathrooms and stunning views.

'The renovation process was back-breaking work and a lot of problems came up, but as stressful as it was I always looked forward to working on it whenever I had free time,' Mark said.

'Everything from building wall frames, plastering walls, tiling floors and demolition was completed out of hours and on weekends.'

The two units on the ground floor are rented out on AirBnB while Mark lives in the third unit above.

'I rent the rooms between $90 and $300 per night on Airbnb, depending on public holidays, weekends or a normal school night being the cheapest,' he added.

The house originally had three bedrooms and two bathrooms, but now has three separate waterfront units with five bedrooms in total

'The renovation process was back-breaking work and a lot of problems came up, but as stressful as it was I always looked forward to working on it, whenever I had free time,' Mark said

In order to purchase the property at such a young age, Mark saved an impressive $100,000 by the age of 20 due to strict guidance from his parents.

Admitting he was never a keen saver but wanted to own a home, Mark owes a vote of thanks to his parents who taught him the value of money by forcing him to save throughout his teenage years.

After he started working full-time his parents gave him the option of paying rent or living at home free of charge, but he had to transfer 85 per cent of his income to their account and the full amount would be returned in four years.

'This was difficult but as a teenager you can be reckless with money if you're not careful,' he said.

On top of saving, Mark also had extra income streams that helped him reach the $100,000 figure.

'I had a YouTube channel and gained 100,000 subscribers by the age of 13 that paid me a small amount of passive income every month, as well as other side hustles including dropshipping,' he said.

'This all came to an extra $400 to 500 per month.'

He managed to accumulate the six-figure saving in only four years.

'Dropshipping' is a common method involves shipping products from the manufacturer directly to the customer without the supplier or retailer ever seeing it.

What is dropshipping? Dropshipping is a retail fulfillment method where a store doesn't keep the products it sells in stock Instead, when a store sells a product using the dropshipping model, it purchases the item from a third party and has it shipped directly to the customer As a result, the seller doesn't have to handle the product directly The biggest difference between dropshipping and the standard retail model is that the selling merchant doesn't stock or own inventory Instead the seller purchases inventory as needed from a third party - usually a wholesaler or manufacturer - to fulfill orders Source: Shopify Advertisement

'Everything from building wall frames, plastering walls, tiling floors and demolition was completed out of hours and on weekends,' Mark said

The two units on the ground floor are rented out on AirBnB while Mark lives in the third unit above

'I rent the rooms between $90 and $300 per night on Airbnb, depending on public holidays, weekends or a normal school night being the cheapest,' he added

Mark has already purchased a second property using $100,000 in equity from the first property, which he is currently renovating and plans to add a granny flat to use as an additional AirBnB listing

On top of the investment property Mark also invests in the stock market and cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin.

'My only regret is not investing in shares sooner; I own shares in seven really amazing companies, I have been investing for about one year now and have already seen returns of 30 per cent,' he said.

Mark said he learnt everything he knows about investing by watching videos on YouTube and talking to his Dad.

On top of the investment property Mark also invests in the stock market as well as cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin

Mark's main word of advice to those wanting to save money for a house is to consider taking up side hustles or putting up a spare room on AirBnB to increase your total income

He also said to ensure your savings are not easily accessible and researching how to invest in the stock market

Mark's main word of advice to those wanting to save money for a house is to consider taking up side hustles or putting up a spare room on AirBnB to increase your total income.

He also said to ensure your savings are not easily accessible and researching how to invest in the stock market.

'It's too easy to dip into your savings if it's just sitting in your bank account, so put it elsewhere,' he said.

Mark has already purchased a second property using $100,000 in equity from the first property, which he is currently renovating and plans to add a granny flat to use as an additional AirBnB listing.

'Side hustles' to boost annual income: Freelancing Dog walking or baby sitting Dropshipping YouTube ads AirBnB Advertisement
One year ago, the pandemic moved in and office workers moved out.

All the while, the real estate reshuffling didn't stop many projects in the pipeline from being built.

Now, a glut of cubicles sits empty in Charleston and across the nation.

Across the U.S., 70 million additional square feet of office space became available on the sublease market last year after the start of the pandemic, according to a recent report from the commercial real estate firm Lee & Associates.

A variety of factors came into play: economic uncertainty, job cuts and proliferation of remote work.

Charleston was not immune to the rapid spread of office flight.

Across the Lowcountry, the amount of vacant sublease offices  empty space that in most cases tenants are trying to backfill with new renters  mushroomed four-fold to more than 865,000 square feet by the first three months of 2021 from the end of 2019.

Two buildings alone  both on Daniel Island  account for nearly two-thirds of the inventory.

About 230,000 square feet sit idle in a four-story building previously occupied by software firm Blackbaud Inc. Because of the virus, another 289,000 square feet are operating at minimal capacity at a neighboring technology company, Benefitfocus Inc.

One of major culprits is the shift to remote working, Lee & Associates said.

A few workers are back on site in Benefitfocus's three buildings, while the 225,000-square-foot former Blackbaud headquarters  the global company relocated most of its local workforce in 2018 to a newly built corporate campus not far away  is set for an interior overhaul so it can be marketed to multiple tenants.

"The building was designed for single-tenant use, and we want to do a full redesign for multitenant use," said Billy Cooke, vice president of Atlanta-based Holder Properties, which paid $35.5 million for 2000 Daniel Island Drive in 2019. "We hope to get it redesigned and permitted and have construction started later this year."

At Benefitfocus, the software company is shifting to a flexible philosophy of 'wherever you are the most productive, is where we want you to be,'" chief human resources officer Robin Kirby said. "For some, that will be in the office either full time or in a hybrid model a few days a week. For others, that may be fully from their home office."

On the peninsula, the amount of empty office space jumped to almost 72,000 square feet by the first quarter of this year from about 3,500 square feet at the end of 2019, right before COVID-19 hit the U.S.

While occupancy has plunged, landlords have tried to keep rents constant by offering concessions such as free rent, flexible terms, higher buildout allowances and furnished spaces.

Still, overall leasing rates in the Charleston area fell more than $3 to roughly $24 per square foot for office space at the end of 2020 from a year earlier, according to the commercial real estate firm Colliers International.

Because of the amount of available space, overall rental rates are expected to drop further, at least in the short term, until leasing activity returns to a more normal pattern and a good chunk of the vacant inventory is absorbed.

Silver lining

That's not expected anytime soon, tipping the scales in a tenant's favor.

Business owner Pam Hartley, for one, is hoping to tap into the more favorable leasing terms.

Like thousands of other workers across the Lowcountry, her staffers at Momentum Marketing left their offices behind a year or so ago and started working from the safety of their homes.

After six months of going into an empty office day after day, Hartley left her 4,500 square feet on Daniel Island and moved into a small co-working space in North Charleston.

With vaccinations now ramping up, the 16-year marketing firm owner is looking now to have something lined up for when she calls her staff of less than a dozen back into the office by the fall.

"Nothing takes the place of person-to-person contact," she said.

She's also wondering how her workers will acclimate to an office environment after having the freedom and flexibility of doing their jobs from home.

"I don't know if it will go back to the way it was," Hartley said.

Sign up for our real estate newsletter! Get the best of the Post and Courier's Real Estate news, handpicked and delivered to your inbox each Saturday. Email

Sign Up!

Hardly anyone believes it will. As the Lee & Associates' report noted, "The pandemic ... has shifted the office landscape irrevocably."

Forever changed

Most businesses realized productivity hasn't suffered with staff working from home, and some owners, like Hartley, won't be needing as much space when they do return to an office environment.

"There's a divergent view on how this will pan out," said Chris Fraser of commercial real estate firm Avison Young.

He pointed to a law firm leasing a space for full occupancy, as one side of the coin. The other is an accounting firm that is reducing its footprint by half since workers can plug in numbers on a computer from anywhere with a decent internet connection.

For Barry Schneiderman of BKS Tax Service, he won't be going back to the 850-square-foot office he held for the past 31 years in Mount Pleasant.

"I probably won't ever have a brick-and-mortar office again," he said. "I've grown accustomed to working from home."

That's potentially a trouble spot for landlords and commercial agents trying to fill empty offices in existing and new buildings.

On the peninsula, four new office developments springing up will add nearly 350,000 square feet to the mix.

Among them is a high-profile, five-story structure on King Street that's set to open in June between the Crosstown overpasses. Developer Mitch Norville of Greenville-based Atlantic South Development doesn't have a tenant lined up yet for the 63,000-square-foot project, but he is optimistic a recent pickup in interest will convert to leases.

"I'm hoping COVID has created a bit of pent-up demand," he said. "If you have been in the same office for the past 20 years, it's likely either too big or too small now ... and you need a different space."

While Norville believes it will take 18 months to two years to lease his entire building, mainly because he works with smaller tenants, he's confident office workers will return, even if not in the same way.

"I think you will see more people working in the office three days a week and home two days," Norville said. "You will see more flexibility."

Some of the new space is finding takers. The recently completed 93,000-square-foot Charleston Tech Center on Morrison Drive on the peninsula is about two-thirds of the way leased up, as is the 20,000-square-foot, two-story Home Telecom building in Nexton near Summerville.

The 135,000-square-foot Morrison Yard office building that's now getting underway is 20 percent leased while a couple of other buildings under 30,000 square feet in Mount Pleasant and on Daniel Island also have some leases in hand, according to agents.

Awaiting rental activity for the most part on the upper peninsula are the 110,000-square-foot Quin, the 115,000-square-foot Morris and the nearly 30,000-square-foot structure at 741 Meeting. Two more under construction on the former Navy Base in North Charleston and another at the base of the Ravenel Bridge in Mount Pleasant also are looking for tenants.

'Commercial follows residential'

For agents who specialize in lining up office tenants, the absorption of empty space will happen  how long it will take is the main question.

Kristie Roe of Colliers International said a booming housing market gives her a reason to be optimistic.

"Residential is going crazy, and commercial follows residential," Roe said.

About 30 new residents arrive in the Lowcountry each day, according to the latest data from the Charleston Regional Development Alliance. Some move to Charleston for job opportunities while others are fleeing larger, densely crowded metropolitan areas because of the pandemic.

Fraser of Avison Young agreed that population growth "will temper the loss of (office) downsizing to some degree. There are some things you can't do from home."

For instance, Fraser said, residential growth means the region will need more offices to house a wide assortment of everyday service-industry businesses, from insurance companies to dentists to veterinary practices.

And with new housing developments sprouting on the fringes of the region and homes selling at a brisk pace, there is cause to be hopeful of a turnaround, said Reid Davis of Lee & Associates.

"Leasing activity has picked up in suburban areas, and some of the short-term tenants are now looking at longer-term contracts," he said.

Davis pointed out, too, the overall office sublease vacancy rate of nearly 10 percent, as calculated by his firm, is still less than it was after the Great Recession more than a decade ago, though different firms have different estimates. Avison Young said the rate was 14 percent at the end of last year; Colliers pegged it even higher, at 17 percent.

Davis isn't sure how the vaccination rate and the sense of normalcy will translate into office leasing by year's end, but Fraser doesn't see a quick recovery.

"People will go back to their offices in the fall, but because of inventory and people downsizing, it will take two or three years for the market to absorb it all and get back to healthy vacancy levels," he said.
News

Scottsdale, Arizona - If you have coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and you're caring for yourself at home or you're caring for a loved one with COVID-19 at home, you might have questions. How do you know when emergency care is needed? How long is isolation necessary? What can you do to prevent the spread of germs? How can you support a sick loved one and manage your stress? Here's what you need to know.

At-home treatment

Most people who become sick with COVID-19 will only experience mild illness and can recover at home. Symptoms might last a few days, and people who have the virus might feel better in about a week. Treatment is aimed at relieving symptoms and includes rest, fluid intake and pain relievers.

However, older adults and people of any age with existing medical conditions should call their health care provider as soon as symptoms start. These factors put people at greater risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19.

Follow the health care provider's recommendations about care and home isolation for yourself or your loved one. Talk to the health care provider if you have any questions about treatments. Help the sick person get groceries and any medications and, if needed, take care of his or her pet.

It's also important to consider how caring for a sick person might affect your health. If you are older or have an existing medical condition, such as heart or lung disease or diabetes, you may be at higher risk of serious illness with COVID-19. You might consider isolating yourself from the sick person and finding another person to provide care.

Emergency warning signs

Carefully monitor yourself or your loved one for worsening symptoms. If symptoms appear to be getting worse, call the health care provider.

The health care provider might recommend use of a home pulse oximeter, especially if the ill person has risk factors for severe illness with COVID-19 and COVID-19 symptoms. A pulse oximeter is a plastic clip that attaches to a finger. The device can help check breathing by measuring how much oxygen is in the blood. A reading of less than 92% might increase the need for hospitalization. If the health care provider recommends a pulse oximeter, make sure you understand how to use the device properly and when a reading should prompt a call to the provider.

If you or the person with COVID-19 experiences emergency warning signs, medical attention is needed immediately. Call 911 or your local emergency number if the sick person can't be woken up or you notice any emergency signs, including:

Trouble breathing

Persistent chest pain or pressure

New confusion

Bluish lips or face

Inability to stay awake

Pale, gray or blue-colored skin, lips or nail beds  depending on skin tone

Protecting others if you're ill

If you're ill with COVID-19, you can help prevent the spread of infection with the COVID-19 virus.

Stay home from work, school and public areas unless it's to get medical care.

Avoid using public transportation, ride-sharing services or taxis.

Stay isolated in one room, away from your family and other people, as much as possible. This includes eating in your room. Open windows to keep air circulating. Use a separate bathroom, if possible.

Avoid shared space in your home as much as possible. When using shared spaces, limit your movements. Keep your kitchen and other shared spaces well ventilated. Stay at least 6 feet (2 meters) away from your family members.

Clean often-touched surfaces in your separate room and bathroom, such as doorknobs, light switches, electronics and counters, every day.

Avoid sharing personal household items, such as dishes, towels, bedding and electronics.

Wear a face mask when near others. Change the face mask each day.

If wearing a face mask isn't possible, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or elbow when coughing or sneezing. Afterward, throw away the tissue or wash the handkerchief.

Frequently wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.

Protecting yourself while caring for someone with COVID-19

To protect yourself while caring for someone with COVID-19, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend:

Keep your hands clean and away from your face. Frequently wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after being in close contact or in the same room as the sick person. If soap and water aren't available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.

Wear a face mask. If you need to be in the same room with the person who is ill and he or she isn't able to wear a face mask, wear a face mask. Stay at least 6 feet (2 meters) away from the ill person. Don't touch or handle your mask while you are using it. If your mask gets wet or dirty, replace it with a clean, dry mask. Throw away the used mask and wash your hands.

Clean your home frequently. Every day, use household cleaning sprays or wipes to clean surfaces that are often touched, including counters, tabletops and doorknobs. Avoid cleaning the sick person's separate room and bathroom. Set aside bedding and utensils for the sick person only to use.

Be careful with laundry. Don't shake dirty laundry. Use regular detergent to wash the sick person's laundry. Use the warmest setting you can. Wash your hands after putting clothes in the dryer. Thoroughly dry clothes. If you are handling clothing that has been soiled by the sick person, wear disposable gloves and keep the items away from your body. Wash your hands after removing the gloves. Place dirty gloves and masks in a waste bin with a lid in the sick person's room. Clean and disinfect clothes hampers and wash your hands afterward.

Be careful with dishes. Wear gloves when handling dishes, cups or utensils used by the sick person. Wash the items with soap and hot water or in the dishwasher. Clean your hands after taking off the gloves or handling used items.

Avoid direct contact with the sick person's bodily fluids. Wear disposable gloves and a face mask when providing oral and respiratory care and when handling stool, urine or other waste. Wash your hands before and after removing your gloves and mask. Don't reuse your mask or gloves.

Avoid having unnecessary visitors in your home. Don't allow visitors until the sick person has completely recovered and has no signs or symptoms of COVID-19.

Ending isolation or quarantine

Talk to the health care provider about when to end home isolation, especially if you have a weakened immune system. The CDC recommends the following guidelines for ending home isolation after you think or know you had COVID-19.

If you won't have a test to determine if you're still contagious, you can leave your sick room or home if at least 10 days have passed since your symptoms started, at least 24 hours have passed with no fever without the use of fever-reducing medicine and other symptoms are improving. Loss of taste and smell might last for weeks or months after recovery but shouldn't delay ending isolation.

If you'll be tested to determine if you're still contagious, your doctor will let you know when you can be around others based on your test results. Most people don't need testing to decide when they can be around others.

The CDC also recommends that, as the sick person's caregiver, you quarantine for 14 days and watch for common signs and symptoms of COVID-19, such as fever, cough or shortness of breath. Other options may include ending quarantine after 10 days if you don't have symptoms and won't get tested or ending quarantine after 7 days if you receive a negative test result on day 5 or later. But continue to watch for symptoms for 14 days.

However, if youve been caring for someone with COVID-19, you dont need to stay home if:

Youve been fully vaccinated and have no symptoms of COVID-19.

Youve had COVID-19 within the last three months, recovered and remain without symptoms of COVID-19.

Coping with caregiving stress

As you or your loved one recover, seek emotional support. Stay connected to others through texts, phone calls or videoconferences. Share your concerns. Avoid too much COVID-19 news. Rest and focus on enjoyable activities, such as reading, watching movies or playing online games.

As you take care of a loved one who is ill with COVID-19, you might feel stressed too. You might worry about your health and the health of the sick person. This can affect your ability to eat, sleep and concentrate, as well as worsen chronic health problems. It may also increase your use of alcohol, tobacco or other drugs.

If you have a mental health condition, such as anxiety or depression, continue with your treatment. Contact your doctor or mental health professional if your condition worsens.

To care for yourself, follow these steps:

Maintain a daily routine, including showering and getting dressed.

Take breaks from COVID-19 news, including social media.

Eat healthy meals and stay hydrated.

Exercise.

Get plenty of sleep.

Avoid excessive use of alcohol and tobacco.

Stretching, breathe deeply or meditate.

Focus on enjoyable activities.

Connect with others and share how you are feeling.

Caring for yourself can help you cope with stress. It will also help you be able to support your loved one's recovery.
Ahmedabad: Revered Gujarat seer Mahamandaleshwar Bharti Bapu died on Sunday (April 11) morning at Bharti Ashram in Sarkhej area of Ahmedabad. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah offered their condolences on Twitter and paid respect by highlighting his greatest contributions.

He was 93 and died due to age related complications, a disciple said, adding that the last rites will be performed at the Ashram's main centre in Junagadh city, news agency PTI reported.

"I am deeply pained by the passing away of 1008 Mahamandaleshwar Bharti Bapu. We can never forget his contribution of starting a nationwide movement against addictions. May god grant peace to his soul and give strength to his followers to endure the pain," Union Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "The teachings of Mahamandaleshwar Vishwambhar Bharti Ji Maharaj of Junagadh Bharti Ashram will always guide us. I offer my condolences to millions of his followers. May god give peace to his soul. Aum Shanti."

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani also expressed grief at the death of the seer.

Live TV
GE said it has reached a financial close with Iraqi Ministry of Finance (MOF) and its financial partners for the Power Up Plan 4 (PUP4).

The financial close - a critical milestone that marks the final step of a loan agreement becoming effective - will see GE provide capital and spare parts, repairs and services to the Qudus, Khairat, Baghdad South, Hilla, Mussayab, Haidariya and Karbala power plants to help maintain more reliable generation of up to 2.7 gigawatts (GW) of electricity for the Iraqi people.

As part of these efforts, 20 gas turbines that are currently not operational at these sites will also be returned to service.

GE said it had played a key role in bringing the Iraqi ministries of finance, electricity and planning together with various financial institutions, including export credit agencies, commercial banks and others, to secure financing for the project.

The technology major had supported the development of Iraqs energy infrastructure for over 50 years. In the north, GEs teams helped power liberated areas with the rehabilitation of Mosuls Al Qayara Power Plant.

In central Iraq, the company is helping to equip, operate and maintain the countrys largest combined cycle power plant - the Besmaya Power Station.

In the south, GEs Advanced Gas Path upgrade solution has enabled the Ministry of Electricity to decrease the downtime of gas turbines, improve availability, enhance performance and lower annual maintenance costs at the Najibiya Power Plant.

"Working closely with the Iraqi Ministries of Finance, Electricity and Planning, GE has collaborated with various private and public financial institutions from around the world to help secure over $2.4 billion in financing since 2015 for energy sector projects across the country," said Joseph Anis, President & CEO of GE Gas Power Europe, Middle East and Africa.

"We remain committed to continuing to facilitate investments from various institutions, provide industry-leading technologies and work with our team of local professionals on-the-ground, to deliver results that strengthen Iraqs power sector further and drive growth and prosperity for everyone, no matter how challenging the circumstances," he added.

GE is bringing the strength of its global network to support the execution of PUP4. Several key repair works for equipment such as gas turbines will be undertaken at GEs service centre in Jebel Ali Free Zone.

This has been facilitated by ECI, the UAEs Federal export credit company, which supports projects that promote economic diversification in the UAE and reduce the dependence on oil resources as a source of income.

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade and ECI Deputy Chairman Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, said: "Open economies, trade and public private partnerships can play a strong role in supporting countries to develop critical infrastructure. This is highlighted by the Power Up Plan 4, for which certain key services will be executed in and exported from GEs facilities in the UAE, allowing us the opportunity to extend financial support through Etihad Credit Insurance and providing a win-win scenario for all."

"It also reflects the vision of our leadership to broaden regional collaborations that can help enhance the quality of life of people across the Middle East and beyond," he added.

ECI is one of the debt reinsurers for PUP4, providing insurance coverage to the lender, JP Morgan. PUP4 is the first Iraqi project supported by ECI and opens the doors to further collaborations between the UAE and Iraq.

"ECI is committed to delivering the vision of the UAEs leadership to drive sustainable and diversified economic development. As part of these efforts, we are honored to extend our support to finance a project in Iraq for the first time, a strong statement on the regional partnerships that we continue to build," remarked its CEO Massimo Falcioni.

"We look forward to continue evaluating opportunities for future partnerships in Iraq," he added.
Since 2016, a federal regulation has allowed nurse practitioners and physician assistants to obtain a waiver to prescribe buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder as a medication assisted treatment.

But a recent study by Indiana University researchers found the bill, called the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), has not greatly increased the amount of nurse practitioners prescribing buprenorphine, especially in states that have further restrictions. The study was published in Medical Care Research and Review.

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants are an important workforce with a capacity to expand treatment access for those with substance use disorders. But we have found that efforts like CARA have been limited in actually utilizing this group, with nurse practitioners accounting for a relatively small proportion of buprenorphine prescriptions." Kosali Simon, Study Co-Author and a Herman B. Wells Endowed Professor in IU's O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs

Buprenorphine is the only agonist medication for opioid addiction that can be prescribed by a qualified physician or nonphysician practitioner in an office-based setting. Simon said research has shown it is associated with significant decreases in relapse and overdose. However, the U.S. has a shortage of providers who have a waiver, known as an X waiver, from the Drug Enforcement Administration to prescribe buprenorphine outside of opioid treatment programs.

Through the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe buprenorphine to up to 30 patients at a time for their first year, and after that, they can obtain authorization to prescribe to up to 100 patients. Some states mandate further restrictions though, including those that limit the authority of nurse practitioners to prescribe.

Kosali and a team of researchers from various universities used pharmacy claims data between January 2015 and September 2018 from Optum's deidentified Clinformatics DataMart to examine the impact of federal and state scope-of-practice regulations on nurse practitioner's buprenorphine prescribing.

At the county-level, researchers found the proportion of patients filling prescriptions written by nurse practitioners was low even after CARA: 2.7% in states that did not require physician oversight of nurse practitioners and 1.1% in states that did. While analyses in rural counties showed higher rates of buprenorphine prescriptions written by nurse practitioners, the study found rates were still considerably low - 3.7% in states with less restrictive regulations and 1.1% in other states.

Simon said since relatively few physicians have a waiver to prescribe, it can be difficult for nurse practitioners who must have physician oversight to find a waivered physician to oversee them. Some also face supervising physicians who are unsupportive of buprenorphine treatment.

"These results indicate that less restrictive scope-of-practice regulations are associated with greater nurse practitioner prescribing following CARA," Simon said. "The small magnitude of the changes indicates that federal attempts to expand treatment access through CARA have been limited. More is needed so people with substance use disorder have access to medication assistant treatment."

While state restrictions did not help, the researchers said there are more deterrents involved including insufficient training and education about opioid use disorder treatment, burdensome training time, lack of institutional and clinician peer support, poor care coordination and inadequate insurance reimbursement.

Researchers recommend relaxing state scope-of-practice requirements for nurse practitioners and addressing other practice-level and educational barriers that impede treatment access. Additionally, Simon said eliminating the need for an X waiver for all practitioners should be further considered to help address gaps in opioid use disorder care, especially in primary care settings and rural areas. Alternatively, current X waiver training requirements could be decreased for certain clinicians, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants, who have previously completed substance use disorder treatment training during residency.

Study co-authors include Thuy Nguyen, University of Michigan; Ulrike Muench, University of California San Francisco; Barbara Andraka-Christou, University of Central Florida and Joanne Spetz, University of Georgia.

Responding to the addictions crisis

The Responding to the Addictions Crisis Grand Challenge initiative engages a broad array of IU's world-class faculty, as well as IU's business, nonprofit and government partners. Working together, the groups are contributing to an initiative to implement a comprehensive plan to reduce deaths from addiction, ease the burden of drug addiction on Hoosier communities and improve health and economic outcomes. This initiative is one of the nation's largest and most comprehensive state-based responses to the opioid addiction crisis -- and the largest led by a university.
India has finalised a bilateral air bubble agreement with Sri Lanka, allowing the operation of special international passenger flights between the two countries, the Civil Aviation Ministry said on Saturday. With this, India now maintains such pacts with 28 countries, including Afghanistan, Bahrain, Canada, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, the Maldives, Nigeria, Qatar, the UAE, the UK and the USA.

Under an air bubble pact between two countries, special international passenger flights can be operated into each other's territories under restrictive conditions. All the eligible passengers will be able to travel between India and Sri Lanka, the Ministry informed through a tweet on Saturday.

Attention travellers!



India has finalized an air bubble agreement with Sri Lanka, making it the 6th such arrangement in SAARC region & the 28th in total. All the eligible passengers will be able to travel between the 2 countries in the near future. Travel safe!  MoCA_GoI (@MoCA_GoI) April 10, 2021

Regular flights suspended till April 30

Regular scheduled international flights have been suspended in India since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. However, special international passenger flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May last year and under bilateral air bubble arrangements since July.

The coronavirus-induced suspension of scheduled international passenger flights has been extended till April 30, Indian aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said last month. "However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis," the DGCA added. The DGCA circular also said that the suspension does not affect the operation of international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by it.
New National Disability Insurance Scheme Minister Linda Reynolds says she has no intention of excluding Australians from the scheme on the basis of their diagnosis, appearing to dump radical reforms drafted under the previous minister Stuart Robert.

Leaked documents revealed by the Herald and The Age last month showed the Morrison government was considering cutting NDIS funding to people living with acquired brain injury and foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and reducing avenues of appeal for participants as part of a bid to save costs.

Linda Reynolds is the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The government was also accused of tampering with the independent report used to justify controversial reforms such as independent assessments to review NDIS users eligibility for the scheme, which disability advocates have criticised as a cost-cutting measure.

Ms Reynolds, who returned from leave last week following the Brittany Higgins sexual assault allegations, said the NDIS would continue to provide a reasonable and necessary level of funding to meet disability support needs.
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Sunday ordered swift rescue and relief efforts after eight people died in an earthquake that hit off southern Java island.

Three others were badly injured in Saturday's magnitude-5.9 quake and more than 1,180 buildings were damaged, most of them slightly, the disaster agency BNPB said. Some houses were flattened, images in Indonesian media showed.

Two shelters for the displaced have been set up in the town of Lumajang.

All of the casualties were reported in 15 districts and cities in East Java, the closest province to the epicentre of the quake, which struck in the Indian Ocean.

"I have ordered ... immediate emergency response to search and find victims under the rubble and to treat the wounded," the president, known by his popular name Jokowi, said in broadcast remarks.

There were no reports of the quake disrupting production facilities, but the BNPB said 150 public facilities were damaged. Most industrial areas in East Java are located in the northern side of the island.

Jokowi noted that as Indonesia straddles the volcanic "Ring of Fire" in the Pacific, natural disasters such as earthquakes could happen anytime, adding that Indonesians should always be prepared.

The Southeast Asian nation was struck last week by tropical cyclone Seroja, which triggered landslides and flash floods killing more than 170 people on islands in East Nusa Tenggara province.

A magnitude-6.2 quake that hit Sulawesi island in January killed more than 100 people.

(Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Writing by Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by William Mallard)
Mail.fiitjee.com scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 13 Jun 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the mail.fiitjee homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if mail.fiitjee has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the mail.fiitjee homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. The total number of people who shared the mail.fiitjee homepage on StumbleUpon. The total number of people who shared the mail.fiitjee homepage on Delicious. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the mail.fiitjee homepage on Twitter + the total number of mail.fiitjee followers (if mail.fiitjee has a Twitter account).

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE SmarterMail Login - SmarterMail DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS smartermail, login, language,



The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The title found in the head section of the homepage. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE UTF-8 DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Microsoft-IIS/7.0 (ASP.NET) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2008

Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) The language of mail.fiitjee.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Character set and language of the site. Type of server and offered services. Operative System running on the server.

Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world.

Referring domains for mail.fiitjee.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines.

Facebook link

FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND

The URL of the found Facebook page. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. The type of Facebook page.

Twitter account link

TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND
After a month spent finding ways to bring the Palmer Elementary School project in on budget, the Easton Area School Board is being asked to spend $182,650 on a security system.

The system is part of the school projects $36.1 million budget. Security is a high priority and not a place to cut costs, according to Superintendent David Piperato.

Security doors and a quality surveillance system are necessary to keep students and staff safe, he said in an email Tuesday.

The system was discussed at the school board meeting Tuesday. You can watch the meeting on YouTube.

The system is comparable to a system approved by the school board for the new Cottingham Stadium. Its also comparable to systems at each of the district schools.

The $182,650 will pay for:

47 card readers

44 security doors

68 cameras

A phone system so people at the entrance doors can communicate with main office

There is a large quantity of electronic equipment and door hardware, said District Director of Operations Ken Case.

Last month the board agreed to a cheaper roof to save $500,000, plastic laminate counters instead of solid surface to save $99,000 and plastic pipes instead of copper to save $55,000.

The security system is worth it, said school board President George Chando.

This expense ensures we are providing consistent security coverage at all school facilities and also provides the necessary safeguards so that a safe and secure environment is in place for our students and staff, Chando said. Although this is a hefty price tag, I believe the district is being proactive in spending the money to potentially prevent any serious incident.

The school board will vote on the security system later this month.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to Lehighvalleylive.com.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com.
Central teams have reported non-adherence of COVID-19 appropriate behaviour in almost all of the 50 most-affected districts in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Punjab, the Union health ministry said, advising the states to more strictly enforce norms to prevent spread of the

On the basis of feedback from the teams, the ministry has written to the states highlighting the areas of concern, including sub-optimal containment operations and contact tracing, skewed testing and shortage of health workers. Authorities need to work in these areas, it said.

Of the 50 districts most affected by COVID-19, 30 are in Maharashtra, 11 in Chhattisgarh and nine in Punjab, it said.

In a letter to the states, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said the Centre has also taken note of issues related to vaccine availability, and required action to augment supplies will be taken based on available stock.

He said a brief summary of key performance indicators related to testing, hospital infrastructure and vaccination, as reported by the teams, has been shared for suitable corrective actions by state or district administrations.

Thirty central teams have been deployed for the most-affected districts in Maharashtra, Bhushan said.

The ministry has written to the state highlighting that containment operations were found to be sub-optimal in Satara, Sangli and Aurangabad districts, with less than satisfactory perimeter control and lack of active surveillance for influenza like illness cases.

Surveillance and contact tracing were sub-optimal in Buldhana, Satara, Aurgangabad and Nanded, mostly due to limited manpower,Bhushan said in a letter to the Maharashtra health secretary on Saturday.

In Bhandara district most cases are being reported from outside containment zones. This requires increasing the area of such zones or notifying new ones, the letter said.

Testing capacity in Satara, Bhandara, Palghar, Amravwati, Jalna and Latur is already overwhelmed, resulting in delay in test results, it said.

Teams from Nanded and Buldana have reported very skewed RT-PCR and rapid antigen testing ratio. Community resistance to COVID testing has been reported from Bhandara, the letter said.

It said a large percentage of COVID-19 patients are under home isolation in Bhandara and Satara. This requires rigorous follow up to minimise mortality and it is not happening, the letter said.

"lt was observed that delayed reporting by patients to definitive treatment centres in Satara is leading to large number of deaths within first72 hours of hospital admission," it said.

Occupancy rates of available hospital bed capacity are very high in Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Nagpur and Nandurbar while medical oxygen supply was found to be an issue in Bhandara, Palghar, Osmanabad and Pune.

Malfunctioning of ventilators was reported from Satara and Latur, and acute shortage of health workers from some other districts, the ministry said.

It suggested expediting rostering of health workers and hiring of contractual health workers.

"Adherence to COVID appropriate behaviour was found to be lacking by almost all central teams that visited the districts. This would require greater enforcement effort," the ministry said.

For Chhattisgarh, the team from Raipur and Jashpur districts reported lack of perimeter control in containment zones.

"There appears to be no restriction on movement of people inside containment zones. Hence, containment zones, including micro-containment zones, need to be strictly implemented," a letter addressed to the state's additional chief secretary (health) said.

Contact tracing needs to be reinforced in Korba. Resistance, even attacks on health workers, to containment activities and testing was reported from Dhaneli in Raipur. This needs to be addressed, it said.

Lack or shortage of RT-PCR testing facilities was reported from some districts.

The ministry suggested the state to deploy mobile labs for RT-PCR testing.

Ambulance services also need to be strengthened in Durg and teams have noted that hospital bed occupancy rates are high in Balod, Raipur, Durg and Mahasamund, it said.

District administrations need to ramp up hospital infrastructure and other logistic requirement to meet demand arising from surge in COVID-19 cases. Shortage of Remdesivir and low molecular weight Heparin needs urgent attention in Korba, the ministry said.

Limited oxygen availability and oxygen wastage were reported from Raipur and shortage of health workers from few districts.

"There appears to be a need for refresher training of surveillance teams and vaccinators in Balod and Korba districts respectively," it said.

Overcrowding and no physical distancing was observed at a vaccination centre in Rajnandangaon, the ministry said.

In Punjab, there is a need to enhance focus on contact tracing in Patiala and Ludhiana.

Contact tracing and surveillance in SAS Nagar are being hampered due to shortage of manpower and additional workforce must be deployed, Bhushan said in his letter to the Punjab health secretary.

Low rates of testing were reported from Patiala and there is no RT-PCR testing lab in Rupnagar. These need to be addressed, the letter said.

There is no dedicated COVID hospital in SAS Nagar and Rupnagar, and patients are being referred to neighbouring districts or Chandigarh, it said.

Hospital bed occupancy rates in some districts are high and arrangements must be made by authorities to deal with surge in cases, the letter said.

Teams have reported issues with procurement of ventilators in SBS Nagar. ln Rupnagar, though ventilators are available, they are not being optimally used due to shortage of workforce, particularly doctors and nurses.

Contractual hiring of health workers can address the problem, the letter said.

Shortage in workforce has been reported from Patiala, SAS Nagar and Rupnagar also.

Patiala and Ludhiana have reported slow pace of COVID vaccination among people above 45 years with co-morbidities and those above 60 years, it said.
WINNIPEG - The death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, has reminded a small French village in Manitoba about how a royal visit half a century ago made the community the centre of frog racing in Canada.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Ediburgh, left, look on as Manitoba Beaver peaks out of his box at a July 14, 1970 ceremony in which Hudson's Bay Company observed an old tradition. The death of Prince Philip has reminded a small French village in Manitoban about how a royal visit half a century ago made the community the centre of frog racing in Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS

WINNIPEG - The death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, has reminded a small French village in Manitoba about how a royal visit half a century ago made the community the centre of frog racing in Canada.

As word of his passing spread Friday through St-Pierre-Jolys, about 40 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg, many people reflected on his visit with the Queen in 1970.

They came in and they spoke French to us ... so they respected us as we respected them, said Roland Gagne, a full-time volunteer at the St-Pierre-Jolys Museum.

Buckingham Palace announced Friday that Prince Philip had died at the age of 99.

Philip married the then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947. He was the longest-serving royal consort in British history and, in his role, he made numerous trips to Canada.

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister said Friday that Philip connected directly with thousands of Manitobans from his first visit in 1951 to his last in 2010.

Gagne was a child when the royal couple came to the province for Manitobas Centennial in 1970.

He said the community was picked to host the royals because they wanted to experience the "true colour of a French-Canadian village. At the time, more than 80 per cent of St-Pierre-Jolys population was French-speaking.

A festival was planned for the visit and the entire village was decorated.

I couldn't believe that they were building this stage in the middle of town in front of our Catholic cathedral, Gagne said.

But the village wanted to make an even larger impression on the Queen and her husband.

We are surrounded here by Mennonites, Ukrainians, Germans, Hutterites, etc. One of our nicknames is the frog, of course, Gagne said.

We said, 'lets enjoy that and lets get the Frog Follies underway.'

The mayor issued a challenge to other local politicians, mayors and reeves to bring their best frog forward. And, thus, began the frog jumping competition.

People searched ponds for northern leopard frogs  Manitobas biggest frog, typically five to 11 centimetres long.

Two Court of Queen's Bench justices and a doctor were among the judges who crowned Georges the winning frog, after it jumped just over 2.1 metres, and marked the beginning of the annual Frog Follies.

The festival has grown in the decades since to become a main Manitoba summer adventure. The weekend-long event attracts more than 1,000 people each day to the village of just under 1,200.

It was cancelled last year, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gagne said while the royal couples visit was short, and he doesn't think they saw any of the frogs, it made an impact thats lasted more than five decades.

He said Philip, in particular, was pleased to find pockets of French-Canadians in a largely English-speaking province.

Gagne said he is thinking of Prince Philips family at this time.

He lived a full life."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2021.
A new, weeklong festival in Scranton will celebrate late urbanist guru Jane Jacobs and her influential ideas on preserving vibrant, diverse neighborhoods and cities.

The event, called Observe Scranton, which will run May 4-8, takes its name from Jacobs ability to view her surroundings  from window to porch to street to neighborhood to city  and distill how they all connected into a bigger picture. The festival logo is a pair of eyeglasses resembling ones worn by Jacobs.

A Scranton native who grew up just over the border in Dunmore, Jacobs later moved to New York City and became in the 1950s a prominent opponent of conventional urban renewal and a tireless advocate for the preservation of dynamic, tightknit neighborhoods. Her landmark 1961 book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, redefined views of urban life and led to revolutionary changes in how urban planning is taught and practiced.

Considered one of the most influential authors on urban planning in the 20th century, Jacobs died in 2006, in Toronto.

Born Jane Butzner in 1916 in Scranton, her family moved from Green Ridge to neighboring Dunmore when she was 5. A graduate of the former Scranton Central High School, Butzner moved at 21 to New York Citys Greenwich Village and later married before writing her groundbreaking book.

Jacobs training for a writing career included working a year as a journalist in the early 1930s with the Scranton Republican, a precursor of the former Scranton Tribune.

Her formative years in Scranton laid the foundation for her ideas, and her stint as a journalist helped her develop an observational concept of urban theory, said Marywood University architecture professor Maria MacDonald, executive director of the Center for the Living City, a national nonprofit advocacy organization co-founded by Jacobs in 2005 and based since last year in Scranton.

She modeled what she thinks a great city could be from growing up here in Scranton, Pennsylvania  neighborhoods, walking to school, walking to churches and grocery stores, being part of a network of a community that takes care of each other, and thats what we do here in Scranton, said MacDonald, who became CLC director last year.

The festival also will launch a book about her, Jane Jacobss First City, Learning from Scranton, Pennsylvania, by author Glenna Lang.

The festival will have a full slate of activities, exhibits and events throughout the city, including walking tours, bike rides, a flag-raising ceremony, live music and First Friday events, to name a few.

For a full schedule and more information, see observescranton.org.

Sponsors include the Hawk Family Foundation, Marywood University, the Architectural Heritage Association, American Institute of Architects Northeastern Pennsylvania chapter, Lace Village and the Scranton Life Building, where the festival has a headquarters office at Spruce Street and Adams Avenue.

Former Mayor Wayne Evans, a board member of the Architectural Heritage Association, said a festival in Scranton honoring Jacobs is a fitting tribute.

Its long overdue. Shes iconic in urban planning, Evans said.
Illustrative image (Photo: Internet)

Following a successful eight day stage debut in Hanoi at the end of 2020 and in early 2021, the Vietnam National Opera and Ballet Theatre (VNOB) have decided to bring the epic musical to audiences throughout the country.

The show will be staged at the Hanoi Opera House from April 16 to April 18. It will then be performed in the Central Highland province of Dak Lak as part of the National Dance and Music Festival in May.

To conclude the tour, artists will give a final three-day showing of the musical in Ho Chi Minh City in early June.

The show is due to feature an array of local artists from the Vietnam National Opera and Ballet Theatre (VNOB), foreign artists from Hanoi Voices Choir, along with director Nguyen Trieu Duong and choreographer Linh An.

First published as a book in 1862, Les Miserables is widely considered to be among the masterpieces by Victor Hugo and is one of the most popular novels from the 19th century. Indeed, the popularity of the musical has seen it performed in over 40 countries and 21 languages.

Since late last year, the VNOB has been working closely with various organisations, including the French and British embassies, the British Council, and the French Cultural Centre, to organise the show./.
New Delhi:

Pakistan on Wednesday violated ceasefire in Digwar sectors Nakarkote in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch.

Indian Army retaliated strongly to the ceasefire violation.

Pakistan violated ceasefire from 0845 hours in Jammu & Kashmir's Poonch sector along the Line of Control.

Earlier on October 2, the Pakistani troops violated ceasefire along Line of Control near Keri and Digwar areas of Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

A nine-year-old boy was killed and five other civilians were injured as Pakistani troops targeted border villages and forward posts along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir by firing and shelling, a police official said.

Indian troops fired in retaliation to silence the Pakistani guns and the exchange of fire between the two sides was continuing when last reports came in.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
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.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday lambasted his conservatives and Tories at a virtually held Liberal convention asserting that the issue of climate change is real. "How disconnected do you have to be to refuse to admit climate change is real, even as peoples basements flood and wildfires tear through communities? the Canadian Prime Minister asked in a keynote speech during the 3-day event attended by more than 4,000 delegates. Trudeau took aim at the Conservative leader Erin OToole, accusing his party leaders, saying that they are unable to grasp the actions that are immediately needed to prepare for whats after the pandemic.

Speaking at the LIVE streamed Liberal Party policy convention, the Liberal Canadian leader said, "While we are fighting to end the pandemic, we must prepare for what comes after, referring to deteriorating climate conditions. Further, he encouraged the Climate activists to reach out to the Conservative members disillusioned by his partys stance on the environmental issues. "Phone up a friend who has a different perspective, and maybe didn't vote for us in the past. Perhaps they're feeling disenchanted. Perhaps they're feeling left behind because they know climate change is real," Trudeau said, lambasting Conservatives convention on climate vote.

Together, we can choose a brighter future. Together, we can keep supporting each other and build the kind of tomorrow we all want to see. Tune in to #LIB2021 as I speak about building that future with each and every one of you: https://t.co/pBwiGq4DqS  Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) April 10, 2021

In his 20-minute virtual address, the Canadian Prime Minister also launched an attack on the Conservative party stating that it would have restricted Canada's emergency relief benefit (CERB) from unanimously passing the House of Commons. He described the CERD as a "lifeline for millions of people during the worst economic crisis in a century." Conservatives had argued earlier that such a scheme for COVID-19 relief would threaten the countrys work ethic and will instill reluctance among the young Canadian workforce to get back to work. Trudeau, in his address in a separate instance, asked, How disconnected do you have to be to flirt with disinformation on public health, objecting to Conservatives viewpoint saying, that the reality is very different.

Trudeaus remarks come as earlier Canadas Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson held a panel discussion about the green-friendly shift of the Canadian economy to tackle climate change. Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan had accused Tories of opposing the Trudeau partys environmental policies, saying Tories have stuck their head in the sand. Meanwhile, another Liberal MP Marci Ien from Trudeaus party accused Conservatives for refusing to admit [climate change is] even real. In his speech, Trudeau reminded, that his team is focused on building back better for the middle class and people working hard to join it while taking climate action to create good jobs and keep our economy growing.

Canada's SSC rules in favour of carbon tax

Only last month, Canadas Supreme Court ruled in favour of Trudeaus carbon pricing policy or carbon tax stating that climate change is a threat to the country. The court upheld the legality of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (GGPPA) to meet the countrys emission reduction targets under the Paris Agreement. The SCC's ruled that Trudeaus Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (the "GGPPA") is constitutional, as it added that the federal government is allowed to move forward with its plan to ensure each of the Canadian provinces has a price on carbon to curb greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions. The GGPPA requires all Canadian territorial governments to establish a pollution pricing scheme binding "minimum national standards" per tonne of carbon dioxide which will efficiently address the climate change crisis. "Together, we have accomplished a lot of things, but the work is far from being finished," Trudeau told the panel as the country speculates his partys electoral campaign in months ahead.

(Image Credit: AP)
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

Franny and Malcolm live in an old building called the Rustic Arms, affectionately termed the Rusty Arms.

As the two best friends plot to uplift society, their tech-smart and younger colleague Risa swans through the world in a dream draped in a bloody nightgown.

The Vortex Theatre will stage the world premiere of A Day at the Rusty Arms online at vortexabq.org beginning on Friday, April 16 and continuing on weekends through April 25.

Playwright Susan Erickson began writing the piece when her retirement coincided with the pandemic.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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

I said, OK, I need a project,  Erickson said. Ive had these characters swirling around my head for a while, but I didnt know what to do with them until this hit.

She began writing pages and pages of dialogue. She edited the play down to three characters because of the pandemic. As she worked, an overall theme of friendship and community emerged.

Think of the (Beatles) song With a Little Help From My Friends,  she said.

Franny and Malcolm, played by Janeice Scarbrough and Frederick Ponzlov, are two energetic seniors searching for meaning. They decided to launch Senior Corps, staffed with said seniors, to help everyone.

Think the Peace Corps, Erickson said. Their slogan is From pandemics to potholes. 

The pairs young neighbor Risa volunteers to help them with technology. Soon the trio schedule a funding meeting with the mayor, whom they nickname Hot Rod. As the time approaches, Risa disappears.

It turns out, Risa suffers from a sleep disorder.

Its very surreal, her behavior, director David Richard Jones said. She gives a political speech about running for president.

She breaks up with a parking meter, Erickson added. Its a comedy with a whole lot of heart and hopefully some meaningful issues.

Thanks to vaccinations and more relaxed COVID restrictions, the Vortex will present the work as a filmed play as opposed to doing monologues, Jones said.

We started with Zoom rehearsals. We went on to COVID-safe. By the time we were shooting, the vaccines were all over town. Weve got everything but an audience.

The plays a one-act comedy rich in eccentric characters and wacky wisdom, he continued. A pair of oldsters try to save the world. What can possibly go wrong?

Thanks to funding from the city of Albuquerque and New Mexico Arts, all tickets are free, but reservations must be made on the Vortex website.

If you go

WHAT: A Day at the Rusty Arms by Susan Erickson

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday April 16-18; 23-25.

WHERE: Online with reservations at vortexabq.org.

HOW MUCH: Free
NEW HAVEN  Shafiq Abdussabur started early.

Abdussabur, a former city police officer and owner of a construction company that employs the citys school custodians, was one of the first three people in the city to file paperwork to run for a seat on the Board of Alders. He has been knocking on doors in Beaver Hills for months, listening to the concerns of the community as he launches his bid in the 28th Ward of the 30-ward board.

Carl Babb, a former New Haven school principal and a neighbor of Adbussabur, said Abdussabur is known in the community.

Hes in the neighborhood and hes been around. He never moved from this neighborhood, Babb said.

Abdussabur said he has many ideas about how the city could improve its situation and how he could get results for Beaver Hills. He said that, as a runner, he knows where all the potholes are.

Its time to get off the couch, he said.

Ward 28 incumbent Jill Marks had not yet filed paperwork to run for a fourth term. Marks did not respond to a request for comment.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Safety

One of Abdussaburs top issues is community policing. During his department career, he served on a state task force on policing and now believes city police must do better to engage with and familiarize themselves with their communities.

We are not really practicing community policing in New Haven, he said. We dont have the dialogue with stakeholders.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Kelly Blanchat, who has lived in Ward 28 for just more than ayear after purchasing a home with her husband and young daughter, said safety has been a concern at times.

I have a 2-year-old and we hear gunshots sometimes. Its scary, she said.

Neighbor Sam McCray, who has lived in Beaver Hills since 1967, said at night there sometimes will be drag racing, with cars loudly speeding through the streets. Hes worried someone will get hurt.

Abdussabur said he believes the city overall has a lack of planning around safety and quality of life issues. He believes that various community issues have become so siloed that it has overall impeded the productivity by which sidewalks can be repaved and trees can have their shedding limbs addressed before they damage homes or vehicles.

Finances

One issue that matters to Blanchat is ensuring that homeownership is incentivized.

A lot of my neighbors have lived here since the 60s and I hear stories all the time of what this neighborhood used to be like, she said. I see trends in the city where companies buy houses that get flipped and rented to families that could have purchased them. There hasnt been that opportunity to build equity.

Abdussabur said watching the money would be a priority were he to win the seat.

The residents want to know what happened to their money, he said.

He said he wants to know how much Beaver Hills residents contribute to the tax base and where their money goes. He said he does not believe in an us versus them mentality, but he wishes to be respectful to the homeowners. As the tax rate has been raised nearly annually, Abdussabur said he believes it would be an incentive to local homeownership for information about city spending to be further demystified.

Blanchat said she became more invested in local politics after purchasing her Beaver Hills home, and Abdussabur was a visible community presence almost immediately. Although she supports his candidacy, she has two signs in her front yard: one reading Black Lives Matter and the other a green sign urging Yale University to Respect New Haven.

The signs, which have been present throughout the city since 2019, were disseminated to residents by Yale union officials and New Haven Rising and originally were tied to tensions around a local hiring initiative promised by Yale.

Marks is married to Scott Marks, director of New Haven Rising, and has been a supporter of Yale union initiatives on the board. In recent years, many of the sitting alders have been endorsed by Yales unions; some work day jobs as union organizers for Yales unions.

I dont think of it as the Yale union sign; its like what Shafiq and I talk about: equity for residents, Blanchat said.

Abdussabur does not work for Yale or for its unions, but he said he is connected through family.

I have a lot of family members who are not only members of the Yale unions but hold positions in the Yale unions, he said.

However, he said he believes the Board of Alders has to try a different tactic in negotiating with the university. In the current budget cycle, Mayor Justin Elicker is requesting that Yale increase its voluntary contribution to the city to $53 million. The university, which owns approximately $150 million in tax-exempt property, made a voluntary $13 million contribution to the city in the current fiscal year.

The university also pays about $5 million annually in property taxes on non-academic properties through its community investment program; Yale is among the top three real estate taxpayers in New Haven. Yale also since last year distributed about $3 million to local nonprofit organizations to support New Haven residents negatively affected by the pandemic, according to the university.

Alders have used the citys budget troubles to make the case that Yale must do more, using budget hearings to highlight all the services that might go unfunded if the city were to have to make cuts to spending  this year, proposed cuts include the Westville branch of the public library.

I think the conversation that needs to be had with Yale is a different conversation, Abdussabur said.

Instead of asking for voluntary contributions, Abdussabur said the city should highlight specific programs that could use additional funding. He said youth programs would be a good place to start, such as covering the costs of room and board for scholarship recipients of the New Haven Promise program and funding certification programs for local high school graduates.

Imagine having them put their money in a place and they know where its going. Its being invested in young people. We need that immediate relief, he said.

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com
Advertisement

We still dont know precisely what it will look like, but of one thing we can be quite certain: He will have hugely enjoyed making it.

Having spent most of his life breaking the royal mould, the Duke of Edinburgh will do so again one last time this Saturday when he goes to meet his Maker on the back of a Land Rover.

Whats more, this will be a Land Rover specially converted for funereal use, according to the dukes very own instructions.

It will be a glorious parting gesture from a man who spent so much of his life encouraging innovation and good design.

Indeed, the Prince Philip Designers Prize (whose past winners include James Dyson and Norman Foster) is the oldest trophy of its sort in the UK.

Having spent most of his life breaking the royal mould, the Duke of Edinburgh will do so again one last time this Saturday when he goes to meet his Maker on the back of a Land Rover

The global equivalent of the Nobel Prize for engineers, the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, was founded at the dukes behest and is awarded at the headquarters of the Royal Academy of Engineering (official address: Prince Philip House, London).

In other words, if anyone was going to devise something technical, original and quintessentially British for their last hurrah, it was the duke.

Everyone had safely assumed that this gallant royal consort and war veteran would be carried to the chapel doors on a gun carriage, in the time-honoured tradition of monarchs and very great men and women (including the previous consort, the Queen Mother, and, more recently, Lady Thatcher).

No, thanks, said the duke, and started sketching something else.

This is by no means his first Land Rover conversion, either. At the back of the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace, beyond the stables for the horses and the garages for the State Bentley and the official Rolls-Royces, you will find a curious-looking beast that looks like a cross between a 4x4 and a bus.

Known as The Jumbo, it is a long-wheelbase Land Rover which the duke converted to a 16-seat minibus for shooting parties on the royal estates.

Everyone had safely assumed that this gallant royal consort and war veteran would be carried to the chapel doors on a gun carriage, in the time-honoured tradition of monarchs and very great men and women (including the previous consort, the Queen Mother, and, more recently, Lady Thatcher). No, thanks, said the duke, and started sketching something else

Rather than use a fleet of vehicles to move around people, guns and dogs, he decided it would be much more efficient to pile the whole lot into this thing.

Up in a Sandringham barn sits another contraption which the duke designed in tandem with the estates chief engineer, Danny Harvey. It is a small trailer which unfolds into a mobile barbecue-cum-kitchen unit for picnics (complete with hot drawers, rubbish compartments, drinks cabinet and even a spice rack).

It proved such a success that another (non-royal) duke, having spent the day shooting at Sandringham, has commissioned one of his own.

An early barbecue enthusiast  having first come across one on his travels in the Fifties  the duke would develop a lifelong obsession with finding new techniques and recipes for cooking in the open.

His huge library at Buckingham Palace contained hundreds of cookbooks (among thousands of works on everything from philosophy and birds to mountaineering and biography).

That same constant quest for new, more efficient, more environmentally friendly ways of doing things can be seen all across the royal domain. Back in the Royal Mews, for example, you would, until recently, have seen the London cab he bought for engagements in the capital.

Why sit there in a clunky, gas-guzzling limousine, he would argue, when you could be in a more nimble black cab?

It was during the late Sixties that the duke took to driving around London in an electric car he had spotted during a visit to Lucas Engineering. When the company eventually ran out of spare parts for the vehicle, the duke bought himself a taxi.

The only clues that it was not your normal Metrocab taxi was the installation of a front passenger seat (for a police officer) and the colour scheme. From the earliest days of their marriage, as Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the couple chose dark green for their staff liveries and vehicles.

The particular shade became known as Edinburgh Green and the duke would use it on all his vehicles. In later years, the duke even had his cab converted to liquid petroleum gas. In 2017, he donated it to the Sandringham Museum.

It was at Sandringham that the duke was given to trying out new technology. At Wood Farm, the smaller estate residence which he much preferred to the main house, he installed some of Britains very first solar panels way back in the Sixties. Those who think that the Prince of Wales was the original royal eco-warrior are off the mark.

It was immediately after becoming Sovereign that the Queen delegated the running of the private royal estates  Sandringham and Balmoral  to her husband. Back then, they were being run on Edwardian, if not Victorian, lines.

Today, however, Sandringham has the very latest in berry-picking technology in the form of a huge combine harvester for blackcurrants. For, on the dukes watch, Sandringham would become one of the approved suppliers chosen to produce blackcurrants for Ribena.

Elsewhere on the estate, the duke set up a commercial apple juice operation (which would, over time, supply Waitrose) and even an experimental truffle farm.

He always lived in hope of tasting his first black truffle from spores originally imported from New Zealand  and three years ago he was finally rewarded with the first crop of black gold.

As well as putting the duke in charge of the private estates, the Queen also appointed him to the ancient post of Ranger of Windsor Great Park. Some of the previous occupants  including princesses, dukes and duchesses  had regarded this as an undemanding sinecure for a loyal courtier. Not so the duke.

On being appointed Ranger, he soon started to range all over the place. He installed one of Britains most famous polo clubs at Smiths Lawn, on the site of an old airfield, and went on to open a hugely popular farm shop which now acts as an outlet for farms across the entire district.

Over seven decades, the layout and strategy for this ancient estate was transformed by him  from the restoration of the deer herd to an ice cream plant.

His final addition to the Windsor estates extensive repertoire made history at a Buckingham Palace banquet for Commonwealth leaders on the night of April 19, 2018.

As they all rose to toast the Queen and the Commonwealth, the 54 world leaders were not drinking one of the traditional champagnes from the royal cellars.

For the first time at a state occasion, the Queen was serving home-made fizz  Windsor Great Park Sparkling Wine  not that anyone could spot the difference.

The duke, sadly, was not present, having retired from public duties the year before, but he will have been very tickled that what some people had mocked as a barmy plan only a few years earlier had just received the ultimate accolade.

It had been his idea to explore the potential of installing vines on a particularly grape-friendly tract of Windsor Great Park soil. So he asked locally born wine maestro Tony Laithwaite to help him with the project.

Now, its annual output competes with the best in the market and it sells out as soon as it reaches the shops. The Queen was serving it all over again at her 2019 state banquet for Donald Trump.

Lets hope that when Saturdays solemn proceedings are over, the new Land Rover is back in the garage and the family are back up at the castle where they can uncork a few bottles of his Windsor sparkling wine to toast the most prodigious innovator in royal history since his own great, great grandfather  Prince Albert.
On Sunday's episode of Married At First Sight Australia, Bryce Ruthven broke down and told his bride Melissa Rawson he wanted to leave the show.

Melissa, 31, confronted the radio announcer, 31, about his 'secret girlfriend' in Canberra, and Bryce responded in a flood of tears.

'It's just constant attack after attack, accusations, lies brought up. I am leaving the experiment today. If you want come with me, that'd be great. If not I could understand. You have reasons to not want to come with me,' he said.

Out: On Sunday's episode of Married At First Sight Australia, Bryce Ruthven (pictured) broke down and told his bride Melissa Rawson he wanted to leave the show

Melissa replied: 'I don't want to leave and be that couple they're trying to hide something. We literally have a day left in the experiment. Tomorrow, we go our separate ways and we work out what we need to do'.

'I'm just so sick and tired of this situation... Honestly I copped this last night. I've copped it the whole experiment, and I'm gonna go home...'cause I'm sick of this. I'm wanna go home,' he said, breaking down.

Comforting him, Melissa begged, 'please don't' while a weeping Bryce sobbed between his hands.

Upset: Melissa, 31, confronted the radio announcer, 31, about his 'secret girlfriend' in Canberra, and Bryce responded in a flood of tears

Going: 'It's just constant attack after attack, accusations, lies brought up. I am leaving the experiment today. If you want come with me, that'd be great. If not I could understand. You have reasons to not want to come with me,' he said

Positive? Melissa took the breakdown as a positive sign, saying, 'it shows me just what our relationship means to him. You can't fake emotion like that'

'No, honestly, I'm so sick of this. I hate it,' he wept, as Melissa cuddled him close.

Melissa took the breakdown as a positive sign, saying, 'it shows me just what our relationship means to him. You can't fake emotion like that'.

However, not everyone was convinced, with some fans online accusing Bryce of 'faking' the tears.

Real? However, not everyone was convinced, with some fans online accusing Bryce of 'faking' the tears

One person Tweeted: 'No Melissa, Bryce breaks down every time he's caught out. He then deflects the situation so that it's 100% focused on him being the victim and you're there to reassure him and thus feel needed... the toxic cycle continues'.

Another added: 'When Bryce gets exposed and confronted again, so he needs to play the victim again'.

Someone else wrote: 'Here we go with the 'I'm the victim' phases with the Narcissist - 'Feel sorry for me'. And Yes Melissa you can Fake AN emotion you can Fake All emotions - Bryce has faked this whole relationship.'
Only 6% of President Joe Biden's infrastructure bill actually is focused on infrastructure, South Dakota's Republican Senator John Thune claimed Sunday morning.

The comments come as Biden's Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wouldn't rule out adding in a way to get so-called 'dreamers' citizenship in the $2.3 trillion infrastructure package.

'If they are interested in roads, bridges, highways and perhaps broadband, then there is a deal to be had there,' Thune, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, told 'Fox News Sunday' host Chris Wallace.

'Infrastructure in the past has always been bipartisan, when it's confined to infrastructure,' he continued.

Thune said that Biden's proposal 'is a massive expansion of the government.

'Only about 6% of the president's proposal actually goes to what the American people  I think everyday Americans  would describe as infrastructure.'

South Dakota Senator John Thune said only 6% of Joe Biden's package is focused on hard infrastructure despite the president touting it as an infrastructure bill

His claim came as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg refused to rule out the administration adding in a path to citizenship in the bill

Republicans lament Biden's administration is attempting to redefine infrastructure to include pet projects, including more green initiatives and social welfare measures.

Biden's team  and other Democrats  argue that the definition of 'infrastructure' needs to be expanded to encompass, among other things, rural broadband, elderly care, and universal child care.

'We can agree to disagree on what to call it  I'm still going to ask you to vote for it,' Buttigieg told CNN's 'State of the Union' on Sunday morning.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus wants to provide a path to citizenships for those in the U.S. with temporary protected status (TPS) and Obama-era 'dreamers', whose fate was up in the air when former President Doanld Trump said he would not honor their special status.

Republicans lament Democrats are trying to squeeze in their pet projects in Biden's $2.3 trillion infrastructure package  rather than including 'hard' infrastructure measures to improve roads, bridges and buildings

The caucus also wants the infrastructure package to include citizenship paths for essential workers who are not U.S. citizens.

Although Buttigieg did not rule out the idea, he said a path to citizenship is not currently 'in the plan that the president's put forward.

'I will say that we're hearing a lot of ideas from across the aisle and from within our caucus on what to do about the pay-fors, different shapes that the infrastructure package and the transportation infrastructure can take,' Buttigieg told CNN host Jake Tapper.

'I think you'll find the president is ready to listen to these ideas that are going to come up, for example, in tomorrow's meeting,' he added.

Assuredly adding in any immigration provisions to the package would only further complicate getting any Republican support for the bill.

Biden will meet on Monday with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to discuss his infrastructure plan.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm also tried to join in on redefining infrastructure on Sunday.

'What is infrastructure? Historically, it's been what makes the economy move,' Granholm told ABC's 'This Week' host George Stephanopoulos on Sunday.

Biden's Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm tried to redefine infrastructure, claiming ti 'evolves to meet the American peoples' aspirations'

'Infrastructure evolves to meet the American peoples' aspirations  and it's not static,' she insisted. 'We don't want to use past definitions of infrastructure when we are moving into the future.'

She added: 'The president wants to negotiate with Republicans and he wants to see a common vision for the future.'

Both Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Chris Coons of Delaware, a close friend and longtime colleague of Biden, have expressed their opposition to an infrastructure bill of such magnitude.

Coons even suggested there should be a bill focused solely on 'hard' infrastructure bill with a price tag in the hundreds of billions  not few trillions.
Numbers vaccinated and assurances of second jab By Kumudini Hettiarachchi and Ruqyyaha Deane View(s): View(s):

Dont panic, there are adequate vaccines to give the second dose for those who are due to get it in two-three weeks, assured Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera.

Pointing out that those who have got AstraZenecas COVISHIELD vaccine have about 75-80% protection, he however strongly advised people to follow the health precautions of hand-hygiene, face-mask wearing and social distancing scrupulously.

He told a media briefing on Thursday that while in Sri Lanka they were hoping to give the second dose in 12 weeks (three months), Canada which had administered the same vaccine had put off the second dose to 16 weeks (four months).

Sri Lanka has so far received:

500,000 doses of COVISHIELD as a donation from India

500,000 doses of COVISHIELD have been bought by the government from the Serum Institute of India

264,000 doses of COVISHIELD have been sent under the COVAX initiative

Dr. Samaraweera gave the breakdown of the vaccine administration as:

Total jabs given  924,757 doses

Health workers including state & private hospitals, laboratory staff, medical students, etc.  167,926

Tri-forces, police and civil defence personnel  128,700

Others who fall into the high-risk category (those at airports, ports, prison staff, electricity installations, etc.)  43,329

Under the community vaccination programme, those who fall into the high-risk category due to kidney disease in the Western Province (WP) and Matara district  3,309

Those over-60 years of age in WP  230,830

Those between 30 and 59 years of age  350,663

Dr. Samaraweera added that on April 5 and 6 (Monday and Tuesday), 2,469 Chinese people in Colombo, Kandy, Puttalam and Hambantota had been administered the Sinopharm vaccine.

The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA), meanwhile, has written to the Director-General (DG) of Health Services, Dr. Asela Gunawardena that confusion has been created about the second dose due to contradictory statements.

Ensuring the second dose of the COVISHIELD-AstraZeneca vaccine at the recommended time period will reduce the mental stress of healthcare workers and allow them to concentrate on patient care, the GMOA says.

The letter signed by GMOA Secretary Dr. Senal Fernando states: The Health Ministry is obliged to ensure the second dose of the COVID vaccines administration to all those who received it during the first round, at the correct interval as recommended by the relevant expert committees. It was officially declared that vaccinating with the second dose will be initiated from April 19.

Several of our members and Branch Unions have queried whether it is feasible if the available limited number of doses are used as the first dose in the public vaccination programme.

Contradictory statements by health authorities, especially those responsible for COVID control, will adversely affect the publics trust in vaccination programmes. This is totally unacceptable in a country which has always been a model to other countries.

Hence, we request you to ensure that media statements on technical decisions on vaccination are neither contradictory nor breach the trust of public and healthcare workers regarding the vaccination programme.

Next COVAX allocation in May The World Health Organizations Sri Lanka office has sent the following replies to questions asked by the Sunday Times recently. n How will Sri Lanka secure the balance vaccines for 20-27% of its eligible population, as promised by COVAX? So far, Sri Lanka has received only 264,000 doses of COVISHIELD as its first tranche from COVAX. A. The COVAX Facility remains committed to providing vaccine doses for 20% of the countrys population. The timeline and type of vaccine are subject to availability and country preference. n When will the next tranche be sent and how many doses would it be? Would the type of vaccine be different? A. We will likely receive the next allocation of vaccines through COVAX in May. The Government of Sri Lanka has also indicated that they will be using Sputnik V and Sinopharm vaccines separate to COVAX.
FILE - This file photo released Nov. 5, 2019, by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, shows centrifuge machines in the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran. The facility lost power Sunday, April 11, 2021, just hours after starting up new advanced centrifuges capable of enriching uranium faster, the latest incident to strike the site amid negotiations over the tattered atomic accord with world powers. Iran on Sunday described the blackout an act of nuclear terrorism, raising regional tensions. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran via AP, File)
The Supreme Court late Friday ruled against California, blocking the restrictions ban on in-home Bible studies and other religious gatherings.

The courts narrow 54 ruling was in favor of a group of Santa Clara residents who asserted the restrictions violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

Applicants are likely to succeed on the merits of their free exercise claim; they are irreparably harmed by the loss of free exercise rights for even minimal periods of time; the State has not shown that public health would be imperiled by employing less restrictive measures, an unsigned opinion of the courts majority said in its opinion.

The ruling is the fifth time the nations highest court has overruled the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on California COVID-19 fueled restrictions, including a February ruling that saw the court grant a worshippers application asking for restrictions on in-person religious services be rolled back.

It is unsurprising that such litigants are entitled to relief. Californias Blueprint System contains myriad exceptions and accommodations for comparable activities, thus requiring the application of strict scrutiny, the majority wrote on Friday.

COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

The blueprint system is the statewide criteria for loosening or tightening restrictions based on the level of CCP virus spread.

Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett made up the majority.

Chief Justice John Roberts, another Republican-nominated justice, joined the courts liberal wing in dissenting, though he did not sign on to the dissenting opinion authored by Justice Elena Kagan.

Kagan said she would have rejected the application for relief because she felt the state complied with the First Amendment in its limiting religious gatherings in homes to three households since the state had the same restrictions on secular gatherings in homes.

It has adopted a blanket restriction on at-home gatherings of all kinds, religious and secular alike. California need not, as the per curiam insists, treat at-home religious gatherings the same as hardware stores and hair salonsand thus unlike at-home secular gatherings, the obvious comparator here, she wrote.

The original order in the case denying the application for relief came from U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh, who said that in light of the unique risks of gatherings in spreading COVID-19; the deaths and serious illnesses that result from COVID-19; and the overwhelming strain on the healthcare system, enjoining the state and county restrictions on in-home religious gatherings would not be in the public interest.

The Ninth Circuits panel upheld Kohs ruling, writing last month that appellants had not satisfied the requirements for the extraordinary remedy of an injunction pending appeal.

Specifically, the panel held that appellants had not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits for their free exercise, due process, or equal protection claims, nor had they demonstrated that injunctive relief was necessary for their free speech claims, the panel wrote.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs and defense did not immediately respond to requests for comment. California had argued in a brief on Thursday that its policy regarding in-home gatherings applied to all gatherings, no matter their purpose, while also offering the Supreme Court did not need to intervene because the state will relax restrictions later this month.
A former Boston police officer and union chief, charged with molesting multiple children, first faced child abuse allegations in the mid-1990s, according to a published report.

Patrick Rose Sr., 66, a retired officer and the one-time president of the Boston Police Patrolmens Association, was initially charged last August when a father and his teenage daughter reported that the girl had been repeatedly molested by Rose from age 7 through 12.

Within weeks, five more people came forward to accuse Rose of molesting them as children.

The Boston Police Department in 1995 filed a criminal complaint against Rose for sexual assault on a 12-year-old child, The Boston Globe reported Sunday.

The criminal complaint was eventually dropped, but an internal investigation concluded that Rose likely committed a crime. He was allowed to stay on the force, and was often sent to respond to cases involving children.

Boston police have refused to release records pertaining to the 1995 case and it remains unclear what, if any, disciplinary action was taken against Rose at that time.

Rose pleaded not guilty to 33 total charges involving six alleged victims and is being held on $200,000 cash bail.

My client maintains his innocence to all of the charges that have been brought against him and he maintains his innocence to what was alleged to have transpired back in 1995, his attorney, William J. Keefe, said.

The Boston Police Department in a statement said it was legally prohibited from commenting on the facts and circumstances of the 1995 investigation of these horrific allegations.

Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins said in a statement she found it troubling that Boston police did not properly discipline Rose or restrict his access to children.

The allegations from decades ago are an example of how systems can fail people, Rollins said.

Acting Mayor Kim Janey, is promising more transparency.

It is appalling that there was a documented history of alleged child sexual abuse, yet this individual was able to serve out his career as an officer and eventually become the head of the patrolmens union for several years, she said in a statement. Under no circumstance will crimes of this nature be tolerated under my administration, and we will not turn a blind eye to injustices as they arise.

Bostons police department has a history of protecting officers from accountability, particularly if they are white, like Rose, said retired deputy superintendent Willie Bradley.

The police departments refusal to actually deal with this issue is a direct contributor to what happened, Bradley, who is Black and now a lecturer and professor at multiple area colleges, told The Boston Globe. It would have been out there and people would have been aware of it, but they hid it.
Denton, TX (76205)

Today

Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. High 77F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Cloudy with showers. Low 66F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.

0108263 License for publishing multimedia online



Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349
Nigerian doctors embarked on a strike on April 1 after a meeting with a government delegation on March 31 ended in a deadlock.

Various issues including non-payment of House Officers, non-recruitment of House Officers, abolishment of the bench fees, and non-payment of National Minimum Wage consequential adjustment arrears triggered the industrial action.

The strike was suspended late Saturday night for an initial period of four weeks.

Meanwhile, World Health Day was commemorated on April 7 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic which continues to threaten improvement in health and social services.

Here is a round-up of some of the health stories that made headlines last week.

Nigeria records 84 new cases, one more death from COVID-19

Nigeria on Saturday recorded 84 new COVID-19 infections and a single fatality from the disease, according to health authorities.

With one death on Saturday, the total deaths from the disease in the country rose to 2,060.

This is according to an update published by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Saturday night.

UPDATED: Resident doctors suspend strike for four weeks

The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has suspended its ongoing strike for an initial period of four weeks.

The president of the association, Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES late Saturday night.

The strike has been suspended for four weeks and isolation centres resume 8 a.m. on Sunday and others on Monday, he said.

Nigeria receives 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine from India

The Nigerian government on Tuesday received 100,000 doses of Covishield COVID-19 vaccines from India.

This will boost the number of Nigerians to be vaccinated by about 50,000, the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, said at the committees weekly briefing on Tuesday.

Africas COVID-19 cases pass 4.3 million  Africa CDC

The number of confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Africa has reached 4,330,666 as of Saturday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The Africa CDC, the specialised healthcare agency of the African Union (AU), said the death toll from the pandemic stood at 115,191 while 3,888,495 patients across the continent have recovered from the disease.

World Health Day: CSOs advocate improved investment in Nigerias health sector

In commemoration of the 2021 World Health Day, some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) are advocating increased investment in the health sector to restore crumbling services for women and children in the Nigeria.

In a joint statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday, the organisations said there is need for government to invest in equity enhancing strategies to protect women and their newborns.

COVID-19: Nigerian govt gives states condition to halt vaccination

The Nigerian government has directed all states to halt COVID-19 vaccination once they utilise half of the doses allocated to them.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Minister of State for Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora, disclosed this while speaking at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 weekly briefing on Tuesday.

Less than 2% of COVID-19 vaccines administered worldwide was in Africa  WHO

Less than two per cent of the 690 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered globally have been in Africa, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday.

In a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES, the international health agency said about 45 African countries have received vaccines and 43 of them have commenced vaccinations.

Governments gender blind to COVID-19s greater impact on women  Reports

Governments are putting women and girls at greater risk of the health and socio-economic impacts posed by the coronavirus pandemic, two global studies released Wednesday show.

They called on leaders to prioritise gender equity in their response to the health crisis.

World Health Day: WHO Urges Nigeria, Others To Build A Fairer, Healthier World Post-COVID-19

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has enjoined countries to address barriers and inequalities that hamper access to quality healthcare in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement to mark this years World Health Day, Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa said COVID-19 has unfairly impacted some people more harshly than others, exacerbating existing inequities in health and welfare within and between countries.
Local environmentalists have warned of the appearance of the Rugulopteryx okamurae algae in the Maro-Cerro Gordo protected cliff area.

Divers investigating the arrival of the species, which has invasive behaviour, say that it could have "disastrous consequences" for marine life in the area.

GENA - Ecologistas en Accion have warned that the algae reproduces rapidly in warm temperatures and can suffocate native species of algae. It can also affect the fishing industry as well as tourism when it washes up on beaches.

The algae was first identified in the Strait of Gibraltar in 2015 and has gradually spread along the Andalusian coast as far as Almeria.

Research is being carried out to identify the algae's weaknesses as a possible way to control the invasion.
- By GF Value





The stock of Rent-A-Center (NAS:RCII, 30-year Financials) shows every sign of being significantly overvalued, according to GuruFocus Value calculation. GuruFocus Value is GuruFocus' estimate of the fair value at which the stock should be traded. It is calculated based on the historical multiples that the stock has traded at, the past business growth and analyst estimates of future business performance. If the price of a stock is significantly above the GF Value Line, it is overvalued and its future return is likely to be poor. On the other hand, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher. At its current price of $58.13 per share and the market cap of $3.2 billion, Rent-A-Center stock is estimated to be significantly overvalued. GF Value for Rent-A-Center is shown in the chart below.





Rent-A-Center Stock Is Estimated To Be Significantly Overvalued

Because Rent-A-Center is significantly overvalued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to be much lower than its future business growth, which averaged 0.2% over the past five years.

Link: These companies may deliever higher future returns at reduced risk.

It is always important to check the financial strength of a company before buying its stock. Investing in companies with poor financial strength have a higher risk of permanent loss. Looking at the cash-to-debt ratio and interest coverage is a great way to understand the financial strength of a company. Rent-A-Center has a cash-to-debt ratio of 0.34, which is worse than 68% of the companies in Business Services industry. The overall financial strength of Rent-A-Center is 6 out of 10, which indicates that the financial strength of Rent-A-Center is fair. This is the debt and cash of Rent-A-Center over the past years:

Rent-A-Center Stock Is Estimated To Be Significantly Overvalued

It poses less risk to invest in profitable companies, especially those that have demonstrated consistent profitability over the long term. A company with high profit margins is also typically a safer investment than one with low profit margins. Rent-A-Center has been profitable 8 over the past 10 years. Over the past twelve months, the company had a revenue of $2.8 billion and earnings of $3.73 a share. Its operating margin is 8.43%, which ranks better than 69% of the companies in Business Services industry. Overall, GuruFocus ranks the profitability of Rent-A-Center at 6 out of 10, which indicates fair profitability. This is the revenue and net income of Rent-A-Center over the past years:

Story continues

Rent-A-Center Stock Is Estimated To Be Significantly Overvalued

Growth is probably the most important factor in the valuation of a company. GuruFocus research has found that growth is closely correlated with the long term stock performance of a company. A faster growing company creates more value for shareholders, especially if the growth is profitable. The 3-year average annual revenue growth of Rent-A-Center is 0.2%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Business Services industry. The 3-year average EBITDA growth rate is 12.3%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Business Services industry.

Another method of determining the profitability of a company is to compare its return on invested capital to the weighted average cost of capital. Return on invested capital (ROIC) measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. When the ROIC is higher than the WACC, it implies the company is creating value for shareholders. For the past 12 months, Rent-A-Center's return on invested capital is 16.03, and its cost of capital is 10.07. The historical ROIC vs WACC comparison of Rent-A-Center is shown below:

Rent-A-Center Stock Is Estimated To Be Significantly Overvalued

To conclude, The stock of Rent-A-Center (NAS:RCII, 30-year Financials) appears to be significantly overvalued. The company's financial condition is fair and its profitability is fair. Its growth ranks in the middle range of the companies in Business Services industry. To learn more about Rent-A-Center stock, you can check out its 30-year Financials here.

To find out the high quality companies that may deliever above average returns, please check out GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


Federal officers disperse a crowd at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Portland, Ore., Sept. 18, 2020. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Portland ICE Building Set on Fire During Riots: Reports

Rioters in Portland, Oregon, tried to set fire to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building on Saturday night, according to video footage and local journalists.

Video footage uploaded on Twitter by several users showed a fire burning at the entrance to the building.

Rioters were also seen shooting off Roman candles at the building. And a small fire was seen in the ICE buildings driveway, footage showed. The individuals were then seen placing wood and pallets on top of the small fire. According to one uploader, many windows have been smashed.

Freelance journalist Chris Landis reported that police and protesters faced off outside the ICE building. Federal agents reportedly used pepper balls in an attempt to disperse the crowd, according to freelance journalists on the scene.

Later, he wrote: The ICE building has been set on fire.

The Epoch Times has contacted the Portland Police Department and ICE for comment. Its not clear if there were any injuries or arrests.

Left-wing protesters and rioters from anarcho-communist network Antifa have, for years, targeted the ICE building in Portland including during last years summer riots. In 2018, a vigil at Portlands ICE headquarters turned into a tent city-like encampment with several hundreds of people reminiscent of the Occupy Wall Street protests about a decade ago.

On Friday, a small number of protesters smashed windows of a Portland contracting company, Rapid Response Bio Clean, that has been previously hired to clean up debris left after riots or unauthorized encampments.

No arrests were made, but the investigation is still ongoing, said Portland Police Bureau spokesman Sgt. Kevin Allen, according to the Portland Tribune. We ask that anyone who has information about who is responsible for the criminal mischief to email crimetips@portlandoregon.gov.

Reports suggested that several windows were smashed at a local Chase Bank location and other buildings.

Last week, firefighters and police responded to an apparent arson attack at the Portland Police Union building. No arrests were made.

Separately, Multnomah County commissioners sent a letter to the White House asking that federal agents stop using tear gas against rioters.

Over the past year, tear gas has been deployed by law enforcement agencies on multiple occasions in response to protests across Multnomah County, including in residential neighborhoods and parks. This indiscriminate use of chemical weapons does not just affect protestors, but also harms neighbors who are unwittingly exposed in their own homes, they wrote.
OTTAWA - Justin Trudeau wound up a three-day Liberal convention Saturday with a partisan speech that sounded much like the launch of an election campaign.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau watches a speaker appear by videoconference during a news conference in Ottawa, Friday, April 9, 2021. Grassroots Liberals have overwhelmingly endorsed a resolution calling on the federal government to develop and implement a universal basic income  despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's apparent lack of enthusiasm for the idea. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA - Justin Trudeau wound up a three-day Liberal convention Saturday with a partisan speech that sounded much like the launch of an election campaign.

While the prime minister has insisted he has no interest in plunging the country into an election in the midst of the deadly third wave of COVID-19, his speech was aimed at positioning the governing Liberals as the only party with "real solutions to the real problems" facing Canadians.

By contrast, Trudeau portrayed the Conservatives as disconnected climate deniers and peddlers of disinformation with a two-faced leader.

And he painted the Bloc Quebecois as a party that's all talk and no action, a manufacturer of jurisdictional squabbles, incapable of delivering the concrete measures Quebecers need.

He did not mention either the New Democrat or Green parties directly, although he urged Liberals to reach out to friends and neighbours who planted "a blue, orange or green" lawn sign during the 2019 campaign to spread the word about the Liberal plan for surviving the pandemic and reviving the shattered economy.

Liberal rank and file, meanwhile, endorsed Saturday a number of policy resolutions that could wind up mowing the NDP and Green parties' grass should they wind up in the Liberal election platform, including calls for a universal basic income, national pharmacare and enforceable national standards for long-term care homes.

Trudeau's wrap-up speech came little more than a week before his minority Liberal government is to introduce its first budget in two years, a document that will be dripping in more than $380-billion worth of pandemic-induced red ink and will lay out up to $100 billion more in new spending that Liberals say will stimulate more equitable, inclusive and environmentally sustainable economic growth.

If all three of the main opposition parties were to vote against the budget, the government would fall. However, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has promised his party won't trigger an election during the pandemic.

Trudeau could decide to pull the plug himself and Liberal insiders suggest that could happen during the summer, provided the vaccine rollout is going smoothly and the pandemic, currently spreading like wildfire once again, is brought back under control.

In his speech to the virtual convention Saturday, Trudeau reminded Liberals of all the measures his government hastily introduced to help millions of Canadians stay afloat during the health crisis: the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, the wage subsidy, rent relief, business loans, among others.

"My friends, what it all comes down to is this: which party has a real plan for the real problems in the real world," he said, standing alone in a studio with a red Liberal backdrop, facing a giant screen dotted with the faces of party supporters watching online.

"Some refuse to accept reality, all while offering falsehoods and division."

He attacked Erin O'Toole's Conservatives, repeatedly asking "how disconnected do you have to be" to advocate cutting CERB payments during the pandemic, to "call young people lazy when their summer jobs disappeared," to "flirt with disinformation on public health and vaccines" and to refuse to admit that climate change is real?

"The problem for Erin O'Toole is that he's not interested in real solutions to real problems," Trudeau charged.

He accused the Conservative leader of being "willing to say different things to different people at different times," claiming to want safer communities and to be personally pro-choice while pandering to the gun lobby and the anti-abortion faction of his party to win the Tory leadership.

As for the Bloc, the Liberals' primary opponent in Quebec, Trudeau said it "pretends to be the only party that can speak for Quebecers" while Liberals are the ones who deliver "the goods for Quebecers with direct help for seniors, businesses, families and workers."

"When the time comes to deliver for Quebecers, it takes Quebecers in government," he said.

He highlighted how his government has worked with Quebec authorities to combat the pandemic, including sending in the military and Red Cross to help in hard-hit long-term care homes.

"We prefer to choose action instead of division. We are always there for Quebecers, and for all Canadians," he said. "And we will continue to have a unifying message instead of looking for squabbles."

New Democrat MP Charlie Angus countered with a statement accusing Trudeau of trying to "dine out on COVID benefits the NDP forced him to provide to Canadians."

"Justin Trudeau wanted to leave millions of people behind, but the NDP wouldn't let him," said Angus, whose party was holding its own virtual convention Saturday.

Earlier in the day, grassroots Liberals ranked a national pharmacare program  a favourite demand of New Democrats  as their top priority among 26 resolutions chosen to become official party policy. The Trudeau government has promised to deliver pharmacare but has so far taken only incremental steps toward achieving it.

Two slightly different resolutions on implementing a universal basic income were ranked second and fifth, despite Trudeau's apparent lack of enthusiasm for the idea. He has suggested now is not the time to embark on a costly overhaul of the country's social safety net.

The parliamentary budget officer last week concluded that a universal basic income could almost halve Canada's poverty rate in just one year but at a steep cost: $85-billion in 2021-22, rising to $93-billion in 2025-26.

Conservative MP Ed Fast said Trudeau would have to "increase personal income taxes by almost 50 per cent, or triple the GST" in order to pay the basic income tab.

The simple fact is that this risky and unknown experiment will leave millions more Canadians behind," Fast said in a statement.

Liberals ranked national standards for long-term care homes as their third-highest priority.

Other resolutions that made the top 26 included calls for a 10 per cent increase in old age security for those 70 and over, a "green new deal" to ensure a just and fair to transition to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and investments in affordable housing, a trans-Canada high-speed rail line and expanded access to high-speed Internet.

Liberals rejected the one resolution that could have helped the government pay for all the other proposed costly new initiatives endorsed by convention-goers.

That defeated resolution called on the government to impose an inheritance tax on all assets over $2 million and to reduce the capital gains tax exemption by 40 per cent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2021.
There is already a 5,000-strong petition for a statue to be erected in his honour

The death of the nation's longest serving consort at 99 was announced Friday

Prince Philip sailed 70,000 miles on last yacht Britannia before it was decommissioned in 1997

MPs and businessmen have suggested naming after the late Duke of Edinburgh

Boris Johnson has been urged to consider sanctioning a successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia as a memorial to the Duke of Edinburgh, it emerged last night.

Politicians and business leaders have called for the construction of the vessel to serve as a sister ship to aircraft carriers Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales.

Prince Philip, who died on Friday at Windsor Castle aged 99, served with the Royal Navy in the Second World War and was Lord High Admiral at the time of his death.

He travelled 70,000 miles on Britannia, including on two round-the-world trips, before it was decommissioned in 1997.

Philip also played a key role in the commissioning and design of the original yacht in the 1950s.

Boris Johnson has been urged to consider sanctioning a successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia as a memorial to the Duke of Edinburgh. Pictured: The Queen and Prince Philip leave the Royal Yacht Britannia for the last time in Portsmouth where it was paid off in 1997

Philip travelled 70,000 miles on Britannia, including on two round-the-world trips, before it was decommissioned in 1997.

Calls for a replacement have been made several times before, but now MPs believe making the ship as a memorial to the Duke would make it more appropriate.

One Cabinet minister told the Sunday Telegraph that the ship could receive backing if it doubled as hospital ship or a training vessel as well as serving the Royal Family.

They said: 'Having a symbol of the nation that can travel the world, be used by the Royal family and have another sensible purpose such as helping young people is a better scheme. It could also be a flagship for reinvigorated British shipbuilding.'

They added that an announcement on such a ship, which would cost around 190million, could be tied to the Queen's diamond jubilee next year.

Calls for a replacement have been made several times before, but now MPs believe making the ship as a memorial to the Duke would make it more appropriate.

Number 10 sources gave the proposal for a successor a cautious welcome, saying it was a 'nice idea' but they would have to consider the country's wider shipbuilding plans first.

Tory MP Craig MacKinlay, who has been co-ordinating a Westminster group backing plans for a new yacht, told the paper: 'The towering figure that was the Duke of Edinburgh deserves a permanent tribute to his support for the country, the Commonwealth and the Queen.'

Jake Berry, the chairman of the Northern Research Group of Conservative MPs, said: 'The Duke of Edinburgh was well known for his love of Britannia  it is a fitting tribute to now create a new royal yacht named the Duke of Edinburgh in his memory and for the Queen.'

Philip died at Windsor Castle on Friday, with the Queen reportedly at his bedside

Britannia is now berthed at Edinburgh, where she is one of the UK's most popular tourist attractions.

A secret naval design for a 100 million replacement was drawn up by naval staff and approved by representatives of the Royal family, but the Labour Government refused to pay for it.

Writing on the decision to decommission the vessel, Philip said in a 2003 that it 'signalled the end of an unbroken succession of Royal Yachts dating back to the reign of King Charles II'.

There have also been calls for Philip to be honoured with a statue in London in recognition of his 'great personal dedication and support to Her Majesty the Queen'.

A petition on Change.org has already attracted almost 6,000 signatures.
New Delhi: Delhi on Sunday (April 11, 2021) recorded 10,774 new COVID-19 cases and 48 new fatalities were recorded taking the death toll to 11,283, it is the highest single-day surge in the national capital since the pandemic broke, a bulletin issued by the health department.

Asserting that the COVID-19 situation in Delhi. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal issued a stark warning for residents that they should not step out of their homes unless it is urgent. He termed the second wave as "very serious".

"Cases have escalated in a big way in the last 10-15 days. And, in the past 24 hours, the city has recorded 10,732 cases. The situation is very serious," he said earlier in the day.

Kejriwal in a public briefing termed the COVID-19 situation in Delhi 'very serious' and requested citizens to not go to the hospital if there is mild or no symptoms. The AAP leader said the government is closely monitoring the situation and is not in favour of complete lockdown.

The CM urged people to opt for home isolation and to approach the hospitals only in serious cases as the rise in infections can overwhelm the hospitals. He insisted that the hospital beds be left vacant for serious cases.

"Do not go for private hospitals only, as they have limited beds, the Delhi government hospitals also have enough beds and are well equipped," Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal expressed hope that Delhi will be able to beat the fourth wave just like the previous three COVID-19 waves.
Work will soon start on the Kalba Clock Tower Square development in Sharjah, which, on completion, will be one of the distinctive features of the city. A major highlight of the tower will be a special tunnel leading to the clock tower and a 12-nozzel fountain in the centre of the square.

HH Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, yesterday (April 10) laid the cornerstone of the Clock Tower Square in Kalba City.

It is a part of the development and tourism projects for public facilities and infrastructure in the region.

The scope of work includes expanding the square and modifying its diametre to 104 m and establishing a clock tower at a height of 42 m on an area of 668 sq m, with a clock in the middle top of the tower fixed in a manner that allows being seen from all corners of the city.

The tower will also include a number of facilities and safe transit corridors that are commensurate with all the needs of the members of the different groups of the society, and a special tunnel leading to the clock tower, in addition to a lift to provide safe and secure access to the different floors of the tower, said senior officials.

Upon arrival at the venue, Dr Sheikh Sultan was briefed on the construction drilling operations that have been completed at the site by Engineer Salah Bin Butti Al Muhairi, adviser to Sharjah Department of Town Planning and Survey.

He also explained the engineering plans and maps for the square and the clock tower.

A key highlight of the clock tower will be a 12-nozzel fountain at the centre of the square representing the hour hand of the clock, while the other small nozzles represent the minute hand.

The Clock is a unique and distinctive feature to be added to the square, which will also contain 4 additional nozzles parallel to Al Wehda Street, the officials added.

Two additional balconies of different heights will also be established to allow visitors to the tower to see the stunning natural landscapes and landmarks views surrounding the square, which will be surrounded by 2,100 square- metre green areas, in addition to parking spaces along the Corniche Street to serve visitors.

During his visit, His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah was also briefed on the development work on Al Wahda Street, which connects the road from the Square and Clock Tower to Kalba Corniche Street.

The project includes developing the road with a length of 4,200 meters, where engineering work will be carried out for a double  lane in each direction, with a service road and side parking for cars, in order to raise the level of safety and facilitate the traffic movement of vehicles from both directions.-TradeArabia News Service
Although the first downpours of April have heralded the rainy season in southern Vietnam, it is forecast that scorching heat accompanied by dangerously high UV levels will linger for at least the next week.

In the first ten days of April, rainfall of 15-30 millimeters was recorded in most parts of southern Vietnam, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF).

Ba Tri District in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre reported the regions highest precipitation of 101mm during the time frame.

Over the next few days, southern Vietnam will continue to experience occasional rain, most likely on the 12th, 16th and 17th of April, NCHMF forecast.

Thunderstorms and gusts might accompany downpours, with rainfall typically falling into the range of 15-30mm, with the exception of some areas where rainwater will exceed 50mm.

It will likely rain in the late afternoon and evening while residents are told to brace for continued heat during daytime.

A 'very high' UV reading will remain in southern Vietnam until Tuesday and necessary precautions while going outdoors are advised.

Over the next ten days, saltwater intrusion on the Vam Co and Mekong Rivers are expected to intensify before abating after Thursday.

However, high salininty levels will keep troubling the Cai Lon River in Kien Giang Province until at least April 20, the NCHMF forecasts.

Farmers in the Mekong Delta region are therefore recommended to take extra caution in irrigation, especially when it concerns crops of high economic value.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Family is everything and for four Co Leitrim siblings the love they have for the youngest member of their family has inspired them to cycle and run 600km in a bid to raise much needed funds for the Children's Health Foundation Crumlin, formerly CMRF Crumlin, and Friends of the Coombe.

Riaghan, Caragh, Ornaith and Eabha-Mae Guckian from Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim have been very busy over the last few weeks in a bid to raise as much as possible for these very worthy charities.

They have already raised an astonishing 5,200 in just a few weeks and have impressed so many with their amazing effort.

The inspiration behind the fundraiser is their youngest sibling Senan, who was born in January 2020 at just 31 weeks gestation in the Coombe Women's and Infants Maternity Hospital in Dublin.

In the biography provided on the family's idonate site their parents, Paddy and Patricia note: Looking back at that moment, a journey began for us that manifest a strength within us that we never knew before, the NICU journey and beyond.

After a number of drawbacks in the very early days, including a bleed on the brain at one week old, Senan spent just short of six weeks in the neonatal unit in The Coombe.

Leaving hospital four days after giving birth without your baby is one of the most nerve-wracking and surreal experiences any parent could encounter. However, knowing that we were leaving our little newborn preemie in the safe and experienced hands that we left Senan in made this journey home and the days and weeks that followed, somewhat more bearable.

The care and attention that Senan received from the doctors and nurses in NICU in The Coombe is something that will reside with us forever.

A phonecall at any time of the day or night to check in on how Senan was doing was always received with a happy greeting at the other side of the phone.

They shine a beaming light through those days of darkness and uncertainty that surround a families NICU journey.

Senan's sisters and brothers never met him in person until he left NICU, but they listened to these phonecalls and saw endless amounts of videos and photos that never left them under any illusion that their baby brother wasn't being looked after like a little king! He was a little trooper through it all, and his little fighting nature gave us strength every day.



Before Senan's discharge from NICU, when we thought things were really looking bright, we received the news that any parent would dread. Our beautiful little boy had been diagnosed with congenital heart defects - ASD, VSD & pulmonary stenosis. Senan was immediately placed under the expert care of the cardiac team in Crumlin hospital. We are so grateful to his cardiologist and team for the care he has received since then, and indeed into the foreseeable future. Any trip to Crumlin has been made stress free by the wonderful staff there, and with only one parent allowed to attend appointments and admissions, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have always been treated with the utmost compassion on these occasions.

Senan's siblings (with a little help from mammy and daddy) are going to do a combination run/walk/cycle 600 kilometres over the next month. We are hoping to raise vital funds for the two aforementioned hospitals, as a token of our gratitude to them for the service they have provided and continue to provide us with.

We would hope that families in our situation in the future could reap the same benefits and experiences as we have. We will be forever indebted to the doctors and nurses in NICU and Crumlin for their expertise and the care which Senan has and continues to receive from them.

The monies raised from this fundraiser will go directly to NICU in The Coombe and The Heart Centre, CHI @ Crumlin.

These vital funds are used for things such as to purchase essential equipment and for ongoing research implementation, which will benefit many babies born too small, too sick, too soon, and children with heart conditions and their families, both now and in the future.

To make a donation to support this very special fundraiser you can do so through their idonate page:

www.idonate.ie/siblings600kforSenan
When European drug regulators acknowledged a link between Plcs Covid-19 vaccine and a rare type of blood clots, it spread another dose of skepticism across the continent. But in the poorer east, the doubts are more over the findings than the shot.

Most western members of the announced some restrictions of the vaccines use for younger age groups or halted it completely. The opposite happened across the east, with nine of 11 nations in the region deciding to keep administrating the shot to all adults.

Lets not create unnecessary panic, Bulgarian Health Minister Kostadin Angelov said as he listed the benefits of Astra drug. Lets not become a part of that war between the different companies, because its already visible.

The former Eastern Bloc is home to almost a quarter of the EUs 440 million population and is struggling to tame the pandemic. For these countrieswhich dominate the worlds top 10 list of deaths per capitacurbing a vaccine thats key to their supplies is unthinkable because they cant afford to slow inoculation. Germany, by comparison, has doubled the number of daily Covid-19 vaccinations, while France hit a key milestone a week early.

The world is counting on the Astra shot because of its price and ease-of-use, and it represents most of the vaccines ordered by about a third of eastern EU members. The vaccine is more easily transported and stored than the mRNA-based vaccines from Moderna Inc. and Pfizer-BioNTech, and the Anglo-Swedish company has promised to deliver as many as 3 billion shots in 2021 on a not-for-profit basis.

Hungary, which strayed from the EU-orchestrated procurement program and directly purchased vaccines from Russia and China, also has sought to express its support for Astra.

The debate surrounding AstraZenecas vaccine should be viewed as a business struggle between drugmakers rather than valid opinions on medical risks, Gergely Gulyas, the minister in charge of the prime minister's office, said on April 8.

A day earlier, the EU and UK regulators said there was a possible link between the Astra shot and blood clots, though both said the risks for most people were far outweighed by the benefits as the remains rife. Britain, whose vaccination program is way ahead of the rest of the continent, is now recommending under 30s get a different one.

In Bulgaria, the poorest and least vaccinated nation in the EU, the more expensive vaccines were used to inoculate priority groups such as doctors and teachers. Astra is the most widely available to the general public.

The countrys inoculation effort was already marred by poor organization and a 37 per cent refusal rate among its 7 million citizens to get vaccinated, according to a March poll by Exacta Research. Bulgaria will keep applying the Astra shot to all age groups but will offer a different jab to women with a high risk of thrombosis, in line with EMA recommendations, the health minister said.

Leaders elsewhere have been vocal about their own inoculation with Astra, hoping to boost its credibility as citizens get restless over lengthy lockdowns.

In Croatia, among the nations that has predominantly ordered Astra, PM Andrej Plenkovic said Thursday that he and other leaders have been administered the shot, stressing the vaccine is safe and people should get vaccinated.




WKCTC Economic Development Symposium Thursday

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - West Kentucky Community and Technical College will host its second annual Regional Economic Development Symposium on Thursday, April 15.The free event, titled "Re-tooling Post COVID," will be held virtually from 9 am to 11:30 am.The symposium will include panel discussions with presidents of area chambers of commerce, local economic development leaders, and local state legislators about their roles in navigating workforce and economic needs following the pandemic."We're excited to hold our second annual symposium this year, all be it virtual. There is a great agenda," said Kevin O'Neill, WKCTC vice president of regional workforce training and economic development.Keynote speakers include Matt Tackett, president and CEO of the Kentucky Association of Economic Development, and Kate Shanks, vice president of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. Paducah Bank is sponsoring the presentations.O'Neill hopes everyone can take away something useful from the event."My hope, above anything, is that you come away with one thing that you can apply to your business that could work, that you maybe haven't thought about. I hope that will be the case," he said.Although the event is virtual this year, O'Neill told West Kentucky Star he expects to have a good turnout.He said, "We're on track to what we did in person two years ago. I'm happy with that in and of itself."You can register for the event by contacting Tina Clark at tina.clark@kctcs.edu or by calling 270-534-3821. After registration, viewers will receive an invitation with login information via email.
North Korea Human Rights Watch report, earlier last month, had claimed that there was "barely any food" going into North Korea from China for months, and many citizens at the border areas had succumbed to hunger. The missionary, on condition of anonymity, had also disclosed that North Koreas prohibition of "free market" trade has led to a famine amid the COVID-19 pandemic worse than one that hit in the 1990s when the Soviet Union collapsed, and food supplies had hampered due to post-war North Korea's Stalinist economic system.

Now, admitting to the deepening economic crisis in his communist nation, North Koreas leader Kim Jong-Un Saturday rang emergency alarms, declaring food shortage at a closing ceremony of the party conference. Jong-Un called for his countrymen to prepare for an "arduous march," a euphemism that North Koreans use to describe the disastrous famine in the 1990s that killed close to 3 million citizens.

At a meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea, WPK, North Koreas leader said that the Korean country was facing the "worst-ever situation due to widespread food shortage with citizens starving, as trade with friendly neighbour China plummeted due to coronavirus pandemic. Jong-Un referred to US-led sanctions and heavy flooding as also the cause for the economic difficulties. There are many obstacles and difficulties ahead of us, and so our struggle for carrying out the decisions of the Eighth Party Congress would not be all plain sailing, Kim told lower-level ruling party members, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, according to The Associated Press.

I made up my mind to ask the WPK (Workers Party of Korea) organizations at all levels, including its Central Committee and the cell secretaries of the entire party, to wage another more difficult arduous march in order to relieve our people of the difficulty, even a little, Kim said.

The North Korean leader declared the countrywide famine in presence of his grassroots secretaries, saying that the crisis response would heavily rely on party cells as trade with China dipped by 90 percent after North Korea shut its border in an effort to contain the coronavirus pandemic that collapsed the countrys healthcare system. Even as deputy spokesman at South Koreas Unification Ministry, Cha Deok-Cheol, told reporters that North Korea was establishing measures to ease border trade with China, a UN report claimed that the restrictions flared the "widespread food insecurity in Pyongyang amid the 5-month restrictions.

UN special rapporteur says 'families sleep hungry'

At a separate news conference in Geneva, spokeswoman for the UN World Food Program (WFP) Elisabeth Byrs appealed to the UN Security Council to "reconsider sanctions on Pyongyang's more than 40 percent of its population faced malnutrition. UNs special rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana voiced similar concerns about the country's humanitarian crisis, saying that the pandemic had resulted in "drastic economic hardship in North Korea, worsening food shortages to alarming levels. He added that there was an increased loss of income and jobs, and families ate only twice a day or ate only corn, while many slept hungry, without food. Despite sharing a porous border with the Peoples Republic of China, North Korea had earlier made claims that there were zero cases of the novel coronavirus within its territory.

(Image Credit: AP)
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has abandoned setting targets for Australias vaccine rollout and conceded for the first time that not all Australians will get their first dose of a coronavirus jab by the end of the year, even though the government has doubled its order of Pfizers vaccine.

The government on Sunday confirmed the 20 million additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine contracted by Australia were due to arrive in the last quarter of 2021, supplying enough doses for all Australians to receive at least their first dose before the end of the year.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australia will not be setting targets under its new rollout plan. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Earlier, Trade Minister Dan Tehan assured Australians that the governments goal was to try to have all Australians have a dose by the end of the year but added that we have to remember that were dealing with a pandemic, things can change.

However, later on Sunday Mr Morrison posted on Facebook saying his government had not set, nor has any plans to set any new targets for completing first doses.
When the state announced where the Federal Emergency Management Agencys COVID vaccine trailer would be going during its 60 days in Connecticut, large cities such as Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven dominated the list  but tucked in the middle was North Canaan, population barely 3,200.

The small town, located on the Massachusetts border in the Northwest corner of the state, wouldnt seem like a stop for a mobile clinic primarily designed to reach people living in the 50 ZIP codes designated as socially vulnerable by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But when First Selectman Charlie Perotti heard about the FEMA trailer, he asked Torrington Health District Director Robert Rubbo to submit an application with the state Department of Public Health to get the trailer to his town.

Perotti figured the state owed him, after confusing his little town with New Canaan for several months and counting some of that communitys COVID cases as North Canaans. He also said the dearth of places to get vaccinated has left residents of his town driving to Kent or as far as Norwich to get their shots.

Theres nowhere to get a vaccine here except the Walgreens, and you can imagine how fast their appointments get snapped up, Perotti said.

North Canaan has a lower percentage of residents vaccinated than every community in the state except Hartford and Mansfield, according to DPH data.

About 24% of North Canaans residents have received at least a first dose, compared to 22% in Hartford and 23% in Mansfield.

The town also recently got a surprise when some of the states first cases of the B.1.1.7 variant were identified in North Canaan residents. Perotti said nobody has explained to him how that happened or who was infected with the so-called British variant. The town has only had 185 COVID cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

To his surprise, the state approved the request, and the FEMA trailer will be parked at Town Hall on April 14 for one day.

DPH spokeswoman Maura Fitzgerald said that North Canaan was chosen because state officials are aware of its low percentage of residents vaccinated and lack of nearby options to get a shot.

The FEMA mobile unit is being sent there for one day to provide the towns residents increased access to the vaccine, Fitzgerald said. While the FEMA unit is focused mainly on the high SVI towns, we also have some rural areas in the state that also lack equitable access to vaccine, and the FEMA unit will be deployed to those areas as well during the next 60 days to help increase the vaccine numbers in those towns.

But North Canaan is by far the smallest community the FEMA trailer will visit. It will be in Winsted the day before and Killingly at the end of the month.

The Town Hall parking lot was the only place in the community big enough to meet FEMAs need for a 3,500-square-foot space to set up the clinic, its generators and other equipment.

Perotti said people flooded Town Hall with calls as word spread that the trailer would be coming.

We had people calling from Salisbury and Cornwall, because people up here cant find anything. Its not just for us but all of the little towns up here in the Northwest corner, he said.

The FEMA trailer can distribute about 200 shots a day, and Perotti said they wont have trouble reaching that number and more.

We probably had over 100 people call already looking for appointments. Now I just need someone to tell me how they sign up for it, Perotti said.

Griffin Hospital will be staffing the FEMA trailer on its trip to North Canaan, and people can sign up at www.griffinhospital.org/northcanaan.
New Delhi, April 11 : A vaccine has been prepared to protect pigs from classical swine fever for which rabbits would no longer be slaughtered because a vaccine developed by indigenous technology is going to hit the market very soon. Developed by cell culture method, this vaccine would also be much cheaper. An Ahmedabad-based company has recently got the rights to commercially produce classical swine fever vaccine developed by scientists in the country as well as Sheep pox vaccine.

These two vaccines have been developed by scientists from Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izatnagar under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Deputy Director General (Animal Sciences), ICAR, Bhupendra Nath Tripathi said that the country needs an annual doses of 1.8 crore of classical swine fever vaccine, which was not enough to meet the requirements of earlier vaccines and had low immunity, but the immunity of the new vaccine is also higher and is quite cheap. He said after the commencement of commercial production, it will not be too late to prepare adequate vaccines to meet the present requirements as all the requirements of the vaccine would be met in just four flasks.

Tripathi told IANS that earlier a dose of vaccine used to cost Rs 20 to Rs 25, the new vaccine would cost just Rs 2. Describing the classical swine fever vaccine developed by cell culture method as an achievement, he said, "The important thing is that it will no longer require sacrificing of a huge number of rabbits for preparing vaccine. Only a single dose of the new vaccine will be enough as its immunity lasts for two years." Currently, a lapinized CSF vaccine (Weybridge, UK) is being used in India since 1964 for controlling the disease which requires sacrificing of a huge number of rabbits.

Scientists point out that the new vaccine provides safe, powerful and 100 per cent protection and maintains immunity in the animal's body for 24 months and 14 days since the day of vaccination.

Classical Swine Fever is a viral-borne disease in pigs characterized by high fever, haemorrhages over skin, cyanosis in the extremities of ear, limbs and abdomen and finally leading to loss of coordination of movement and paralysis of the hind quarters. The mortality rate of this disease is 100 per cent that results into huge economic losses.

Scientists point out that 50 doses of this vaccine are prepared from one rabbit which was very expensive as well as inadequate.

As much as 1.8 crore vaccines are required annually to vaccinate 90.6 lakh pigs in the country. Scientists point out that the new vaccine developed from cell culture method would easily meet the needs of the country.

Sheep pox is a contagious viral disease in sheep, with a serious socio-economic impact in terms of high morbidity (up to 100 per cent) and mortality (up to 50 per cent). The diease is characterized by fever, muco-purulent nasal discharge, papules and nodules all over the body.

Experts point out that the annual loss due to sheep pox in the country is estimated nearly Rs 125 crore and the only way to avoid this loss is the vaccination of sheep.

Therefore, IVRI has developed a live attenuated sheep vaccine using sheep indigenous isolate (SPPV Srin 38/00 strain). The vaccine has proved to be safe and effective in the test. Scientists point out that a single dose of this vaccine protects sheep for 48 months.

Both these vaccines have been commercialised through the agri innovation of Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) under the Union Ministry of Agriculture.

ICAR-IVRI signed two MoUs with Ahmedabad-based company 'Hester Biosciences' last week for commercial production of classical swine fever and sheep pox vaccines. Director General, ICAR and Secretary, DARE, Trilochan Mohapatra was also present.

Experts point out that these two vaccines developed under 'Make in India' initiative are examples of a meaningful progress towards making the country 'self-reliant'.
Australia needs to speed up its Covid-19 vaccine rollout and rethink its strategy if the country is going to reach its end of year deadline, a top doctor says.

Epidemiologist professor Nancy Baxter says it is unlikely the Federal Government will reach its target to have the entire population vaccinated by the end of the year if they continue on the current trajectory.

'We need to do it faster than we were hoping before, if we're hoping to get everyone vaccinated by the end of the year,' she told Weekend Today.

Her doubts come after several setbacks to the vaccine program, which include a delayed rollout and advice, from the country's chief immunisation authority, against the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Epidemiologist professor Nancy Baxter says it is unlikely the Federal Government will reach its target to have the entire population vaccinated by the end of the year if they continue on the current trajectory

Her doubts come after several setbacks to the vaccine program, which include a delayed rollout and advice, from the country's chief immunisation authority, against the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation advised on Thursday there was a risk of administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to people younger than 50.

The advice was made over fears of the vaccine's rare, but serious, blood-clotting side effect.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ordered an additional 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine following the review.

The vaccine rollout has already been plagued by massive delays with the government falling behind its vaccination schedule.

It had hoped to have four million people vaccinated by April 1, though the national toll only stood at 670,500.

Despite the setbacks the government is still determined to vaccinate the entire population by the end of the year.

Professor Baxter says the government needs to 'reboot' and 'rethink' the program.

'The vaccine program frankly was already pretty much in disarray,' Professor Baxter said.

'Now that we have to wait for a large part of the population for the Pfizer to come, they will have to rethink the program entirely.'

Australia has ordered 20million more doses of the Pfizer vaccine after the AstraZeneca vaccine was linked to potentially deadly bloodclots

Despite the setbacks the government is still determined to vaccinate the entire population by the end of the year

Professor Baxter said younger Australians still had the option to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine and described the likelihood of getting a blood clot as remote.

'When we give any medication, there's always some risks of side-effects. That's accepted because of the benefit of the medication,' she said.

'If you got penicillin for an infection, there's ten times the risk there would be a serious drug reaction with that drug (compared to the AstraZeneca vaccine).'

Mr Morrison is still encouraging Australians over 50 to have the AstraZeneca jab because they are less at risk of the clotting events and more at risk of getting seriously sick from Covid-19.

'You would be putting yourself at risk if you didn't get the vaccine, because you would be exposing yourself to the more likely event of a COVID contracted condition that could result in serious illness,' he said.

'That's why I want my mum to get it, and that's why I want your mum to kept get it, and your dad, your uncle, your aunt, your brother, your sister. That's a life-saving vaccine.'

In March more than a dozen countries suspended the AstraZeneca jab after a handful of European patients suffered brain blockages that can cause strokes
MASON CITY, Iowa - The 40th Annual North Iowa Farm Toy Show tokk place on Sunday at the North Iowa Events Center.

Dozens of tables were set up displaying dolls, trains, farm collectables, planes and more as hundreds of people filed through the massive space.

The event went from 8:30 am until 3:30 pm.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 18:55:35|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

TAIPEI, April 11 (Xinhua) -- A COVID-19 patient died in Taiwan Friday, raising the island's death toll to 11, the local epidemic monitoring agency said Sunday.

The patient, a Taiwan resident in his 60s, was diagnosed with COVID-19 in January. He died of the disease and septic shock, the agency said at a press briefing.

The island also reported one new COVID-19 case Sunday, imported from the United States, the agency said.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Taiwan has risen to 1,057 as of Sunday. Eleven of them have died, 1,022 have recovered, and 24 remain hospitalized, the agency said. Enditem
Ahmedabad: Gujarat has ordered the shutdown of offline classes for all government and private colleges in the state till April 30, in view of the alarming COVID-19 situation in the state.

Earlier, the Vijay Rupani-led government had imposed a night curfew in as many as 20 cities to tackle the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases. The 10-hour night curfew will be applicable from 8 pm to 6 am till April 30.

The decision to impose the night curfew was taken in the meeting of a core group for coronavirus headed by Chief Minister on April 7.

The Somnath Temple trust has announced that the temple will remain shut for devotees from April 11 for an indefinite period, though, devotees can participate in online `darshan`.

Apart from the main temple, other temples under the Somnath Trust will also remain closed till further notice, General Manager of Somnath Trust informed.

Meanwhile, Gujarat on Saturday for the first time reported over 5,000 COVID-19 cases out of 5,011 new cases in the state, 239 were from rural parts of Surat district.

Also, Surat city recorded 913 new cases, the second highest after Ahmedabad city, where 1,409 people tested positive for the viral infection on Saturday, as per official data, PTI quoted.
Avurudu rantings View(s):

The popular Avilla...avilla, Sinhala Avurudda avilla (the Sinhala New Year has arrived) song could be heard blaring from a radio in a neighbours home, heralding the April 13-14 joyous festival, traditionally celebrated by Buddhists and Hindus across the country. The popular Avilla...avilla, Sinhala Avurudda avilla (the Sinhala New Year has arrived) song could be heard blaring from a radio in a neighbours home, heralding the April 13-14 joyous festival, traditionally celebrated by Buddhists and Hindus across the country.

For sure, this years ceremonies in temples and kovils would draw attention to numerous crises the country is facing on the local and international fronts which have led, in some extent, to a drop in the popularity of the government, a feeling of helplessness amongst the people and a fervent wish that good things will prevail during the rest of the year.

At the margosa tree, the trio was in conversation, while sharing a plate of kavum and kokis with plain tea. Me sare, Avurudu godak hondai, giya serata wediya, jeevana viyadama wedi wunata (This time, the Avurudu is much better than last year, even though the cost of living has gone up), said Kussi Amma Sera. Giya avurudda harima naraka kalayak ne, rata nevathuna ne lockdown nisa, kovid hethuwen. Me gamana avurudu hondai. Gam wala weda kata-uthu hondata kerigena yanawa (Last year was a disaster due to the lockdown from the COVID-19 pandemic. This year is a definitely better season and lots of things are happening in our villages), added Serapina.

Eth mata hithenawa wena saamanya avurudu wage nemei kiyala, athavashya badu-wala mila wedi-wena nisa (However, I feel it wont be as good as a normal year because prices of essential commodities are rising), noted Mabel Rasthiyadu. Aei ara Bandula Gunawardena amathige badu malla pavul-walata thiyenawa-ne (Why, what about Minister Bandula Gunawardenas subsidised pack of essentials for families?) asked Serapina. Mama hithanne ne eka hari-yayi kiyala. Eh deval ikmanata ivara-wei (I dont think so. They are sure to run out of stocks), said Kussi Amma Sera.

As I watched the trio in conversation, my mind also wandered to last years rather subdued celebrations.and then the phone rang. It was Reconditioned Ranjith, a know-all in the second-hand car market, to whom I hadnt spoken to in a while.

Hello Ranjith, long time no see! How are you my friend and whats happening in the country? I asked.

Wellwell many things are happening, As far as our business is concerned, we are in the doldrums due to the import ban on vehicles. Tough times but I was also wondering how people will celebrate Avurudu this year because of the high cost of living. What do you think? he asked in return.

Well the government keeps repeating the theory that the cost of living has risen and that is a load of bunkum. If that is the case, why has the Trade Minister introduced a subsidised family pack of essentials for this season through Sathosa outlets? I asked, again. You may be right. Whether everyone gets this pack is anybodys guess, he said. We discussed various other issues and ended the conversation.

While the festivities would be celebrated on a much grander scale, notwithstanding the high cost of living, the mood would be sombre in some sections of the community given the problems at a personal level and in the country at large.

Consider the issues that the public is confronted with:

Widespread protests over alleged deforestation.

Farmers are protesting in various parts of the country over the continuing human-elephant conflict.

The statement by Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena that 3 kg of rice per family are enough for two weeks. Some say this amounts to just between 16 and 25 grams per meal. Is that enough?

The controversial reservoir in the Sinharaja forest. Will the Government abandon this idea??

Controversy over the Tourism Ministers plan to consolidate all three state tourism institutions into one authority. The private sector is vehemently opposed to this.

Allegations that officials are not listening to the Presidents directions and, thereby, there is no follow-up to such orders, even though the President once said that his word is enough and that circulars are not required to implement verbal directions from him.

Concern that Provincial Council elections will not be held.

The rising cost of living.

Confusion over the announcement on banning imported palm oil: Now the Government says selected imports would be permitted for industry use.

Order to uproot palm oil plantations, some of which have existed for more than 50 years since 1968.

The widely-discussed sugar and coconut oil scams.

Controversial statement by the Sri Lanka Standards Institute Director-General that there are harmful substances in the market and that if these are exposed, large companies would collapse. So the Government is prepared to risk peoples health at the expense of protecting companies?

Fracas at meetings chaired by government politicians, some of whom have also been ridiculed and jeered at some of these events.

The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. With many economies in Europe going into lockdown amidst a third wave of infections, this is impacting Sri Lankas tourism industry which has seen just a trickle of visitors (fewer than 4,000 at the end of March).

Last but not least, the Geneva fiasco where a resolution against Sri Lanka on human rights violations was presented and approved.

While the koha prepares to make its annual strident call, there are many more issues that the country is facing amidst a breakdown in governance and transparency. Ugly behaviour by a beauty queen at a recent beauty contest is a reflection of growing indiscipline and a drop in values in the country.

On the economic front, the world economy is expected to recover faster than expected, with China in particular expecting record high growth levels this year. In the local case, the Sri Lanka rupee is volatile and being traded at over Rs. 200 per US$ 1 and expected to rise further in the coming months.

As I waited for my second mug of tea while completing the column, I reflected on the wishes of the majority of this country that the Sinhala and Hindu New Year will be a period of peace and sanctity  before the country reverts to its usual rumblings of discontent!
Woman Charged After Firing Shots At Police

By West Kentucky Star Staff

OAK GROVE - A woman was arrested after she reportedly fired shots at Oak Grove Police on Saturday afternoon.According to WKDZ, police responded to Bumpus Mill Road in reference to a disturbance involving 46-year-old Carrie Zeveney, and she fired shots at them.Zeveney was taken into custody, and was charged with four counts of first-degree wanton endangerment.Police said no one was injured in the incident.
Colorado Springs, CO (80903)

Today

Sunshine and some clouds. High 88F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds from time to time. Low near 60F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.
No matter what size your business is or what type of industry you work in, Business OUTsurance has you covered.

OUTsurance is a leading provider of business insurance in South Africa and delivers comprehensive cover for your employees, buildings, equipment, vehicles, and stock.

This is coupled with world-class service and over 20 years of experience in the local insurance industry  allowing OUTsurance to provide custom business insurance solutions that suit your needs and your budget.

Cover everything that matters

Business OUTsurance covers everything that matters in your business, including employees, clients, property, stock, vehicles, liabilities, and industry-specific elements.

This includes:

Business Motor Insurance : Commercial vehicles, motorcycles, buses, trailers, caravans, and private vehicles are covered.

: Commercial vehicles, motorcycles, buses, trailers, caravans, and private vehicles are covered. General Business Insurance : Protect your entire business, from employees and property, to stock and equipment.

: Protect your entire business, from employees and property, to stock and equipment. Business Liability Insurance : Cover your business for legal liability when it interacts with people, whether on or off your premises.

: Cover your business for legal liability when it interacts with people, whether on or off your premises. Fleet Insurance: Protect your vehicles which are key to the running of your business.

OUTsurance also offers a range of industry-specific business insurance solutions across major industries, including:

Agriculture

Engineering

Motor Traders

Hospitality

Dedicated Business OUTsurance Broker

Additionally, you can ask for a dedicated Business OUTsurance Broker who will help you navigate your unique needs and become your single point of contact with OUTsurance.

To request a business insurance quote from OUTsurance, complete the form below.
News

Washington, DC - The Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday announced an award of approximately $2.5 million to a whistleblower whose information and ongoing assistance to the staff significantly contributed to the success of an SEC enforcement action.

The whistleblower in this matter provided key evidence that supported charges related to a breach of fiduciary duties owed to investors, said Jane Norberg, Chief of the SECs Office of the Whistleblower. This award highlights the impact whistleblower information has on the SECs ability to enforce the federal securities laws and the value whistleblowers can offer to the investing public.

The SEC has awarded approximately $762 million to 148 individuals since issuing its first award in 2012. All payments are made out of an investor protection fund established by Congress that is financed entirely through monetary sanctions paid to the SEC by securities law violators. No money has been taken or withheld from harmed investors to pay whistleblower awards. Whistleblowers may be eligible for an award when they voluntarily provide the SEC with original, timely, and credible information that leads to a successful enforcement action. Whistleblower awards can range from 10 percent to 30 percent of the money collected when the monetary sanctions exceed $1 million.

As set forth in the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and does not disclose any information that could reveal a whistleblower's identity.

For more information about the whistleblower program and how to report a tip, visit www.sec.gov/whistleblower.
Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Mens worship should be audible, while womens should be inaudible

He was in the middle of a tirade on Gods order and how women should be submissive to men, silent, compliant, unseen.

It was not the first time I had heard similar things professed in the church, but it hit differently this time. He was making no effort to make it seem that he even viewed women as equal to him. In his eyes, women were made subordinate to men and demanded that we comply.

At least in the conservative church that I grew up in I had been taught that women were equal to men, just separate in role. We were told that we could not teach or preach or lead because women were easily deceived. We were taught that our primary place was in the home, caring for children, and serving and being sexually available to our husbands.

And for most of my adolescent and adult life, I tried to adhere to all the principles above, even when they felt grossly unfair and a violation of my dignity. But something changed in me during this mans tirade against women. Perhaps it was his blatant misogyny. Or perhaps it was for the first time in my life I looked around the room, and saw women mirroring the grief and rage that I felt inside.

It was perhaps the first time I realized I wasnt alone and the sweet relief that there were women like me: women who knew these teachings were wrong in their very bones but hadnt ever been exposed to other teachings.

I didnt know then that these teachings actually primed and contributed to the abuse of women, but I would learn. Over the next several years I dedicated myself to working with oppressed and exploited women as a missionary and found the teachings of my childhood mirrored in the most abusive situations.

At first, it was hearing stories of girls who had survived Female Genital Mutilation and noticing that in conjunction with their abuse came teachings about a girl not needing an education because her proper place was in the home. Next, it was meeting the girls and women in India who had been taken from Nepal to be sex-trafficked. I wondered if the teachings about a mans uncontrollable need for sex had anything to do with what drove men to purchase women.

And finally, in a bar where women were sold in the Philippines, it became crystal clear to me, women were abused and oppressed because they were seen as not equal to men, and were ultimately there to serve a mans needs.

The realization came as a man who bought trafficked women was telling me why he traveled halfway around the world to buy these women. He said, Women here are raised right, they know how to respect men. It was in the middle of a tirade about womens proper place, and a mans need for respect.

He sounded just like the pastors I had grown up with who espoused the idea the women were there to respect and serve and meet a mans sexual desires. It was not just my pastors teaching this, it was evangelical authors like Emerson Eggerichs of Love and Respect who have written whole books about it.

Women did not exist as an entity unto their own, they were there for men. This lends itself to enormous power differentials in which women are to submit and stay silent while men are to be in control  and as a result primes the ground for abuse.

Psychoanalyst Lyn Yonack says in an article for Psychology Today that Despite its name, sexual abuse is more about power than it is about sex. Although the touch may be sexual, the words seductive or intimidating, and the violation physical, when someone rapes, assaults, or harasses, the motivation stems from the perpetrators need for dominance and control.

Is this why we see so many cases of sexual abuse take place in the church? Perhaps a male abusing his power like Ravi Zacharias are not merely one-off cases, but the natural result of a theology that gives men enormous power differentials over women.

One might think that because these gender theology teachings are so mainstream, that they must be Biblical right? Think again.

The Biblical Basis for this gender role theology is flimsy at best (check out The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allson Barr,) and actively refuted by Jesus himself.

One of my favorite stories that illustrates this is the story of Mary and Martha. In Luke 10, Jesus and his disciples visit the home of Mary and Martha. In the story, Martha is performing according to her gender role preparing the house, while Mary sits at the feet of Jesus.

Mary is doing something doubly offensive, because not only is she breaking with her gender role by not preparing the home  she is sitting at the feet of Jesus, something that should only happen if you intend on becoming a disciple yourself.

Seeing this transgression, Martha tells Jesus to get Mary to help her in preparations, to which Jesus responds Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.

In that one line, Jesus smashes gender role theology and the idea that women belong in any one place and in so doing encourages Mary to function outside the bounds given to her sex.

We see this as a common refrain when we look at the Bible, women bound by patriarchal gender norms and pushing past it to do what is more important: Esther disobeyed her husband (and Pharoah) to prevent genocide, Shiprah and Puah disobeyed Pharoahs order to save a generation of baby boys, Ruth broke with societal norms, Deborah led a nation  the list goes on and on.

If these women did right in Gods eyes and pursued justice by rising up against gender norms, dont we have permission as women to do the same? To decry injustice from within our pews and without  to use our voice on behalf of women everywhere?

Perhaps our silence and submission are not virtues, but only go to serve an abusive system that harms us all.

May we be like Mary, and have Jesus say You have chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from you.
Sydney academic Jake Olivier is worried sick that his mother in New Orleans will lose her battle with cancer before he and his son Declan get to say goodbye in person because overseas travel has now been pushed back due to vaccine delays.

The temporary suspension of AstraZeneca vaccinations in NSW on Friday hit close to home for the Olivier family after his wifes doctor refused to write a letter approving the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Dr Oliviers wife, Dr Melissa Norberg, is the deputy director of Macquarie Universitys centre for emotional health and works in mental health. She is under 50 and her doctor did not feel the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risks given there are so few COVID-19 cases in Australia.

Jake Olivier and Melissa Norberg with son Declan. Credit:Brook Mitchell

Dr Oliviers mother, Mary Lou Olivier, 70, was diagnosed with breast and kidney cancer more than seven years ago in the United States.
Leaders from the four corners of the UK will pay tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh on Monday as the royal family mourns the loss of the grandfather of the nation.

Politicians across Great Britain and Northern Ireland will offer their respects to Philip, whose death the Queen has described as having left a huge void in her life.

The early return of parliaments in London, Edinburgh and Cardiff come after a weekend which has seen all four of Philips children speak movingly about the loss of their father.

After a church service in Windsor on Sunday, where some of the royals said prayers for Philip, the Duke of York revealed the personal feelings of the Queen.

He said: She described it as having left a huge void in her life but we, the family, the ones that are close, are rallying round to make sure that were there to support her.

Andrew said his mother is an incredibly stoic person, with his sister-in-law the Countess of Wessex adding that the Queen is thinking of others before herself.

The Earl of Wessex said his mother is bearing up and that the wave of affection for his father and fantastic tributes are appreciated by the family.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex, with their daughter Lady Louise Windsor (Steve Parsons/PA)

Andrew described the death of his father as resonating with many people, saying: Weve lost almost the grandfather of the nation.

After the service at Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor, Sophie candidly described the circumstances of the dukes death as very peaceful when she chatted to a member of the congregation, saying it was if somebody took him by the hand and off he went.

It is understood the Queen attended a private church service within Windsor Castle.

The Duke of York talks with Crown Estate staff at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor (Steve Parsons/PA)

In a message released later on Sunday, the Princess Royal added her thanks to the public, as she paid tribute to her father as someone who leaves a legacy which can inspire us all.

Anne said: My father has been my teacher, my supporter and my critic, but mostly it is his example of a life well lived and service freely given that I most wanted to emulate.

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh in 2014 (PA)

Philip died peacefully at Windsor Castle on Friday morning, two months before his 100th birthday.

Edward said Philips death was a dreadful shock, and the family was still trying to come to terms with that.

Andrew, who stepped down from royal duties over his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2019, said his father had been a remarkable man who was so calm and always ready to listen if someone had a problem.

The Prince of Wales had spoken warmly of his dear papa on Saturday, describing him as having given the most remarkable, devoted service to the Queen, to my family and to the country, but also to the whole of the Commonwealth.

MPs will return to the House of Commons a day early from their Easter break to voice their condolences.

The Welsh and Scottish Parliaments are being recalled, while the Northern Ireland Assembly will also see members pay tributes on Monday.

Only 30 people  expected to be Philips children, grandchildren and other close family  will attend the dukes funeral on Saturday afternoon as guests.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he will not attend the funeral to allow as many family members as possible to attend during coronavirus restrictions.

The Duke of Sussex is reported to have arrived in the UK from the US, but this has not been confirmed by Buckingham Palace or Harrys spokesperson.

His wife the Duchess of Sussex had been advised by her doctor not to travel for the funeral, which will be televised and take place entirely in the grounds of Windsor Castle.
Amnesty International has called on Iran to halt the execution of a man sentenced to death for the rape of a minor.

The London-based rights watchdog said Farhad Salehi Jabehdar, 30, is scheduled to be executed on April 13 in the northern province of Alborz.

His execution has been scheduled even though a request for a judicial review of his case is pending before the Supreme Court.

Iran's Supreme Court on April 11 informed Jabehdar's lawyer that the judicial review request will be examined in several weeks but rejected the lawyer's request to order a stay.

In a statement on April 11, Amnesty said that "in addition to the fact that the use of the death penalty for the crime of rape is prohibited under international law, the death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment and is never the answer."

Jabehdar was arrested in June 2018 in connection with the sexual assault of a 10-year-old child in 2017.

He was convicted of "forced male-male intercourse" and sentenced to death in 2019. The conviction and sentence were upheld by Supreme Court.

The parents of the child have formally requested that the authorities not impose the death penalty on Jabehdar.

Iran is the world's second-most-active executioner after China, according to Amnesty.
In 2014, Govt. paid US$ 6.5 million to CIA mole, who has now been jailed View(s):

The Sri Lankan Government in 2014 paid US$ 6.5mn through its Central Bank to an American businessman, who was a CIA mole, to buy influence and fix its image in the US, an investigative report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) now reveals, following his sentencing for 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion, foreign-influence peddling and campaign finance violations.

The businessman, Imaad Zuberi, had been a mole for the US spy network, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), for more than a decade. A US court held that of the money given to him on behalf of the Sri Lankan taxpayers, US$ 5.6m or 87 percent of it had been spent on himself and his wife.

A key aspect of the case played out in secret court filings and hearings. Mr. Zuberi was a longtime US intelligence source for the US Government. Byron Tau, the WSJ journalist, cites legal documents and people familiar with the businessmans defence.

The Sunday Times first exclusively exposed in July 2014 that the Government had engaged Mr Zuberi, who purported to be a lobbyist. The payments were so covertly done that neither the Cabinet nor Parliament knew. And they were made through the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL)headed at the time by Ajith Nivard Cabraalto evade oversight from either.

Mr Zuberis lawyers have argued that some of the conduct he was charged with was linked to CIA officials who worked with him, Mr Tau reports. In one instance, according to the documents they prepared, a former CIA handler of Mr. Zuberi sought and got a job on the project involving Sri Lanka that was later the basis for criminal charges against Mr. Zuberi, the article states.

After securing a role in the project, the former handler tried to persuade the Sri Lankans to buy a maritime-surveillance system that could keep watch on a swath of the Indian Ocean, according to two people familiar with the effort, it says. At the time the US Government was concerned about Chinese submarine forays. The former handler told consultants on the project that he had worked for the State Department, the people said, but a spokesperson for the department said it has no record of his employment there.

The Justice Department has moved aggressively in recent years to crack down on foreign influence in the US, Mr Tau writes. The CIA, meanwhile, relies on well-connected Americans to serve as conduits for information, occasionally tapping them for information, introductions, assistance in recruiting foreigners and even for tasks such as acting as international couriers or acquiring secrets.

After his guilty plea but before his sentencing, Mr Zuberis legal team compiled a history of their clients cooperation with the government, according to the legal documents and people familiar with the defence, which was sealed under a law called the Classified Information Procedures Act, or CIPA, designed to protect intelligence sources and methods during trials, the article reveals. CIPA can only be invoked when national-security issues are at stake and a judge signs the sealing order.

Mr. Zuberis history of secret help to the CIA on and off for more than a decade is detailed in the documentsdepicting a relationship that started with debriefings about his interactions with foreign officials but grew to involve more formal tasks and missions, Mr Tau reports.

The foreign-influence-peddling charge to which Mr. Zuberi pleaded guilty stemmed from his efforts in 2014 to help Sri Lanka with a campaign to burnish its image in the US, he says. After his plea on that count, prosecutors detailed interactions with other countries beyond Sri Lanka as justification for a longer sentence.

The Sunday Times repeatedly questioned the manner in which billions of rupees were being funnelled into public relations firms and lobby groups, particularly in 2014. At any given time between 2008 and the end of 2014more than six yearsSri Lankas mission in Washington, the Office of the Monitoring Member of Parliament (MMP) for the Ministry of External Affairs or the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) had on their payroll numerous lobbyists and public relations companies.

Documents we traced at the time showed that the US$ 6.5mn Mr Zuberi received via the Central Bank went to a personal account and to WR Group, a company he hurriedly set up. We also reported that the Auditor Generals Department queried the CBSL for three consecutive years about the towering sumps paid in fees to foreign lobbyists, consultants and public relations agencies.

The CBSL became the preferred channel for such payments because its accounts do not go before Parliament. The Treasury or any other Ministry would have needed Parliaments permission to make such large outlays. The Cabinet was circumvented, and, in the case of most payments, the External Affairs Ministry was also bypassed.
Link building as it used to be practiced is dead. If you don't update the way you build links, your site runs a risk of getting penalized by Google.

That's why it's essential to know the latest and most innovative ways to make links, as highlighted below.

Ask For Links

If you're just getting started with link building, this is the first thing you have to do. Try to come with relatives, friends, partners, colleagues, and clients who own a site or blog -- and ask people you know for backlinks.

Also, you should ask for in-content links, not in the footer or sidebar. But -- and this is critical -- make sure the backlink is from a site that's related to your subject. If your site focuses on car maintenance and your neighbor's site is all about frogs, the link will not help ... and Google may penalize you.

Nurture Relationships

For the best in link-building success, you need to nurture relationships with other businesses and site owners. There are so many opportunities to grow and develop new contacts!

You can begin with only communities related to your niche, including blogs, social groups, and forums. Take the first step and create relevant and interesting posts and comments in those communities.

Do your best to offer value in every post and discussion. When you participate in these communities and show you have something to offer, you will develop quality backlinks.

Provide Testimonials

Link building with testimonials kills two birds with one stone. Many companies will offer you the opportunity to say a few words about using their product or service.

First, this is an ideal way for them to develop customer trust. Second, it's perfect for you to get a quality backlink and traffic from that website.

Typically, this method has a higher approval rate than a generic backlink email request.

Write A Blog

This is a great idea, but don't write one that consists of a single post with a backlink to your website. If you do that, you're wasting your time, and creating little more than a risky site link.

If writing a blog is what you want to do, it's vital to have it active and alive every week over a period of time. Write blog posts every day or week. Write about your niche and industry, and focus on what your clients want.

As time passes, you'll steadily gain site authority. Make certain all of your content is useful, relevant, and well written.

This is the way to persuade people they want to read your content and link to it. It's the best way to get high-quality backlinks: you work hard and earn them.

Write Quality Guest Posts

Many blogs and websites will gladly publish a post you write for them. Before you compose your post, make sure that blog and post are relevant to your work. Also, the article cannot simply be promotional and talk solely about how excellent your company is.

The focus must be on high-quality, relevant content for that niche or industry. Always keep in mind that circulating poor content can only hurt your company.

List Website In High-Quality Directories

There are plenty of online directories that are all but worthless. That's why Google has excluded them from their results. No one wants their website on those directories.

But not every directory is terrible. Niche directories and ones that are linked to significant websites for the particular industry can be a fine choice. Getting your site listed on those directories will make it much easier to be indexed by Google.

When you follow the simple link-building tips above, you will get a good start for your website or blog. Link building has changed, but it still works if you follow the most recent best practices.

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Bengaluru, April 11 : The second wave of coronavirus across Karnataka is set to peak by the first week of May and taper off subsequently, Health Minister K. Sudhakar said on Sunday, as 10,250 new cases were reported from across the state.

"The second wave of Covid is likely to peak by May first week in the state and slow down by May-end," he told reporters after a meeting with health experts here.

Admitting that the state's health infrastructure would be over-burdened if cases continued to surge, the minister urged people to be vigilant and strictly follow Covid appropriate behaviour to contain the virus spread.

"Experts suggested testing all travellers entering Karnataka from high case load states like Maharashtra. We have to take measures as per the advice to contain the pandemic," said Sudhakar, a medical doctor by profession.

According to the state health bulletin, 10,250 new cases were registered across the state on Saturday, with Bengaluru accounting for 7,584 of them.

Active cases rose to 69,225, including 51,236 in Bengaluru.

With 40 patients, including 27 in Bengaluru succumbing to the infection, the state's death toll increased to 12,889 and the city's toll to 4,815.

Of the 440 patients in ICUs, 177 are in Bengaluru hospitals, followed by 44 in Kalaburagi, 33 in Kolar, 23 in Mysuru, 20 in Tumakuru, and 15 in Dakshina Kannada.

Ruling out curbs on economic activities, Sudhakar, however, said large gatherings and congregations would not be allowed to prevent the infection from spreading further.

Noting that the state received 73 lakh doses of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines till date, he said 61 lakh eligible people have taken the jab so far, with women accounting for 53 per cent of them.

Hinting at making surprise visits to hospitals and vaccination centres across the state, he said irregularities and improper facilities would not be tolerated.

"If people cooperate and strictly follow Covid-induced guidelines, there will be no need for lockdown or curbs on economic activities," he added.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Many credit the 1972 film The Harder They Come with introducing reggae music to international audiences. Without question, it was around that period that acts such as The Wailers (featuring Bob Marley and Peter Tosh) began gaining fans the U.S. and U.K. The members of The Rolling Stones were among them.

Then Chris Blackwells London-based Island Records released the first two albums by The Wailers in 73. On tours in support of those records, Marley (aided by Blackwell) began building an international profile all his own. Around that time, Tosh broke from the group and launched his solo career.

Not long after, Eric Clapton scored a No. 1 hit with his cover of I Shot the Sheriff, a track from the Wailers second Island LP. Clearly, reggae spelled big business, and a few years later the Stones signed Tosh as one of the few artists on the bands boutique record label.

The Rolling Stones were big fans of reggae acts

Peter Tosh performs at the Palladium in New York as support for The Rolling Stones on June 19, 1978. | Richard E. Aaron/Redferns

RELATED: The Bob Marley Album That Became His Biggest US Hit

In 75, reggae had broken through more barriers. That year, Toots and The Maytals began opening for The Who on the British acts North American tour. And during an L.A. performance by Bob Marley and The Wailers, the guestlist included some of the biggest names in music.

George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Herbie Hancock, Joni Mitchell, and Cat Stevens all turned up at Marleys performance at the Roxy in 75. So did the Stones, who were also touring in America that year.

According to Stephen Davis Bob Marley, the Stones invited Marley and The Wailers to open for them during the West Coast stretch of that tour. But Marley and the group declined, feeling (rightfully) they were too good to be an opening act  Stones included.

The Stones would officially get into the reggae business a few years later with the signing of Tosh. At that point, Tosh had already cut two solo albums (Legalize It and Equal Rights) on Columbia. But a Tosh performance the Stones witnessed convinced them to get the reggae pioneer on their own label.

Peter Toshs performance at the One Love Peace Concert impressed Mick Jagger

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: Mick Jagger and Peter Tosh perform on December 16, 1978. | NBC/NBCU Photo Bank

In The Natural Mystics, Colin Grant pinpointed the moment when Tosh sealed his deal on the Stones record label. It happened on the occasion of the April 78 One Love Peace Concert in Jamaicas capital. At that event, Marley famously brought together the leaders of the countrys two warring political parties.

Prior to Marley going on, Tosh had his turn on the stage, and he didnt take the peace route. Tosh lit a joint, blew smoke at the two political leaders, then proceeded to berate them in front of the entire audience for 30 minutes. Though Tosh would experience a backlash, it didnt come until later.

The most immediate consequence was a contract from Rolling Stones, Grant wrote in The Natural Mystics. Mick Jagger had been in the audience and a witness to the stupefying intensity and shock of Peter Toshs brilliant performance.

Though Rolling Stones Records had been around since 1970, the label had almost entirely been for the Stones various solo releases. But that changed with Tosh, with whom Jagger recorded (You Gotta Walk) Dont Look Back. Soon after, the Stones had Tosh opening up for them on tour as well.
Prince Harry is unlikely to wear a military uniform at his grandfather's funeral - but will be able to wear his medals.

He was stripped of his role as Captain General of the Royal Marines, which he took over from Prince Philip, after deciding to quit royal duties last year.

He also lost two other honorary military positions. This means he cannot wear the corresponding uniforms at official events.

Prince Harry (left) has a Blues and Royals military uniform which he wore when he married Meghan at Windsor Castle in May 2018

It is likely he will dress like other former servicemen in a suit and medals.

Harry spent ten years in the Army, first with the Household Cavalry (Blues and Royals), and later in the Army Air Corps where he rose to the rank of Captain. He served in Afghanistan.

He wore his Blues and Royals uniform when he married Meghan at Windsor in 2018.

Members of the Royal family (from left to right) Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince William and Prince Harry talk onboard the Spirit of Chartwell during the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames in London, June 03, 2012

Harry inspects a parade at RAF Honington in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, in July 2017 while wearing ceremonial uniform

Harry wears his Household Division ceremonial uniform during a visit to the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey in November 2018

Other members of the Royal Family, notably Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and the Earl of Wessex are expected to attend in regimental dress.

The only other male senior royal in a suit is likely to be the Duke of York, who stepped back from public life in 2019 over his friendship with the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Buckingham Palace has said it will confirm details later this week.
Backhoe Trailer Causes Power Outage in Suwanee

By West Kentucky Star Staff

SUWANEE - A backhoe trailer that made contact with a utility line Wednesday morning resulted in a power outage in the Suwanee community.The Lyon County Sheriff's Department says that a vehicle pulling a trailer with a backhoe as cargo, driven by 51-year-old Dennis Fleet of Grand Rivers, made contact with a low hanging utility line on Cruise Road.Fleet was not aware of the trailer making contact with the line, until the pole twisted and snapped off at the base, causing it to fall.Electricity was cut off for a few hours to areas in the Suwanee community, including Cruise Road, Fowler Road, and Rusty Ridge Road.In addition to the utility damage, there was minor damage to Fleet's backhoe.No injuries were reported in the accident.
For prevailing over criminals, the Igbohos of this world offer nothing. In contrast, #EndSARS won the disbandment of a police unit, the eponymous SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) that had been the greatest security threat to young, urban Nigerians since 2008.

Coming in the wake of greater global awareness of the #EndSARS hashtag, the #Igboho hashtag represents a competing vision of security in Nigeria. The #EndSARS movement calls for equitable and effective federal policing. #Igboho calls for ethnic cleansing as the final solution to insecurity.

I must ask, in what ways are both the worldview and the eponymous Sunday Igboho Adeyemo an effective response to insecurity? There is no evidence, over the past four months or indeed over his entire career, that Igboho has nabbed a single bandit, which he is well within his rights to do under Nigerian laws. Again, there is no evidence that Igboho has killed any bandit, which would be a crime, except it is in self-defence.

They say a 20-year headstart does not keep truth from catching up with falsehood in one day. There are serious allegations, which are over two decades old, that Igboho had a hand in the murder of innocents and in arson, including the burning of schools.

Nonetheless, a popular Fuji musician sings his praise. Nigerias most celebrated playwright considers him to be defending besieged communities in the way he knows. One of Nigerias finest poets claims Igboho for a champion of schoolchildren. The section of the Nigerian press headquartered in the South-West has anointed him a Yoruba activist.

Yet, if that man has ever killed people in his life, it is all too probably innocent Yoruba people. This is the irony of the ethnic logic, in all of its self-defeating capacity. Absurd as it is, I must enquire into the conditions that allow prejudiced citizens to mistake Igboho for a champion. A good place to begin reviewing those conditions is with the crisis of farmer-herder relations.

Nigerias challenges would have been hard enough were they not compounded by citizens who conflate the ethnic and legal dimensions of the farmer-herder conflict with the wave of violent crime that has been sweeping Nigeria and crushing the lives of farming and herding families for well over a decade.

By the legal dimension of the farmer-herder conflict, I mean trespass, property damage, assault, battery and sometimes manslaughter and murder. By violent crime I mean murder, rape, arson, armed robbery, kidnapping. There is a clear overlap but solving Nigerias problems requires nuanced thought.

Again, the challenge of farmer-herder conflicts is hard enough without citizens conflating the operations of transhumant herders with that of sedentary herders. The expectation that sedentary herders who 30, 20, 10 years ago submitted themselves to the due process of customary law and gained permission to use land can be told to uproot their families and leave, subject to any whim or caprice, is cruel and unjust.

The conflicts over the use and ownership of land that are rampant in rural Nigeria  as likely within and between farming families, as between farmers and herders  are exactly the same kind of conflicts over landed property in urban Nigeria. Customary law and oral agreements may be more influential in rural areas but human behaviour is the same everywhere. There is therefore no need to resort to conspiracy theories or primordial myths in grappling with the challenge of farmer-herder conflicts.

A significant portion of the herds that are tended closest to long-established farmland or urban areas are owned by powerful local people. Such powerful people engage in-migrants as poorly paid hired hands or ill-used share keepers. They also require the proximity of their investment as reassurance, yet these types of herds cannot but be involved in trespass and property damage. As these factors do not fit into an ethnicised framing, they are often passed over in silence by supporters of #Igboho.

With respect to violent crime, I must be clear: Everything that farmers in Nigerias South West are suffering, herders are suffering too, at the hands of the same criminals. Everything that crop farmers, nationwide, are suffering, herders are suffering too, at the hands of the same criminals.

Grappling with Nigerias challenges also requires facing one other fact about the ethnicity of criminals: Some of the criminals are Fulani and some of them are Edo, Hausa, Igbo, Ijaw, Shuwa, Yoruba, Zarma, etc.

These are the truths that an Igboho seeks to replace with demagoguery. Given the facts, do the words of Nigerias august playwright amount to anything more than ethical evasion? Do I find Igboho championing the cause of schoolchildren? Or, do I find his actions consistent with his reputation: Arson, picking on the innocent, fuelling communal discord?

The principle is therefore clear: Whenever any individual or society makes crime about ethnicity, such an individual or society has abandoned the pursuit of crime prevention and crime control. Whether you ethnicise criminality or you criminalise ethnicity, you are on the path to ethnic cleansing.

There is a parallel I must draw here. This is, at least, the second time when oil prices will be in a global slump and in Nigerias consequent socio-economic downturn, some people will impose a tribal framing on social problems.

In the early 1980s (the first cracks in the formal economy appeared in 1976) the bogeys were West African immigrants. This time, it is Fulani in-migrants. The focal crime then was armed robbery. Today, it is kidnapping. Involvement of Ghanaians in armed robbery was one of the four major excuses Nigeria gave for its 1983 Ghana Must Go policy.

However, the problem of robbery in Nigeria did not abate after the deportation of immigrants. In the decade after Ghana Must Go, my family moved residences between Oyo and Ondo States a few times. Whichever State we were in, our lot was a minimum of one break-in each year, and our experience was only the common fate of Nigerian families.

Over a decade after Ghana Must Go, between 1993 and 1996, Lagos State became the stomping ground of armed robbers. That was under a negligent and incompetent military administrator. That was the era of urban legends about armed robbers sending advance notices to Landlord and Tenant Associations. Drive-by shootings and explosions were not strange.

ADVERTISEMENT

The crime situation in Lagos did not begin to turn around until a different military administrator took over. It was not the ethnicities of the military administrators that mattered, contrary to the worldview of #Igboho, but a competent focus on policing as the proper response to insecurity.

The latter administrator made a systematic effort to punish acts of corruption and brutalisation of civilians by the joint police and army personnel of Operation Sweep. At the same time, he singled out for commendations and reward Operation Sweep personnel who displayed good thinking and courage in doing police work.

These are the truths that an Igboho seeks to replace with demagoguery. Given the facts, do the words of Nigerias august playwright amount to anything more than ethical evasion? Do I find Igboho championing the cause of schoolchildren? Or, do I find his actions consistent with his reputation: Arson, picking on the innocent, fuelling communal discord?

That was a reputation that was established in my impressionable mind when I was in secondary school. I heard about the folks in whose ranks Igboho earned his notoriety, attacking women and children, burning homes and schools in that communal discord between Ife and Modakeke. That was just over 20 years ago.

In Igangan, one of the notable sites of Igbohos so-called activism, residents said that bandits had camped on the outskirts of town for a long time, tormenting both Fulanis and Yorubas. Residents also accused them of kidnapping. The community therefore sent a delegation, which had both Fulani and Yoruba members, to the State capital to ask for governments help, well over a year before Igboho came to town.

The residents of Igangan received no help from their government. Two successive Commissioners of Police, the Inspector General, the Governor and the President failed the residents of Igangan.

What was Igbohos response? He fuelled discord between the Fulani and Yoruba residents of Igangan, leaving behind a trail of arson. Is that an effective response to either banditry or government negligence? As a matter of fact, Igboho was very careful not to take on the land-grabbing, murdering bandits that all Igangan residents had sought government help against.

Imagine that the case of a victim of a violent attack were taken to a court, either by the victim themselves or by their loved ones. Would it be enough for them to present the ethnicity of the attacker? Or, to take a different tack, if the complaints were presented first, would it add anything to present the ethnicity of the attacker?

For prevailing over criminals, the Igbohos of this world offer nothing. In contrast, #EndSARS won the disbandment of a police unit, the eponymous SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) that had been the greatest security threat to young, urban Nigerians since 2008.

#EndSARS also compelled political backing for the work of the National Human Rights Commission and the set-up of 28 state judicial panels. If nothing at all, those panels have surfaced and won compensation for wrongs suffered by vulnerable Nigerians, wrongs for which offices of state attorneys-general had functioned as blackholes.

What is more, #EndSARS holds many lessons about the mental adjustment required of policymakers if Nigeria is to prevail over criminals. In June 2019, over a year before the #EndSARS protests of October 2020, the president instructed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to commence throughgoing reform.

Had the IGP carried out this task, the carnage that occurred almost a year after the IGP should have driven reform past major milestones would have been avoided. It was a terrible lapse on the part of the IGP, an even worse lapse on the part of President Buhari.

In those lapses, the Buhari administration was exhibiting the recurring symptoms of the sickness that plagues police reform in Nigeria. 2019 was the fourth time  Nigeria has had police reform panels under different presidents in 2006, 2008 and 2012.

Nevertheless, the Buhari administration had broken with previous administrations. Before the #EndSARS protests, it had passed legislations to reform the police. The problem is that beyond making new laws, police reform continues to stall.

The delays in translating police reform from paper to the substance of reality evokes my dismay. One of President Buharis current policy advisers once wrote, Focus should, instead, shift to the long overdue task of modernising the police force, equipping it for twenty-first century challenges, and positioning it as the vanguard of a law enforcement and public safety architecture that accounts for and regulates citizen-led communal vigilance initiatives. Let us see that in the practice of this administration.

The truth about checks and balances in the Nigerian political system is that governors, acting to counter or reinforce the actions of the president, are the most effective mode by which checks and balances operate in Nigerias democracy. State governors cannot claim they do not have the leverage to demand that the Nigeria Police Council functions. The twice-a-year minimum of meetings specified for the Police Council in the new Police Act is too few in my view. However, it is a minimum that I hope will be exceeded in practice.

The Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, the Anti-Torture Act 2017, the Police Trust Fund Act 2019, the Police Act 2020, annual Appropriation Acts, with due focus on the need for an effective and equitable police and judiciary in Nigerias rural areas, must become the palpable substance of reality. That is the acceptable continuation of #EndSARS.

To conclude, I offer a thought experiment. Imagine that the case of a victim of a violent attack were taken to a court, either by the victim themselves or by their loved ones. Would it be enough for them to present the ethnicity of the attacker? Or, to take a different tack, if the complaints were presented first, would it add anything to present the ethnicity of the attacker? In short, is the ethnicity of the attacker a materially sufficient or necessary fact?

The answer offered in response to those questions is not important. What is important is explaining why ones answer is correct.

The assumption at the heart of constructing a modern state is that the systems of policing and the judiciary exist to both right and deter wrongs. When wrongs are neither being righted nor deterred, one either accepts that fundamental assumption still and calls strongly for the systems of policing and the judiciary to be improved. That is the view of #EndSARS. Or, one rejects that assumption in the belief that policing, the judiciary, were never up to the tasks of preventing or correcting wrongs and will never be so. This is the worldview of #Igboho, which then offers as alternatives ethnic cleansing and the frenzy of disguised wolves.

Adebiyi Olusolape writes from Ibadan.
Wound dressing plays a crucial role in healing and management. Alginate dressings are the most preferred products to treat pressure ulcers, leg ulcers, infected surgical wounds, etc. which has led to a surge in their demand. Besides, introduction of new alginate dressing products with better functionalities by market players has also aided market growth. Increasing investments in new alginate dressing development and growing efforts for their distribution by key stakeholders are major factors expected to boost the growth of the alginate dressings market.

The global alginate dressings market is projected to be valued at US$ 1.1 Bn in 2030, and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 3.5% during the forecast period (2020  2030).

Planning Forward? Access Sample Of Alginate Dressings Market Report! https://www.persistencemarketresearch.co/samples/26929

Companies covered in Alginate Dressings Market Report

3M Co

Smith & Nephew Plc

ConvaTec Group Plc

Coloplast A/S

BSN medical GmbH

B. Braun Melsungen AG

Molnlycke Health Care

How About Revitalizing The Strategy-Oriented Funnel To Stay Ahead In The Alginate Dressings Market? https://www.persistencemarketresearch.co/methodology/26929

Key Takeaways from Alginate Dressings Market Study

Antimicrobial alginate dressings contributed for a larger revenue share than non-antimicrobial alginate dressings in the global alginate dressings market in 2019, owing to their high preference of use for wound healing.

High adoption of alginate dressings for the treatment chronic wounds is expected to result in notable market share of the chronic ulcers segment in the alginate dressings market.

Institutional sales contributed around three-fourth of value share by distribution channel due to increasing patient preference.

North America captured a greater revenue share among all regions, and is expected to be the most lucrative region in the global alginate dressings market during the forecast period.

Reluctant adoption and high cost of products are factors expected to affect the growth of the alginate dressings market around the globe.

Outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a moderate impact on the overall growth of the alginate dressings market, due to its adverse effect on the global economy and healthcare industry.

Increasing prevalence of chronic and traumatic wounds and continuous focus of key market players to develop advanced wound dressing products are projected to propel the global alginate dressings market over the coming years, says a PMR analyst.

Planning To Introduce An Offbeat Product/Technology In The Alginate Dressings Market? Go To Purchase Now To Have Our Alginate Dressings Market Report! https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/26929

Consolidation Activities:Imperative Strategy for Market Players

Increase in market consolidation activities by market players, including collaborations and partnerships, are characteristics of the overall competition among global alginate dressings market players. Manufacturers are focusing on collaborations with research institutes and universities to drive research & development in advanced wound care. For instance, in July 2017, Smith & Nephew collaborated with the University of Hull to drive research in the field of advanced wound care.

What else is in the report?

Persistence market research offers actionable insights and a unique perspective on the alginate dressings market, in its latest study, presenting historical demand assessment of 2015  2019 and projections for 20202030, based on alginate dressing type (antimicrobial alginate dressings and non-antimicrobial alginate dressings), indication (chronic ulcers and non-healing surgical wounds), and distribution channel (institutional sales and retail sales), across seven key regions.
Librarians worldwide have joined forces to embark on an annual celebration that lasts an entire week. Laredo College is delighted to commemorate its very own staff whose services extend far beyond the historical buildings at both campuses.

Following this year's theme, Welcome to your library! the Harold R. Yeary Library and the Senator Judith Zaffirini Library celebrated National Library Week by welcoming students to learn about the extensive opportunities both libraries offer.

The celebration began with numerous positive messages and tokens of appreciation for LC librarians in celebration of their commitment, dedication and for continuing to meet the needs of those who use the library by expanding and adapting through adversity during this unprecedented year. LC also celebrated its value by showcasing amazing photos, videos and graphics through social media platforms.

Not only was LC excited to showcase its exemplary employees, but the employees themselves hosted numerous activities for students to enjoy. Some of the activities included workshops and interactive virtual events throughout the week.

"Librarians are beyond excited to celebrate with the Palomino community. They are also educators that prepare others for lifelong journeys of knowledge," LC President Dr. Ricardo J. Solis said.

April marks another year where the 15 LC library employees, who have a combined 202 years of experience, will continue to offer bibliographic instruction and quality services to the community.

Laredo College Libraries Director Cynthia Rodriguez stated that the services and resources that our libraries offer are critical to the students' past, present and future academic success.

On behalf of each member of our Laredo College library staff, LC would like to welcome you to your library!

For more information on library services, you may reach the Harold R. Yeary Library at 956-721-5275 and the Senator Judith Zaffirini Library at 956-794-4275. Students may also visit the online catalog at library.laredo.edu or email our LC libraries at reference_desk@laredo.edu.
Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.



As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.



Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.



Digital Editor
In Iran the government continues refusing to admit what their internal problems really are. To the outsider Iran may appear to be what it has been for thousands of years; the local superpower that tried and discarded absolute monarchy, democracy and constitutional monarchy in favor of (since the 1980s) a religious dictatorship. That has not worked out either. That was made public recently when an Iranian Defense Journal backed by the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) published an article describing Irans internal problems accurately, and admitting that the only solution was to effectively deal with the corruption and mismanagement of the government that caused growing popular unrest. That popular anger and street violence has been building for two decades. In 2009 it led to popular protests over rigged parliamentary elections. According to the government, those elections werent rigged, they were legally guided. That much was true, but it was not popular and the growing corruption, mismanagement and poverty continued despite repeated promises to address these issues. More widespread and violent demonstrations in 2018 and 2019 required unprecedented IRGC violence to suppress. The recently published article admits that another round of protests would likely be even more violent and would require a more violent IRGC response that could trigger nationwide chaos and the end of the Islamic Republic. The article did not include how protestors also accused the IRGC as being part of the corruption and mismanagement. The IRGC prefers to ignore that for now but the admission that the corruption and government misrule were fundamental problems that had to be addressed. The IRGC seemed to be saying to the government; you go first.

The Islamic Republic of Iran replaced the constitutional monarchy in the 1980s. The constitution stipulated that the Guardians Council would preside over and guide a parliamentary democracy where candidates for parliament had to have Council approval. The religious leaders promised an end to the chronic corruption and mismanagement in government would end and Iran would enter a new age of prosperity and piety. The IRGC was created as a second army to protect the Islamic Republic from enemies internal and external. All these assurances did not work out as planned.

The current protests actually have their origins in the optimism that accompanied the American response to Islamic terrorism after 2001, and especially the overthrow of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003. At that time the ruling clerics allowed a reformer to run for president. Mohammad Khatami got elected but by 2004 admitted that his plans for reform had been blocked. The Guardians Council, composed of unelected religious leaders, can veto any legislation passed by the parliament, and have done so repeatedly. The Guardians Council increasingly would not even allow suspected reformist candidates to run for parliamentary elections, so more Iranians did not vote, giving conservative members of parliament control. By 2005 the majority of the population viewed their government, controlled by the Islamic conservative minority, as illegitimate and corrupt. That corruption developed quickly after the 1979 revolution, starting with religious organizations seizing the enormous wealth of the departed royal family and many wealthy royalist families. These businesses have been run, badly in many cases, for the benefit of Islamic conservative religious leaders, their families and followers. The IRGC now gets a growing share of this plunder.

The economy has become less efficient and productive. This has a negative impact on most Iranians and they are not happy. By the 1990s there was more violence in the streets, as gangs of young men fought each other over reforms. The IRGC had organized street gangs, composed of Islamic conservative young men who were paid to break up pro-reform demonstrations by force and attack any groups that openly opposed the rule of the Guardians and senior clergy. Back then it was feared that a series of street brawls would escalate and lead to another mass revolution like the one in 1979. By 2018 there were riots and attacks on local religious leaders in towns and cities that did not have a lot or religious conservatives, or a local IRGC militia unit (the Basj, which provide the manpower for pro-government street gangs).

The security forces plus the Basj and pro-government thugs were able to crush the 2009 protests and the larger outbreaks that followed in 2018 and 2019. Since 2009 it was noted that many pro-government enforcers had become less loyal and reliable. The corruption among the senior clerics, and especially their families, was noted by the less affluent enforcers as was their own lack of prosperity. Because of the Internet and cell phones, and despite government censorship efforts, everyone has a good idea of what is going on around the world. The government had promised not to censor the Internet in an emergency and has done so anyway. This is seen as another reason to keep the protests going. The government has been unable to stop the protestors from getting video and phone calls to media (or anyone else) outside Iran. In this way the government propaganda that the uprising is being caused by foreign agents was revealed as another bunch of lies. For a government that has been losing credibility for decades, and especially since 2001, the latest round of lies and violence directed at the Iranian people had more of an explosive than suppressive effect.

The IRGC leadership has done the math and allowed the publication of the Defense Journal article, to let everyone know that the IRGC could see where this was going and that eventually the IRGC would not be able to hold the country together using force. Thousands of civilians were killed, wounded or disappeared by the IRGC violence and a growing number of victims were Iranians who had once been considered pro-IRGC. The 2018 demonstrations were shocking because many of them took place in provinces that had long considered pro-Islamic Republic and recruiting areas for most IRGC personnel.

More surprises came in late 2020 when the Guardians Council said it was ready to sign military and security agreements with Gulf Arab states. No details were given. Details are very important, but so is the Iranian history with treaties and agreements. Iran tends to treat these documents as subject to interpretation. That means Iran will often reinterpret these deals without telling the other signatories. That does not always work, as was obvious when the Guardians Council also approved negotiation of the 25-year military/economic cooperation deal with China. When it comes to applying subject to interpretation conditions to treaties and economic agreements, China has no peer and Iran was agreeing to this deal, that was signed in March 2021, because Iran was desperate and China was willing to take advantage of Iran in return for vague assurances of military and diplomatic assistance. IRGC leaders were dismayed by this China deal but kept quiet about it because the Islamic Republic had few other options left. Getting sanctions lifted is not as easy as it was in 2015 because Iran proceeded to exploit that treaty to increase their IRGC run military operations in foreign countries.

Some additional sanctions were lifted even after the U.S. began enforcing economic sanctions in 2017. In October, 2020 countries still observing the 2015 treaty were aware that by the terms of that treaty UN arms sanctions on Iran were now lifted. These sanctions had been in force for thirteen years. Technically Iran could now freely import and export weapons from China, Russia and several European nations. In practice that proved difficult because in 2017 the United States declared Iran in breach of the 2015 treaty terms. The Americans revived economic and military sanctions in 2018 and has been very effective at enforcing them. But its not just the Americans who no longer trust the Islamic Republic. Even the other nations that tried to maintain the 2015 treaty were not willing to take any risks doing so. This ambivalence was the result of continued protests by Iranians and the Israeli discovery and removal from Iran of tons of documents describing the Iranian nuclear weapons program. The daring Mossad operation that carried this mission out was assisted by anti-IRGC Iranians. Iran denounced the Mossad operation as a fraud but the chatter inside Iran and examination of the documents by experts form many countries demonstrated the documents, and Irans nuclear weapons program was real and still functioning. That was why the Americans pulled out of the 2015 treaty and the European nations who refused to join the Americans did little to aid Iran after 2018.

The IRGC was overwhelmed by all these setbacks and is seeking solutions, from just about anyone. That includes cooperative foreigners.
MEDFORD, Ore-- On Sunday, southern Oregon counties including Jackson, Josephine, Klamath, Lake and Curry counties eclipsed 115,000 total Covid-19 vaccinations.

In Jackson County, one in four residents have now received at least one shot of a coronavirus vaccine, that's about 62,293 people. According to data from the Oregon Health Authority, more than half of those 62,000 people, about 39,000, are also fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

In Josephine County, more than 24,000 people have been vaccinated against coronavirus. Almost 9,000 people have recieved one shot of a Covid-19 vaccine while the other 15,000 people are fully protected against the virus.

Klamath County is up next with the third most vaccinations in southern Oregon with more than 19,000 people vaccinated.

Curry County has vaccinated 7,646 people and finally Lake County has vaccinated a little more than 2,000 people.

For the last several weeks southern Oregon counties combined have been increasing vaccinations by between 10,000 to 15,000 people by the end of each week.

Also according to data from OHA, more women have decided to get a vaccine shot than that of men in all southern Oregon counties. Right now the numbers show that more than 66,000 thousand woman have rolled up their sleeves to get a Covid-19 shot, while only 48,000 men have decided to do the same.
Texas Republicans are building an election integrity brigade to deploy on Black and minority communities in Harris County.

In a video released by the government accountability group Common Cause Texas, a man who identifies himself as a GOP official in Harris County said the party needs 10,000 volunteers to monitor polls across downtown precincts in Harris County, erroneously citing widespread voter fraud in the county, per Teo Armus and Derek Hawkins of the Washington Post.

TAKE THAT DAN: Houston is, in fact, the unofficial capital of Texas. And we don't care who disagrees.

The unidentified official proceeds to pull up a map of the areas voting precincts and specifically points to mostly Black and Hispanic areas, saying the party needs volunteers with the confidence and courage to come down here during elections, adding, this is where the fraud is occurring," per the Washington Post.

It's important to note that there has been no documented voter fraud in Harris County, and according to Common Cause Texas, such an act as the one described by the GOP official could intimidate and suppress voters.

Its very clear that were talking about recruiting people from the predominantly Anglo parts of town to go to Black and Brown neighborhoods, said Common Cause Texas executive director Anthony Gutierrez, per The Washington Post. This is a role thats supposed to do nothing but stand at a poll site and observe, Gutierrez added. Why is [the official] suggesting someone needs to be courageous?

The Texas state Senate has long been upset about Harris County's drive-thru voting and just last week approved Senate Bill 7, which largely limits mail-in voting, early voting hours and also completely eliminates drive-thru voting. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick deemed the bill a priority, claiming it as "voter security."

The bill also allows party-appointed volunteers to record videos and take photos inside polling locations to be sent to the Texas secretary of states office.

OPINION: Corporations stepping up to save voting accessibility in Texas feels pretty hopeless

The Harris County Republican Party said in a statement that Common Cause was blatantly mischaracterizing" a recruitment video and trying to bully and intimidate Republicans," as reported by the Washington Post.

The goal is to activate an army of volunteers for every precinct in Harris County and to engage voters for the whole ballot, top to bottom, and ensure every legal vote is counted," said party chair Cindy Siegel, as reported by the Washington Post.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 22:14:23|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

LONDON, April 11 (Xinhua) -- British scientists have warned that the British government is risking a third wave of COVID-19 by easing the lockdown too soon, local media reported Sunday.

"There are areas in West Yorkshire, the Black Country and other regions that still have high infection rates. However, many people there cannot afford to self-isolate. We need to tackle that issue urgently or the virus will come back again," Leeds University medical school Associate Professor Stephen Griffin told the Observer.

"It's worrying. There are far too many virus hotspots and not enough attention being paid to controlling infections that might spread from them," said Griffin.

Professor Lawrence Young of Warwick medical school said: "The test, trace and isolate system that is supposed to contain outbreaks has not worked well, and even when people test positive, they are not isolating. We need a properly funded system for quarantining infected people. We don't have that and that raises the risk we could head back into trouble again quite quickly."

The scientists made their remarks as Britain is poised to partly ease the current lockdown restrictions, the third of its kind since the start of the pandemic in the country, on Monday.

From Monday, non-essential shops will reopen and pubs and restaurants will reopen outdoors at a time when Britain moves to step two of the roadmap out of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Meanwhile, hairdressers and barbers as well as gyms can reopen, along with zoos, theme parks, libraries and community centers.

Experts have warned that despite progress in vaccine rollout, Britain is "still not out of the woods" amid concerns over new variants and the third wave of pandemic on the European continent.

More than 32 million people have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the official figures.

The estimated coronavirus reproduction number, also known as the R number, in England is unchanged at between 0.8 and one, according to the latest official data.

It means that, on average, every 10 people who have coronavirus will infect between eight and 10 others.

Government advisory scientists said the situation is too variable in some regions to produce a Britain-wide R rate, but the number is believed to be above one in some parts of the country, which means the outbreak could grow exponentially.

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
Photo: The Canadian Press Travellers are directed to take a mandatory COVID-19 test after arriving on a international flight at Pearson International Airport during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

An Ontario pilot project offering COVID-19 vaccines to migrant farm workers got underway on Saturday at Toronto's international airport.

Avi Yufest, spokesman for the Ontario agriculture ministry, told The Canadian Press the program "went well" as the government offered shots to more than 200 workers landing on an early-morning flight from Mexico.

Officials from the ministries of health and agriculture, health-care practitioners and representatives from the Mexican Consulate were also at Pearson International Airport to meet the group, offering doses of the Moderna vaccine after the workers cleared customs.

The vaccines were administered in a screened-off area after recipients took a mandatory COVID-19 test.

Yufest said there were "no major glitches" in the rollout, but that lessons learned from the first day would be introduced into a more permanent program that will offer shots to more workers arriving next week.

The government has said it plans to follow up with farms to administer the second dose through the local public health unit.

One such unit sounded a recent alarm about current vaccine supplies, raising the spectre of reduced clinic hours or even temporary shutdowns in the coming days if the situation doesn't improve.

York Region Chairman Wayne Emmerson outlined his concerns in a Friday letter to Health minister Christine Elliott, saying a scarcity of Moderna shots leaves the region unable to sustain its current pace of immunizations.

"Given this acute need for our clinics to continue vaccinating prioritized groups, we appeal both to you Minister, and to all our York Region MPPs, for your assistance to acquire any vaccines that can be directed to York Region before next week and keep our clinics fully operational," the letter read.

Alexandra Hilkene, a spokeswoman for Elliott, did not comment specifically on the plea from York Region but described reliable vaccine supply as "the biggest challenge to Ontarios vaccine rollout."

"We continue to be ready to administer doses  and expand the locations administering doses, including mass vaccination sites  as soon as we receive supply from the federal government," she said in a statement.

Immunization efforts continued elsewhere, however, with some high-profile politicians getting in on the action.

Toronto Mayor John Tory received his first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at a downtown pharmacy on Saturday morning.

Im completely confident taking it as its been taken by millions of people around the world," Tory said. "So, no nervousness whatsoever."

Ontario Premier Doug Ford received his first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday, saying he wanted to get the shot in front of media to help encourage people to get immunized and combat vaccine hesitancy.

Meanwhile, Ontario reported 3,813 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday and 19 additional deaths associated with the virus.

Elliott said there were 973 new cases in Toronto, 669 in Peel Region, and 442 in York Region. Ottawa and Durham Region also logged high daily counts with 289 and 281, respectively.

Government figures showed 1,524 patients currently in Ontario hospitals due to COVID-19, with 585 in intensive care and 384 on a ventilator.

Those figures were released hours after the province issued a pair of emergency orders intended to address a major influx of COVID-19 patients requiring hospital care.

They include a directive allowing hospitals to transfer patients to other facilities without their consent, as well as one granting the province power to redeploy dozens of workers from home-care organizations and Ontario Health  the body that oversees the health system  to hospitals during a surge.

Hospitals will begin scaling back elective surgeries as of Monday as they try to keep pace with COVID-19-related demands.

Ontario said 104,783 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered in the province since Friday's report.

It's the fourth straight day more than 100,000 vaccines have been given out in the province.

A total of 3,044,949 vaccine doses have been administered in Ontario so far.

The province completed more than 61,400 tests since the last report.
The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option.
(@FahadShabbir)

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Apr, 2021 ) :Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Sunday said that Pakistan was a key partner in the current $400 billion global medical device industries as well as contributing in local economic development.

It said that stepping into the knowledge economy, Pakistan could emerge as a major global player by expanding its exports of medical device industry.

Chairman FPCCI Qurban Ali while, addressing the inaugural ceremony of AZ Diagnostic, a medical diagnosing laboratory said that exports of surgical goods and medical instruments had grown steadily along with global industry trade in the past decade and reached to $ 500 million during last financial year.

Pakistan remained a small-scale exporter of surgical instruments in global markets and during recent years, exports of these products showed a notable slowdown as new products and competitors had entered in the market, he added.

He said in order to sustain its presence in global industry Pakistan needed to adopt a specific growth strategy based on improved efficiencies, penetration into new markets and diversification of production.

He said that the lab had been established to provide better medical facilities to the public during current pandemic period on economical rates as test for diagnosing different diseases were costly, adding that this laboratory would provide tests for various diseases to under privileged segments on economical rates and would be free for needy people as well.

He informed that during the COVID-19 Pandemic the laboratory was providing free services for the needy people adding that this laboratory would conduct medical tests for the people from remote areas especially from Gilgit-Baltistan on very economical rates.

In this regard, the people of Gilgit-Baltistan will have access to all the tests including major diseases at lowest cost, adding that the laboratory was set up on modern lines and its state-of-the-art machinery has been imported from abroad to provide facilities to the people in Pakistan.

The chairman FPCCI further informed that the lab had also sought help from foreign experts and would benefited from time to time with their suggestions and advice, besides its has been specially equipped and consulted by experts from abroad which will be a great addition to the Pakistani medical industry.
A self-proclaimed 'Sergeant of Arms' of the Proud Boys has insisted he shouldn't be sent back to jail over his role in the Capitol riots, claiming that guards are threatening and beating other suspects , including one who was left 'half blind'.

Prosecutors have been trying to send Ethan 'Rufio' Nordean, 30, back to jail, Law & Crime reports.

But on April 8, his attorneys filed a court document citing a Politico article that described Capitol rioters experiencing alleged violence from Washington DC jail guards.

Prosecutors have failed in two prior requests to order Nordean, who is charged with conspiracy, detained pending trial.

Proud Boys members were among those in a mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol on the afternoon of January 6.

Self-proclaimed 'Sergeant of Arms' of the Proud Boys, Ethan Nordean (right on January 6) has claimed that he shouldn't be sent back to jail following reports of Washington, DC, guards threatening and beating other Capitol rioters

Rioters (on January 6) who are being held in DC, including Ryan Samsel, have claimed that guards have attacked them. Samsel said he was 'severely beaten by correctional officers' and left 'blind in one eye'

Prosecutors have accused Nordean and other right-wing figures of conspiring to take the Capitol by force to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's election victory.

Those rioters who are being held in DC, including Ryan Samsel, have claimed that guards have attacked them.

Samsel said he was 'severely beaten by correctional officers'. According to Politico, Samsel is now 'blind in one eye, has a skull fracture and detached retina'.

Another defendant, Ronald Sandlin, claimed that he and others are 'scared for their lives'.

'Myself and others involved in the January 6 incident are scared for their lives, not from each other but from correctional officers,' Sandlin said, according to Politico.

'I don't understand how this is remotely acceptable,' he said, before claiming he was going through 'mental torture'.

Sandlin also claimed that guards tackled Richard Barnett, 60, who was photographed in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office.

Barnett's lawyer, Joseph McBride told the news site: 'There is a pattern of abuse and of targeting of the defendants who are being held pursuant to what happened on January 6. It is targeted. It is ruthless. It is nonstop.'

Another Capitol rioter, Thomas Webster, who is accused of attacking a police officer with a metal pole and attempting to gouge his eyes, has also complained about being held in prison in DC.

According to Newsweek, Webster, 54, is said to be in 'shock' over being detained with people who committed 'inner-city' crimes.

Webster is reportedly being held in a 'dormitory setting'.

His lawyer said: 'For a middle aged guy whose never been arrested before this has been a shock for him.' His lawyer also claimed that Webster's record outside of the January 6 riot is 'sparkling'.

Last month, Nordean (pictured on InfoWars), of Auburn, Washington, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal charges accusing him of helping to plan and lead the deadly January insurrection on the US Capitol

So far, at least 19 leaders, members or associates of the neo-fascist group have been charged in federal court with offenses related to the January 6 riots (pictured)

Nordean's lawyers said in the court filing that the aforementioned claims are 'consistent with what they have personally learned in connection with another Capitol protester defendant'.

'This defendant advised counsel that, during his pretrial detention at the DC facility, guards would flash lights in his eyes at night so that he could not sleep,' the lawyers wrote, adding that the defendant was held in solitary confinement for the duration of his stay'.

While in solitary confinement, the defendant was reportedly not given a shower and placed in a cell with a broken toilet.

The filing alleges that when the defendant asked for a shower, he 'was handed baby wipes' and 'verbally threatened by guards on multiple occasions'.

It's unclear if Nordean was threatened or harmed while he was detained pending trial.

According to Politico, jail officials previously told the court that the January 6 defendants have been held in 'restrictive housing' in order to protect them from other inmates.

'For their own safety and security, all of the detainees who are being held at the Jail in connection with the events that occurred on January 6, 2021 at the Capitol Building have been placed in restrictive housing,' Deputy Warden Michelle Jones told Judge Royce Lamberth in March, Politico reported.

Last month, Nordean, of Auburn, Washington, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal charges accusing him of helping to plan and lead the deadly January insurrection on the US Capitol.

A grand jury's indictment, unsealed in March, intensified initial federal charges against Nordean, who was arrested in February. The latest charges include a conspiracy count that alleges Nordean and others worked together to plan and carry out the attack.

Nordean was a Proud Boys chapter president and member of the group's national Elders Council. Nordean, who also goes by the alias 'Rufio Panman,' was described as a leader or organizer of Proud Boys chapters in his home state, the indictment says.

The charging papers allege that, before the Capitol attack, Nordean and others worked to obtain paramilitary equipment to carry out the siege. They also allegedly dismantled metal barriers protecting the Capitol and communicated through handheld radios and encrypted messaging applications, the indictment says.

An encrypted messaging channel called 'Boots on the Ground' was opened the day before the attack, enabling more than five dozen participants - including Nordean, to prepare for the mayhem, according to the indictment.

'Rufio is in charge, cops are the primary threat, don't get caught by them or BLM, don't get drunk until off the street,' the indictment quotes a message, sent the night before the riot by the unnamed co-conspirator, as saying.

Proud Boys members, who describe themselves as a politically incorrect men's club for 'Western chauvinists,' have frequently engaged in fights with antifascist activists at rallies and protests.

So far, at least 19 leaders, members or associates of the neo-fascist group have been charged in federal court with offenses related to the January 6 riots.

Nordean was hit with multiple charges including, obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder and aiding and abetting; destruction of government property and aiding and abetting and entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds.
Chile receives new shipment of Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines

Xinhua) 11:26, April 11, 2021

SANTIAGO, April 10 (Xinhua) -- A new batch of CoronaVac vaccine from China's Sinovac arrived in Chile on Saturday to become part of the country's vaccination campaign against the COVID-19.

The shipment was received at Santiago Airport by Chilean Health Minister Enrique Paris and Deputy Health Minister Paula Daza.

"We are receiving a new shipment of vaccines from China. Therefore, we will continue with our mass vaccination campaign," Paris said.

Daza said the vaccination program would continue until herd immunity was hopefully reached by June 30, with the vaccination of 80 percent of the susceptible population.

To date, Chile has vaccinated 7,354,826 people, of which 4,643,082 have already received both doses.

Up to 2,942,898 people aged 60 and above have been immunized, contributing to fewer hospitalizations and lower mortality in the age group.

The Sinovac vaccine was approved for emergency use in Chile on Jan. 20.

Chile's mass vaccination program began on Feb. 3 with the aim of immunizing 15 million of the 19 million people in the country during the first half of 2021.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Grand Rapids Police are investigating after Calvin University students reported two incidents of a man acting in a sexually inappropriate way, a Saturday campus alert said.

The first occurred near Hekman Library around 12:15 p.m. April 10. The man called a female student over to his car while he was naked and masturbating, according to Calvin University Campus Safety Department.

The man next approached a group of students about 30 minutes later in the parking lot next to the Bunker Interpretative Center. He handed the students a note asking if they wanted to participate in a group sexual activity.

Officials said the suspect then left campus, heading south on East Beltline Avenue in a black Toyota Yaris with Florida license plate IAJB30 or IAJ830.

The man was last seen wearing a gray tank top. The safety alert said construction equipment and a hard hat were in the suspect vehicle.

Campus Safety and police were searching the area for the suspect. He is described as being a thin man in his mid-20s with shoulder-length brown hair, light facial hair on his chin and a light mustache.

The man does not appear to have any connections to the university, officials said.

Police told Campus Safety a similar incident at a McDonalds on 28th Street in Kentwood was reported Saturday.

Anyone who sees the vehicle on Calvin Universitys campus should contact 616-526-3333.

More on MLive:

Four shot at Allendale apartment complex; police search for suspect

Woman shot while driving on I-75 in Detroit

Gunman shot after firing assault rifle at Flint officers, police say
(Natural News) The Oregonian, Oregons largest local newspaper, retracted its previous endorsement for defunding the police when it published an editorial calling for the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) to have a dedicated team to respond to the surging gun violence in the city.

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, wrote The Oregonians editorial board in an April 4 article. (Related: Portland police LEAVING in droves, exit interviews detail stories of being overworked, unappreciated by the community and ignored by city officials.)

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, continued the article. And as part of their work, they took dozens of guns off the street.

The editorial board noted that  as many members of Portlands community have pointed out to them  there is a way that the PPB can still be funded while at the same time investing in the community organizations and charities that helped address the underlying factors that contributed to gun violence.

The Oregonian then criticized the City Council of Portland for ignoring the threat the city was facing because the PPB had fewer police officers. It also criticized the council for opposing a proposal to provide the PPB with an additional $2 million to revive the GVRT, while at the same time proposing to hand over $3.5 million to unspecified community groups who work with communities affected by gun violence in some manner.

This, the board noted, showed that the City Council did not fully grasp the seriousness or the scope of the crisis the city was facing.

Many others questioning whether defunding Portland police a good idea

After being faced with the surge in homicides and gun violence incidents, many Portlanders have begun changing their minds regarding whether the police should be defunded.

This is the case for Elmer Yarborough and many of his friends. Yarboroughs two nephews were shot in broad daylight in the summer of 2020. One of his nephews died.

This occurred right around the same time when liberal rioters were taking over Portlands streets nightly to demand that the police be defunded. In response to the violence led by Antifa and Black Lives Matter, the PPBs GVRT was dissolved.

Yarborough and other families in Portland who have become victims of gun violence have wondered if shutting down the GVRT is to blame for the spike in shootings.

Without a doubt, I think it is a possibility that my nephew could still be alive if the Gun Violence Reduction Team was not dissolved, said Yarborough. I cannot say for sure if he would, but what I will tell you is had it not been my nephew that was saved, [the GVRT] probably could have saved the life of someone else.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, a Democrat who signed off on the units disbanding in June 2020, has refused to accept the possibility that the GVRT would have made a difference.

I believe if the Gun Violence Reduction Team were around today, we would still see a substantial, if not identical increase, in shootings in Portland, said the mayor back in January. This is clearly part of a larger national trend.

Other officials and supposed experts on crime have attributed the spike in shootings in Portland to the hardships people have faced due to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, such as unemployment, economic anxiety and stress on mental health.

The Portland police warned Wheeler and the City Council of the possible repercussions of ending the unit, but these warnings were in vain.

Yarborough admitted to being a member of a gang in the 1990s, and that he was previously arrested by the GVRT during his time in the streets. Despite that, he has described the unit as the CIA of the PPB and said they were effective at stopping potential shooting incidents before they happened because of the relationships they developed with the community.

They build relationships with gang members and knew who the perpetrators were, said Yarborough. They  were able to band together to stop it, or at least refer people impacted to programs to help change their lives.

Learn more about the problems being faced by cities like Portland that have opted to defund their police departments by reading the latest articles at PoliceViolence.news.

Sources include:

TruePundit.com

OregonLive.com

Twitter.com

APNews.com
Graves Car-Motorcycle Crash Sends One to Hospital

By West Kentucky Star Staff





GRAVES COUNTY - A collision between a car and a motorcycle in Graves County Saturday afternoon sent one person to the hospital.The Graves County Sheriff's Department said 54-year-old James Logsdon was driving south in a car on Lester Road, just north of Timber Road.They said that 30-year-old Matthew Connell was traveling north on a motorcycle, on the wrong side of the road.Meeting at the crest of a hill, the two vehicles collided head-on.The motorcyclist Connell was airlifted to TriStar Skyline Medical Center in Nashville for treatment. Logsdon was reportedly not injured.Charges are pending based on the outcome of the investigation, however drugs, alcohol, or speeding have been determined not to be contributing factors to the crash.
Raul Bujanda Named Special Agent in Charge of the Albuquerque Field Office

Director Christopher Wray has named Raul Bujanda as the special agent in charge of the Albuquerque Field Office in New Mexico. Mr. Bujanda most recently served as a section chief in the Criminal Investigative Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington.

Mr. Bujanda joined the FBI as a special agent in 2002. He was first appointed to the Portland Field Office in Oregon, where he investigated violent crime, gang, and Mexican-based drug trafficking organizations.

He transferred to the El Paso Field Office in Texas in 2008 to work on the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force strike force. He continued to investigate Mexican-based drug trafficking organizations. In 2010, Mr. Bujanda was promoted to supervisory special agent of the El Paso strike force, which also included members from the Drug Enforcement Agency, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Border Patrol, the El Paso Sheriffs Office, and other agencies.

Mr. Bujanda was promoted in 2013 to unit chief in the Criminal Justice Information Services Division in West Virginia. The Online Services and Operations Unit provided technical services, including real-time secure information sharing and crisis information, to the law enforcement community.

In 2015, Mr. Bujanda served as an assistant inspector and team leader in the Inspection Division at Headquarters. He was promoted in 2016 to assistant special agent in charge of the National Security Branch in the Oklahoma City Field Office. He later served as the assistant special agent in charge of Oklahoma Citys Criminal Branch, where he was responsible for criminal violations, administrative matters, and the FBI offices in the western region of the state.

Mr. Bujanda was named section chief of the Criminal Investigative Divisions National Covert Operations Section in 2019. He managed and oversaw all criminal and national security undercover operations for the FBI.

Prior to joining the FBI, Mr. Bujanda was a special agent in the Immigration and Naturalization Service and was a fifth-grade teacher.

This story has been published on: 2021-04-11. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
MULTAN, Pakistan (AP)  Counterterrorism police killed one of Pakistan's most wanted militants in a shootout in the garrison city of Rawalpindi overnight, a police official said Sunday.

Officer Kashif Hussain said three of the militant's accomplices escaped during the exchange of fire, leaving their weapons at the scene: two pistols, an assault rifle and ammunition.

He identified the slain militant only as Niaz and said he also uses the alias Zeeshan. Hussain said Niaz was active with the Pakistani Taliban group Tahreek-e-Taliban in Punjab province in the Hazro area of the district of Attock.

He said Niaz was also in league with banned militant organization Lashker-e-Jhangvi.

Hussain said Niaz was wanted in connection with a number of attacks in the region that killed more than two dozen citizens and security officials. There was a $40,000 bounty on his head.

According to Hussain, Niaz was involved in planning a 2015 suicide attack that killed then-home minister of Punjab province Shuja Khanzada, a high ranking police officer and others.

Hussain said the counterterrorism department received intelligence that four militants on two motorcycles planned to attack secret service officers so checkpoints were set up on the road linking Attock with Rawalpindi.

Late on Saturday, the targets were spotted approaching the Kheri Murat checkpoint. Hussain said they were asked to stop but instead the motorcyclists opened fire in an attempt to escape.

The Pakistani Taliban have a presence in areas of Punjab province that border northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. They also have made inroads in southern Punjab near southwestern Baluchistan province.
Victorias legal watchdog is threatening to cancel the practising certificate of the lawyer behind a class action launched on behalf of 3000 public housing tower residents who were compulsorily shut inside their homes at the height of the coronavirus pandemics second wave.

Emails seen by The Age confirm the Victorian Legal Services Board wrote to solicitor Serene Teffaha in March to provide her with a notice of proposed cancellation of practising certificate.

Solicitor Serene Teffaha of Advocate Me says she intends to contest the action from the Victorian Legal Services Board.

The notice was sent to Ms Teffaha, a high-profile anti-lockdown activist, at the same time that she filed the class action on behalf of thousands of public housing tenants subjected to the hard lockdown by the state government and confined to their homes in July 2020.

The emails sent between Victorian Legal Services Board investigator Kimberley Anderton and Ms Teffaha do not specifically indicate the conduct under scrutiny by the board.
Driver Tim Tetrick recently returned to The Meadowlands after spending the winter racing at Dover Downs, and based on Saturday (April 10) nights results, the 39-year-old Hall of Famer hasnt missed a Big M beat by winning four races on the card, including both $30,000 features, one on the trot and the other on the pace.

In the marquee trot, Scirocco Rob stayed on a roll as the Mark Silva trainee won for the fourth time in five starts. The six-year-old gelded son of Explosive Matter-Fun At Parties stopped the clock in an eye-popping 1:50.3 to lower his previous lifetime best by a full second.

Things could not have gone any better for the 4-5 favourite, who worked an ideal pocket trip behind the speedy Nows The Moment and Mark MacDonald, who cut fractions of :26.4, :54.3 and 1:22.2 before Tetrick tipped Scirocco Rob out of the pocket with an eighth of a mile to go and roared home to an easy four-and-a-quarter-length score. Nows The Moment held second with Morairtime third.

My horse is very versatile, said Tetrick. Last week, he was second-over at Dover and won. Tonight, it worked out perfect.

Sitting off quick fractions in the abbreviated six-horse field (JL Cruze was scratched), Tetrick loved his spot.

I was thinking, just dont fall off, said Tetrick. I was pretty confident. My horse was tracking so good.

I was just trying to have a little fun, said Tetrick when asked about looking back at MacDonald as he went by in the stretch. Mark was laughing, I was laughing, so it was kind of fun.

Scirocco Rob returned $3.60 to his backers in winning for the 28th time from 81 starts. His bankroll stands at $551,604 for owners Lewis and Kathleen Whitaker.

Ana Afreet N, back from an unsuccessful stint at Yonkers racing in the Borgata series where he finished no better than fourth in three starts, held off 3-5 favourite Colossal Stride A in a thrilling finish in the Preferred for pacers while back at the track where he was an impressive wire-to-wire winner on March 6.

Tetrick was intent on racing on the point in the seven-horse field. If they were going to go a half in :55, said Tetrick. I might as well be cutting it and make that horse of Dexters [Dunn, driving Colossal Stride A] chase me, so it just worked out. My horse is a nice horse, he just didnt like the four turns at Yonkers. It just didnt agree with him and he couldnt get around there.

Around two turns at The Big M, it was a far different story.

Yacht Seelster was on the move early and looped Ana Afreet N to grab the lead at the quarter in :27.2. Tetrick immediately moved Ana Afreet N back to the lead and hit the half in :55.4 and three-quarters in 1:23.3.

Colossal Stride A, the 3-5 favourite, moved from the four-hole just after the half and made his way closer to the leader gradually while racing first-over, and continued his constructive grind throughout the stretch drive. But at the wire, it was Ana Afreet N holding on by a diminishing nose. Vettel N was third. The time for the mile was 1:49.4.

I was a little nervous [in deep stretch], said Tetrick. Especially when you look back and have Dex coming at you. Luckily, my horse dug in and made me look good.

Trained by Jeff Cullipher and owned by Pollack Racing and Cullipher, Ana Afreet N returned $8.40 to win as the second choice in the betting. The six-year-old son of Bettors Delight-Anna Livia has now won 24 of 50 starts, good for earnings of $198,272.

WHATTA WEEKEND: With the tracks two signature Pick 4s accounting for over $240,000 of action to go along with a pair of potent carryovers, all-source wagering totaled $3,782,327. When you add in Fridays $3.23 million handle, that brought the total of $7-million wagering weekends at The Big M to four on the year.

CARRYOVER CRAZY: The 20-cent Pick-6 pool started with $9,019 before $64,105 in new money was added for a total of $73,124. Those who hit all six winners collected $877.14. The 10-cent Pentafecta/Hi-5 had a carryover of $32,103 before $84,462 was added for a total of $116,565. Those with tickets bearing the combination of 5-1-9-3-7 cashed in for $141.84.

A LITTLE MORE: After only four favourites won on the previous two programs combined, chalk players had smiles on their faces Saturday as six post-time choices hit victory lane.

Jeff Cullipher trained three winners on the card while Bruce Saunders had two.

Racing resumes Friday (April 16) at 6:20 p.m. (EDT).

(The Meadowlands)
Along with the revenue the Laverys will bring in, the move is good media politics for the company. Substack has been facing a mutiny from a group of writers who objected to sharing the platform with people who they said were anti-transgender, including a writer who made fun of peoples appearances on a dating app. Signing up two high-profile transgender writers was a signal that Substack was trying to remain a platform for people who sometimes hate one another, and who sometimes, like Dr. Lavery, heatedly criticize the company.

Feuds among and about Substack writers were a major category of media drama during the pandemic winter  a lot of drama for a company that mostly just makes it easy to email large groups for free. For those who want to charge subscribers on their email list, Substack takes a 10 percent fee. The mindshare Substack has in media right now is insane, said Casey Newton, who left The Verge to start a newsletter on Substack called Platformer. Substack, he said, has become a target for a lot of people to project their anxieties.

Substack has captivated an anxious industry because it embodies larger forces and contradictions. For one, the new media economy promises both to make some writers rich and to turn others into the content-creation equivalent of Uber drivers, even as journalists turn increasingly to labor unions to level out pay scales.

This new direct-to-consumer media also means that battles over the boundaries of acceptable views and the ensuing arguments about cancel culture  for instance, in New York Magazines firing of Andrew Sullivan  are no longer the kind of devastating career blows they once were. (Only Twitter retains that power.) Big media cancellation is often an offramp to a bigger income. Though Substack paid advances to a few dozen writers, most are simply making money from readers. That includes most of the top figures on the platform, who make seven-figure sums from more than 10,000 paying subscribers  among them Mr. Sullivan, the liberal historian Heather Cox Richardson, and the confrontational libertarian Glenn Greenwald.

This new ability of individuals to make a living directly from their audiences isnt just transforming journalism. Its also been the case for adult performers on OnlyFans, musicians on Patreon, B-list celebrities on Cameo. In Hollywood, too, power has migrated toward talent, whether its marquee showrunners or actors. This power shift is a major headache for big institutions, from The New York Times to record labels. And Silicon Valley investors, eager to disrupt and angry at their portrayal in big media, have been gleefully backing it. Substack embodies this cultural shift, but its riding the wave, not creating it.
A new report from the state Attorney Generals Office has found that Massachusetts residents have lost $426 million through competitive electric supply contracts over the past five years.
Scranton property owners facing rising school taxes and possible future hikes bear the heftiest tax burden in Lackawanna County for the third year in a row.

A typical Scranton homeowner earning $26,077 annually  the median earnings for city workers  will spend about $138.04 of every $1,000 in earnings on local wage and property taxes this year, a Sunday Times analysis found. That same homeowner will pay about $2,713.02 in 2021 city, county and school property taxes, with the school tax accounting for about $1,286.88, or about 47%.

Scranton homeowners have faced the highest or nearly the highest tax burden every year since the newspaper began analyzing local tax burdens in 2012. School property taxes continue to account for the brunt of the tax burden residents across the county bear.

In Archbald, school property taxes account for 58% of a typical residents total property tax obligation. In Dunmore, they account for almost 54%, and in La Plume Twp., more than 71%.

A slow return to normal from the COVID-19 crisis could mean fewer lifelines and less flexibility for financial obligations than cash-strapped homeowners experienced last year. For those suffering financial fallout from COVID-19, older adults on fixed incomes and others, property taxes can represent a significant and sometimes prohibitively expensive challenge.

The burden on the older adults is high and its tough, said Lackawanna County Area Agency on Aging Director Jason Kavulich. They have fixed incomes. Their expenses keep going up. And keeping a property is not cheap.

The analysis

The municipal tax landscape changed slightly this year, with Archbald and Mayfield boroughs and Glenburn, Madison and Scott townships raising property taxes and Jermyn cutting them by about 14%. Municipal property taxes generally represent the least expensive of the three property tax bills local homeowners pay annually.

In Dickson City a typical resident whose home is assessed at $8,000, the boroughs median residential assessed value, pays just $208 in municipal taxes this year. The same resident will pay $986.24 in Mid Valley School District taxes and $511.36 to the county.

County taxes held steady a year after an 11.3% property tax hike  the countys first in seven years.

In calculating the total tax burden in each of the countys 40 municipalities, the newspaper analyzes local property and wage tax rates, median assessed property values and other factors to demonstrate how taxes affect residents throughout the county, especially as a share of their annual income.

The 15 municipalities with the highest tax burden, from highest to lowest, are Scranton, Clifton Twp., Clarks Green, Clarks Summit, Covington Twp., Newton Twp., Madison Twp., Moscow, Roaring Brook Twp., Dalton, South Abington Twp., Waverly Twp., Carbondale, West Abington Twp. and Spring Brook Twp.

Like last year, 13 of the 15 are in either the Abingtons or North Pocono regions, where assessed property values and annual wage figures are relatively high compared to other municipalities. Homeowners with the highest tax burdens pay the most in taxes relative to how much money they make annually.

Scranton and Carbondale are the only municipalities to levy a wage tax above 1%. Carbondales wage tax is 2.5%; Scrantons is 3.4%. Typical Scranton and Carbondale residents will pay about $887 and $767 in annual wage taxes, respectively.

The same Carbondale homeowner will pay about $80.42 of every $1,000 earned on local taxes. Thats more than twice the tax burden in Carbondale Twp., where a typical homeowner will pay about $38.98 per $1,000 in earnings  the lowest tax burden in the county.

School tax hikes

Of the 11 school districts serving Lackawanna County that follow a July to June fiscal year, six raised taxes for county residents for the 2020-21 fiscal year. They include Forest City Regional, 3.3%; Lackawanna Trail, 2.15%; Mid Valley, 2.5%; North Pocono, 2%; Old Forge, 1.9%; and Riverside, 3.39%.

The 11 districts will set their millage for the 2021-22 fiscal year when school boards approve their budgets this summer.

The Scranton School District, which is in financial recovery and follows a calendar year budget, raised taxes 3.9% this year, the maximum allowed by the state under the Act 1 index. The districts five-year financial recovery plan, enacted in 2019, calls for taxes to increase to at least the index rate each year, which would significantly improve the districts financial outlook but also add to city property owners tax burden.

School districts will have to earmark more money this year to cover their share of required pension contributions. Officials often cite rising pension and employee health care costs as drivers of tax hikes.

The Public School Employees Retirement System Board of Trustees certified in December an annual employer contribution rate of 34.94% for fiscal year 2021-22, which begins July 1. That rate, which is actuarily determined to meet future pension obligations, is a 1.25% increase over the current rate. While the state directly reimburses public school districts for at least half of the total employer contribution rate, the increase promises to put more pressure on district budgets.

Crying about it does you no good, Carbondale Area Business Manager David Cerra said. We dont control it. We just budget for it.

The Riverside School District does not expect to raise property taxes for the 2021-22 fiscal year, Superintendent Paul Brennan said. The district offered taxpayers relief last year despite hiking taxes by extending its tax-bill discount period by two months, upping the discount from 2% to 5%, delaying the start of its penalty period by a month and decreasing the penalty from 10% to 5%.

SSD struggles

Three federal stimulus packages Congress passed since the pandemics onset promise millions in aid to local schools to respond to the public health crisis, some of which theyve already received and allocated.

The latest package, President Joe Bidens American Rescue Plan, should deliver more that $65 million in funding to school districts in Lackawanna County, including more than $36 million to the Scranton School District. The districts total from the three aid packages is about $57 million.

Scranton school officials welcome the funding, but said its not a panacea. Director Tara Yanni, chairwoman of the boards budget and finance committee, said using relief funds for capital improvements and other long-term investments will help the district update its curriculum, revitalize school buildings and realize other benefits.

But Yanni and the districts state-appointed chief recovery officer, Candis Finan, Ed.D., said the influx of one-time funds wont solve the structural problem of growing annual expenses exceeding annual revenues.

If the district does nothing to boost revenue and decrease expenses, financial consultant PFM projects it would have a negative fund balance of $22.5 million in five years. But if the district hikes property taxes to the Act 1 index each year, which would amount to about 4.6% annual increases, PFM projects the district would enjoy a positive fund balance of about $11.9 million by 2026. Those baseline projections do not assume employee raises or any large funding increases from the state in the next five years, and the scenarios PFM presented are not specific recommendations for annual tax hikes over that period.

Annual 4.6% hikes would make tax bills prohibitively expensive for some and create a disincentive for families considering a move into the district, Director Sean McAndrew argued, noting you cant keep going to the well when the well is dry.

Yanni also has serious concerns about the prospect of yearly tax hikes to the Act 1 index, arguing the district needs to explore other solutions to boost revenues and strategically use the relief money to bolster its finances long term.

In an email, Finan said the recovery plan is intended to balance ongoing expenditure increases with the impact of revenue growth on taxpayers, noting the district cannot tax its way to financial stability. She has urged the district to take other actions to mitigate the need for more tax revenue in the future, including shrinking the districts footprint through reconfiguration, focusing on competition with charter and cyber charter schools to return more students to district programs and improving transportation efficiencies, she wrote.

My concern is to try to help the district balance a budget (and) live within its means ... so we can get to a point where they can sustain themselves without having to raise taxes over and over again, Finan said in a phone interview.

Yanni said the district desperately needs Gov. Tom Wolfs proposed budget to pass, which would substantially increase the basic education funding it receives from the state. Wolf wants all basic education funding put through the states fair funding formula, which would mean a $39 million increase for Scranton, though getting the state budget passed promises to be a heavy lift.

Avoiding more tax hikes

The American Rescue Plan package also promises to provide more than $83 million in flexible funding to Lackawanna County municipalities, including $69.9 million to Scranton. That money can be used to replace revenue lost to the pandemic and could help municipalities avoid future tax hikes.

While the funding cant be used to offset revenue lost by lowering taxes, Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti said last month her administrations goal is to avoid a city property tax hike in 2022, when Scranton is slated to exit state Act 47 oversight and shed the financially distressed designation it has carried since 1992.

The city is exploring how to best use its relief funds to achieve long-term financial stability. Strategic investments now could allow the city to forgo millage hikes down the road, Business Administrator Carl Deeley said.

Scranton city and school district leaders also pledged to collaborate with other local government and educational entities to maximize the federal fundings impact on the region. A tax policy working group of mostly local civic and government leaders that Cognetti assembled last year continues to study possible reforms and improvements.

Going without

NeighborWorks Northeastern Pennsylvania President and CEO Jesse Ergott said some residents the nonprofit serves found property taxes more bearable as the pandemic raged and governments, nonprofits and neighbors scrambled to provide support.

For some, direct federal stimulus payments and other pandemic relief coincided with the waiving or extension of tax-bill penalty periods  temporarily alleviating the anxiety taxes can induce.

I think part of that is because they had some extra stimulus money in their pocket ... that kind of short-term issue was taken care of ... and they didnt have some of the other expenses they had in other cases, Ergott said.

Bidens relief package provided another round of stimulus checks to individuals, raising the total many Americans received in direct federal payments to $3,200 since the pandemic began more than a year ago. But without the temporary support that may have sustained them over the past year, some could feel the pressure of property taxes more acutely in a post-pandemic world.

The older adults will go without, said Kavulich. Theyll go without medication. Theyll go without a grocery order. Theyll go without a repair to their car to pay their taxes, because its their responsibility.
Panel to decide on AstraZeneca Covid vax trials after unexplained illness in UK . (Photo by Tim Ireland/Xinhua/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

WHO says surplus AstraZeneca vaccines in rich nations must go to poor countries. Image Source: IANS News

Seoul, April 11 : South Korea on Sunday decided to resume administering AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccines to eligible recipients after temporarily putting the programme on hold amid growing concerns over its safety.

The use of AstraZeneca's vaccine will resume on Monday, except for those aged 30 and below, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Yonhap news agency reported.

South Korea earlier put the use of AstraZeneca's vaccine for people under age 60, special education instructors and school nurses on hold, after the country reported three cases of blood clots among recipients of the jabs, with two of the patients in their 20s.

"While we have found three cases of blood clots so far, we have reached a conclusion that they cannot be considered as cases of side effects," KDCA Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong said, pointing out that the decision was made on scientific grounds.

South Korea earlier made a tentative decision to resume the inoculation programme on Thursday, citing the European Medicines Agency's statement, which claimed the benefits from the AstraZeneca vaccine still outweigh potential risks over side effects.

"As the Covid-19 vaccines play a crucial role in reducing the number of serious cases and deaths, the rollout (of AstraZeneca's vaccine) should be resumed promptly," a special committee on vaccinations also said in a statement.

Following the latest decision to resume the inoculation programme, those who have received the first jab of the two-part vaccine will receive the second shot as scheduled.

Authorities, however, said those aged below 30 were excluded, as the risks of suffering blood clots still outweigh the benefits of being vaccinated.

Around 640,000 people below 30 were earlier planned to receive AstraZeneca's jabs over the second quarter.

Some 135,000 people in the age group were already vaccinated with AstraZeneca's shots.

The KDCA plans to adjust its second-quarter inoculation plan by utilising the volume earlier allocated for younger recipients.

Since the country started its vaccination programme on February 26, a total of 1,156,950 people have been given Covid-19 vaccine shots, including 8,710 on Saturday.

AstraZeneca's vaccine has been given to 916,780 people, while 300,680 received that of Pfizer. The number of people who have received two doses came to 60,510.

The country plans to vaccinate 12 million people by the end of June with a goal of achieving herd immunity by November.

Authorities said its survey among recipients of the first jab showed that AstraZeneca's vaccine had an efficacy rate of 92.2 percent two weeks after inoculation, while that of Pfizer came to 100 per cent.
Life has a way to turn a tragedy into a triumph.

In 1829, an inseparable duo came to America as entertainers. However, they did not find it funny when their boss ripped them off. In their synchronized minds, immigrants were free people. Free people should be free from exploitation. So, they sued their boss for breach of contract, as typical Americans would do in their situation.

They spoke no English. They knew next to nothing about English contract law practiced in America. They just had blind faith in the American justice system. Perseverance won them sympathizers.

America was already a land of law before the American Revolution. In a New England courtroom, John Adams defended the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre of 1770. No one ran him out of town for practicing law. He went on to get elected as the second American president in 1797.

Astute Chinese merchants such as Howqua (Wu Bingjian) paid attention to what Adams and men like him brought to the table. As early as in 1805, through their legal representatives in the U.S., they started suing their deadbeat American trade partners. Yes, Chinese preferred America to China when seeking protection of their legitimate interests. The pair of immigrants in our story, Chang and Eng Bunker, did just that.

The Bunkers actions spoke louder than words. For them, life was no laughing matter. Against all odds, they rose to their unimpressively full heights and fought a fully impressive fight, which lasted three years. Not only did they come out winning as plaintiffs, they also ended up enjoying America the way unimaginable when they were fresh off the boat.

Chang and Eng Bunker, fused at their rib cages, were the so-called original Siamese Twins who were actually ethnic Chinese born in Thailand in 1811. Vindicated under the U.S. justice system, the conjoined twins ran their own roadshows and became their own bosses. As successful American businessmen, they lived comfortably, hunting games in the countryside and vacationing in Europe. Thanks to decades of American experience, they finally came across as fluent English speakers with an adopted English surname. They talked politics in their shows and voted in public. Well-off enough, they settled down on a 100-acre plantation, with slaves, in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. On top of that, they married Sarah and Adelaide Yates, two Southern sisters they had been courting together. In total, 21 children were born into the Bunker families. Slave-free after the Civil War, the Bunker twins continued to live their Southern gentlemens lives until they died, a few hours apart, in 1874.

--- Lingyang Jiang

The Bunker twins households (source: Wikipedia)
As a key Greater Clevelander lawmaker recently said, General Assembly members should undergo vaccination against COVID-19 virus to encourage their constituents  Ohios 11.7 million residents  to do the same. (As of Thursday, about 3.9 million people had obtained at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Ohio.)

We should be leading by example, and that begins by doing the things we know will end the pandemic  masking up and signing up for vaccines when were eligible, House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes, an Akron Democrat, recently told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Shes correct. And to a degree, many of Sykess fellow legislators appear to agree with her.

For instance, the Cincinnati Enquirer recently reported, Despite rhetoric at the Ohio Statehouse minimizing COVID-19 and questioning vaccines, many Republican lawmakers and nearly all Democrats are getting the COVID-19 shot. The newspaper found that, Of the 89 Republicans in both chambers, 41 said they either received a shot or planned to get one. Eight said they didnt plan to get it; six said they were undecided. The rest did not respond by publication. Some positions were gleaned from news reports, including a Dayton Daily News survey, the Enquirer said.

The Daily News asked Miami Valley legislators if theyd be vaccinated, Six  said no; 11 said yes and four either declined to answer or didnt respond.

Among the noes was Rep. Bill Dean, a Xenia Republican, whose district includes Gov. Mike DeWines Cedarville homestead. I dont trust the vaccine. Basically, the whole COVID thing is bogus, Dean told the Dayton newspaper. I think its real, like the flu, but its not a pandemic. Survivors of the 18,741 Ohioans killed by COVID-19 (as of Tuesday) likely wouldnt agree with Dean.

Meanwhile, a suburban Cincinnati Republican, Rep. Jennifer Gross, is sponsoring a bill to forbid the state, local governments and businesses to discriminate financially or socially (defined to include requiring masks) against Ohioans who decline to be vaccinated for any of three reasons: Medical contraindications; natural immunity; or reasons of conscience, including religious convictions. " The Gross bills cosponsors include Greater Cleveland Republican Reps. Sarah Fowler Arthur, of Rock Creek; Mike Loychik, of suburban Warren; Reggie Stoltzfus, of suburban Canton; and Scott Wiggam, of Wooster.

To sum up: Amid Ohios worst public health emergency in a century, some General Assembly members are leading not by example, but by negative example. And thats utterly irresponsible.

About our editorials: Editorials express the view of the editorial board of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer -- the senior leadership and editorial-writing staff. As is traditional, editorials are unsigned and intended to be seen as the voice of the news organization.

Have something to say about this topic?

* Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication.

* Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this editorial to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 02:58:15|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

ISTANBUL, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday called for a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the "worrying developments" in eastern Ukraine between Kiev and Moscow.

"We believe that the current crisis must be resolved peacefully by diplomatic means in line with the territorial integrity of Ukraine and international laws," Erdogan said at a joint press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul.

"Our main goal is that the Black Sea continues to be a sea of peace, tranquility, and cooperation," Erdogan stressed, saying that his country does not want the tension to escalate.

For his part, Zelensky said Turkey's support for the restoration of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine is "extremely important."

The Ukrainian president's visit was within the framework of the 9th meeting of the Turkey-Ukraine High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council.

The two countries explored cooperation opportunities specifically in the defense industry, free-trade agreement, and tourism during the council meeting co-chaired by Erdogan and Zelensky.

Meanwhile, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar had a separate meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Taran. Enditem
EnqueteA magistrate judged to be biased, a team of prosecutors whose methods were sometimes illegal, the intervention of the United States, and finally a resounding scandal : Lava Jato has served many interests, but not democracy. Months of investigation, interviews and research were necessary for Le Monde to set the scene behind the scenes.

Something is rotten in the state of Brazil. The entire country is being hit by a series of simultaneous crises, a kind of perfect storm - economic recession, environmental disasters, extreme political polarization, Covid-19... and now the sinking of the judicial system. Another thunderclap in an already heavy sky that had nevertheless been filled with hope seven years ago, when a young judge named Sergio Moro had launched, on March 17, 2014, a vast anti-corruption operation called Lava Jato (Car Wash), involving the oil giant Petrobras, construction companies and an impressive number of political leaders.

In one fell swoop, the impetuous man and his team of prosecutors, supported by the judiciary and the media, were going, at last, to clean up and save Brazil! Numbers were impressive: 1,450 arrest warrants were issued, 533 indictments filed and 174 people convicted. No less than twelve Brazilian, Peruvian, Salvadorian and Panamanian heads of state or ex-heads of state were implicated. And the colossal sum of 4.3 billion reais (610 million euros) was recovered to the public coffers in Brasilia. Even former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, adored by a majority of Brazilians, could not resist the wave, as he found himself behind bars.

Larticle en francais : Au Bresil, une operation anticorruption aux methodes contestables

And then suddenly, nothing, or almost nothing. In less than two months, the sprawling investigation collapsed like a souffle. At the beginning of February, the federal Public Prosecutors Office announced the end of the Lava Jato, dismantling its main team of prosecutors with a coldness that was unheard of. Then a Supreme Court justice ordered that the charges against Lula be dropped. Fifteen days later, on March 23, it was the turn of Brazils highest court to rule that Judge Moro had been biased in his investigation.

Irregularities and confusion

The worlds largest anti-corruption investigation, as one Supreme Court justice called it, has become the biggest judicial scandal in the countrys history. After more than seven years of proceedings, the very heart of the Brazilian justice system has just disavowed the form and substance, opening up an abyss of questions about its methods, its means and its choices.

Certainly, the news site The Intercept - created by Rio de Janeiro-based American journalist Glenn Greenwald and Silicon Valley billionaire Pierre Omidyar - has not stopped pointing out the irregularities and errors in the investigation over the past two years.

One hundred and eight articles published to date have, in turn, lifted the veil on the compromising messages exchanged between the prosecutors and Judge Moro, shed a harsh light on the links maintained, sometimes outside of any legal framework, by Brazilian prosecutors with agents of the US Department of Justice (DoJ), and highlighted the political bias of certain members of the  Lava Jato , obsessed with the idea of blocking the Workers Party (PT). The very serious and independent Agencia Publica, the investigative journalism agency founded in Sao Paulo by women reporters, also showed how the proceedings were marred by irregularities and numerous confusions. After these striking revelations, there remains a strong taste of unfinished business, the sensation of a failed trial and an ontological mess for an investigation that was meant to be a model of its kind.

Il vous reste 89.94% de cet article a lire. La suite est reservee aux abonnes.
(Newser)  Just days before parts of Europe entered lockdown, Italian photojournalist Alessio Mamo traveled to Sudan, where he managed to set eyes on a sight that many of the country's own people haven't been able to see: the pyramids of Meroe, a city that served as the Kingdom of Kush's capital. They number about 200, which is far more than are found in all of Egypt (Science Alert puts Egypt's number at 138.) The Meroe pyramids sit on the Nile's east bank, roughly a 4-hour drive from the capital, Khartoum. Though they are far shorter than the pyramids at GizaMamo notes the Great Pyramid stands 455 feet, versus 30 to 100 feet herethey functioned as royal burial sites as well. And Sudan is now hoping that the 2019 end of Omar Hassan al-Bashir's 30-year dictatorship will open up this archaeological wonder to the world. That is, if flooding doesn't cause ruin.

story continues below

Smithsonian reported in September on the Nile's record water levels, caused by heavier than usual rains during the country's June-to-October rainy season. Meroe is located only 1,650 feet from the banks of the Nile. That was once fortuitous: Ozy reports that thanks to the positioning, ancient "irrigated farms flourished next to lucrative gold and iron mines." Mamo notes that wind and sand erosion are a threat as well. Still, in a piece for the New York Times, he describes walking "alone among the buildings, including a temple devoted to Apedemak, a lion-headed warrior god worshiped in Nubia. On the opposite side of the site, ram-shaped sculptures accompanied us to the entrance of the Amun temple, built around the first century AD and considered one of the most important archaeological structures and tourist attractions in Sudan." (Read more Pyramids stories.)
Challenging decisions can transform anyone into a politician.

The tough calls  large and small  reliably inspire people to debate, obfuscate or filibuster.

Children impulsively execute these tactics, as well, via similar methods known as arguing, bluffing and holding their breath until they get their way.

For politicians, kids and the rest, the strategy is often to buy time. Maybe a different obstacle will come along and consume attention. Or perhaps the decision will be taken out of their hands.

Theres been no urgency for state officials to determine whether to make it mandatory for young children to be vaccinated for COVID-19. Such a remedy hasnt existed.

That is on the verge of changing now that Pfizer-BioNTech has forwarded encouraging trial results to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

There is wisdom in applying caution to next steps. But the state Department of Public Health and the state Department of Education responded that its too early to declare if a vaccination would be a requirement for eligible students.

Its not that we expect a mandate of an as-yet-unproven vaccine. But state officials have had more than a year to contemplate various scenarios that could help halt this devastating disease. We need to agree that protecting healthy children is as important as shielding everyone they are in contact with  teachers, friends, grandparents and strangers.

If this were a blockbuster movie  and though COVID has threatened that industry it certainly plays like a franchise plot  this is the point where there would be an uplifting montage of children across the nation joining the battle to a swelling Hans Zimmer soundtrack.

Its not just children who dont like getting shots, as evidenced by adults who are unswayed by encouragements to get vaccinated. But federal and state officials need to start the movement to put peer pressure on parents and children.

Left to their own devices, most people dont even bother to get a flu shot. While the U.S. government targets 70 percent of the population as the goal, 49.2 percent of people 6 months and older got a flu vaccine in the 2018-19 season, and those numbers dropped dramatically after age 17.

The counterargument is that this isnt a decision that has to be made now. But we know from the battle in Hartford over efforts to erase the religious exemption on vaccines that there will be an outcry. And the new normal will likely call for annual vaccine shots.

No group needs life to return to normal as much as children. The emotional impact of the past year will likely shape them for the rest of their lives. They will be the COVID Generation.

We may still have a few months of the current academic year remaining until the final alarm, but we are also six months away from schools opening again. If theres a possibility of safely vaccinating children and fully opening classrooms, there should be no debate.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.

We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.

A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
London: United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not attend Prince Philip`s funeral, giving up his place for a royal family member.

The Hill reported that only 30 people will be allowed to attend Philip`s funeral next Saturday amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

A spokesperson from the prime minister`s office said that Johnson "wanted to act in accordance with what is best for the royal household, and so to allow for as many family members as possible will not be attending the funeral," The Hill reported citing multiple reports.

Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and husband to Queen Elizabeth II, died on Friday at the age of 99. Buckingham Palace announced that the prince died "peacefully" at Windsor Castle, where he and the queen have spent much of the last year during the pandemic.

The Prime Minister honored Philip after the news of the Duke of Edinburgh`s death, saying that he "earned the affection of generations here in Britain, across the Commonwealth, and around the world. It was reported that Johnson said that the royal family lost "not just a much loved and highly respected public figure, but a devoted husband, a proud and loving father, grandfather, and in recent years, great grandfather."

The Conservative Party in the United Kingdom also announced that it is suspending national campaigning until Tuesday and again next Saturday, the day of Philip's funeral. Prince Harry will travel from his home in the US to attend the memorial, although his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has been advised not to travel by her physicians due to her pregnancy, as reported by The Hill.

Live TV
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has confirmed an attack on its facility in Damasak, Borno State, on Saturday.

Humanitarian Coordinator and head of the UN mission in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, confirmed the incident in a statement shared with PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Kallon said he was deeply concerned about recurrent reports of violent attacks by non-state armed groups putting the lives of civilians under risks.

Last night and through the morning, a violent attack in Damasak town, in Borno State, was reported with three international aid partners facilities directly targeted, set ablaze, and sustained damage.

I continue to be concerned about the safety and security of civilians and humanitarian workers.

The top UN official strongly condemned the attack on humanitarian aid operations and facilities that are the lifeline for people affected by violence and conflict in north-east Nigeria who are dependent on assistance to survive.

He said humanitarian operations in Damasak to be reduced due to the violent attack.

This, he said, will affect the support to 8,800 internally displaced people and 76,000 people in the host community receiving humanitarian assistance and protection there.

Mr Kallon said Civilians and aid workers, their facilities and assets should never be a target. They must always be protected and respected. I call on armed parties to observe and commit to international humanitarian law and human rights law, and ensure the protection of civilians, humanitarian property, and personnel.

Mr Kallon had also appealed to donors and stakeholders for support in funding the nine humanitarian hubs and to the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), which are vital enablers of the humanitarian operations in north-east Nigeria.

I also appeal to donors to urgently continue their support for the Humanitarian Response Plan for northeast Nigeria to provide life-saving and life-sustaining support to some 6.4 million displaced people and host communities affected by the humanitarian crisis there.

Death toll rises

Premium Times had earlier reported that four persons, including two soldiers, died during the attack. We also reported that a civilian residence, where a naming ceremony was taking place, was bombed by a military jet.

A source in Damasak has, however, confirmed that two women were killed in the bomb attack, which brings the death toll to at least seven.

How the attack happened

A police source, who craved anonymity, in this report said it happened at about 5 p.m. on Saturday.

The insurgents penetrated the town through waterside of Geidam Chuku exit.

While the terrorists were engaging the troops of 145 Battalion at their camp, some of them were burning an NGOS warehouse near the HUB, residence of Lawan Ali Asaga near the police station.

They burnt the NRC resident at Fulatari ward as well as some vehicles.

While withdrawing, they carted away an unspecified number of NGO vehicles and other civilian vehicles.

ADVERTISEMENT

They also looted food items worth millions of naira, the source said.

Meanwhile, as the result of the incident, two women and a man lost their lives and three of our troops were injured alongside many civilians that sustain different injures.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-08 18:29:52|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

DAMASCUS, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Health Ministry has put a plan to give the COVID-19 vaccine to up to 25 percent of the Syrian people by the end of 2021, state news agency SANA reported on Thursday.

According to the plan, 20 to 25 percent of Syrians will receive the COVID-19 vaccine this year in accordance with the delivery plans of the vaccines into the country.

Also, the ministry will start vaccinating 50,000 medical staffers as a new batch of vaccines are delivered to Syria, while 2,500 medical workers have already been vaccinated in February, according to the report.

It's worth noting that the COVID-19 cases have increased in Syria recently amid new measures taken by the Syrian health authorities to quell the spread of the virus, such as suspending schools and warning against big gatherings. Enditem
This article, NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity: What you need to know before its first flight, originally appeared on CNET.com.

NASA's wheeled rovers have revealed an incredible amount about Mars. From learning about the planet's wet history and discovering the chemistry of its soil and the puzzling presence of methane in its atmosphere, the rolling robots have been indispensable in painting a picture of one of Earth's closest neighbors. They are remarkable, but they can't cover a lot of ground -- slow movement is critical to prevent them from tumbling over a cliff or colliding with a rock.

But imagine if they could fly.

Strapping a set of wings to a robot on another planet would open up a whole new way to explore other worlds. "The ability to fly wherever you want, at great speed, for a closeup view without risk of damage from collision or fall, is a thrilling capability," says Alan Duffy, a professor in astrophysics at Swinburne University in Australia.

That's exactly what NASA has done with Ingenuity, a tiny, lightweight rotorcraft originally scheduled to take flight on Mars on April 11 but since delayed until "no earlier than April 14." If it flies, it'll be the first time humans have achieved powered, controlled flight on another planet -- a Wright brothers moment in another part of the cosmos.

There are significant challenges to flying on Mars, however, and Ingenuity has to contend with a planet that particularly enjoys killing spacecraft. Should it succeed in getting off the ground, it will pave the way for future missions, deeper in the cosmos.

Here's why Ingenuity is so ingenious.

Preflight checks

If you're wondering how NASA got a helicopter to Mars and feel like you haven't heard too much about it, it's probably because NASA's Perseverance rover stole all the limelight. Ingenuity is a "ride-along" mission and a tech demonstration. It isn't on Mars to perform any science. Rather, it's built to show that powered flight is possible on another world.

Ingenuity was tucked away in the belly of Perseverance during the rover's long sojourn from Earth to Mars, which kicked off in July. The rover landed on the planet back in February, and Ingenuity was safe and sound from the harsh, cold Martian surface until April 4, when Perseverance carefully deposited the chopper onto the soil.

While on board Perseverance, Ingenuity was protected and powered by the rover's suite of instruments. But after it was dropped off, and Perseverance rolled away, Ingenuity was cold and alone -- quite literally. Mars temperatures plummet well below freezing at night, to around minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Fortunately, Ingenuity showed it can cope with the cold when it survived its first night separated from its rover pal.

The relationship with Perseverance hasn't ended, though. When Ingenuity takes its first flight, it will be Perseverance that relays those messages back to Earth

On April 6, Ingenuity took its first photograph of Mars, a low-resolution, orange-and-brown snapshot of the surface. It's not much, but if you want to get technical, it's the first time a vehicle capable of flight has taken a photo of the red planet's surface, so that's pretty cool.

On April 10, NASA said it was delaying Ingenuity's first flight until "no earlier than April 14," due to a safety alert during a test the previous day of the copter's rotors. During that test, "the command sequence controlling the test ended early due to a 'watchdog' timer expiration," the space agency said in a status update. "This occurred as it was trying to transition the flight computer from 'Pre-Flight' to 'Flight' mode.'"

NASA added that the watchdog timer "oversees the command sequence and alerts the system to any potential issues. It helps the system stay safe by not proceeding if an issue is observed."

The Ingenuity team is diagnosing the issue and will reschedule the rotor test based on its findings, the agency said, adding that the copter remains "safe and healthy."

The cabin doors are now closed

There are a ton of challenges to achieving flight on Mars, but the major one is the air.

There's a stark difference in atmosphere between the red planet and Earth. The Martian atmosphere is incredibly thin compared with our own, so achieving lift is far more difficult. Ingenuity is designed to deal with this problem. While we've already called it everything from a chopper to a flier, a helicopter to a rotorcraft, the tech it most reminds me of is a drone.

However, its blades are much larger than those for a similar-sized craft on Earth, and they spin at around 2,400 rpm -- six times faster than on an Earth-based craft. At this speed and size, Earth-based tests have shown Ingenuity should be able to get off the ground on Mars without issue.

Unlike a drone, though, no one is piloting the vehicle in real time. The Ingenuity team had to upload instructions to the craft well in advance and will then receive data back after it's made its flight. Ingenuity is designed to be very autonomous and to keep itself healthy during the communications delay between the two planets.

Prepare for takeoff

Prior to Perseverance's landing in Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, the Ingenuity team was looking for an "airfield" and surrounding "flight zone" -- a flat, mostly empty area on Mars' surface that won't jeopardize the safety of Ingenuity.

Fortunately, there was one basically next door to the landing site. "We began to realize we might have a really great airfield, right in front of our noses," said NASA's Havard Fjr Grip, the chief pilot for Ingenuity. Grip says the team looked at "every rock and pebble" before deciding on home base for the helicopter.

Within 30 sols (about 31 Earth days), Ingenuity plans to make five flights, but the first is the most important. It will be a fairly simple flight.

The rotorcraft will take off, straight up, to an altitude of around three meters (around 10 feet) and hover in place for around 30 seconds. Then it will make a small turn, before coming down and landing again. During the flight, Ingenuity's eyes and brain will be working overtime, preprogrammed by the team to keep the craft safe.

It will be snapping 30 images per second of the ground to understand where it is and to make any necessary trajectory changes -- around 500 times per second, according to Grip. This autonomy ensures Ingenuity won't be blown off course by a sudden Martian gust.

A postflight briefing is expected to take place no earlier than Wednesday, April 14, and will be available to view on NASA TV.

Future missions

As NASA engineers have reiterated many times: Ingenuity is a "technology demonstration," just like the very first Mars rover, Sojourner, which rolled across the planet in 1997.

In many ways, Ingenuity has already succeeded: It survived the journey to Mars, set itself up on the planet and survived its first night alone in the cold. Its first flight will be momentous, not just for Mars exploration but for exploration of our entire solar system.

"If Ingenuity proves that we can successfully pilot aircraft on other planets, it will hugely expand the options for exploration in the future," says Jonti Horner, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Southern Queensland.

Flight is a powerful tool for exploration. If robots can stay in the air, they'll be able to ascend mountainous regions quickly, to investigate cracks in hillsides, to fly over lakes or lakebeds and to move quickly to avoid danger. With the right equipment, they may be able to snatch samples and bring them back to a rolling robot, too. You can even imagine a Mars rover-rotorcraft combo in the future, allowing space agencies to scout their landing location more accurately and decide on the best place to roll to the following day.

There are other missions -- and worlds -- that will benefit from Ingenuity's demo, too.

NASA/JHU-APL

One such mission is NASA's Dragonfly, which Horner calls Ingenuity's "big sister," That mission will visit Titan, one of the most intriguing moons of Saturn. The moon is rich in organic matter, contains a nitrogen-rich atmosphere like Earth, and is home to massive methane lakes and storms. It may even contain signs of life, past or present.

"Titan is unlike any other place in the solar system, and Dragonfly is like no other mission," says Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's associate administrator for the science mission directorate. It's a little more ambitious than Ingenuity, with the spacecraft containing all the necessary instruments to search for signs of life and to study the Selk impact crater, which is suspected to have once held liquid water. Dragonfly is scheduled to launch in 2027 and to reach Titan by 2034.

If Ingenuity gets off the ground, the dream of otherworldly flight will become a reality -- ushering in the next era of planetary space exploration.
MYOB chief executive Greg Ellis says the accounting software firm is undeterred by the collapse of Anglo-Australian fintech Greensill Capital as it prepares to expand into invoice financing for its small business customers.

The sudden demise of once high flying Greensill has captivated the global financial media in recent weeks. The firm, founded by Australian born Lex Greensill, provided a controversial service known as supply chain financing, buying invoices from big companies and paying their suppliers, often small businesses, early for a fee.

MYOBs invoice financing business model is different, with the firm acting as a third-party financier that lets suppliers borrow money against their unpaid invoices. Under that model, platforms such as MYOB pay customers the value of their invoices, often within 48 hours, against a fee which can be up to 5 per cent of the invoice value. Invoice financing to us is just one execution of managing cash, said MYOB chief executive Greg Ellis. Its something that MYOB definitely will be in, and well be in before the end of the calendar year.

MYOB chief executive Greg Ellis is leading a move into invoice financing. Credit:Eamon Gallagher

MYOBs major rival Xero already offers invoice financing since its $80 million acquisition of startup Waddle last year.
Coronavirus Update: 1,52,545 new cases recorded in past 24 hours

New Delhi, Sun, 11 Apr 2021 NI Wire

India recorded 1,52,545 new Covid-19 cases in past 24 hours, with over 1.5 lakh cases per day India becomes second country after US to report 1.5 lakh cases per day. This is a very grim milestone, where more than 1.5 lakh cases are being reported per day.

India reported 1,52,545 Covid-19 cases in past 24 hours which is 5% more than from the Fridays count of 1.45 lakh. There is a rise in cases from Chhattisgarh, UP and Bihar, while Maharashtra is still reporting large number of per day cases. India just reported 50% increase in the per day cases just in a week. During first wave of Covid-19 infection max per day infection recorded was 98,795 on September 17 in 2020.

In India the total active cases crossed over 1.1 million while 839 people lost their lives on Saturday due to Covid-19 infection. On Saturday 60,000 new Covid-19 cases added to the active cases list. For the last 4 days more than 60,000 cases is being added to the active Covid-19 cases list.

The Maharashtra state is worst hit by the second wave to Covid-19 infection where 55,411 new Covid-19 cases have been reported. Maharashtra is already worst affected state, while other states including Chhattisgarh, UP and Bihar reported sharp rise in Covid-19 cases after Holi. In past 2 weeks India reported sharp rise in the Covid-19 cases.

Maharashtra reported 55,411 Covid-19 cases on Saturday, while Chhattisgarh reported 14,098 cases, Uttar Pradesh reported 12,787 cases and Bihar reported 3,469 cases.

Maharashtra to decide on the lockdown, while Delhi is already imposed night curfew and imposed strict check. Delhi banned large gathering, wedding and funerals as the per day Covid-19 cases past 7,9897 on Saturday. Other states are also considering imposing the strict measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 in second wave.

Covid-19 vaccinations at workplaces is starting in India today and its a paid service, the price of per vaccine dose is set at Rupees 250. While the mass vaccination drive organized by district health authority will remains free of cost.

India becomes fastest country to vaccinate the people which an achievement of 100 million vaccinations marks. India is fasted country as compared to US and China, which achieve 100 million mark in 89 days.
After a turbulent year steering easyJet through its worst ever crisis, Johan Lundgren needs a holiday.

He's already booked flights to Majorca, where he has a holiday home and enjoys trekking in the Tramuntana mountains, but he adds: 'To be quite honest, I'd like to go anywhere. We have been locked down here, so I'd like to go out and see our customers and business partners.'

But with just five weeks to go until international travel might be allowed to resume on May 17, it is still unclear when the easyJet chief executive will be able to travel to one of his airline's 150 destinations without needing to quarantine on his return.

Opportunity: Johan Lundgren says easyJet could fly from Heathrow

Last week, Lundgren had calls with government ministers from Portugal and the Netherlands, who wanted to know which hurdles they had to meet to be included on the UK's list of safe 'green' countries.

The flurry of conversations came as the Government last week confirmed its 'traffic light' system for restarting travel, but gave no guidance on which countries will be placed in which risk category.

Lundgren says: 'You can understand why governments around the Mediterranean are so focused on this, because they recognise that if they are in the amber or red category, it will have a massive impact on their infrastructure, on the local hotels, bars and restaurants.'

The stakes for this summer's flying summer season could not be higher. EasyJet made its biggest-ever pre-tax loss, of 1.3billion, over the year to September 2020 and City analysts expect the budget airline to be 700million in the red this financial year.

It will give a six-month trading update this Wednesday, following a rocky start to 2021 when it said it would carry just ten per cent of its usual passengers.

Lundgren will not disclose easyJet's bookings for this year, but says there is huge demand from customers  'people are sitting on their suitcases, ready to go'  and adds that he will ramp up the number of flights on each route as restrictions are lifted.

Another lost summer would be challenging

As chief executive of Europe's biggest leisure airline, Lundgren hopes easyJet's holiday destinations around the Mediterranean  such as France, Turkey and Spain  will be among the first to be added to the 'green' list.

He says: 'We are coming into the summer pretty soon  there is not a lot of time to waste. People want to know what they can or can't do. That's why we are urging the Government to come out with additional information as soon as it can.'

The Swede warns of a 'lost summer' if the industry hasn't opened up by September and says it could be 'extraordinarily challenging' for some players in the market.

But he's upbeat about easyJet's prospects. The airline came into the crisis as one of the strongest financially in Europe and he says it is taking 'a number of decisions to manage our cash burn and costs'.

The Government last week confirmed its 'traffic light' system for restarting travel, but gave no guidance on which countries will be placed in which risk category

So far it has raised more than 5.5billion of new financing, including a 600million Covid Corporate Financing Facility loan, half of which was repaid last month, but Lundgren cannot rule out raising further cash if required.

He says: 'There are no plans at this moment, but we always continue to review the options because that's prudent and the right thing to do to make sure we are in the best situation.'

He suggests the UK Government has not offered enough financial support to the airline industry compared with the 'billions and billions of state aid' that have been pumped in to easyJet's EU competitors.

People are sitting on suitcases, ready to go

'Our industry has suffered the most and it will be the slowest to recover from the crisis,' Lundgren says. 'There are reasons to argue there has not been enough direct financial support to this sector.'

But he says easyJet remains a 'growth business', and that it will use the pandemic as an opportunity to expand. The airline will base a record 71 planes at Gatwick this summer and is eyeing future growth across European airports by securing take-off and landing slots from struggling rivals.

In Europe, easyJet's main rivals are Lufthansa and Air France/KLM. Lundgren says: 'This crisis will weaken certain players and this will give us the opportunity to grow. Two-thirds of our network is competing with inefficient full-service legacy carriers. We are not going to be reckless, but there's no doubt we will get opportunities and we will take those opportunities to grow when we can.'

EasyJet has 107 Airbus planes on order and will start taking deliveries of new jets again from September to expand its fleet of 330 planes

He hints that easyJet could even fly from Heathrow for the first time as space becomes available, saying: 'Our philosophy is to fly from Europe's leading airports, so that would possibly make sense. That's not something we are ruling out, but the timing and conditions have to be right for us to do so.'

EasyJet has 107 Airbus planes on order and will start taking deliveries of new jets again from September to expand its fleet of 330 planes  despite opposition from easyJet's founder and biggest shareholder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who said the board should cancel the 4.5billion Airbus contract.

Lundgren is diplomatic about relations with Stelios, who has a famously fractious relationship with easyJet's directors, whom he called 'scoundrels'.

Lundgren says smoothly: 'We are trying to have a constructive relationship with all shareholders. That's probably the only thing I can say about that.'

He is more critical when asked if easyJet fears competition from low-cost Hungarian carrier Wizz Air, which has said it plans to fly one in five planes from Gatwick through an aggressive expansion strategy.

He says: 'Some airlines have been creating a lot of noise out there, but it's just noise until they make it happen. You have to earn and deserve the market share and the size that you have.

'Those airlines who are the most efficient and who offer the best product to customers will continue to thrive. Our goal is very clear  we want to offer the best service on the best network with the most attractive fares out there. Value for money is really the key thing for easyJet. That is what has driven the company to the successful place it is in today and that is what we will continue to focus on.'
President Joe Biden waves as he departs after attending Mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, Saturday. AP-Yonhap



WASHINGTON  U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday hailed the settlement of an electric vehicle battery dispute between LG Energy Solution Ltd. and SK Innovation as a "win for American workers and the American auto industry."



SK Innovation agreed to pay 2 trillion won ($1.78 billion) to settle the dispute with LG Energy Solution and withdraw all their other pending litigations to end their two-year legal battle, the companies said earlier in the day.



"This settlement agreement is a win for American workers and the American auto industry," Biden said in a statement posted on the website of the White House.



The president stressed that a key part of his plan to "Build Back Better" is to have electric vehicles and batteries of the future built in America and by American workers.



"We need a strong, diversified and resilient U.S.-based electric vehicle battery supply chain, so we can supply the growing global demand for these vehicles and components  creating good-paying jobs here at home, and laying the groundwork for the jobs of tomorrow," he said.






William Costellia-Kamm's release comes despite police finding a teenage girl - who went missing from New Zealand - living in his home, dressed as a child and holding a doll

Outraged locals are rallying to stop a self-professed prophet, cult leader and child sex offender from returning to his commune.

William Costellia-Kamm will be able to return to his followers' commune on the NSW South Coast after what has been deemed a 'disgraceful' Supreme Court decision.

The 70-year-old, who calls himself 'Little Pebble' and claims to communicate with Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary through visions, was placed on a new supervision order restricting his movements and activities until 2024.

But he can soon return to the property he owns north of Nowra after Supreme Court Justice Stephen Campbell said the risk of Costellia-Kamm reoffending could be 'adequately managed' with electronic monitoring and other restrictions.

His release comes despite police finding a teenage girl - who went missing from New Zealand - living in his home, dressed as a child and holding a doll.

A man from nearby Cambewarra has launched a petition to stop Kamm from coming back to his commune, which has so far been signed by hundreds of locals.

The area's Liberal MP Shelley Hancock told the Illawarra Star: 'I am outraged that this person is looking to return to the region; this should not happen.

'We cannot abide people like this coming back to live anywhere near our region.'

Costellia-Kamm was released on parole in 2014 after being convicted of sexual and indecent assaults committed against two children in his cult in the 1990s.

He maintains he was falsely accused and wrongly imprisoned.

The self-professed seer claims to be in direct, revelatory communication with Jesus and his Holy Mother via monthly visions received by 'divine inspiration'.

Costellia-Kamm was released to parole in 2014 after being convicted of sexual and indecent assaults committed against two children in his cult in the 1990s

Part of the doctrine he claims to have received is that he is to be the last pope and was to 're-populate a royal dynasty' after the second coming with 12 'queens' and 72 'princesses'.

While a court found he is likely to still believe this, Costellia-Kamm now claims Jesus told him two decades ago to 'put aside' that belief system until the second coming.

His lawyers told the court he wished to lead a 'rather quiet' life, to take up residence on the cult's grounds in Cambewarra and to avoid the expense of renting in Sydney.

Justice Campbell said besides age, the offender's risk profile had changed little in the past five years.

He was found guilty of numerous counts of sexual intercourse with children under 16, as well as indecent assault.

'I remain sceptical about the defendant's disavowal of the current applicability of the 'queens and princesses' doctrine,' he said, pointing to the lack of sworn evidence by the cult leader.

'(Kamm believes) he is to be the last pope who was to be joined in a polygamous relationship with 12 queens and a polyamorous relationship with 72 princesses  with whom he would procreate to repopulate a royal dynasty after the Second Coming.'

Concern was also raised about the defendant's relationship with the young Kiwi woman, who left her home in New Zealand to join the cult soon after she turned 18.

The 70-year-old, who styles himself as 'Little Pebble' and claims to communicate with Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary through visions, was on Thursday placed on a new supervision order restricting his movements and activities until 2024

But there was no evidence Costellia-Kamm, who the court heard has a narcissistic personality disorder and is still highly regarded in his community, had been in contact with the woman when she was underage.

The judge said conditions of the supervision order needed to manage the risk of further serious sex offending.

Under the supervision regime, Costellia-Kamm will not be allowed to sign any new leases for residences at Cambewarra without the approval of a government supervisor.

He will also have to provide that supervisor any necessary keys and access codes to allow access to Cambewarra for monitoring purposes.
Veteran Spotlight: Sgt. Maj. Michael King

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  This week's Veteran Spotlight subject is retired Army Sgt. Maj. Michael King, who now leads the Berkshire Veteran Outreach Center.

King grew up in Rochester, N.Y., and served his country from 1993 to 2015. He enlisted at the age of 18 and was sent to basic training at Fort McClellan, Ala.

"It was definitely a culture shock," he recalled. "I learned about biscuits and gravy from the mess hall, which I found delicious ... remember an obscene amount of heat and humidity."

King's first assignment was at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., where he served in law enforcement as an military police officer. From there, King was assigned to the former Johnston Island Air Force Base  800 miles southwest of Hawaii  that is now a wildlife preserve.

"It was a place where they destroyed chemical weapons and munitions ... the island itself was owned by the Navy and the base run by the

Army ... it was a volatile schedule, four-day shifts, four mid-shifts," he remembered.

I asked what it was like for him to be away for the holidays and he explained it this way: "when you're young, you work on holidays so the soldiers with families can enjoy it with them. ... The single guys celebrated off the cuff, several days later  drinking, socializing, that type of thing."

After his duty at Johnston Island, he was sent back to Fort Huachuca, where he showed enough promise to be selected as a drill instructor. He then went on to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., where he spent three years as a drill instructor, describing it as "the best experience in the Army."

"You get up at 4 a.m. every morning and you're home by 9:30 p.m.," he said. "You eat, iron your uniform, go to sleep, then do it all over again,'' adding with a laugh, "it was not conducive to a relationship."

King said there was a level of pride in taking an undisciplined young man, and taking him to trained, proficient, basic-level soldier. "Barney" training as he called it, after purple dinosaur.

"We broke down all different levels of people and found creative ways to help them understand things they didn't know," he said.

When asked about mentors during his service, there was no hesitation  Sgt. Freddy Nicks, Shawn Conrad and Leif Arneson (whom he talks with every other week). "All of these men had a huge impact on me."

King was sent to USGA Darmstadt Army Base in Cooperstrasse, Germany, and spent a year there building his team for deployment. He arrived in Iraq and found it "interesting."

Prior to deploying, King's mother asked him why he was going. His response, "this is my Olympics." Things heated up a great deal while he was there and while on a mission, he and his unit were attacked. One soldier was killed, one injured and four were kidnapped (and later executed).

"None of us ever should have walked out of there," he remembered somberly. He offered this on combat deployment  "If you ever question while you're there, it's taking your mind and focus of things that keep you alive."

His thoughts on coming home? "Couldn't wait to get my kids in my arms," he said. "I had to refocus my priorities ... While you're away, the wife does everything top to bottom, then you come home and try to help and do everything ... It's a very tough family dynamic."

King's overall thoughts on service? "Serving my country, honor, pride and accomplishments  the struggle comes from the death of young men and women, you go over and over it," he said. "What I miss most about the military is helping young soldiers."

King continues his passion of helping soldiers and is currently the head of the Berkshire Veterans Outreach Center in Pittsfield. Sgt. Michael King, thank you for your service to our great country.
Thanksgiving services for the life of Prince Philip will continue in Australia this week as leaders and members of the public remember his decades-long commitment to the Commonwealth.

The Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, died in his sleep on Friday, two months before his 100th birthday and shortly after a month-long stay in hospital.

St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne will hold a thanksgiving service for the prince on Wednesday and St Peter's Cathedral in Adelaide will hold one next Sunday.

Pictured:Queen Elizabeth ll and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, look on during an official visit to Australia in October 1981

Australia's Governor-General David Hurley, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny, and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian prayed for the royal family at St Andrews Cathedral in Sydney on Sunday.

The Right Reverend Peter Hayward gave thanks for Prince Philip's 'extraordinary contribution' to the world.

'When he was a head boy at Gordonstoun (School), his final report said of him these words: 'Prince Philip is universally trusted, liked and respected. He has the greatest sense of service of all the boys in the school', and that was to define his life from then on,' he said.

Mr Morrison spoke to the media on Saturday and Sunday, expressing condolences to the Queen and praising the contribution her husband made to the Commonwealth.

'Sure and steadfast ... he demonstrated that throughout his life, and we give thanks and give praise for that,' Mr Morrison said after the Sunday service.

The prime minister is expected to move a condolence motion for Prince Philip when parliament next meets.

Pictured: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at the Royal Military College Duntroon where the Queen presented new colours on October 22, 2011 in Canberra

The Duke of Edinburgh's passing was marked with a 41-gun salute in Canberra on Saturday, in keeping with a tradition being observed by other Commonwealth nations.

Flags were flown at half-mast across the country and will be again next Saturday for Prince Philip's funeral in the UK.

Australians have sent thousands of condolence messages online via the government website pmc.gov.au, which will be forwarded to Buckingham Palace.

Prince Philip visited Australia 21 times, the first in 1940, before his marriage to the then Princess Elizabeth.

Some of his trips to Australia drew international headlines for controversial comments.

On one occasion he asked an Aboriginal elder: 'Do you still throw spears at each other?'.

Pictured: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh greets well-wishers on the final day of the Queen's Australian tour at the Great Aussie BBQ on October 29, 2011 in Perth

Former prime minister John Howard said it was his so-called 'gaffes' that made people, particularly Australians, warm to Prince Philip.

Mr Howard said the outpouring of support showed Australians' love for the royal family, and that there is no movement for the country to ditch the monarchy and become a republic.

'Obviously the place and role of the monarchy has altered over the years ... (but) I don't see any likelihood of change,' he told Sky News on Sunday.

Former prime minister and republican Malcolm Turnbull shared how Prince Philip once identified him as 'the Republican fellow' and then quipped: 'You should have been a republic years ago!'.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Jessica Watkins and her band of militia members pinballed into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, driven by what she described on social media as a patriotic response to a call from then-President Donald Trump.

But her sprint to the rotunda in military gear was hardly one of a longtime, hellbent extremist, those close to her say.

Watkins served in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, worked as a firefighter and renovated a drab corner bar into a money-maker before the coronavirus pandemic struck. She even voted for Barack Obama.

Of the more than 300 people charged in the Capitol riots, Watkins case stands out  as much for the person as for the allegations.

Watkins, of Champaign County in western Ohio, is accused of some of the most severe allegations filed in the proceedings to date. Federal prosecutors say she trained and coordinated militia members for the event, leading them past officers into the Capitol as Congress was prepared to certify Joseph Biden as the winner of the presidential election. Authorities identified her as a member of the Oath Keepers, a far-right group that believes elected leaders are taking away Americans rights.

Yeah. We stormed the Capitol today, Watkins wrote afterward on social media. Teargassed, the whole 9. Pushed our way into the rotunda. Made it into the Senate even. The news is lying (even Fox) about the historic events we created today.

Her case highlights how a mix of naivete, incendiary online political rhetoric and Trumps baseless claims of election fraud could veer someone off course and into the path of the Justice Department, according to interviews, court records and Watkins online posts. Her issues have been complicated by the fact that she is a transgender woman struggling to adjust to being held in federal detention without bond.

I believe that Jessicas loyalty to her country and desire to serve may have allowed her to be taken advantage of by people with an agenda that Jess was, perhaps, not fully cognizant of, one of her friends, Adita Lynne Harless, says in a letter to court officials about Watkins character.

Watkins, 38, is among scores of people who were drawn to Trump and his claims, many of which were peddled online, said Freddy Cruz, a research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

During the last few years, these small militias believed they were acting at the behest of Donald Trump, Cruz said. They really did.

Watkins formed the Ohio State Regular Militia in recent years to help law enforcement and safety forces with security during state emergencies, such as the high winds that hammered through Southwest Ohio, according to interviews.

The militias focus shifted over the past year or so. On the day Biden was declared the president-elect, Watkins and a few of her militia members drove to the Ohio Statehouse for security, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.

Her attorney, Michelle Peterson, said in court filings that Watkins believes in the sanctity of the government and the importance of law and order. But as dissent began to spike in the online community of Trump supporters, militia members across the country believed they had a role in protecting people Jan. 6 in Washington. Trumps words fueled that belief, Peterson wrote.

Ms. Watkins was one of those people, Peterson says in the filings. In November, she believed that the president of the United States was calling upon her and her small militia group to support the president and the Constitution, and she was ready to serve her country in that manner.

How did a person so intent on helping people and serving her country end up in a jail cell involving the insurrection at the Capitol? Many of those close to her point to her past, as well as the firestorm of right-wing media that appeared to captivate her.

A person on the move

Watkins grew up in Greater Columbus and joined the Army after high school. She served about four years, including some time in Afghanistan, and left the service in about 2004. Peterson said in documents that Watkins was forced out of the military after her sexual orientation was discovered.

For the next several years Watkins lived and worked mostly along the East Coast, including in Wilmington, Delaware, where she handled the computer network of a nonprofit clinic, according to interviews, published reports and court filings.

She left Delaware for North Carolina, where she studied to become a firefighter and an emergency medical technician, according to interviews and online records. She later served on the Stoney Point Fire Department, a small office in Fayetteville.

I liked Jessica, said a department secretary who declined to be identified. She was a good person.

Watkins left the area, returned to Ohio and began working at a retail store, records show. In about 2016, she met Montana Siniff, and the two began dating. Months later, they heard about a chance to open a bar in Woodstock, a Champaign County village located about 40 miles northwest of Columbus.

We jumped at an opportunity to own and run a small-town bar with a stable customer base, Siniff says in a letter to court officials.

In about late 2018, the couple opened the Jolly Roger, a pirate-themed bar just off Main Street, and lived in the apartment above it. The business was starting to take off when the coronavirus hit last year.

To slow the spread of the virus, Gov. Mike DeWine imposed a stay-at-home order and pushed a curfew for bars and restaurants. The Jolly Roger, like so many others, suffered, according to interviews and court documents. Thats when Watkins began spending more time on Parler, the social media app popular with Trump supporters, and other right-wing websites.

While some of the rhetoric [Watkins] allegedly engaged in is troubling, she fell prey to the false and inflammatory claims of the former president, his supporters and the right-wing media, Peterson says in documents. She declined to comment for this story.

Thanks for nothing DeWine

Watkins posted a good deal of information on social media about her militia and her support of police officers. She also wrote of her disdain for DeWine.

My small business is a bar. Empty on a Saturday. Thanks for nothing DeWine, she wrote on Parler in early January. Guess I am going to go pack for DC now. See you there.

Long before she left for Washington, Watkins feared a Biden presidency and appeared to follow conspiracy theories spun on social media, federal prosecutors said in documents. That became clear on Nov. 17, when she sent a message to a person who was listed as a recruit in her phone contacts.

[If] Biden get the steal, none of us have a chance in my mind. prosecutors quoted Watkins note. We already have our neck in the noose. They just havent kicked in the chair yet.

Watkins, according to court filings, added: I dont underestimate the resolve of the Deep State. Biden may still be our president. If he is, our way of life as we know it is over. Our Republic would be over. Then it is our duty as Americans to fight, kill and die for our rights.

In a message to a friend in December, Watkins made it further clear why she was intent on going to Washington: Trump wants all able-bodied patriots to come, court records show.

Watkins said on Parler that she and her militia members served as security for various people prior to the demonstration. They took pictures of themselves when they reached the Capitol.

But prosecutors said they did more than that. Watkins and her group prepared and planned for the event, they said.

At the Capitol, they met up with some members of the Oath Keepers from along the East Coast, and several of them entered the Capitol in a single-file formation, pushing past officers into the rotunda, according to court documents. While inside, Watkins and a member of her militia celebrated and captured the moment on video, the records show.

In this backdrop, Watkins and her co-conspirators formed a subset of the most extreme insurgents that plotted [and] then tried to execute a sophisticated plan to forcibly stop the results of a presidential election from taking effect, prosecutors wrote in the filings.

Five people were killed, including a Capitol police officer. Dozens of officers were assaulted.

In her online messages, Watkins denied wrongdoing.

We never smashed anything, stole anything, burned anything, and, truthfully, we were very respectful with Capitol Hill PD until they attacked us, she wrote on Parler later.

Parler was taken down in the weeks following the attack, but the Ohio Capital Journal found that post and others from Watkins account.

After the siege

Watkins did not appear concerned as the FBI and U.S. marshals began making arrests across the country.

I wouldnt worry about them coming after us, she said in a message to a friend days later, according to federal documents.

Authorities arrested Watkins nearly two weeks after the siege on the Capitol. She has been indicted on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding and destruction of government property. She also has been charged with entering a restricted building. A trial date has not been set.

A magistrate judge refused to release Watkins from custody, despite pleas of leniency from her friends.

Watkins struggles have intensified since her arrest, court records show. She has gone on a hunger strike and, at one point, was placed on suicide watch. Peterson, the defense attorney, wrote that Watkins is at risk of harsh treatment in custody as a transgender woman.

Suicide watch in the prison system is not designed to treat ones mental-health issues, Peterson says in the court filings. Ms. Watkins was left naked in a cell with lights on 24 hours a day for four days in full view of everyone else.

I am humiliated that I am even here

In a hearing in February, Watkins said she has dropped her affiliation with the Oath Keepers.

Given the result of everything on Jan. 6 and everything that has come out, my fellow Oath Keepers have turned my stomach against it, published reports quoted Watkins as saying. I have no desire to continue with people who say things like that.

She added that she was not a criminally minded person and was sorry for any inconvenience she caused the court.

I am humbled, and I am humiliated that I am even here today, Watkins is quoted in published reports.

Those close to Watkins maintain that her actions were initially motivated by a love for her country and to help others. They warped into something else by January, when those virtues were sidestepped in Washington.

Trump is now out of office, but online conspiracy theories continue to thrive. And the Jolly Roger, at the corner of Main and Bennett streets in Woodstock, is shuttered.

The bar succumbed to the pandemic and the arrest of one of its owners, a woman who could spend several years in a prison cell because of a trip to Washington.
Dhaka, April 11 : In reply to Hefazat-e-Islam mayhem, Bangladesh Law Minister Anisul Haque has warned the militant outfit Hefazat-e-Ismal and others of strict action if they try to create anarchy and harm people's lives and property of the country.

Haque said, "People voted to Sheikh Hasina's government to discharge duties to serve them and if anyone tries to impede the process, the government will take action in accordance with the law of the land." He also talked about Covid-19 inoculation in the country and told the mediapersons that he has received the second jab at the Armed Forces Medical College in the capital's Kurmitola on Saturday afternoon.

The minister also urged all to take a second dose of Covid-19 vaccine to contain the sharp surge of the infection saying the government is capable of providing the second dose of the vaccine to all.
By Alexandra Valencia and Brian Ellsworth

QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuadorean banker Guillermo Lasso pulled off a surprise win in Sunday's presidential runoff against socialist economist Andres Arauz, putting the country on track to maintain open market policies rather than return to socialism.

The victory, welcome news for investors unnerved over Arauz's promises of heavy social spending in the face of weak state finances, bucks a trend in Latin America of recent ballot box wins for the left in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile.

But Lasso, who takes office on May 24, still faces a challenging task in restarting a sluggish economy struggling after last year's brutal coronavirus outbreak, which has spiked in recent months as vaccination efforts stalled.

"It's a day on which all Ecuadoreans have decided their future," Lasso said at a rally, where jubilant supporters chanted, "Lasso President!"

He added, "They have used their vote to express the need for change and the desire for better days."

Lasso secured 52.5% of the vote versus 47.5% for Arauz, according to the National Electoral Council, which will not formally declare him the winner until after a review of poll statements marked for follow-up.

Arauz quickly conceded defeat in a speech very different from the combative tone he adopted on the campaign trail.

"This is an electoral setback, but in no way is it a political or moral defeat because our project is for life," said Arauz, who offered Lasso his congratulations.

Lasso's third presidential candidacy seemed an unlikely one in a nation weary of painful economic austerity measures and initially captivated by Arauz's promises of $1,000 handouts to poor families and a return to socialist largess.

Lasso, 65, shed his conservative image in the second round by promising progress on issues such as animal and environmental rights and greater efforts to stop discrimination over sexual orientation.

Story continues

Arauz was unable to separate his persona from that of his mentor, former President Rafael Correa, who won broad support for social welfare programs during his decade-long rule.

But he was also seen as a combative bully, and his reputation was tarnished by bribery charges on which he was found guilty in absentia while in Belgium, where he now lives.

"(Arauz's) candidacy did not manage to create its own profile or create distance from Correa, because he knew he would lose Correa's hard line supporters," said political analyst Julio Echeverria.

"It was an error in all of Arauz's campaign with respect to that underlying ambiguity."

Lasso may also have benefited from a ballot-spoiling campaign led by indigenous activist Yaku Perez, which probably contributed to the nearly 1.7 million null votes in Sunday's poll.

Perez ran in the first round vote in February and narrowly lost out to Lasso for a runoff slot, which he attributed to electoral fraud, while not presenting evidence.

Upon taking office, Lasso will have to show he is more successful than President Lenin Moreno at using free market policies to stimulate the economy.

Moreno, who did not seek re-election, imposed painful austerity measures as part of a $6.5 billion financing pact with the International Monetary Fund, pursued trade deals and sought to spur exports.

But it was not enough to kickstart the oil-exporting nation's economy, already battered by low crude prices when the coronavirus pandemic took hold.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Karishma Singh and Clarence Fernandez)
Burma Resistance Forces Kill At Least 18 Myanmar Soldiers in Sagaing Border Town

A roadblock set up by anti-regime protesters in Tamu, Sagaing Region. / Khampat Times

At least 18 members of Myanmars security forces were killed by activists on Saturday afternoon after a civilian was shot in Tamu, Sagaing Region, on the Indian border.

A young man, who was not protesting, was shot dead when he and two friends were riding a motorbike, according to a Tamu resident. Another man was shot dead during the crackdown on Saturday afternoon. Residents said firing lasted from Saturday noon until Sunday morning.

One was shot in the head and the other was hit in the back, the resident said.

Police and soldiers used grenade launchers, machine guns and explosives against us. We also heard 19 soldiers were killed when grenades were thrown into a military truck, according to a Tamu protester.

Another resident said they heard the soldiers were killed by the towns civil defense forces.

The Kuki National Organization (KNO) armed group issued a statement on Saturday night, saying 18 soldiers were killed in action by residents, protesters and KNO troops.

On April 4 at least four soldiers were killed by Tamu residents while troops were firing on protesters barricades.

Anti-regime protesters are continuing to take to the streets, despite fatal crackdowns and the regimes forces using explosives to destroy protesters roadblocks.

Residents are fleeing Tamu to avoid the mounting violence with some families crossing the Indian border, although the numbers are limited by the border fencing and tightened Indian security.

The residents said another two people were rumored to have been shot on Sunday. Protesters are stepping up measures to challenge the security forces.

On Friday, police and soldiers opened fire on protesters behind roadblocks and sandbag barricades in Bago, killing at least 82 civilians, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The exact death toll is unknown.

By Saturday, the association said at least 701 civilians had been killed by the juntas forces since the Feb. 1 coup.

You may also like these stories:

Three Karen Villagers Killed in Myanmar Military Airstrike

Wounded Mandalay Volunteer Burned Alive by Myanmar Regime

Myanmars Striking Civil Servants Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
Religious buildings can be intimidating for first-time visitors, however this church is using billboards to extend an invitation to anyone.

Reverend Adam Ericksen leads Clackamas United Church of Christ (UCC) in Milwaukie, Oregon, which has gained a reputation for preaching acceptance.

The church has racked up over 18,000 likes for constantly updating the billboard outside of their building with messages about inclusivity, as well as showing support for social issues backed up with bible scriptures.

Bored Panda has rounded up a selection of the most popular signs from the church to show how it has continued to spread love even in times of difficulty.

Bored Panda has rounded up a selection of viral signs from Clackamas United Church of Christ (UCC) in Milwaukie, Oregon, including one about the cost of healthcare

Say something! One sign from the church displayed a quote by American theologian James Cone who urged people to fight against oppression

Another billboard message called for all people to have access to a universal living wage

Have a heart! The church used their billboard to challenge attitudes towards transgender people

One billboard argued Jesus was a person of colour who was murdered by state sanctioned violence

Another sign saying about money being spent on war instead of helping those in need used lyrics from late rapper Tupac to get the message across

Save lives! A member of Clackamas United Church of Christ donned a face covering as the church encouraged others to wear a mask

One sign called for the nation not to glorify war just days after coming together to celebrate Christmas

Another billboard encouraged people to embrace the mindset of Jesus that has been preached about, instead of focusing on the label of being Christian

Practice peace! A quote by author Matthew Distefano was shared in the hopes of inspiring people not to twist scriptures

One sign advised those who deny the importance of women to read about Jesus' encounter with a Samaritan woman
WABASH VALLEY, Ind. (WTHI) -- Many Wabash Valley health departments are expanding efforts to get people vaccinated for COVID-19. The Vigo County Health Department, the Greene County Health Department, and the Vermillion County Health Department all held mass vaccination clinics this weekend.

Health department officials said this is vital in making sure everyone gets vaccinated as quickly as possible.

Over in Vermillion County, health officials administered the Moderna vaccine.

The Vermillion County Health Department said the reason the clinic is being put on is due to a surplus of vaccines.

The Indiana State Department of Health contacted the local health department and asked it to run this clinic, serving up to 400 people.

The Vermillion County Health Department told News 10 the fairgrounds is a perfect place to give out vaccines to the community.

The Vermillion County Health Department said, "We were doing two clinics. One here at the fairgrounds, and one at the health department in Clinton. But we moved everything here for spacing reasons and being able to get more people through to get their vaccines."

Over in Vigo County, the health department administered the one-dose Johnson-&-Johnson vaccine.

The Indiana State Department of Health gave the Vigo County health department over 500 doses.

The health department started off the day by giving out vaccines to those who had appointments.

However, as the day wore on health officials told us they wanted to start letting people walk in to get their vaccine.

The Vigo County Health Department said, "People have been asking about it for weeks. 'when are we going to have this, when are we going to do this vaccine clinic?' and here it is."

Both health departments said these clinics wouldn't have been possible without the help of volunteers.

Health officials said, "It's not just one person it's our whole staff. We have volunteers and they're amazing, and everybody is working together to get the vaccine in the arms of people that want it."

The Greene County clinic was open to walk-ins.

It will be back at the Greene County Fairgrounds on May 14 and 15 to give out the second dose.
NEW DELHI: Security forces on Sunday (April 11) eliminated two terrorists in an encounter in the Bijbehara area of Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. The encounter between terrorists and security forces in Anantnag broke out late at night on April 10. A search operation is still underway.

"Bijbehara Encounter Update: Both the terrorists killed, search going on. Further details shall follow," tweeted the Kashmir Zone police. According to Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar, the two terrorists killed in the encounter were responsible for the killing of an Army jawan on Saturday. "Terrorists responsible for the killing of Army jawan neutralised within two days in Bijbehara encounter," IGP Kashmir told ANI.

In a statement, Dilbagh Singh, Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police said that both terrorists were active for a long time and were wanted anted in many cases of terror crimes. "Both the hardcore local terrorists have been neutralised. They were responsible for yesterday's killing of a TA jawan. Have been active for a long and wanted in many cases of terror crime," said DG.

He added that with this 12 terrorists have been killed in four separate operations over the last 72 hours in the valley, leading to the full elimination of a terror outfit called Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH)."

It is to be noted that three terrorists were killed during an encounter in Hadipora area of Shopian by security forces.

With this, a total of 12 terrorists have been neutralised, comprising 7 terrorists at Tral and Shopian, 3 terrorists of Al Badr at Hatipora, Shopian and now these 2 at Bijbihara who were working with The Resistance Front (TRF)," the DG added.

Live TV

Further details are awaited.
The Delhi government on Saturday announced a fresh set of restrictions as coronavirus cases continue to rise in the capital. The new restrictions come after Delhi recorded 7,897 cases of new infections and 39 deaths in 24 hours. The preventive measures will remain in force till April 30. The national capital has a positivity rate of 10 per cent and over 28,500 active cases.

The earlier night curfew of 10pm-5am will also remain in force.

The second wave of coronavirus that has gripped the country has spread much more rapidly than the first one. Delhi, along with several other states have imposed strict regulations. In fact, Maharashtra might witness another lockdown due to the increase in cases.

Here are the new restrictions that have been imposed by Delhi government:

Limit for guests at wedding functions has been revised to 50 people. When it comes to funerals, only 20 people will be allowed to attend.

Restaurants and bars will be allowed to operate at 50 per cent occupancy.

Cinema halls too can operate at 50 per cent seating capacity.

Stadiums can host events but only on the condition that there would be no spectators.

All swimming pools, except where sportspersons are training for national or international events, will be closed.

Schools and colleges have been asked to close down.

Delhi Metro trains can ply with 50 per cent of seating capacity till April 30. DTC buses and cluster buses too will follow the same rule.

Government department and constitutional staff will be exempted from the new rules, provided they don't have any symptoms of the virus.

Government offices will work at 50 per cent capacity, except for high-level Grade 1 officers.

The health department, police, home guard civil defence, fire and emergency services and district administrations will continue to work without any restrictions

Private companies have been asked to enforce staggered timings to avoid crowding and encourage work from home.

Passengers from Maharashtra will have to show negative RT-PCR report not older than 72 hours while entering Delhi.

Passengers from Maharashtra without a negative report will be quarantined for 14 days. People on government work will be exempted.

Also read: India's COVID-19 vaccination drive hits roadblock; Punjab, Rajasthan, Maha report vaccine shortages

Also read: Why COVID-19 cases suddenly spiked across India? Harsh Vardhan explains
The mutant South African Covid-19 variant can 'break through' the Pfizer jab, a study has found.

Scientists examined 400 people who had tested positive for coronavirus at least 14 days after receiving one or two doses of the jab - and 400 who tested positive with no vaccine.

The variant was eight times more prevalent in those who had two jabs than none. It was seen in 5.4 per cent of people with two doses - but 0.7 per cent of people without any.

Scientists working on the Tel Aviv University study said their results suggest the vaccine is less effective against the South African variant - compared with the original coronavirus and the Kent variant.

The South African strain  called B.1.351  has key mutations on its spike protein which scientists fear might make it difficult for the immune system to recognise.

These alterations open the door to it being resistant to vaccines, which train the body to spot the spike protein, or natural immunity from previous infection.

Tel Aviv University researcher Adi Stern said: 'We found a disproportionately higher rate of the South African variant among people vaccinated with a second dose, compared to the unvaccinated group.

'This means that the South African variant is able, to some extent, to break through the vaccine's protection.'

But scientists stressed that of the 800 people examined, the South African Covid variant was detected in just 1 per cent of positive tests.

The low prevalence of the South African strain was encouraging, according to Stern.

'Even if the South African variant does break through the vaccine's protection, it has not spread widely through the population,' said Stern, adding that the British variant may be 'blocking' the spread of the South African strain.

The 400 people who had the vaccine were matched with age and gender - among other characteristics - with 400 people who didn't.

The researchers cautioned that the study only had a small sample size of people infected with the South African variant because of its rarity in Israel.

They also said the research was not intended to deduce overall vaccine effectiveness against any variant, since it only looked at people who had already tested positive for Covid-19, not at overall infection rates.

UK medical regulators this week concluded that the AstraZeneca vaccine was a 'reasonably plausible' cause of 79 cases of unusual blood clots, including 19 deaths.

The NHS has now cancelled thousands of appointments for those aged 18-29 who were booked in to get their first dose of the Oxford jab.

Most under-30s are not yet eligible but those who are, such as unpaid carers, will be rebooked with a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.

Matt Hancock last month sensationally claimed the South African variant may make the current crop of vaccines 50 per cent less effective.

The South African strain  called B.1.351  has key mutations on its spike protein which make scientists fear might make it hard for the immune system to recognise

Key Worker Mark Reid from North Shields receives the Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination hub in Newcastle

In footage obtained by MailOnline, the Health Secretary warned allowing the variant to become the dominant strain in the UK could ruin Britain's vaccination drive and send the country 'back to square one'.

Mr Hancock is understood to have made the astonishing comments during an online webinar with travel agents, to the shock of everyone on the call.

He said there was 'evidence in the public domain' that the South African variant reduces vaccine efficacy by 'about 50 per cent'. Although he followed up by saying: 'We are not sure of this data so I wouldn't say this in public.'

South African scientists found that 48 per cent of blood samples from people who had been infected in the past did not show an immune response to the new variant - raising red flags about possible vaccine resistance.

The South African version is also though to be at least 60 per cent more infectious than regular Covid and even more transmissible than the Kent variant that ripped through the UK and plunged England into its third national lockdown.

In footage obtained by MailOnline, Health Secretary Matt Hancock sensationally claimed the mutant South African coronavirus variant makes the current crop of vaccines 50 per cent less effective

The video of Mr Hancock's web chat surfaced on a private Facebook page for travel agents.

Talking about the possibility of summer holidays being on the cards this year, Mr Hancock, said: 'Last year, the travel restrictions were based on basically number of cases. When an area had a low number of cases then travel was fine.

'The complication we've got now is the new vaccine makes things better here, but the new variants put that at risk.

'Because if you have a variant that gets round the vaccine  and there's evidence in the public domain, although we are not sure of this data so I wouldn't say this in public  that the South African variant reduces by about 50 per cent the vaccine efficacy.

'We are testing that, we've got some of the South African variant in Porton Down [a Public Health England laboratory] and we're testing it. And we've got a clinical trial in South Africa to check the AstraZeneca vaccine works.

'Nevertheless, if you vaccinate the entire population and then you get in a new variant that evaded the vaccine, then you'd be back to square one.

'And so tougher international restrictions are the price that for instance Australia has paid for stronger domestic protection, as in more life getting back to normal domestically.'

MailOnline contacted the Department of Health for comment.
New Delhi: India and China during the 11th round of military talks agreed to avoid any 'new incidents' and jointly maintain peace in border areas, the Indian Ministry of Defence said on Saturday (April 10, 2021).

As per the official statement, the 11th round India-China Corps Commander Level Meeting was held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on April 9, where the two sides had a detailed exchange of views for the resolution of the remaining issues related to disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh.

The two nuclear-armed nations also agreed on the need to resolve the outstanding issues in an expeditious manner in accordance with the existing agreements and protocols.

During the meeting, it was highlighted that the completion of disengagement in other areas would pave the way for two sides to consider de-escalation of forces and ensure full restoration of peace and tranquility and enable progress in bilateral relations.

"The two sides agreed that it was important to take guidance from the consensus of their leaders, continue their communication and dialogue and work towards a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest. They also agreed to jointly maintain stability on the ground, avoid any new incidents and jointly maintain peace in the border areas," said the Indian Ministry of Defence.

The last round of military talks between India and China was held on February 20, 2021, where the disengagement at friction areas like Hot Springs, Gogra and 900 square km Depsang plains was discussed.

So far, the disengagement process has taken place at both banks of Pangong Lake. It was on February 10 that China made an announcement that New Delhi and Beijing had agreed to disengage at Pangong Lake.

As per the agreement, the Chinese troops have moved back to Finger 8, whereas, the Indian soldiers have pulled back to the Dhan Singh Thapa post between Finger 2 and 3 of the north bank of Pangong Lake.

This is to be noted that India and China are engaged in a standoff at the Line of Actual Control for a year now. It went violent when the Indian Army and People's Liberation Army troops clashes in June in 2020, where both sides had suffered casualties.
Supreme Court orders California to lift restrictions on at-home worship gatherings

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

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday issued an order blocking California from enforcing restrictions on in-home religious gatherings, including prayer meetings and Bible studies.

Californias rule that limits at-home religious gatherings to three households violates the First Amendments protection of religious exercise, the court ruled in a 5-4 unsigned order chiding the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for its failure to grant an injunction.

California treats some comparable secular activities more favorably than at-home religious exercise, permitting hair salons, retail stores, personal care services, movie theaters, private suites at sporting events and concerts, and indoor restaurants to bring together more than three households at a time, the majority opinion stated.

The Rev. Jeremy Wong and Karen Busch in Santa Clara County filed a motion seeking an injunction to the states rules. Before the pandemic, Wong and Busch regularly held Bible studies, prayer meetings and worship services at their homes as they believe in the vital importance of assembling for small group house church.

Forming the majority were Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. The latter three are appointees of former President Donald Trump.

The courts liberal Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer dissented. Kagan, an Obama-appointee, wrote the dissent and cited lower-court findings that argued the risk of infection is lower while shopping or visiting a barber than when people gather in private homes, where the interaction generally lasts longer with less ventilation and social distancing is more difficult.

California limits religious gatherings in homes to three households. If the State also limits all secular gatherings in homes to three households, it has complied with the First Amendment, she wrote. And the State does exactly that: It has adopted a blanket restriction on at-home gatherings of all kinds, religious and secular alike. California need not  treat at-home religious gatherings the same as hardware stores and hair salons.

The order noted that this is the fifth time the Court has summarily rejected the Ninth Circuits analysis of Californias COVID restrictions on religious exercise.

Chief Justice John Roberts, a George W. Bush appointee, sided with the three Democratic appointees. However, he did not join their dissenting opinion.

Numerous churches have challenged state and local COVID-19 restrictions on worship services and gatherings during the pandemic. The Supreme Court had earlier issued rulings against coronavirus-related restrictions in California and New York.

Before the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the nations high court appeared to side with authorities on pandemic gathering restriction questions. But Barretts nomination in October has cemented a conservative majority on the court.

In their plea for emergency intervention, the petitioners said they sincerely believe assembling for small-group, house church fellowship is just as indispensable to their faith as attending Mass is for a Catholic.

Yet for over a year now, California has completely prohibited or substantially restricted those 'gatherings' and many others, the motion argues.

By contrast, the State allows countless other activities to take place outdoors without any numerical limitations, from weddings and funerals to secular cultural events and political rallies. It also permits more than three households to congregate inside buses, trains, universities, airports, barber shops, government offices, movie studios, tattoo parlors, salons, and other commercial venues.

California is set to ease restrictions this week, as residents are receiving vaccines.

[A]lthough California officials changed the challenged policy shortly after this application was filed, the previous restrictions remain in place until April 15th, and officials with a track record of moving the goalposts retain authority to reinstate those heightened restrictions at any time, the Supreme Court order stated.
You have permission to edit this article.

Edit Close
Amidst virtual literary chatter and banter two debutantes and three veterans are shortlisted By Yomal Senerath-Yapa Gratiaen Prize 2020 View(s): View(s):

The shortlist announcement for the Gratiaen Prize for 2020 was made online this year, another concession to the restrictions posed by the pandemic. But with many fresh faces and lots of literary chatter and banter, the virtual event was a long way from the staid and little-trumpeted evenings of the early 1990s when our silver haired literati convened for a convivial if formal night.

The judges for this year are Mahendran Thiruvangan, senior lecturer in English at the University of Jaffna, author Ashok Ferrey and Victoria Walker, who is a former senior diplomat in the Australian foreign service.

The criteria harks back to what Michael Ondaatje had in mind when he established the prize in the memory of his mother Doris Gratiaen. Put simply in an Ondaatje quote that the Gratiaen Trust has long treasured: Nothing is as exciting for us as to find our place, or our own stories, in a book. When that happens the self is doubled, we are no longer invisible.

The judges thus were looking for writing that mirrored Sri Lanka- and Sri Lanka in its broadest possible sense. The Sri Lanka we have in mind includes its various communities, cultures and traditions its heterogeneous geographies, its diverse histories, and the sociopolitical hierarchies that makes and unmakes Sri Lanka- a physical as well as a psychic site both within and outside the island.

They have a mature and exciting haul in this times shortlist- two debutantes and three veterans we have enjoyed on stage as well as on the page.

Carmel Mirandas Crossmatch is a whodunit where the murder is an ostensible death in a hospital ICU, and the sleuth-narrator an introverted medical student. The novel was chosen partly for its perceptive exploration of complex power structures set against the backdrop of Colombos medical community.

Ciara Mandulee Mendiss The Red Brick Wall is a collection of short stories on the politics of language and culture in a postcolonial society. Portraying the manner in which gender, education, economy, administration and language make an impact on people, especially during a pandemic, it presents the consequences of reducing human beings and the complexities of life into a single story.

Ameena Hussein, editor and former shortlisted author, decided to follow the footsteps of the Moroccan scholar Ibn Battuta- who left a legacy of records on medieval Ceylon. The resulting book, Chasing Tall Tales and Mystics: Ibn Battuta in Sri Lanka, meshing both his and her journeys was chosen by the judges for its deep insight into Sri Lankas rich history, and its sage observations for contemporary Sri Lanka and what it means to be Sri Lankan.

Jehan Aloysius, the playwright who brought us a hilarious godey version of the Midsummer Nights Dream at the magical St. Josephs Quadrangle, had been working on the script of his newly shortlisted Mind Games (he was shortlisted previously) for half of his life. The judges chose it for its gamut of complex issues, including mental health and domestic violence. Says Jehan- I firmly believe its important to break the silence and stigma of mental illness. I sincerely hope Mind Games can stimulate more open discussion on the subject.

Lal Medawattegedara, the 2012 winner is in the shortlist with a new surreal novel based on a dialogue between an anxious, bookish father-to-be and an irreverent and over-confident foetus. The expectant mother, exhausted after a hard days work, asks her husband to relate a story to their unborn daughter. But, like the quintessential anti-hero in a folktale, he decides to change the motifs of the story, and what ensues is a complex tale of human vulnerability.

The winner of the Gratiaen Prize 2020 will be announced in early June.
As ransom demands go, this one was a bit different.

After a heavy, ornately carved limestone chair dedicated to Jefferson Davis disappeared last month from a Confederate burial ground in Selma, Ala., where it had stood since 1893, a group calling itself White Lies Matter claimed last week to have the chair in its possession.

The group said it would return the chair to its owner, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, but only on one condition. White Lies Matter demanded that the United Daughters hang a banner on its headquarters in Richmond, Va., the former capital of the Confederacy, according to AL.com, which reported on the demand. It was to remain there from Friday  the anniversary of Robert E. Lees surrender at Appomattox  to Saturday.

The banner was to display a quote attributed to Assata Shakur, a Black Liberation Army activist wanted for escaping from prison while serving a life sentence for the murder of a New Jersey state trooper in 1973: The rulers of this country have always considered their property more important than our lives.

Failure to do so will result in the monument, an ornate stone chair, immediately being turned into a toilet, read an email that White Lies Matter sent to AL.com. If they do display the banner, not only will we return the chair intact, but we will clean it to boot.
The Duke of Edinburgh was the person to whom the Queen could unburden herself, Sir John Major has said.

Being head of state is a very lonely position in many ways, with a limited number of people available for the Queen to speak frankly with, the former prime minister said.

Speaking on the BBCs Andrew Marr programme, Sir John said the duke offered the Queen great support during their 73 years of marriage, and his death will leave an enormous hole in her life.

He said: Consider the position the Queen is in. She is the head of state, that is a very lonely position in many ways.

There are a limited number of people to whom she can really open her heart, to whom she can really speak with total frankness, to whom she can say things that would be reported by other people and thought to be indelicate.

Of the handful of people to whom she can speak frankly, her husband, Prince Philip, was obviously the first one.

At times of difficulty, he was the person who was there, he was the person to whom she could unburden herself.

And when youre facing a sea of problems, as she so often was, and sometimes when youre overwhelmed by what has to be done, someone who understands that, someone that can take part of the burden, someone who can share the decision-making, someone who can metaphorically  or in the case of Prince Philip, I think, probably literally  put their arms around you and say its not as bad as you think, this is what we have to do, this is how we can do it, this is what I think  I think when you talk of him being a great support, that was it.

Sir John said he hopes the Queen will be given time and space following Philips death.

He said: The Queen and Prince Philip had 73 years of marriage together. That is extraordinary, I can think of no-one else whos had a marriage for that length, in my experience. So it will be an enormous hole in her life that suddenly Prince Philip isnt there.

How will the Queen manage? Well, I think there are several things to say about that. Firstly, I hope she will given some time and space.

I know she is the monarch, I know she has responsibilities, but she has earned the right to have a period of privacy in which to grieve with her family.

After that Prince Philip may physically have gone, but (he) will be in the Queens mind as clearly as if she were sitting opposite him.

She will hear his voice metaphorically in her ear, she will know what he will say in certain circumstances, he will still be there in her memory.
Nine out of ten Danes say that they will accept the COVID-19 vaccine when offered. This is the same level as before the AstraZeneca vaccine was paused.

This is shown by a questionnaire-based survey collected by Sren Dinesen stergaard and co-authors. He is professor at the Department of Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University and affiliated with the Department of Affective Disorders at Aarhus University Hospital, Psychiatry.

In February 2021, we asked a sample of Danes whether they were willing to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, and 89 per cent replied that they would. This picture was unchanged when the same people were asked again after the pausing of the AstraZeneca vaccine." Sren Dinesen stergaard, Professor, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University

The approximately 1,500 participants answered the questions about vaccination for the first time in the period between 4-21 February and then again in the period between 15-25 March. Danish health authorities paused the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on 11 March - initially for 14 days before extending it until 9 April.

The survey also shows that many Danes feel insecure about the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine. On a scale from 0-10, where ten is the safest, AstraZeneca scored just over five on average, while the vaccine from Pfizer scored above eight. As could be expected, it is those who do are not willing to be vaccinated who feel most insecure about the AstraZeneca vaccine after the reported blood clots.

"The fact that 89 percent still maintain that they willing to be vaccinated testifies to the high degree of trust in the Danish healthcare system. The extended pause indicates that the healthcare system is thoroughly investigating the cases of blood clots and thus takes our safety seriously. I think the population sees this as due diligence. If anything, it will probably increase confidence in the healthcare system," says Sren Dinesen stergaard.

On the other hand, the research group is uncertain that all the people who say they are willing to be vaccinated will actually roll up their sleeves for the jab. It is well-known from survey research that 'good behaviour' is often over-reported, because people give what they think is the 'right' answer. A phenomenon called social desirability bias.

"If this bias plays a role here, it likely means that the vaccine willingness has been overestimated in this study, but probably to the same extent before and after the pausing of the AstraZeneca vaccine," says Sren Dinesen stergaard.

According to the researchers, the low level of confidence in the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine is an important signal to the health authorities.

"The results indicate that there will be a need to rebuild the population's trust in the AstraZeneca vaccine if its use is resumed," he says. So far, more than 140,000 Danes have received the AstraZeneca vaccine. The Danish Medicines Agency is currently investigating reports of blood clots in combination with a low number of blood platelets occurring among individuals having received the AstraZeneca vaccine. One case in Denmark has had a fatal outcome, and this case resembles several deaths elsewhere in Europe.

The research results - more information

The study is based on data from a questionnaire-based survey carried out by Epinion - who received payment for conducting the survey. In the February wave of the survey, the researchers asked about the willingness to be vaccinated. After use of the AstraZeneca vaccine was paused in March, the same people were again asked about their vaccine willingness. A total of 1,491 survey participants have responded to both waves, and the results are weighted so that they are representative of the Danish population on a number of parameters.
She is currently living it up on the Spanish island of Ibiza.

And Demi Rose looked like she was enjoying the sunshine as she posed for a sizzling snap, which she later posted to her Instagram page on Saturday.

The model, 25, looked incredible in a neon bikini, which featured a skimpy top teamed with equally daring bottoms as she posed on a jet ski.

'Less human more being': Demi Rose looked like she was enjoying the sunshine as she posed for a sizzling snap, which she later posted to her Instagram page on Saturday

The Instagram sensation wore her brunette locks in loose in beachy waves and appeared to enhance her pretty features with soft touches of make-up.

She captioned the image: 'Less human more being'.

Demi posted some more beautiful snaps Easter weekend to her 16.2 million followers.

She looked natural as she sat bear foot on the kitchen counter of her Ibiza home in an open white shirt which she tied stylishly into a knot.

Stunning: Demi posted some more beautiful snaps Easter weekend to her 16.2 million followers

Stylish: She looked natural as she sat bear foot on the kitchen counter of her Ibiza home in an open white shirt which she tied stylishly into a knot

With her brunette hair swept up into a bun she peeled an orange, Demi teamed her shirt with a pair of tropical bikini bottoms.

The beauty opted for glam makeup and captioned her snap: 'An Easter weekend morning. I just want to say I love you Jesus. Thank you for all you did for us - an admirer.'

Demi has been sharing a slew of snaps from her sunny travels in recent months  including trips to the Maldives and Tanzania.

The Wolverhampton-born beauty recently spoke to MailOnline about how she shot to stardom at the age of 14 after being bullied in school - before going on to sign for a modelling agency at the age of 18.

Demi recalled: 'I was bullied in school, I wanted to make friends outside of it so I ended up spending a lot of time online.

'I was even interested in virtual reality as a kid, I was always on the computer and then MySpace came around and I found my calling.'
Please disable your ad blocker, and refresh the page to view this content.
Shops, gyms and salons have been busy adding the finishing touches ahead of lockdown easing tomorrow - but pub bosses have warned the 'vast majority' will stay shut due to a lack of beer gardens.

The next step in Boris Johnson's lockdown exit roadmap will see pubs, bars and restaurants allowed to welcome back customers outside but only if there is table seating.

It means many businesses will have to wait another five weeks until May 17 when indoor hospitality is due to be given the green light to resume.

Pub chiefs said as a result of the continued wait for many firms to be able to welcome back customers the Government must lift social distancing rules on June 21 to give companies the chance to bounce back.

It is estimated that almost two thirds of pubs across England will not be able to reopen tomorrow.

Meanwhile non-essential shops, hairdressers, nail salons, libraries and community centres will also reopen - with some expecting customers from midnight- but there are concerns that footfall could remain well-below pre-pandemic levels.

Professor Peter Horby, a senior scientist advising the Government, warned on Sunday that the remaining rules must be abided by to minimise the effects of a future 'rebound' in cases.

Businesses and citizens eagerly anticipated the renewed freedoms, but any fanfare for the easing of restrictions has been somewhat muted by the national mourning for the Duke of Edinburgh.

Hospitality bosses today warned the 'vast majority' of pubs in England will not be able to reopen tomorrow because they do not have adequate outdoor space

The next step in Boris Johnson's lockdown exit roadmap will see pubs, bars and restaurants allowed to welcome back customers outside but only if there is table seating

UKHospitality warned the success of pubs and restaurants' return hinged on the weather. The Terrace Cafe and Bar in Plymouth was getting its outdoor seating ready earlier today

Shopfronts in Covent Garden are being redecorated today as they prepare to welcome back customers from Monday morning

Gyms are preparing to reopen on Monday, including in Derbyshire (pictured), as part of the roadmap out of lockdown

Breweries, including one in Brixton, have been busy delivering kegs ahead of pubs reopening

Pubs have covered their beer gardens to ensure that punters aren't deterred by wet weather in Halifax, West Yorkshire

Researchers from the universities of Portsmouth and Edinburgh have found that people have been 'conditioned' to avoid crowded spaces during the past year.

And they say this leads to shoppers experiencing higher levels of stress, lower levels of excitement and greater difficulty focusing on a shopping task when in the presence of large crowds of other shoppers.

Dr Jason Sit, senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Portsmouth, said: 'Covid-19 has had a huge impact on our lives including the ways we perceive and interact with other people in enclosed spaces.

'For over a year now, we have been 'conditioned' to avoid being at crowded venues, maintain social distancing from others and shop alone at retail stores when possible, in order to minimise human-to-human contacts and thus the contagion.

The Terminus in Leeds has spent today getting its outdoor seating areas to ensure there's space for people to drink

Restaurants in London and across England have been cleaning outdoor areas ahead of tomorrow

Barbers have also been preparing to welcome back customers after they were forced to close for months. Pictured: New Crescent Barbers in Plymouth

Four million people have booked to visit a venue in the two weeks starting from tomorrow. Pubs have been preparing for the return of punters by ordering up drink supplies, including in Falmouth, pictured above

Shops have spent the past week preparing for the ban on non-essential retail to be lifted, but experts have warned a year of Covid-19 measures could be a 'death knell' for malls. Pictured: John Lewis staff cleaning the store in Sloane Square on Friday

Non-essential retailers can reopen tomorrow, with salon owners claiming there has been an 'explosion' in bookings from people looking to get haircuts or have their nails done

A survey has revealed 76% of people are ready to return to their workout when gyms reopen on Monday morning

An exclusive Mail on Sunday poll has found the use of the vaccine passport documents was backed by 63 per cent of respondents, with 25 per cent opposed

PM's 'outdated' roadmap costing economy billions, warns think tank Boris Johnsons decision to stick to the reopening dates set out in his lockdown exit roadmap will cost the UK economy billions of pounds, a think tank has warned. The Institute of Economic Affairs said the PM's 'outdated' plan must be speeded up to reflect the latest data. Christopher Snowdon, the IEA's head of lifestyle economics, said: 'The hospitality sector faces five more weeks of pointless pain if the Government refuses to act on the data. 'We have a lower rate of infection than any EU country and cases have continued to fall despite schools reopening. Vaccine uptake has exceeded expectations. 'The models which inspired the Governments ultra-cautious approach have been proved wrong and drastically revised.' He added: 'The Governments stubborn refusal to depart from an outdated plan is costing us billions.' Advertisement

'Prior to Covid-19, many shopping centres were already experiencing decreasing consumer traffic.

'These fears may be exacerbated by concerns regarding close social interaction with other shoppers and a concern about air circulation in an enclosed setting.'

Co-author Mark Rosenbaum, dean of Graham School of Management at Saint Xavier University, said such fears could be the 'death knell' for many malls.

Prof Horby, chairman of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), told Times Radio: 'The watchword has got to be caution really.

'The modelling, which is now pretty good, does show that we can expect some kind of rebound - it's not clear exactly when or how big it will be, but there is, I think, inevitably going to be a bit of a rebound in the number of cases when things are relaxed.'

The University of Oxford academic said the vaccination programme will minimise the extent of hospital admissions and deaths but warned it will not be completely effective.

'Now the extent of it really depends on how well we comply with the ongoing restrictions so we really have to take this step by step,' he added.

'I think we can be joyful and enjoy the freedoms but we've still got to realise there's still a large number of people who've not been infected or vaccinated and so they will be at risk.'

While there are gloomy predictions for shops reopening, salons and tourist attractions are expecting a busy return to business.

The Fox on the Hill pub in South London has opened up a beer garden in its large car park to ensure customers find a spot

Indoor swimming pools will also be able to reopen tomorrow, with Cottons Hotel and Spa in Cheshire getting ready yesterday

Hospitality firms have warned more than 50% of pubs and restaurants may have to remain shut as they do not have the space for outdoor customers. In Exeter, The Prospect is getting ready to reopen

Ukactive said data from 2,000 operators suggested the prevalence of the virus among visitors who had used facilities remained 'extremely low' between July and December. Pictured: Shredz Fitness Centre in Derbyshire getting ready to welcome visitors back tomorrow

The Centre for Economic and Business Research suggests that the hospitality sector will get a 314 million boost this week alone

There will be no requirement for customers to order a 'substantial meal' in order to buy alcoholic drinks but the requirement to order, eat and drink while seated will return

Unchecked Covid hotspots could lead to a THIRD wave if Britain reopens too quickly Unchecked Covid hotspots could lead to a third wave of the virus if the country reopens too quickly, scientists warn. Ministers have been blasted for ignoring their pledge to follow 'data not dates' when lifting lockdown in line with Boris Johnson's roadmap. As it stands, six groups - or two households - can meet outside. Outdoor pubs and restaurants, alongside non-essential shops, are to reopen their doors on Monday. Official figures show an average of 30.7 cases per 100,000. But five local authority areas, Wakefield, Barnsley, Mansfield, Corby and Clackmannanshire, have three times that figure. Twenty-eight have at least double. Leeds University medical school Associate Professor Stephen Griffin said there are still 'far too many virus hotspots and not enough attention being paid to controlling infections that might spread from them'. Parts of West Yorkshire, the Black Country and other regions still have high case figures but people can often not afford to isolate, Professor Griffin said, adding: 'We need to tackle that issue urgently or the virus will come back again.' Warwick medical school's Professor Lawrence Young told The Observer: 'We need a properly funded system for quarantining infected people. We don't have that and we could head back into trouble again quite quickly.' The scientists argue that waiting until more people are vaccinated would be a better approach. Advertisement

Chester Zoo chief executive Jamie Christon said it has enjoyed a 'great deal of demand', with the majority of tickets sold out for the coming days.

Mr Christon said: 'I expect that we're going to be busy. We want to open next Monday and stay open for the entire year.'

Mr Christon said it has been 'pretty difficult' for the business during the pandemic, as it costs around 1.6 million every month to maintain the zoo, including looking after its 19,000 animals.

'Even though the gates have been closed to the public, life in the zoo still goes on', he said.

'We can't furlough the animals, and we've had no assistance from the Government at all.'

Steve Jarvis, co-founder of website Independent Cottages, which promotes around 1,800 self-catering properties, said around 80% of its sites are booked over the next fortnight.

The 'huge appetite for UK holidays' began at the start of the year, he explained.

The firm recorded more than double the number of bookings in January and February compared with the same period in 2020.

'To have that interest and confidence for people to book is terrific,' Mr Jarvis said.

He added that although properties in the popular tourist destinations of Cornwall and Devon are 95% booked up, other areas are 'catching up quickly'.

Salons warned there had been an 'explosion' in bookings for tomorrow.

Secret Spa co-owner Emily Ewart-Perks said there had been even more interest in compared to the first lockdown last year, with 26 clients booked from midnight to 8am on Monday.

When comparing numbers from July 4 2020, when hairdressers were allowed to reopen following the first lockdown, to April 12 this year, Mrs Ewart-Perks said bookings for tanning had gone up by 475% as a result of 'a lack of sunshine over the past five months or sight of holidays abroad'.

She said bookings for manicures and pedicures had also increased by 163%, waxing 127%, massages 108% and hair 31%.

The Government has said that it wants to 'remove all legal limits on social contact' from June 21

Chester Zoo is among the tourist attractions planning to reopen tomorrow. chief executive Jamie Christon is hoping crowds will quickly return, as it costs 1.6million just to maintain the zoo. Pictured: Crowds arriving when the zoo first reopened last June

Salons warned there had been an 'explosion' in bookings for tomorrow, with some bookings scheduled for midnight. Pictured: A hairdressers in Leeds operating under Covid restrictions last July

Workers at John Lewis returned to the shop floor earlier this week to make sure it was fully Covid-compliant, ahead of the return of customers

The Government has said that it wants to 'remove all legal limits on social contact' from June 21 - the final date in Mr Johnson's roadmap. Pictured: Preparations at a bar in Plymouth earlier on

Ms Ewart-Perks said: 'We are really busy on the 12th, it is so exciting, it has been a long time coming.

'We knew we were going to be busy even before Boris (Johnson) confirmed on Monday that close contact services could reopen, but after that announcement we saw an even bigger surge in bookings.

'This is like an explosion, there is so much pent-up demand. I think people were waiting for that date to be set in stone.

'We know we can open one minute past midnight, so we thought, why not? Let's do this.

'The last couple of weeks have all been about planning, and the last week has been absolute joy and excitement.

'We have been on a massive rollercoaster, a lot of our clients are our friends and everyone has been missing social contact.'

Gyms and indoor swimming pools are also set to reopen tomorrow, with a survey showing 76% of people are ready to return to their workout.

Ukactive said data from 2,000 operators suggested the prevalence of the virus among visitors who had used facilities remained 'extremely low', at an overall rate of 1.7 cases per 100,000 visits, measured from 75 million visits across the UK between July 25 to December 27.

Polling by ukactive and ComRes suggested 42% of UK adults were sitting for at least 14 hours longer per week during lockdown.

A survey by ukactive of its members showed approximately 400 facilities had already been lost during the crisis, while lockdown had resulted in 90 million in lost membership fees each week.

While pubs and restaurants can reopen outdoors, analysis showed that 43 per cent of hospitality firms have outdoor space but many, particularly those in urban areas, only have space for standing rather than tables.

The UK Hospitality industry body warned that even the pubs and restaurants that can reopen may only make one fifth of their normal revenue.

Kate Nicholls, of UK Hospitality, told The Sunday Telegraph: 'Fewer than two in five will even be able to open on Monday - the vast majority will remain closed without revenue for another five weeks.

'Just 22 per cent of the sector's trading is likely to return, and that is weather dependent.

'So while it is great to be able to bring our teams back to work and welcome back family and friends to socialise safely, this is not sufficient to ensure the long-term viability of business and jobs.

'The Government needs to stick to the roadmap plan to lift social distancing restrictions from June 21.'

Only hospitality venues that can offer outdoor service will reopen tomorrow.

Figures compiled by hospitality industry website Caterer.com show that four million people have booked to visit a venue in the two weeks starting from tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Economic and Business Research suggests that the hospitality sector will get a 314 million boost this week alone.

There will be no requirement for customers to order a 'substantial meal' in order to buy alcoholic drinks but the requirement to order, eat and drink while seated will return.

Graeme Phillips, 39, who runs an independent pub and brewery with his brother Baz, 36, in Leeds, West Yorkshire, said they are 'buzzing' to open their new-look bar.

The pair opened Terminus pub and Meanwood Brewery in November 2018, and said that Covid has shown how pubs are at the 'heart of our communities'.

Baz and Graeme Phillips say they are 'buzzing' to reopen their pub, The Terminus in Leeds, come tomorrow

To protect punters from the West Yorkshire elements, The Alma Inn near Halifax has converted its beer garden to act as a shelter from the rain

Some salons are expecting to welcome customers from midnight,while in Plymouth, other business owners are making last minute touches to ensure they are Covid compliant

Graeme said: 'We're super excited for tomorrow. If this year has proven anything, it's that pubs in Britain are the heart of our communities.

'In a time of social distancing and requests to avoid social contact, but it just shows how essential pubs have been and will continue to be.

'People need a pint, need to sit and talk after a year from hell. We're buzzing.'

The brothers have not taken a day off during the lockdown, and have repainted the entire outer walls, refurbished inside, and built up two beer garden areas.

He added: 'We haven't stopped working on the business and what to do to improve it. When you're a small business owner, you're always at work.

'We've suffered literal blood, sweat and tears, Baz fell off a ladder and I've had chemical burns. These are the things we had to endure.'

The Government has said that it wants to 'remove all legal limits on social contact' from June 21 - the final date in Mr Johnson's roadmap.

However, ministers have not given a firm commitment for when social distancing rules will end, with experts warning some measures may need to be kept in place long into the future.

A Whitehall review is currently weighing up 'how and when to safely lift or amend the 1m+ rule and related COVID-secure measures'.


New strategy needed to boost competitiveness



The world is suffering an increasingly acute shortage of semiconductors, particularly for automotive use. South Korea is no exception. That's why Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo has promised to work out measures to address the shortfall.



His promise came Friday during a meeting with representatives of the local chip industry, including CEOs of Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and DB HiTek. He said his ministry will soon announce a "K-semiconductor belt strategy" aimed at turning Korea into a global factory for advanced semiconductors.



Now the government should come up with comprehensive support programs for the industry. It needs to comply with the CEOs' request for more incentives for expanding manufacturing capacity, more investment in research and development, and an active response to the rapidly changing global market situation.



The shortage is feared to deal a blow to the automobile industry as carmakers such as Hyundai Motor, GM Korea and SsangYong Motor have suspended or plan to stop factory operations temporarily due to the shortage of chips for automotive use.



Thus the government and the industry should step up their cooperation to eliminate chokepoints in the supply chain and make a quantum leap in semiconductor manufacturing. The shortage is a setback to Korea, a semiconductor powerhouse. The country has so far focused on making memory chips, while neglecting non-memory chips such as system semiconductors.



The country can no longer drag its feet in beefing up the non-memory chip business if it really wants to become the world leader in semiconductor production. It could be left behind in an ever-intensifying global competition if it fails to make investments and develop technology.



Korea also needs to pay attention to the U.S. administration's plan to hold a virtual summit Monday with top executive officers from 19 global manufacturers, including Alphabet, the parent company of Google, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and General Motors.



The meeting is part of U.S. efforts to tackle the semiconductor shortage. The Biden administration recognizes chips as an issue directly linked to national security. Samsung Electronics, one of the world's largest supplier of memory chips, has been invited to the summit. The meeting seems to offer both an opportunity and a challenge for Samsung. The company will be able to expand its business as it is likely to be asked to invest more in America to produce more semiconductors.



Yet the concern is that Samsung might be drawn into the escalating Sino-U.S. rivalry under Biden's policy of containing the rise of China. If the company is forced to join a potential "semiconductor alliance" against the Asian giant, that could have an adverse impact on its factory operations in China. During a meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, April 3, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed the need for collaboration between the countries in the semiconductor industry. No one can rule out the possibility that Samsung and other Korean chipmakers might be caught in the crossfire of a U.S.-China technology war.



Against this backdrop, the Moon administration needs to work more closely with local semiconductor makers to map out a new strategy to turn the mounting challenges into new opportunities.


What fools we were, King George V told his prime minister, Ramsay MacDonald, in 1930, looking back to the era before World War I. In the context of the wartime catastrophe his generation had delivered, the king may have had a point. Arthur Balfour, prime minister from 1902 to 1905, lamented some process of social degeneration that may conveniently be distinguished by the name of decadence. Joseph Chamberlain, the most charismatic politician of the late-Victorian age, put it more pithily. The Weary Titan, he said in 1902, staggers under the too vast orb of its fate.

For many Americans today, perhaps fearing late-stage decadence and their own Weary Titan, this story may strike close to home. For in Simon Heffers telling, the history of from 1880 to 1914 is one in which a nation so recently not just great, but the greatest power the world had ever known, sustained in its greatness by a rule of law and parliamentary democracy, had begun its decay.

The Age of Decadence is a successor volume to the same authors well-regarded High Minds: The Victorians and the Birth of Modern (2013), which charted Britains rise to greatness in the earlier part of the 19th century. Mr Heffer picks up here with Gladstone taking over the premiership from his great rival, Disraeli, in 1880, then guides us through the high-Victorian era into the 20th century with the accession of King Edward VII in 1901. He ends in 1914 with facing an unhappy choice between a European war with Germany and a civil war in Ireland. He wisely does not include the origins of the world war substantively, avoiding the teleological danger of making everything in Britain about the war as the country hurtles toward some kind of inevitable abyss.

There are many pleasures to be had in this fine book, not the least of which is the vivacity of Mr Heffers prose. A columnist for The Sunday Telegraph as well as a historian, he writes elegantly but punchily, combining seriousness with welcome flashes of waspishness that stop things from getting stuffy. Pointing to the socially entitled Virginia Woolfs sneering at a fellow novelist, the shopkeepers son Arnold Bennett, he notes that her put-downs had him written off for much of the 20th century by generations of university lecturers and critics, who confused snobbery with literary criticism. That, as they say, is a twofer.

Mr Heffer has little interest in debates among historians on the period, but he does not rely just on secondary literature and makes excellent use of wide-ranging archival research. That approach gives the book a fresh perspective, although not necessarily a new one.

The Age of Decadence is a masterpiece of pacing. After an amiable perambulation with the last of the Victorians, we build to a frantic cliff-top scramble as the Edwardians lose their grip on events and themselves.





THE AGE OF DECADENCE: A History of Britain, 1880 to 1914 Author: Simon Heffer Publisher: Pegasus Books Price: $39.95; Pages: 912

By the final pages, Mr Heffer has skilfully conjured a country in chaos and heading over the edge.

Mr Heffer has no hesitation in pointing the finger of blame at the complacent, swaggering late-Victorian and Edwardian elites who ran the show in these four decades. From 1880 until the apocalypse came in 1914, he writes reprovingly, there was among the upper and upper-middle classes a resting on laurels; a decision, literal and metaphorical, to live off dividends rather than work that little bit harder and improve more. The end result: Britain was diminished and British power was in decline.

Mr Heffer warns us against the pornography of nostalgia, but still, there are other ways to see the Edwardians. The Edwardians certainly meet Arnold Bennetts criterion of being identified with the great cause of cheering us all up. Everything was brighter, faster, more fashionable. With the growth of cinemas, gramophones, telephones and the first 100-miles-per-hour trains for trips to the seaside, Edwardians for the most part had more fun than those stern Victorians. Thanks to advances in medicine and nutrition, people in Britain lived longer (unless they found themselves in the wartime trenches). And everyday life also improved. The daily existence of the working classes on whose backs much of the wealth of the previous century had been built was enhanced immeasurably by a battery of social, industrial and educational legislation. Liberal reform culminated in the comprehensive 1911 National Insurance Act  one of the most important pieces of legislation of the 20th century and one that remains a foundation of the British welfare state and National Health Service.

Twentieth-century Britain overcame rival empires, fought and won two cataclysmic wars and twice reconstructed the world order in its own image. The British retreated from empire once its corrupting decadence became manifest. Historians of other empires might ask whether the Edwardians were any more degenerate than the French of the Third Republic, or imperial Germans, Russians, Ottomans, Iranians and Chinese. Certainly Britain was eclipsed by the United States but arguably there was not much the Edwardians could have done about the rise of a vast, resource-rich continental power that unlike its other rivals was reasonably well governed. Today Britain remains one of the half-dozen richest countries in the world with a cultural and political impact that far exceeds its size. Much of its good fortune is rooted in the legacy of those Edwardians.

So perhaps in the end King George V only had it half right. For while they were often foolish, the Edwardians were no fools.
WTF?! It looks like broadband suppliers are yet another potential victim of the global chip shortage. Choked supply chains mean that orders for new routers could take as long as 60 weeks, which is more than double the length of previous waits.

With millions depending on a stable Internet connection in order to work from home, a router shortage couldnt come at a worse time. Bloomberg shares details provided by people familiar with the situation, who claim that carriers are being quoted wait times as long as 60 weeks for new router orders  double the length of previous wait-times.

Its worth noting that carriers have not run out of routers yet. However, according to Karsten Gewecke, head of European regional business for Zyxel Communications (a Taiwan-based router-maker), companies have been very close several times. He added: It could still happen.

The pandemic and work-from-home movement have put pressure on ISPs in more ways than one. Broadband coverage remains an issue for many, with countless Americans unable to access acceptable (or even usable) speeds in their homes. A router shortage, however, could grind new Internet orders to a halt.

Even routers which have already been manufactured arent safe. Last week, a batch of Zyxel routers were on and behind the Evergreen ship that blocked the Suez Canal, adding a further dose of disruption into the mix.

Elsewhere, the chip shortage is affecting everyone from Qualcomm to Apple, with analysis suggesting that well see constrained supply chains into 2022 or even 2023. For now, if you have an old router lying around, dont throw it out.
We do not have lethal weapons, said Mr. Myo Kyaw, whose brother was among those killed. We only have slingshots and air guns.

Survivors of the attack have fled the city and are regrouping, Mr. Myo Kyaw said. We will never give up, he said. They must pay for what they did to our city.

The United Nations office in Myanmar said on Twitter that the violence in Bago must cease immediately and urged the military to let medical teams treat the wounded.

Members of the local defense organization in Tamu, which calls itself the Tamu Security Group, said that as in Bago, the security forces had attacked its defenses on Saturday with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Members of the security forces were killed in the ensuing clashes, according to two members of the defense group.

Their claims could not be independently confirmed. But killing multiple members of the security forces would be a significant development in the violence since the coup, which has been overwhelmingly one-sided.

A small, little-known rebel group called the Kuki National Army, one of many ethnic armed groups that have been fighting Myanmars military for years in regional conflicts, said it had helped the Tamu protesters battle the security forces on Saturday, but the extent of its involvement was unclear. Some leaders of the protest movement have called on rebel armies to join forces.
JOHANNES EISELE, Contributor / AFP via Getty Images

Road rage may have led to the death of a 38-year-old woman and critically injured a 14-year-old girl on the Northeast Side on Friday night, San Antonio police said.

Police responded to a call about a shooting in progress in the 2800 block of Interstate 35-North at 9:31 p.m. They found a vehicle crashed into a fence with three people inside, two with gunshot wounds.
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP)  A federal agency is putting two new boats to work on the Georgia coast after naming them for fallen soldiers.

The Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday held dedication ceremonies for the pair of survey boats used to ensure Georgias harbors in Savannah and Brunswick remain free from obstructions.

One vessel was named in honor of Army Staff Sgt. Vernon W. Martin of Savannah, who died along with seven other members of his Army unit fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan in October 2009.

The other boat was named for Army Spc. Christopher J. Holland of Brunswick, a medic killed in December 2003 when his unit was ambushed in Iraq.

The Army Corps says the idea for naming the vessels came from one of its boat captains, Jim Bodenrader, who wanted to honor military service members with local ties to coastal Georgia.

This article was written by The Associated Press from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
EDWARDSVILLE  After meeting with Madison County, state and federal law enforcement officials, Madison County States Attorney Thomas Haine said a new Cross-River Crime Task Force should have some ideas and plans within the next 90 days or so.

The group met Friday at the Madison County Administration Building. After the meeting Haine spoke to the media. Although he was flanked by a number of local and federal law enforcement officials, he was the only speaker.

We had over a dozen local police chiefs in attendance, with their deputies, Haine said. We had representatives from multiple federal agencies in attendance.

Also attending was Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelley, a former St. Clair County States Attorney.

It was a broad spectrum of the law enforcement community, Haine said. The chorus of citizen complaints in Madison County regarding crimes occurring in their community from individuals coming across the river from Missouri is being heard.

In recent months there have been complaints of criminals coming over from Missouri, committing crimes, and then heading back across the river  many times before victims realize the crimes have been committed.

Auto thefts and burglaries have been very common, but there have also been retail thefts, strong-arm robberies, shootings and murders. Felony charges against St. Louis or St. Louis County residents are an almost daily occurrence.

Our law enforcement community is doing a great job right now, Haine said. But with a united effort I think we can do better.

He said one concern was that because the criminals are not from the local area, they dont have any buy-in with the community, meaning they have little concern about victims.

The potential for violence in this kind of crime is very high, and happens all the time, he noted. Individuals who are not part of the community will be more likely to heighten the violence level of each individual crime, and thats what weve seen.

One of the things to come out of the meeting are two different working groups, he said. One will focus on data collection and developing a plan to combat the criminals. The other will focus on the efforts organization, structure and funding.

Haine said one issue is the lack of some types of solid data.

What is the extent of the problem? he said. Everyone has a sense of the problem in their own municipalities. Then to use our federal partners and our state partners to come up with some idea about how this kind of problem has been attacked by jurisdictions across the country.

He said part of the issue is that in some types of crimes they are not solved in terms of theyre not charged, but well find the car over in St. Louis.

There is a sense of the magnitude of the problem, but theres not good data that we can call upon to get a true sense, he added. Ive visited every police chief in Madison County in the past four months. Every single one of them said it was a major problem, but they werent sure how major.

He added that all of them said that dealing with Missouri criminals is taking up a significant amount of their time.

The second group will look at organization: What will the task force look like? How will it be designed? What will be the organizational structure? How will it be funded?

Haine added that they have an aggressive time frame.

We want to have something operational within the next month and a half, he said. That we can at least get this effort off the ground, united, and make an impact.

Were not willing to wait, he added, saying Missouri law enforcement officials will be brought into the discussion later.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Mounted on the Mars rover Perseverance is the SuperCam  actually several instruments in one  that can appraise the chemistry, mineralogy and morphology of rocks on the Red Planet, not to mention that its equipped with a microphone to capture sound.

We are the laser Cyclops eye of this rover, Nina Lanza, who heads Los Alamos National Laboratorys space and planetary exploration team, said Wednesday morning.

And whats a trip without taking and sharing some photos?

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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

Images captured by the SuperCam since Perseverance landed in February were shown by Lanza.

It looks like New Mexico, doesnt it? she asked, noting the difference is that the Mars landscape is devoid of vegetation, before talking about the small, robotic helicopter Ingenuity, which she said is scheduled for its first flight on Mars in eight or nine days.

Los Alamos National Laboratorys hand in the Perseverance mission was on display as lab Director Thom Mason highlighted work LANL performs that doesnt have to do with national security during a briefing conducted over Webex on Wednesday.

Mason touched on the labs work in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, cancer treatment, computer modeling and simulations.

In what was billed as a community conversation, Mason took just a few questions at the end of the hourlong program. He did not speak at length about the labs expanded mission to produce plutonium pits  the triggering device in nuclear weapons  and said nothing about ongoing cleanup of hazardous radioactive legacy waste at the lab.

While LANLs primary focus is national security, Mason said, that gives us a toolkit that we can apply to other problems.

Research at LANL has led to the development of what Mason said some are calling a smart bomb against cancer. Led by LANL researcher Michael Fassbender, the new isotope treatment dispenses large amounts of radiation through a generator system while doing minimal damage to normal cells.

Mason said the lab has done extensive work in computer modeling and simulations, highlighting the work researcher Nitin Daphalapurkar and his team do in modeling brain trauma that can be used to help predict life-threatening brain injuries.

He also talked about the labs work to tap into the power of sunlight more efficiently with perovskite solar panels, which he described as an option for the next generation of solar energy.

Mason focused part of the discussion on the labs COVID-19 response. He said $18 million in CARES Act funding was invested into the effort. The COVID-19 modeling developed at LANL is being used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and lab scientists have also worked closely with the New Mexico Department of Health and health officials in other states.

There are a lot of models out there  thats actually a good thing because you can test one against the other  but I think ours has been quite successful in providing a window into how things might evolve over the next four to six weeks and understand what that means for things like the demand for ventilators or intensive care unit hospital beds to stay ahead as much as possible, he said.

Mason said LANL is also leading the testing team for the Department of Energys National Virtual Biotechnology Lab.

The lab director also spoke about LANLs return to Santa Fe after a 58-year absence.

LANL recently announced it was leasing office space in three Santa Fe buildings that together will accommodate more than 600 lab employees.

We are viewing this as a permanent presence, he said, adding that the buildings in Santa Fe will function as a telework hub and home base for many of the lab employees who have been working from home for the past year.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Residents gathered together Saturday night at the Light Up Staten Island event in Midland Beach to honor loved ones lost during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The second annual event, which kicked off at 6:30 p.m., honored those who lost their lives to the coronavirus, as well as those who have been working on the frontlines.

Names of those who died were called out in tribute.

Rev. Brendan Gormley of St. Clares R.C. Church in Great Kills speaks about his personal experience with the virus at the Light Up Staten Island event on Saturday, April 10, 2021 (Staten Island Advance/Kayla Simas).

Rev. Brendan Gormley, of St. Clares R.C. Church in Great Kills, spoke about his personal experience with the virus.

When I was told I was being admitted into the hospital, I remember asking the doctor if I was going to be all right, and he looked at me said, We hope so, said Father Gormley.

Father Gormley referenced a Staten Island University Hospital worker, who was not a doctor or a nurse, who would check up on him every day and ask if he needed anything.

It was kindness that she offered me, and that kindness is something we still need to offer to one another as we are still navigating through this pandemic, he said.

Father Gormley also mentioned his fellow clergy who died from complications of the virus, whom students of St. Clares School asked about days prior.

The children at the school asked me the other day, Were you friends with Father Richard [Guastella], and so I paused for a moment and I said no. They looked up and I said No, we werent. We were brothers, said Father Gormley. I miss him and I learned so much from him by the way he treated people with dignity, his hardy laugh, and his faith. We have all mourned people, thats why we are here.

Residents gathered in Midland Beach to honor those who passed from COVID-19, and those who are working on the frontlines, at a Light Up Staten Island event on Saturday, April 10, 2021 (Staten Island Advance/Kayla Simas).

In addition to Father Gormley, Rev. Terry Troia, president of Project Hospitality, who has worked selflessly throughout the pandemic to bring food to the homeless and help them in any way she could, also spoke out about her own loved ones whom she lost exactly a year ago.

Between April 9 and 10 of last year, I lost an aunt, a cousin, four clergies, and a neighbor, all in a matter of 48 hours, said Rev. Troia. So, this is a memorial time for me, for those Ive lost.

Leah Herbert, the wife of New York City Public Advocate candidate Tony Herbert, has been working on the frontline since the beginning of the pandemic and shared a few words to the crowd.

This past year has been a traumatic time. I could stand here for hours telling stories Ive seen. I have never seen so much death in my 15 years, she said. If there is any time to unite, it is now more than ever. Have love for one another, emotionally, because we do not know what anyone is going through.

Residents gathered in Midland Beach to honor those who passed from COVID-19, and those who are working on the frontlines, at a Light Up Staten Island event on Saturday, April 10, 2021 (Staten Island Advance/Kayla Simas).

The events organizer, borough president candidate Leticia Remauro, stated the event is a time for people to shine a light wherever they are, whether it is a candle, cellphone, for those who fell during the pandemic and to those who stood tall today we can gather together physically distanced. To those we couldnt say goodbye to and to those who are standing tall still through the pandemic.

At 7:30 p.m., lights were lit, honoring the borough residents lost.
The union government on Sunday suspended the export of Remdesivir injections and Remdesivir Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) till the situation improves in the country.

India has been witnessing an unprecedented spike in cases and reported over 150,000 new infections on Sunday. As of April 11, there are 1.1 million active cases and they are steadily increasing.

"The current situation has led to a sudden spike in demand for Remdesivir injection used in treatment of Covid patients. There is a potential of further increase in this demand in the coming days," the government said in a release.

Seven Indian companies are producing Remdesivir injections under voluntary licensing agreement with US-based Gilead Sciences. They have an installed capacity of about 3.88 million units per month.

In addition, the government has taken the steps to ensure easy access of hospital and patients to Remdesivir

All domestic manufactures of Remdesivir have been advised to display on their website, details of their stock lists or distributors to facilitate access to the drug.

Drugs inspectors and other officers have been directed to verify stocks and check their malpractices and also take other effective actions to curb hoarding and black marketing.

The State Health Secretaries will review this with the Drug Inspectors of the respective states and Union Territories.

The government said that the department of pharmaceuticals has been in contact with the domestic manufacturers to ramp up the production of Remdesivir.
PHILI[SBURG:--- As of April 9th, there were seven (7) persons who tested positive for COVID-19; however, one (1) person has recovered; bringing the total active cases to thirty-nine (39). The total number of confirmed cases is now two thousand one hundred eighty-two (2182).

The Collective Prevention Services (CPS) are monitoring thirty-eight (38) people in home isolation. One (1) patient remains hospitalized at the St. Maarten Medical Center. The total number of deaths due to COVID-19 remains at twenty-seven (27).

The number of people recovered since the first case surfaced on St. Maarten has increased to two thousand one hundred sixteen (2116). Thirty-two (32) people are in quarantine based on contact tracing investigations carried out by CPS.



The Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour (VSA) Airport Health Team in collaboration with Health Care Laboratory Sint Maarten (HCLS) have tested 2644 travelers arriving at the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA), while CPS tested 24, 628 people throughout the community. As the numbers continue to fluctuate, CPS will continue to actively execute its contact tracing measures.

Minister Panneflek urges the community to remain vigilant and continue to wear your masks, practice the 2-meters social distancing, sanitize and wash your hands frequently, and refrain from mass gatherings. Most importantly if you are experiencing flu-like symptoms, stay at home and call your family doctor.
First the Ukraine said it would use force to recover the renegade Donbass region as well as Crimea. It then moved heavy troops towards the contact lines. The ceasefire at the contact line was broken multiple times per day. Several Ukrainian soldiers died while attempting to remove a minefield in preparation of an attack.

It became clear that a war in Ukraine's east was likely to soon braek out. A successful war would help Ukraine's president Zelensky with the ever increasing domestic crises. A war would also give the U.S. more influence in Europe. The U.S. and NATO promised "unwavering support for Ukraines sovereignty.

Russia gave several verbal warnings that any Ukrainian attack on the renegade provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk or Crimea would cause a serious Russian intervention. There was never a chance that the U.S. or NATO would intervene in such a war. But it was only after Russia started to move some of its troops around that sanity set in. It dawned on the Ukrainian leadership that the idea of waging war against a nuclear armed superpower was not a good one.

Late yesterday it suddenly decided to file for peace (machine translation):

The Armed Forces ruled out the use of force to "liberate" Donbass KIEV, April 9 - RIA Novosti. "Liberation" of Donbass by force will lead to mass deaths of civilians and servicemen, and this is unacceptable for Kiev, said Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak. "Being devoted to universal human values and norms of international humanitarian law, our state puts the lives of its citizens in the first place," the General Staff's press center quoted him as saying. According to Khomchak, the Ukrainian authorities consider the political and diplomatic way to resolve the situation in Donbass a priority. At the same time, he added that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are ready for an adequate response both to the escalation of the conflict and to "the complication of the military-political and military-strategic situation around the country."

Zelensky himself chipped in (machine translated):

Zelensky spoke for a truce in Donbass MOSCOW, April 9 - RIA Novosti. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the need for a new truce in Donbass after visiting the contact line. The head of state wrote on Facebook that shooting at the front lines had become "a dangerous routine." "After several months of observing a complete and general ceasefire, we returned to the need to establish a truce," Zelensky said. As the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak emphasized earlier, the use of force to "liberate" Donbass is unacceptable for Kiev, as it is fraught with casualties among the civilian population and military personnel. At the same time, last week he said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will strengthen the grouping of troops in the Donbass and in the Crimean direction - in response to the "build-up" of Russian forces on the border with Ukraine.

It seems that order has come from Washington to stand down - at least for now. U.S. reconnaissance flights near Russia's border continue. One should therefore consider that the sudden call for a renewed ceasefire might be a ruse.

But if it is not why was all of this allowed to happen in the first place?
Del Posto, the elegant Italian restaurant in Manhattan that received a rare four-star review from The New York Times in 2010, will permanently close following its sale, said Jeff Katz, the restaurants longtime general manager.

It has been purchased by Mr. Katz along with Melissa J. Rodriguez, Del Postos executive chef, and the chef James Kent, a former chef de cuisine at Eleven Madison Park, from Lidia Bastianich, Joe Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali. The sale includes the lease of Del Postos large space in Chelsea, which the new owners plan to use for three new businesses, following a renovation.

There will be a cocktail bar, a casual restaurant with wood-burning pizza ovens and an ambitious, special-occasion Italian restaurant in the spirit of Del Posto, which was first opened in 2005 by Ms. Bastianich, Mr. Bastianich and the chef Mario Batali.

Jeff and Melissa were the driving force behind the success and evolution of Del Posto, Mr. Bastianich said. I am happy and proud that they will continue that evolution into the future.
ADVERTISEMENT

The Inter-Tribal Association of Nigeria (ITAN) has urged Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi to contest the 2023 presidential election.

This is contained in a statement issued by the Secretary of the group, Jabir Maiturare, on Saturday in Kaduna.

Mr Maiturare said that ITAN, which comprised different tribes and religions drawn from all parts of the country, had x-rayed many aspiring candidates who showed interests either publicly or otherwise in joining the 2023 presidential race.

After our consultation and review of personalities who think they have what it takes to lead the country, we resolved to advocate for Bello, who is a youth and capable of taking Nigeria to the promised land, Mr Maiturare stated.

According to him, Mr Bello has always expanded the scope of youth and womens participation in governance, which makes ITAN stand for him.

(NAN)
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).
Iran's Atomic Energy commission has announced an "incident" has disrupted the power grid of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility on Sunday, which suspiciously comes after the opening days of nuclear talks in Vienna involving the US "indirectly" negotiating with the Iranians in what have been reported as "positive" engagements.

In an exclusive report The Jerusalem Post has revealed that the mysterious incident appears a deliberate attack by an outside entity and that damage is far more extensive than what's currently being made official by the Islamic Republic. It's "not an accident" - the report emphasizes.

The Natanz facility, it must be remembered, was previously sabotaged in a June 2020 attack which resulted in a major fire - later widely pinned in Israeli intelligence. This latest major blackout at the facility is further already resulting in widespread suspicions that Israel launched another devastating cyberattack on the site.

According to The Jerusalem Post:

Based on reports, it seems that the so-called accident was caused by a cyber attack, possibly by Israel. Natanz has in the past been targeted by Israeli cyber operations, according to foreign reports. In 2010, the Stuxnet virus attacked the facility in a joint operation with the United States, destroying over 1,000 centrifuges. No injuries or pollution were caused by the incident, Kamalvandi said, adding that the cause of the incident is under investigation and further information will be announced later.

Theres been an incident disrupting the power grid of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, according to the #Iran Atomic Energy Commission.  Steve Herman (@W7VOA) April 11, 2021

Hardliners in Iranian parliament are also pointing the finger at Tel Aviv:

Malek Shariati Niasar, an Iranian MP and spokesman for a parliamentary energy commission, wrote that the incident is highly suspected as "sabotage," as it occurred on Iran's National Nuclear Technology Day and amid the renewal of talks between Iran and western nations on the JCPOA nuclear deal.

Further suggesting a covert act of sabotage by the Israelis, the Jewish state's leaders including PM Netanyahu have lately doubled down on threats to unilaterally "act" against Iran should the US rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA).

The Vienna talks no doubt make the Israelis highly nervous, and they've appeared quite open about willingness to derail the process by any means. Also important is that Natanz is a key site of restarted and ramped up enrichment activities designed to add pressure on Washington toward rejoining the nuclear deal.
This aerial picture taken on June 29, 2020 shows water being released from the Three Gorges Dam, a gigantic hydropower project on the Yangtze river, in Yichang, central China's Hubei province. AFP-Yonhap





A super power grid connecting all the countries of northeast Asia would make renewable energy as cheap and available as coal, according to a new study by Chinese scientists.

As a region, northeast Asia, which comprises China, Russia, Mongolia, South Korea, North Korea and Japan, consumes about a third of the world's energy and the industry estimates its annual electricity demand will double to 6.4 petawatt-hours by 2050.



With the exception of North Korea, the five nations have signed a series of agreements in recent years to connect their national power lines and coordinate electricity production and distribution.



A regional power grid would enable long-distance, cross-border transmission of renewable energy like hydropower, wind and solar at a cost as low as 0.35 yuan (five US cents) per kilowatt-hour, or about the same as the electricity generated by China's coal-fired power plants, according to the study published this week on the website of Proceedings of the Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering.



The cost would "significantly increase the proportion of clean energy in electric power supply systems", Zhang Ning, a professor of electrical engineering at Tsinghua University, and his team said in the paper.







Although North Korea has not officially been involved in the discussions, most proposals include a land-based line passing through the country to South Korea.



Japan and South Korea rely on fossil fuels imported from the Middle East for about 90 per cent of their energy needs. China's coal-fired power plants not only pollute its own cities but affect neighbouring countries. Most governments in the region have set ambitious targets to reduce their carbon emissions and renewable energy is expected to grow much faster than fossil fuels in future capacity build-up.



Northeast Asia has rich renewable energy resources. The world's biggest untapped water resources are located in Russia's far east, while Mongolia's Gobi desert offers one of the world's best sites for solar energy plants. Offshore wind farms in the East China Sea and the western Pacific Ocean could also generate an enormous amount of energy.



But the supply of renewable energy is unstable  hydropower, solar and wind power are affected by changes in the weather and season  and that can introduce shocks to the power grid.



To help smooth out fluctuations, countries like China are planning to build energy storage plants using various technologies, from batteries to air compressors. But such power banks would make renewable energy more expensive.



Zhang's team found that a power grid would eliminate the need for most of these power banks. When hydropower output in China decreased in winter, it would be at full capacity in Siberia, they said. The same would apply to wind and solar energy.





This photo taken on August 31, 2018 shows wind turbines in the Dabancheng District in Urumqi in China's northwestern Xinjiang region. AFP-Yonhap



Computer simulations suggested the power grid could effectively balance the uneven distribution of renewable energy, and make nearly all long-term energy storage facilities unnecessary, the study said.



Several ideas for such a project have been put forward. Japanese investment company SoftBank, for instance, proposed building a high-voltage power line from the Gobi Desert to the Korean peninsula that could carry solar energy directly to Sumsung's chip-making plants and other users.



But Zhang's calculations said such a long cable would not be economical because of the drain caused by electrical resistance. A more efficient way would be to send clean energy from Russia and Mongolia to China, and then from China to South Korea and Japan, the team said.



It would also be more economical for South Korea and Japan to build their own renewable energy production plants instead of relying on long-distance transmission from Mongolia, Russia or China, the study said.



China produces about 70 percent of the region's energy and plans to be the world's biggest investor in wind and solar energy in the coming decades under a plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.



China's wind and solar farms, already the world's largest, would continue to grow at a pace much faster than any other country, according to Zhang's estimate. It is widely expected in the industry that China will play a leading role in the planning and construction of a super power grid.





In this June 14, 2018, photo, ducks swim underneath the solar panels built on a duck farm in Binzhou in east China's Shandong province. AP
The organizers of one of the worlds most prestigious defense gatherings are in the midst of an uncomfortable international standoff between the Canadian government and China over a major award they had planned to give to the president of Taiwan.

The standstill, which is ongoing and has not been previously reported, has created tension between the Halifax International Security Forum and the Canadian government, which is a major sponsor of the forum.

Late last year, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter, the forums organizers decided to give its John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service to Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan. Cindy McCain, a member of the forums board of directors, greenlit the decision to honor Tsai with the prize named after her late husband.

It would have been the third time the HFX presented the McCain award. The first, in 2018, went to the people of Lesbos, Greece, for their efforts to save refugees; the second, in 2019, went to the citizen protesters in Hong Kong. HFX planned to give the third to Taiwans president for standing strong against Chinas relentless pressure.

When Canadian officials learned of the forums plans, they made it clear that if organizers gave the honor to Tsai, the Canadian government would pull support  and funding  from HFX.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen delivers a speech at an event.

HFX hasnt decided how to proceed. For now, the situation appears to be on ice.

HFX has not yet announced the winner of the 2020 John McCain Prize for leadership in public service, said the forums Vice President Robin Shepherd in a statement. We look forward to making the announcement, and conducting a presentation event at an appropriate time, given the challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic presents. President Tsai of Taiwan is a well respected international leader, the first female president of Taiwan, and a strong global advocate for democracy. She would certainly be an ideal fit for this award. At this time, we have no further announcements to make.

Story continues

The McCain Institute, where Cindy McCain is chair of the board of trustees, did not respond to requests for comment.

POLITICO is a media partner of the event but is not involved in decisions about the prize. POLITICO employees handling its role with HFX did not participate in this story.

The Halifax forum, also sponsored by NATO, draws scores of powerful military and civilian leaders. Previous speakers have included then-U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel; Adm. Phil Davidson, the commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command; Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan; and officials from a host of other countries, including Israel, Estonia, Afghanistan, Yemen, Poland and Japan.

The forums website states it is devoted to strengthening strategic cooperation among democratic nations. It also purports to take a critical stance toward Beijings autocratic expansionism, and last year released a publication called The HFX Handbook for Democracies, which highlights the serious challenge that China poses. HFX promises donors that their contributions to the forum will strengthen their governments resolve to stand up to China.

Now the question is whether the forum itself will buck the Canadian government and honor one of Beijings top targets.

Trudeaus government appears uncomfortable with the situation. Ottawa has shied away from provoking Beijing after tensions spiked in December 2018, when Canadian authorities arrested a senior Huawei executive on behalf of the U.S. In an apparent retaliation, China arrested two Canadians just days later and has since charged them with espionage.

A spokesperson for Sajjan, Canadas defence minister, would not confirm or deny whether the Trudeau government threatened to pull out of the forum over the organizers plan to present the award to Tsai.

The Government of Canada has provided financial support through a contribution agreement with the Halifax International Security Forum, Sajjans spokesperson Todd Lane wrote in an email to POLITICO. While financial support has been provided, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces are not involved in the planning of the Forum. The organizers reach out to us, as well as many other organizations, for panelists on various topics and we try to support when appropriate.

Sajjan is scheduled to testify Monday evening before a special parliamentary committee on Canada-China relations.

Officials from Taiwans missions in Washington and Ottawa declined to comment.

Ottawas relationship with Beijing in a parlous state

In recent months, the Chinese government has targeted Taiwan with a hybrid warfare campaign, including election interference, cyberattacks and drone intrusions into its airspace. The unstinting barrage has battered the countrys economy and sparked fears of a full-scale invasion. Meanwhile, under Tsais leadership, only 10 of Taiwans nearly 24 million people have died of Covid-19. In January 2020, she won a landslide reelection victory against a rival who wanted closer ties with Beijing.

Beijing does not recognize Taiwans independence, and has long sought control of the dynamic island democracy. The Communist government has worked to undermine international recognition of Taiwan, using its clout to pressure companies and institutions to change maps depicting it as an independent country.

The U.S. maintains unofficial relations with Taiwan, and on Friday the State Department released guidelines allowing closer interaction between U.S. diplomats and those from Taiwan, as Reuters detailed. Much like the United States, Canadas One China policy means Ottawa doesnt recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state, nor does it maintain official relations with Taiwanese government.

Honoring Taiwans president at such a high-profile conference in Canada would likely irk Beijing  especially as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tries to secure the release of the two Canadians imprisoned in China.

Canada-China diplomatic relations plunged after the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou at Vancouvers airport in December 2018. Beijing has called the move political and demanded her release. Mengs father founded Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant. The U.S. Department of Justice last year charged Huawei with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act  charges most commonly associated with organized crime  for fraud in service of evading U.S. sanctions on Iran.

Days after Mengs arrest, Chinese authorities rounded up Kovrig and Spavor, known colloquially as the two Michaels. China also halted some key agricultural imports from Canada.

Kovrig and Spavor were tried last month in separate, one-day proceedings, each behind closed doors. Canadian diplomats and media were barred from entering the courthouses for both hearings. The men are now awaiting the verdicts and, if convicted, their sentences.

Trudeau has called the Canadians arrests arbitrary, claiming trumped-up charges.

It isnt the first time Beijing has arrested Canadian citizens in apparent retaliation for Ottawas compliance with its treaty obligations. In 2014, Canadians arrested a Chinese national named Su Bin, who had been indicted in the U.S. for working to steal the plans for the American C-17 military transport plane and F-35 fighter jet. After his arrest, the Chinese government arrested Kevin and Julia Garratt, two Christian aid workers living there. A lawyer for the Garratt family told The New York Times that Beijing made it clear their arrest was designed to pressure Ottawa not to extradite Su Bin. Su Bin later waived extradition, pleaded guilty, and served a brief prison sentence in the U.S. The Garratts are now free.

China is a political problem for Trudeau

While fighting for the two Michaels freedom has become a top foreign policy matter for Trudeau, the prime minister has faced criticism for being too soft on China.

The Conservatives Erin OToole, Canadas official opposition leader, has frequently tried to frame Trudeau as too cozy with China and challenged the prime minister to stand up to Beijing.

Its disappointing but not surprising to see the extent to which the Trudeau government will go to secretly support the Communist Party of China, OToole wrote in an email Friday to POLITICO when asked about the Trudeau governments ultimatum to the Halifax forum on Tsai. It begs the question of what else this government is doing in secret to support their friends in China that we dont know about.

Trudeau has tried to rally Western leaders  including President Joe Biden  to press China for the release of Kovrig and Spavor. Human beings are not bartering chips, Biden said in February following his virtual meeting with Trudeau. Were going to work together until we get their safe return.

Since the arrests of Kovrig and Spavor, however, Trudeau has at times appeared reluctant to take steps that might anger China. Canada remains the only member of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance yet to announce a decision whether to restrict Huawei from its 5G network.

In February, Canadas Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of a motion declaring Beijing's mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims a genocide. Trudeau himself and his 36 cabinet ministers abstained from voting on the symbolic motion.

But in other areas, Canada has moved forward multilaterally. The Trudeau government recently joined allies in imposing sanctions on individuals and entities allegedly linked to human rights abuses against Uyghurs in China, including mass internment in concentration camps and reports of forced sterilization of women. It has also called for Beijing to provide independent investigators unfettered access to the region.

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa did not respond to requests for comment.

Sen. Marco Rubio, meanwhile, the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committees top Republican, released a statement praising Tsai in response to this reporting.

No world leader is more deserving of the recognition than President Tsai Ing-wen, he said. President Tsai has stood firm against Beijing's international bullying without undermining the status quo that has kept the peace for decades. Democracies worldwide should refuse to let Beijing dictate how we interact with Taiwan.
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.
Wait times to access drug and alcohol treatment services have soared in Victoria during the coronavirus pandemic, spurred by new groups with addiction issues and a surge in the number of people seeking help for alcohol withdrawal.

Practitioners in the sector say while wait times to access counselling services for addiction issues were about three to four weeks prior to the pandemic, it blew out to 10 weeks over Christmas in some metropolitan regions of Victoria.

Rose McCrohan, manager and nurse practitioner at Uniting ReGen, a residential withdrawal facility in Ivanhoe. Credit:Eddie Jim

Rose McCrohan, manager and nurse practitioner at Uniting ReGen withdrawal facility in Ivanhoe, said the waiting lists to access short-term alcohol and drug residential detox remain up to eight weeks, and for some counselling services the wait is around four to six weeks.

[At the start of the pandemic] we had the first wave of people who started drinking, they might have had a history of being recovered and their industry was affected and they relapsed ... that really pushed waiting lists out, she said.
Vietnam, RoK share experience in distribution, logistics

The Policy Dialogue Meeting on the Distribution and Logistics Industry between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) was held via videoconference on April 9 by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the RoKs Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE).



Tran Duy Dong, head of the MoITs Domestic Market Department, said the dialogue has been organised biennially by the two sides since 2013.



According to Dong, Vietnams distribution and logistics sector has developed rapidly in recent years, but its legal framework in the field is yet to catch up with the sectors pace of development.




Despite the strongest public support and the most sympathetic president in years, the American labor movement just suffered a stinging defeat  again.

Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, overwhelmingly voted against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union in much-anticipated election results announced Friday.

Amazon and business groups celebrated the decision, saying warehouse workers got a chance to weigh the pros and cons of union membership  and voted to reject it.

But labor activists argue that the lopsided vote shows how unfairly the odds are stacked against union organizing efforts and highlights the need for Congress to reform U.S. labor law. The House last month passed such legislation  the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act  but it looks likely to die in the Senate.

Here is full coverage of the Alabama Amazon unionization effort

The Bessemer results reveal a broken union election system,' Celine McNicholas, labor counsel at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said in a statement. It is clear that if policymakers do not reform our nations labor law system, then they are effectively denying workers a meaningful right to a union and collective bargaining.'

The retail union complains that Amazon plastered the Alabama workplace with anti-union posters and forced employees to sit through mandatory sessions in which the company disparaged the union. Labor organizers, by contrast, had to catch employees outside the warehouse gate to make their pitch.

The law failed the workers,' said Benjamin Sachs, a labor law professor at Harvard Law School. The law gives employers far too much latitude to interfere in workers ability to make a choice to join a union. That choice should be for the workers to make, not the employers to make.

Amazon supporters note that the company paid an average $15.30 an hour  more than double minimum wage in Alabama  and offered health care and other benefits. Union representation is a choice for workers,' said David French, spokesman for the National Retail Federation. But many clearly prefer opportunities in a competitive marketplace that provides strong wages and benefits.'

Randy Korgan, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters national director for Amazon, rejected the idea Amazon pays competitive wages at a time when $15 an hour has become the minimum wage in some states. Korgan said he made more than $15 an hour himself as a warehouse worker in the early 1990s.

Using the minimum wage as barometer is a huge mistake, Korgan said. This is not minimum wage work and for any employer to pat themselves on the back and use this as a guiding post shows they dont understand how difficult this work is.

American unions have been declining for decades. The percentage of workers who belong to unions peaked at 34.8% in 1954, according to the Congressional Research Service. By last year, their share of workers had fallen to 10.8%, the Labor Department reports.

Americas unionization rate is one of the lowest in the world; it compares to 90% in Iceland, 67% in Denmark, 28% in Canada and 17% in Germany, according to the International Labor Organization.

Labor activists say companies routinely punish employees who try to organize unions  and get away with it. Even when workers do agree to unionize, companies often negotiate in bad faith. The current system is expecting a degree of heroism from people that most of us dont possess,' said Thomas Geoghegan, a pro-union labor lawyer and author.

Economists have tied the decline in unions from their 1950s heyday to the growing gap in income between the richest Americans and all the rest. Unions not only raised wages for their own members; they also effectively pressured other employers to offer better pay and benefits.

A 2011 study by economists at Harvard University and the University of Washington found that the collapse of organized labor accounted for at least a fifth of the growth in inequality between 1973 and 2007.

As concerns about inequality have risen, public support for unions has grown. Gallup reported last year that 65% of Americans support unions, the most since 2003 and up from a low of 48% in 2009.

Unions also have a backer in the White House and Democratic control of the House and Senate. President Joe Biden promised to be the most pro-union president youve ever seen. During the union drive at Bessemer, he pointedly expressed support for workers right to choose a union, and he supports the PRO Act.

Passed 225-206 by the House, the act would reverse Right to Work laws, currently in effect in 27 states, which prevent unions from collecting dues from workers who refuse to join  but still benefit from union contracts.

It would also give union organizers more control over how and where union votes are held and empower the National Labor Relations Board to fine companies that dont comply with the boards orders.

But the Senate appears to lack the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster, which will ultimately doom the effort. The Democratic Party cant deliver because of the filibuster,' Geoghegan said. Its heartbreaking.'

Even without a legislative victory, he said, Biden could boost unions by steering federal contracts to companies with collective bargaining agreements.

Michael Lind, founder of the New America think tank and author of a history of the American economy, said American unions are hobbled by the way they are forced to organize  company by company or workplace by workplace, as in the case of the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer. Many European countries, by contrast, organize union representation by whole industries or sectors.

Lets just admit that enterprise-based bargaining is a rotten collapsed building, Lind said. Lets start from scratch with sectoral bargaining.

Adam Ryan, a 32-year-old part-time Target employee in Virginia who founded a group called Target Workers Unite in 2019, notes that unions have for years been focused more on contract negotiations rather than the radical strikes they organized decades ago.

A lot of times the stereotypes the corporations use to dissuade people from going to unions are largely true  the idea that they are third parties and they come in and take dues out of your paycheck and they really dont do much for you when you need them, he said.

Ryan argues that unions must reform themselves to change peoples sentiments towards them or people need to learn that there are different strategies of labor organizing that can be driven by the rank and file.

Others say, despite labors long losing streak, its too soon to count unions out. Philip Dray, author of There is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America,' recalls the United Auto Workers protracted struggle to organize workers at Ford and Cesar Chavez fight to unionize California farm workers.

Workers collectives have never been an easy fit with this country,' Dray said. Unions have frequently lost a battle against formidable opposition, only to go on and win the war.'

___

DInnocenzio reported from New York. AP Business Writer Alexandra Olson in New York contributed to this story.
In a key development in the fight against impunity, Afghanistans police arrested 11 Taliban members on April 7 for their suspected role in a series of targeted killings, including that of journalist Yama Siawash. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) welcomes the arrests and calls for justice to be secured in accordance with the rule of law.

Acting on a tip-off, the Kabul police located and arrested 11 members of a Taliban cell, including Abdul Saboor, the ringleader of the group. According to Afghanistans First Vice President, Amrullah Saleh, a stash of sticky bombs and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were found in the groups hideout during a police search.

Eight of the Taliban group members were arrested in Kabul and another three were arrested in the Logar and Laghman provinces. Following the arrests, the Interior Ministry presented the arrested suspects before the media on April 8. Nine of the suspects confessed their involvement in a series of targeted murders, including the murder ofmedia adviser to the Central Bank and former TOLO News journalist Yama Siawash.

Group leaderAbdul Saboor was reported to have confessed to plotting the murder of Yama Siawash. However, Siawashs family rejected the claim that the ringleader and murderer in Yama Siawashs killing had been arrested and said the government must produce plausible evidence in connection to the murder.

Journalist Yama Siawash was killed on November 7, 2020, in a targeted explosion in the Makrorayan-e-Char area of Kabul.

According to the IFJ killed list report 2020, nine journalists and media workers were murdered in 2020 in Afghanistan. Targeted killings of journalists, right activists, religious leaders and civil society activists have become more frequent in recent months as violence escalates in Afghanistan despite ongoing peace talks with the Taliban.

The IFJ said: The IFJ welcomes the arrest of suspects in this killing and calls for a swift resolution to bring the perpetrators to justice. The IFJ also calls on the government to meet with the victims families to address their critical concerns.
An elderly South African fan of the British royals offered his condolences to the widowed Queen Elizabeth II on Saturday.

Speaking in Cape Town, 87-year-old Tahir Levy recalled the moment he saw the monarch during her visit to the country, more than 70 years ago.

Then-Princess Elizabeth was accompanying her family in 1947 during a royal tour of South Africa.

Levy managed to take shoot some photographs of the royals during the Grande Parade - and years later he sent two of them on to Buckingham Palace.

Talking to The Associated Press on Saturday, the retired community worker proudly showed a letter he received from the palace, thanking him for the gesture.

Levy says he has been an admirer of the queen and her family, ever since seeing her in 1947.

Soon after she returned from South Africa, the then-princess married Philip, whose death at age 99 was announced on Friday.

Levy said the news of Philip's passing saddened him and offered his condolences to the queen and her family.

"Hopefully she'll get through it, she'll have pain, she's a human being, she's got feelings like any human being," he added.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
A 5-year-old was killed Sunday in a west Houston crash involving a suspected drunken driver who police said ran a red light.

The driver of a BMW is facing an intoxication manslaughter charge after colliding with a Nissan car around 3:30 a.m. in the 5900 block of the Southwest Freeway feeder road, near Fountain View.

Chuck Cornelius, investigator for the Harris County District Attorneys Office Vehicular Crimes Division, said the BMW driver tried walking away from the crash but a group of witnesses stopped him.

The child, whose father was not seriously injured, was then rushed to a hospital but did not survive. Investigators found a child's car seat in the back of the Nissan.

Investigators will determine where the driver had been drinking prior to the crash and whether it was a bar or a home.

nicole.hensley@chron.com
After five hours of play, Pedro "LgwZ" Grochocki has won the 2021 PokerStars SCOOP-22-H: $2,100 NLHE [Progressive KO, Thursday Thrill SE], $1M Gtd for $181,684 which includes $98,211 in bounties. He defeated Jonah "RaiseUpBlind" Silverstein heads-up who added $115,069 to their own bankroll. The tournament attracted 539 entries to create a prize pool of $1,078,000 of which the lion-share was handed out today.

After finishing as a runner-up in the Stadium Series Heat 23-M: $530 NLHE, $750K Gtd for $81,836 and 2017 WCOOP-22-H: $530 No Limit Hold'em [Win the Button] for $59,746, and a third place in the WCOOP-40-H: $530 5-Card PLO [6-Max] in the same year for $27,516, he has now finally won his first big title and scored his first six-figure cash today.

Silverstein is also no stranger to success on the online MTT felt as he won the 2014 SCOOP-32-M: $215 NL Hold'em [Progressive Super-Knockout] for $100,584 besides a runner-up finish in the Stadium Series 86-M: $109 NLHE 8-Max PKO Series Saver for example.

Joining them on the final table were Day 1 chip leader "darogio", "drew.derzh", Andriy "Andre_Hansen" Lyubovetskiy, "roohoz", "lildani9", "pappos_11", and Yuri "theNERDguy" Dzivielevski.

SCOOP-22-H: $2,100 NLHE [Progressive KO, Thursday Thrill SE] Final Table Results

Place Player Country Bounty Prize Total 1 Pedro "LgwZ" Grochocki Brazil $98,211 $83,473 $181,684 2 Jonah "RaiseUpBlind" Silverstein Canada $31,596 $83,473 $115,069 3 "darogio" Poland $18,500 $53,731 $72,231 4 "drew.derzh" Ukraine $17,750 $40,332 $58,082 5 Andriy "Andre_Hansen" Lyubovetskiy Ukraine $6,578 $30,274 $36,852 6 "roohoz" Finland $10,406 $22,724 $33,130 7 "lildani9" Hungary $10,125 $17,057 $27,182 8 "pappos_11" Greece $750 $12,803 $13,553 9 Yuri "theNERDguy" Dzivielevski Brazil $11,000 $9,611 $20,611

Chaotic Run to the Final Table

At the start of the day, 26 players returned to the virtual felt but by the time the first break came around, ten of them were gone already. Big names like Joshua "slayerv1fan" Hoesel, Jans "Graftekkel" Arends, Andreas "mrAndreeew" Berggren, Ivan "zufo16" Zufic, Gary "quiditbear" Hasson, and Josip "Jozinho6" Simunic all fell before being able to enjoy a break.

Another hour later, eleven players were left with Mike "SirWatts" Watson busting in fourteenth place. "mrG01R4NG" was eliminated in 11th place before 2008 EPT Warsaw champion and 2019 Platinum Pass winner Joao "joaovbarb" Barbosa bubbled the final table when he ran his jack-ten suited into the king-seven of Grochocki.

Joao Barbosa bubbled the final table for $11,151

Grochocki Makes a Comeback

Grochocki came into the final table, second in chips, with "darogio" ahead of him but slowly saw the others creep ahead of him. Fellow countryman Dzivielevski was first out on the final table when he ran his ace-jack into the ace-king of Silverstein. "pappos_11" was next to go when they first doubled up "drew.derzh" to be left short and then lose the remainder to "darogio". "lildani9" lost a big chunk of their stack, doubling "darogio" up and then lost the rest to "drew.derzh".

Silverstein held a commanding chip lead with Lyubovetskiy taking out "roohoz" when his ace-queen turned a straight against the kings of the Finn. "darogio" then doubled through Grochocki in an ace-king versus ace-king all-in. "darogio" flopped the flush draw and hit the river to leave Grochocki behind with eight big blinds.

Andriy Lyubovetskiy finished in fifth place for $36,852

Grochocki doubled through Lyubovetskiy who then busted to Silverstein in fifth place. Grochocki found aces to double up through Silverstein and doubled again when he called for this tournament life on a flopped flush and saw he was good against the set "darogio" had hit. "drew.derzh" was taken out in fourth place by Grochocki who had turned two pair.

Silverstein still had the big chip lead and only increased it when he took out "darogio" ten minutes later with ace-king. Grochocki hit a straight with pocket kings to double up instantly and then won some more pots without showdown to get the stacks to almost even. Silverstein went into the break with a small chip lead but both players decided to skip the break.

This might not have been the best decision for the Canadian as everything went to Brazil from then onwards. Grochocki put the pressure on Silverstein to grab the chip lead before leaving his opponent with fifteen big blinds. Silverstein called the shove of Grochocki with pocket fours while Grochocki held queen-nine. The nine on the flop and the queen on the turn gave Grochocki two pair and no four came on the river for Grochocki to claim the win and his first SCOOP title and another one for Brazil.

This concludes the PokerNews coverage for this event but we're here for the entire festival so make sure to keep an eye on the live reporting hub to see all the exciting updates right here!
Vladimir Putin is sending a chilling message to the world.

For this naked aggression threatens to re-ignite the conflict in the region  Europes only major war  which began in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and supported armed, Russian-speaking separatists in Eastern Ukraine with troops.

It is no wonder that Western governments are worried.

The US has deployed two warships to the Black Sea and sent its Secretaries of Defence and State to Nato headquarters in Brussels.

Western Governments fear that Vladimir Putin's moves could re-ignite conflict with Ukraine

About 13,000 people have died in the conflict already. Soon, it is feared, there will be thousands more deaths.

The fact is that Russia has long struggled to accept that Ukraine, its vast and sprawling neighbour with which it shares many religious and historical links, is a sovereign state.

But there is more than Ukrainian independence at stake here. It is part of Putins grand plan, which has seen him flex Russian military muscle around the world in recent weeks.

Three Russian nuclear submarines broke through the Arctic icecap as the Kremlin deployed a new nuclear torpedo which, it claims, plausibly or not, could trigger a tsunami on Americas eastern seaboard.

Meanwhile, Russian fighter-bombers have been pulverising the remaining Isis forces in Idlib province, Syria.

And, on March 29, Nato fighters including RAF Typhoons had to scramble to intercept six groups of Russian bombers in an area encompassing the Baltic to the Black Sea.

This multi-faceted show of force is quintessential Putin. As well as telling the world that Russia mustnt be messed with, it has been designed for a domestic audience. Photos of Russian tank transporters and troop trains feature prominently on social media.

The Russian leader has had an awkward few months, writes Michael Burleigh

In truth, the Russian leader has had an awkward few months. Covid-19 has been a heavy blow, forcing Putin to spend the last year in strict quarantine  hardly the image a world strongman wishes to present.

He only had a vaccine last month, seemingly reluctant to be seen as a vulnerable 68-year-old.

All the while, he has watched, infuriated, as opposition leader Alexei Navalny received worldwide press coverage after the Russian authorities locked him up in a penal colony.

The Russian people are suffering, too. There have been none of the pandemic support measures familiar across the West. The economy is stagnant.

And to top it all, US President Joe Biden tartly dismissed the Russian leader as a mere killer and a man of no true importance in the new Cold War dividing the world between China and the US.

US President Joe Biden, pictured, has despatched two warships to the Black Sea amid growing concerns within Western governments about the situation

So where better for a wounded Putin to apply the heat than Ukraine?

It has been a characteristic of Putin, his countrys longest-serving leader since Stalin, to behave as if he was in sole control of a giant gas hob, raising or lowering the temperature at will.

However, Ukraine remains defiant. Last month, its young president, Volodymyr Zelensky, stripped a leading pro-Russian oligarch of three television stations which Putin needs to make his case inside Ukraine.

Then, Zelensky intimated that Ukraine wished to join Nato, a move which would bring Western forces adjacent to Russias heartlands  an absolute nyet for Moscow. Never slow to tell outrageous lies, the Russian government has suggested that Ukraine plans to carry out a massacre of ethnic Russians.

In truth, there is no ethnic difference between Ukrainian and Russian speakers in the region. Most people are bilingual and they are all Christian.

Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelensky, pictured stripped a leading pro-Rssian oligarch of three television stations last month which Putin needs to make his case inside of Ukraine

But the Kremlin has no time for such details.

Meantime, the world watches the region with deep concern.

Bad weather and muddy conditions make a fresh invasion of Ukraine unlikely before May, but the threat is real enough  and deadly.

As ever, Putin is telling Washington and its Nato allies that they ignore Russia at their peril, however puny its economy.

Significantly, he is inviting the West to find an urgent resolution to a Ukrainian conflict which, in his heart, he realises that Russia can neither afford to pay for  or lose.

That would, of course, be a resolution that would be made on his own terms.

Michael Burleigh is Senior Fellow at LSE Ideas.

Makeshift trenches versus ranks of tanks: Russian forces mass on Ukraine border as Western leaders fear Vladimir Putin's move could trigger all-out war

By Abul Taher for the Mail on Sunday

Dressed in combat gear and brandishing a Kalashnikov, the Ukrainian soldier pictured far right stands in a makeshift trench, ready to resist the military might of Russia.

The soldier and his comrades may resemble a Dads Army band of defenders, but Russian president Vladimir Putins military build-up along Ukraines border is being seen as a deadly serious escalation by leaders in the West.

As Kiev warned it could be provoked by Russias aggression, Western nations voiced their fears that Putins move could trigger an all-out war, which could drag Nato allies, including Britain, into the conflict.

Footage on social media has shown thousands of Russian tanks, missile trucks, armoured vehicles and long-range guns being transported on freight trains to Crimea and Donbass

Chilling footage on social media showed thousands of Russian tanks, missile trucks, armoured vehicles and long-range guns being transported on freight trains to Crimea and the border of the disputed eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass, which has been occupied by Russian-backed separatists since 2014.

Kiev estimates that Putin has ordered 85,000 troops into Crimea and to strategic locations between six and 25 miles from the Donbass border. At least six 2S4 Tyulpan self-propelled mortars  capable of firing warheads 12 miles  were filmed on flat-bed trains. Dubbed the city destroyer, the weapons devastating power has demolished strongholds from Chechnya to Afghanistan.

The military build-up  the biggest since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea  has so alarmed Western leaders that US president Joe Biden despatched two warships to the Black Sea. They will arrive later this week.

Last night, there were concerns for 100 British troops inside Ukraine who have been training the countrys forces as part of Operation Orbital. The Ministry of Defence said they were not in the eastern part of the country.

A Ukrainian armed forces member walks near the rebel-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine

Ukraines government, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky, has accused Russia of planning to invade Donbass and condemned it for inciting violence between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian rebels.

Dmitry Kozak, the deputy head of Russias presidential administration, said Kiev government members were like children playing with matches, adding: Military action would be the beginning of the end of Ukraine.

Ukraines president yesterday met Turkeys leader Recep Erdogan in Istanbul in a bid to ease tensions.Last night, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: We will work closely with Ukraine to monitor the situation and continue to call on Russia to de-escalate.
13 Shares Share

Recently, I was talking on the phone to a physician client of mine about the COVID-19 vaccine and how thrilled I was that everyone over the age of 30 is now eligible in New York, which meant I could now schedule my own appointment.

We discussed the current market, and just when I was about to end the call by wishing him a happy National Doctors Day, his younger son, who was visiting and heard the conversation, had a question about his taxes.

When he got on the line, the first thing he asked was, Im a salaried physician, so Ill be fine without much tax planning, right? I dont really have many deductions I can take, right?

As a financial advisor, I hear this misconception all the time, primarily from physicians who are employed at hospitals or who have just started their practices after completing a fellowship.

During the conversation with my clients son, a self-employed internist in Texas, I was able to advise him that his income was low enough to claim the recently passed QBI (qualified business income deduction) taxes. Missed opportunities like this are very common, particularly for young graduates who use online tools like Turbo Tax for self-filing. Tools like that are great for someone knowledgeable about taxes, but those depending on the programs for guidance often end up missing some important deductions that could save them significant amounts in taxes.

Its with some relief that most Americans welcomed the news that the 2021 IRS tax deadline had been extended to May 17. This gives filers a little breathing room after an eventful and harrowing year, and it also provides some extra time to go over tax filings more closely for deductions that may be overlooked that could be saving them money, like these commonly missed tax deductions.

1. Qualified business income deduction (QBID) for personal income. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) passed in 2017 established a new tax deduction for business owners of pass-through businesses, including sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S corporations. Its not uncommon for physicians to work as an independent contractor besides their full-time job at the hospital. Self-employed physicians can qualify for this deduction, which is a 20% deduction of business income, though this is subject to income fadeout.

2. Car mileage deduction. If driving is part of an individuals job, there is an available option that allows for using the federal mileage rate deduction to claim the mileage costs for reimbursement. The qualifying fields vary from the obvious, such as ridesharing and delivery, to the less obvious, such as real estate and medicine, including those who are self-employed. Physicians who are 1099 and freelancers are also eligible for this deduction.

3. Depreciation in real estate deduction. For physicians who own real estate besides a primary residence, cost segregation allows an accelerated depreciation from 39 years to as few as 5 years on those retail or rental properties. Through a cost segregation analysis, a property is considered as its components, each with its own depreciation rate. This acceleration can generate significant tax savings for both active and passive income.

4. Food expense deduction. While business meals for 2020 can be deducted at the rate of 50%, the COVID-19 Relief Bill made changes for tax years 2021 and 2022. Meant to bolster the restaurant industry that has suffered throughout the pandemic by encouraging more business meals, restaurant-provided food and beverages that were previously 50% deductible will be fully 100% deductible in 2021 and 2022.

5. Health savings account (HSA) and IRA contributions. Physicians with high deductible insurance plans are eligible to contribute annually to health savings accounts (HSA), which can be used for qualified health-related expenses at any time. The funds in the HSA are not liable for federal income tax at the time of deposit. Until April 15, 2020, the maximum pre-tax contribution for a family is $7100. Looking at other tax-saving contributions, an individual over the age of 50 can contribute up to $7000 into a traditional and/ or Roth IRA account for the 2020 tax year.

6. Qualified business income deduction (QBID) for rental property. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, property owners may be eligible for a qualified business income (QBI) deduction for rental income. For physicians who have active rental property or own their practice building, they may deduct up to 20% of the rental income as a deduction on their taxes.

7. Student loan payment deduction. Its very common to have student loans for physician graduates. For those paying back debt from student loans, filers can deduct up to $2500 of interest paid for the year. There are income limitations to this deduction that may apply, so its best for individuals to discuss their own particular situation with a financial advisor.

8. Child tax credit. The TCJA doubled the child tax credit to $2500 per child under 17 years of age, and further amendments under the Biden administration have increased that to $3500 for taxpayers meeting certain criteria. There have been changes made about future exemptions and deductions as well, so there could be additional deductions for the next tax year to pay attention to.

9. Stock market loss. Stock market losses or capital losses can be applied against annual income to reduce the amount of income that is taxable. To get the greatest tax benefit, there are strategies to implement that will deduct losses in the most efficient ways. An individual can claim up to $3,000 if they have any losses from the market, and they can carry forward the remainder of the balance to offset any future income.

10. Education savings deductions. For those making contributions to their childrens education savings plans, there are state tax deductions for 529 contributions. While the amount may vary by state, some states have significant deductions. For example, New York has a deduction maximum of $10,000 per child.

11. Home office deductions. While past regulations did not allow for home office tax write-offs, recent changes make it possible for self-employed taxpayers to deduct expenses related to space in a home set aside to be used exclusively for business. A lot of physicians have transformed their practices home-based due to Covid-19. Eligible expenses that can be deducted include rent, utilities, and supplies used for the business.

12. Home improvement deductions. Certain improvements made to a primary residence can also count as deductions. Changes to a home for medical reasons, including ramps for wheelchair access, widened doorways, and modifications to bathrooms, are eligible, provided the amounts are not outrageous and do not include the costs of aesthetic construction. Improvements made to a home for energy generation can also help save in taxes. There is an available federal tax credit of 30% of the cost of energy generating systems such as solar panels, wind turbines, and geothermal heat pumps installed for existing or new homes.

The credit can be applied for most of these, even in a secondary home, and the credit applies to the cost, including installation, with no maximum limit (except for fuel cells). The credit is applied in the tax year that the system was first used and, in order to qualify, a certification from the manufacturer is required.

As shown by the variance in these deductions, there are many aspects of an individuals situation that need to be taken into consideration, including family, real estate, career, and financial accounts. Its best to speak with an experienced financial advisor who will do a thorough analysis of your unique circumstances and provide you with guidance to make the most of tax strategies for savings that will benefit your financial future.

Securities are offered through Securities America, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Securities America Advisors, Inc. Wall Street Alliance Group and Securities America are separate companies. You should continue to rely on confirmations and statements received from the custodian(s) of your assets. Securities America and its representatives do not provide tax or legal advice; therefore, it is important to coordinate with your tax or legal advisor regarding your specific situation.

Syed Nishat is a partner, Wall Street Alliance Group. He can be reached on LinkedIn and on Twitter @syedmnishat. He holds the FINRA Series 7, FINRA Series 63, and FINRA Series 66 licenses, along with licenses for life, disability, and long-term care insurance.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  A cookie shop in Comstock Park is expanding with a new business concept.

Cookie Chicks, 3979 W. River Dr. NE, plans to launch a shared retail space, known as Cooking Connection, for small food-based businesses in the next few weeks, said owner said Holly del Rosario.

The new, shared area will be located inside expanded space at Cookie Chicks West River Drive headquarters. Its designed to give new, small businesses a low-risk opportunity to test their concept in the brick-and-mortar retail market, del Rosario said.

This business model allows the businesses to work collaboratively in the common space, test the viability of their business and grow their brand, without huge financial risk, she said.

To date, two businesses have signed up to operate at Cooking Connection: Joes Brother Coffee, a specialty coffee roaster, and Eternal Coffee, a specialty coffee shop. Two others, an artisan bread maker and a personal chef, are expected to be announced before Cooking Connection opens its doors, del Rosario said.

Businesses operating at Cooking Connection are designed to provide a boost to one another. For example, customers who visit the Cookie Connection may also choose to buy a beverage from Eternal Coffee or a bag of coffee beans from Joes Brother Coffee.

The idea is to have all of us kind of being complementary and helping each others businesses, del Rosario said.

del Rosario opened Cookie Chicks, a made-to-order cookie and dessert shop, in May 2015 after spending 21 years working in marketing and global brand communications at Amway. Cookie Chicks originally started as a traditional cookie shop, but del Rosario decided to change the business model after she decided that her product was best experienced fresh.

So, we became a bake-to-order shop, and weve been able to keep busy and grow quite a bit with people just saying what it is theyd like, she said. Give us half an hour and well make up whatever you want and youre taking them home fresh and hot.

Cookie Chicks also offers specialty cookies for weddings and other events, and is going after the market for giftable cookies, del Rosario said.

Were not going to be like your bakery where someone walks in and weve got all kinds of cookies for people to buy, she said. Rather, we do a lot of corporate business. Our cookies are pretty. Theyre often given as gifts. We do deliveries and shipping of cookies.

Another key part of the Cookie Chicks and Cooking Connection business model: philanthropy.

del Rosario said shes requiring Cooking Connection tenants to be committed to a philanthropic cause that helps the West Michigan community.

Cookie Chicks, for example, supports and employs people with disabilities, while Joes Brother Coffee supports research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrigs disease. Meanwhile, Eternal Coffee supports members of the local refugee community.

del Rosario calls this support the circular economy.

Its kind of our thank you back to the community, she said. You can feel good about your spend here because its our intent to make sure that money remains in the community.

Read more:

As virus surges, Michigan leaders say people should stay out of restaurants

Detours resume at Muskegons Pere Marquette beach

Michigan is more dangerous in lightning than you may think
Jennifer Garner enjoyed an afternoon of quality time with her dogs.

The 48-year-old actress took to a park to walk her beloved pooches in Los Angeles on Saturday.

She sported her comfortable athleisure uniform of a long-sleeve t-shirt and skintight black Ultracor leggings for the outing, showing off her sculpted legs.

Latest outing: Jennifer Garner enjoyed an afternoon of quality time with her dogs. The 48-year-old actress took to a park to walk her beloved pooches in Los Angeles on Saturday

She also layered up with a grey tank top underneath her shirt and a pair of blue and grey sneakers for the activity-filled afternoon.

The Yes Day star kept her brunette locks pulled back into a casual ponytail and accessorized with a gold medallion necklace.

She dealt with the blinding Southern California sunshine with a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses and donned her Apple watch to ensure all of her steps were counted.

Jennifer also stayed safe amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic by keeping a black face covering on the entire time.

Legs: She sported her comfortable athleisure uniform of a long-sleeve t-shirt and skintight black Ultracor leggings for the outing, showing off sculpted legs. The Yes Day star kept her brunette locks pulled back into a casual ponytail and accessorized with a gold necklace

Dog's day out: The mom was joined by her nine-year-old son Samuel for the day, along with a friend and their child. The group let their dogs off the leash for a game of catch, as the pups giddily raced across the empty lawn to retrieve the ball

The mom was joined by her nine-year-old son Samuel for the day, along with a friend and their child.

The group let their dogs off the leash for a game of catch, as the pups giddily raced across the empty lawn to retrieve the ball.

The family's beloved golden retriever Birdie enjoyed the outside jaunt, as did their second rescue dog.

Adorable pets: The family's beloved golden retriever Birdie enjoyed the outside jaunt, as did their second rescue dog

Off the leash: The Alias starlet carried the leashes as the animals enjoyed the warm spring weather, while Samuel lugged around a large Alo Yoga tote bag containing all of their necessities

The Alias starlet carried the leashes as the animals enjoyed the warm spring weather, while Samuel lugged around a large Alo Yoga tote bag containing all of their necessities.

Jennifer comforted her friend's kid as they made their way back to the parking lot after finishing their fun day out.

Missing in action from the day were Garner's other two children she shares with ex-husband Ben Affleck: Violet, 15, and Seraphina, 12.

Hugs: Jennifer comforted her friend's kid as they made their way back to the parking lot after finishing their fun day out

Family: Missing in action from the day were Garner's other two children she shares with ex-husband Ben Affleck: Violet, 15, and Seraphina, 12; the family is seen here in 2019

Garner celebrated her own siblings with an Instagram post on Saturday in honor of National Sibling Day.

'My sisters, oh how I love you (even if I was apparently too cool to smile at the camera). #NationalSiblingDay,' she captioned the black-and-white snap, which she wrote was taken in 1998.

The sweet image showed a moody-looking Jennifer with her smiling family members: older sister Susannah and younger sis Melissa.

Ex: Jennifer and Ben's divorce was finalized in 2018, nearly three years after the couple separated and almost a decade into their marriage; pictured in 2014

Jen's divorce from Ben was finalized in 2018, nearly three years after the couple separated a decade into their marriage. They wed on the beach in 2005 after he split from Jennifer Lopez.

Garner recently insisted that she doesn't know if she will marry again and said: 'I don't know. I'm so far from it. And I don't know that marriage would need to be a part.'

'I mean I definitely don't think that I'll be single forever. But this is not the time. I don't need to complicate it; I'm good,' she told People earlier this month.

The 13 Going On 30 performer was most recently in a relationship with tech exec John Miller, but they split in August 2020 after two years of dating.

Future: Jennifer recently insisted that she doesn't know if she will marry again and said: 'I don't know. I'm so far from it. And I don't know that marriage would need to be a part.'

She also revealed spending the last year quarantined with her children has taught her a lot about herself, saying: 'I've learned that I'm pretty sturdy.'

'I'm okay when I'm in the house by myself. I'm okay when it's just the kids and me. I'm okay when they fall apart. I mean I have my moments, but pretty much, I'm really okay,' she added.

To keep her kids interested and engaged, she was 'putting a lot of gusto in when I can and creating adventures when there are none.'

She said: 'Like we started shooting silly videos, which they got tired of before I did because I love the end result and having them forever. They started saying, "Yeah, Mom. No."'
The Supreme Court had dismissed the case back in 2018 as a criminal frame-up which was based on 'some kind fancy or notion) and it further stated that Mr. Narayanan's case got 'smothered'. Dr. Nambi Narayanan himself had said that the prosecution launched by the Kerala police had a 'catastrophic effect' on his personal life and career.

The Supreme Court will be hearing the case of former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan, who was arrested in a false espionage case, on Tuesday. A committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice D.K Jain will probing the possibility of a conspiracy by police officers against the ISRO Scientist. The plea seeks necessary redressal and give effect to suggestions and recommendations made by the committee against the erring officers.

A three-judge Bench consisting of CJI SS Bobde, Justice Ramasubramanium, and Justice Bopanna will hear the plea tomorrow and has agreed to do so after a request for an early hearing was made by S.G Tushar Mehta. SG Mehta had earlier also sought urgent listening, which was denied by the top court.

S.G Mehta underlined that Justice D.K Jain was appointed to give the recommendations and to carry out what is to be done, the committee submitted its report on Saturday. Mehta further added that the report has been submitted in a sealed cover as it is a national-level case.

Also Read: Canadas UBC cancels journalist event on farmers movement: Pressure from Sikh activists at play?

The case of former ISRO Scientist Nambi Narayanan has garnered a lot of attention and everyone has their eyes on the Supreme Courts decision. The scientist is an alumnus of Princeton University, was ISROs project director for the development of cryogenic technology which he was accused to have stolen and sold in the year 1994 and charges of espionage was held against him by the Kerala police over an allegation that he was involved in leaking classified information to a spy racket involving Maldives Nationals.

Also Read: #MissionDoubleIt: Indias Covid cases rise unabated; Doubling up vaccine production a top priority
Ash rises into the air as La Soufriere volcano erupts on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent, seen from Chateaubelair on April 9, 2021. (Orvil Samuel/AP Photo)

Only Vaccinated Persons Can Board Evacuation Vessels to Leave Island Volcano: St. Vincent PM

After a massive 6 mile-high eruption of ashes from the Soufriere volcano frightened the residents of Saint Vincent, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said that only those who have been vaccinated for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus could board the cruise ships evacuating people off the island.

The chief medical officer would be identifying the persons already vaccinated so that we can get them on the ship, Gonsalves told reporters.

He then explained that there were not enough personnel operating the ships to retain evacuees on them; they can only transport passengers.

Those that are vaccinated, [the chief medical officer] can get them going on the vessel, the prime minister said.

Those who are not yet vaccinated but who would be vaccinated, you wouldnt send them immediately after vaccination, due to possible side effects like wooziness in the head, you know how that is, he said.

According to World Health Organization WHO data, only 10,805 residents of St. Vincent and the Grenadines have received at least one vaccine dose.

Saint Vincent was blanketed with a thin layer of ash and a strong sulfur smell hung in the air on Saturday, a day after the nearby volcano spectacularly erupted after decades of inactivity.

Rumbling noises emanated from the volcano, with ash coating rooftops, cars, and roads in Kingstown, the capital of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Videos from Saint Vincent showed a ghost-like landscape.

On Friday, CruiseRadio.net reported that two cruise ships had arrived at the small island to rescue its residents, adding that three more were on the way.

Carnival Legend and Carnival Paradise are offshore from St. Vincent, awaiting further instructions from local officials on how Carnival Cruise Line can support the evacuation of local residents who are under threat from volcano La Soufriere, Carnival Cruise Line told CruiseRadio.net in a statement. Carnival and Royal Caribbean are also working to coordinate our collective efforts for a seamless operation once the embarkation of residents begins. There is no time yet set for when these evacuation sailings will commence.

St. Lucia, Grenada, Antigua, and Barbados accepted taking in evacuees from the disaster area, with the condition that evacuees are fully vaccinated against the CCP Virus, which causes the disease COVID-19.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, where just over 100,000 people live, has not experienced volcanic activity since 1979, when an eruption caused approximately $100 million in damage. Before that, La Soufriere erupted in 1902 and killed more than 1,000 people.

Reuters contributed to this report.
I know, it is a silly question. But seriously, some news items over the weekend really make me wonder.

First up, the New York Timesa former newspaper, as Andrew Klavan likes to remind ushas run an explainer about the growing universe of potential personal pronouns. The first expansion took us up to something like 60 or so, but now we have moved on to neopronouns (seriously), which takes us way beyond nonbinary pronouns to a domain that appears infinitely expandable, as this chart suggests:

I cant make heads or tails of the story, which includes these neopronoun choices:

I chose my bink/bonk pronouns because they remind me of clowns. Clowns and harlequin dolls make me very happy. I chose the ones I use as I feel a connection to them, EG vamp/vamp pronouns  I feel a connection to vampires and that in a way feels connected to my gender.

Curiously, I cant find a comment thread for this story on the Times website, and Ill bet that is not an oversight. I used to joke that I was going to adopt as my pronoun Grand Master of the Universe or somesuch, but Im sure Im way behind the curve. I may have to start an anti-noun movement, which refers to all persons as human. What a concept.

Next up, David Boss Hogg, the parkland shooting survivor who has appointed himself the Conscience of the World (though Im not sure hes adopted that as his neopronoun yet). You may recall that he was so offended by My Pillow guy Mike Lindell that he set out to launch a progressive pillow company back in January.

The predictable thing has happened, and its only April. Heres his Twitter thread announcing the news:

1: A couple weeks ago, a very spontaneous interaction over Twitter between me and William LeGate led to us trying to start a progressive pillow company. 2: The goal was and still is to create a great pillow that is sustainably produced in domestic unionized factories and have a percentage of those profits benefit progressive social causes. 3: We were met with immediate and overwhelming support. But I soon realized that given my activism, schoolwork, and family commitments, I could not give 100% to being a full time co-founder at Good Pillow 4: After many discussions with William and my friends, family and mentors, I made the good faith decision to allow William to bring our vision to life without me. 5: That vision remains an ethical company that produces products that people need while creating good union paying jobs and supporting social causes at the same time. 6: I am incredibly appreciative of those family and friends who reached out to support me, and am thankful for those who supported me in this vision. 7: Effective immediately, I have resigned and released all shares, any ownership and any control of Good Pillow LLC. I want to thank Will for his partnership and wish him absolutely nothing but success with the future of Good Pillow. 8: The reasons for my departure rest entirely with me and my own personal commitments and I truly wish Will nothing but the best. 9: Over the next several months, I will be taking some time to focus on my studies in college and advance the gun violence prevention movement with March For Our Lives and personally. 10: While now may not be the best time for me, I do deeply believe it is incumbent on our countrys businesses to do no harm and empower the communities in which they serve. 11: Serving as an advocate and activist is just one (major) part of my life. I do hope to one day shape our global community to become more aware, progressive and equitable through social entrepreneurship and other avenues in the future.

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, one must have a heart of stone to read this without laughing. Progressives cant even win a pillow fight. But give Hogg this much: hes well on his way to a brilliant career at the New York Times editorial page, which is where I predict he will end up after Harvard.

Finally, amidst questions about what, exactly, Vice President Harris is doing about the immigration crisis at the southern border, the White House is issuing acres of word salads about how they are focused on the root causes of the migrant problem, as though people are still living in 1967 and believed root cause nonsense. From NBC News:
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex will soon welcome their second child. The couple announced earlier this year that they were expecting a daughter this summer.

Even though she will never meet her great-grandfather, when the second baby Sussex arrives she will have one thing in common with Prince Philip.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Will Prince Harry and Meghan Markles second child meet the Queen?

After Harry and Meghan announced they were expecting again in February 2021, royal experts questioned whether or not their second child would ever meet Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.

According to The Daily Mail , royal biographer Angela Levin said at the time that Harry and Meghans baby news was a bit sad for the royal family. The reason being they were unsure if they would get to meet the little one. Not to mention the fact they havent seen baby Archie in person for months.

RELATED: Prince Philip Is the 1 Person Who Could Tell Meghan Markle To Butt Out of Things She Knows Nothing About Claims Expert

The worrying thing, of course, is will this new baby ever see their fathers family? Levin said. I think theres a doubt over that. Theyll be a little American, they can also be English too. But will the royals ever see them?

The Duke of Edinburgh passed away before Baby Sussex was born

Since Prince Philip passed away before the arrival of the second Baby Sussex, the fears of whether or not Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip would meet her were partially realized. The Duke of Edinburgh will never get to meet Harry and Meghans daughter.

The queen and Prince Philip did get the opportunity to meet Archie Harrison after his birth in May 2019. He was only seven months old when Harry and Meghan left the UK for North America. The only contact Archie has had with his fathers family since Megxit has been via Zoom calls.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markles daughter will have 1 thing in common with Prince Philip

When Harry and Meghan do welcome their daughter this summer, she will have one thing in common with her late great-grandfather. The second Baby Sussex will be born in California, making her the first royal born outside of the United Kingdom since Prince Philip.

RELATED: Queen Elizabeth Reportedly Hid Meghan Markle and Prince Harrys Megxit Shenanigans From Prince Philip

The Duke of Edinburgh was born in Greece on June 10, 1921, as a member of the Greek and Danish royal families. When he was 18 months old, Philips family was exiled from Greece. The Duke of Edinburgh was educated in France, Germany, and the UK before he joined the British Royal Navy in 1939 at the age of 18.

Will the new baby have a royal title?

Now that Harry and Meghan have stepped down as senior working royals, they have lost a number of their titles. But as the queens grandson, Harry is still considered an HRH (His Royal Highness), as is his wife. Neither Harry nor Meghan are using the HRH title anymore, but they do still use the title Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

As for their children, Archie Harrison does not currently have a title and is known as Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. According to Raising Royalty author and royal historian Carolyn Harris, its unlikely that Harry and Meghans daughter will have a title, either.

The trend in the 21st century royal family is toward fewer members of the monarchs family holding royal titles and becoming full time working members of the royal family, Harris told Town & Country. So its unlikely that we will see either of the Sussex children undertaking official royal duties or holding royal titles.

Will Prince Harry and Meghan Markle return to the UK for Prince Philips funeral?

Its no secret that Harry and Meghan arent on the best of terms right now with the royal family. But, will this feud keep the couple from returning to the UK and attending Prince Philips funeral?

According to The Daily Mail, the expectation is that Harry will fly to England via private jet to be with his family. However, because Meghan is heavily pregnant, she is expected to stay home in California.

RELATED: Meghan Markle Made Prince Harry Drop 1 Nasty Habit Before They Got Married  Just Like Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip

On the Archewell website, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex paid tribute to Prince Philip with a message that read, In loving memory of His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh. 1921-2021. Thank you for your service. You will be greatly missed.
GLOVERSVILLE  A pair of thoroughbred racehorse breeders launched a GoFundMe to help their horses recover after they were allegedly starved and mistreated at a Kentucky boarding and training facility.

Scott and Amanda Scarsella, who own Crusader Hills Farm, said they sent six horses south to Kentucky late last fall. The horses, including a mare that was to be bred, as well as five young horses that needed training for racing careers were found in what the Scarsellas called, "unfathomable," conditions. They're asking for public help in raising money to pay for the medical care necessary to help the horses recover, according to the fundraiser.

But even if they do recover, the Scarsellas said they don't expect the horses to ever be able to race.

Several racing publications picked up the story last month, detailing the alleged abuse and mistreatment. The facility's operator, Xavier McGrapth, has not been found and is facing 13 misdemeanors related to animal cruelty, according to those reports. At least two horses were reportedly found dead at his farm.

The Bourbon County Sheriff's office issued a statement on Thursday saying the Kentucky Department of Agriculture was investigating as well after deputies found about two dozen horses at McGrapth's farm. About half were determined to be neglected.

Bloodhorse.com spoke with Scarsella, who told them she sent horses to McGrapth the previous year and had no issues. But after another horse owner tipped her off about possible neglect, he stopped responding to messages and would make excuses why he couldn't send her photos of her horses.

The three fillies she sent him are malnourished and have skin conditions. The two colts are in worse shape and the abuse might have ended their careers before they began, she said. The Times Union could not immediately reach the Scarsellas for comment Sunday.

"The three fillies can come home but the colts aren't strong enough to make the trip yet," she said. "They have to be boarded in Kentucky, but they're done as racehorses. They've lost too much time."

Scarsella told the site she still doesn't know what happened to the five-year-old mare she sent down there.

"It is a giant web of crap," Scarsella told the site. "It is not just that my horses were starved and one possibly stolen; it is maybe you're not going to be breeding this year and your mares' pages are damaged because your homebreds aren't going to make it to the track."
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.
Alice B. McGinty (alicebmcginty.com) is the award-winning author of almost 50 books for children and is taking registrations for her Words on Fire Writing Camp for Teens this summer at wordsonfirecamp.wordpress.com/.
Taylor, who turns 80 on April 20, has been trying to sell the Timberwolves and the Lynx since July 2020, with the value of the two franchises routinely estimated to be in the $1.5 billion range. In recent months, Taylor has repeatedly said that the process is moving slowly, partly because of the coronavirus pandemics impact on the financial sector and the profitability of franchises leaguewide. A recent introduction to Rodriguez and Lore seemed to have changed that.

In an interview on Saturday with The Minneapolis Star Tribune, which he also owns, Taylor said Saturdays agreement had come together really fast. He also told the newspaper that Rodriguez and Lore intended to keep the franchises in Minneapolis, attempting to quell speculation that is sure to swirl about the Timberwolves potentially moving to Seattle. Thats the city, of course, where Rodriguezs Major League Baseball career began  and which has yearned for an N.B.A. team since the SuperSonics move to Oklahoma City in 2008.

They will keep the team here, Taylor told The Star Tribune. We will put it in the agreement. At this point we have a letter of intent, but when we make up the contract, well put it in there. That wont be a problem.

Taylor purchased the Timberwolves in 1994, preserving the clubs Minnesota status amid a serious threat of relocation to New Orleans, but has endured difficult times since the 2007 trade of Kevin Garnett, the best player in franchise history, to Boston. Minnesota is on course to miss the playoffs for the 16th time in the past 17 seasons since the clubs trip to the Western Conference finals in 2003-4. It has the worst record in the 30-team N.B.A. this season at 13-40.

Taylor entered into a similarly advanced phase of sale talks in August 2020 with a group headed by Daniel E. Straus, a former minority owner of the Memphis Grizzlies, only to see the deal to collapse. It wasnt the first time that Taylor had backed away from the negotiating table after seriously entertaining the sale of the team, but Rodriguez and Lore appear willing to grant a timeline that allows Taylor to wean himself away from Timberwolves ownership slowly  a luxury he is known to deeply covet.
Apr. 11More than 19,000 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered at Lehigh Valley Hospital's facilities in Hazleton as of Thursday as hospital officials are reporting slight increases in the number of positive cases and admissions, the hospital's vice chair of the department of medicine said.

With the state in the 1B phase of its vaccination efforts, hospital officials are encouraging eligible residents to get their shots and continue following guidelines for stopping the spread of COVID-19, said Jodi Lenko, M.D., assistant medical director of the department of medicine for Lehigh Valley Physicians Group-Hazleton and vice chair of the department of medicine at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hazleton.

"We encourage everyone to continue to take this virus and pandemic seriously," Lenko said in an email. "We are not out of this fight yet. Vaccination helps, but will only help everyone if EVERYONE who is eligible will get the vaccine."

Lenko issued the reminder as local hospital officials reported a "slow and steady increase" in the number of inpatients over the past few weeks, as well as a slight increase in the number and percentage of people who have tested positive over the past two to three weeks when compared with results from February.

Hospitalizations, however, continue to remain low, she said.

Local officials did not disclose the number of people who have been admitted and did not release numbers for test results, but Lenko said local hospitalizations are on pace with trends across the entire Lehigh Valley network.

"We have seen a slow and steady increase in the number of inpatients over the past few weeks," she said. "This is similar trend across our entire LVHN network with a very subtle, yet true increase in the number of patients being admitted with COVID infection and complications."

Lenko reported on trends as 19,674 vaccines have been administered as of Thursday at Lehigh Valley's hospital and clinics in Hazleton.

Story continues

Getting a shot

Vaccine availability has improved greatly over the past month and hospital officials are encouraging anyone who wants one to check vaccine status and eligibility by going to their MyLVHN portal or registering at www.lvhn.org/vaccine.

Residents who do not have access to a computer can call 833-584-6283 to schedule an appointment.

Monitoring variants

With vaccination efforts underway, local officials are keeping tabs on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, Lenko said.

Local labs and testing centers do not test for strains of the virus, as testing for specific strains is done by the CDC, she said.

"The only information we have on the variant strains comes from the CDC," she said. "Not every positive COVID test is being looked at to determine the strain."

Variant strains have been a concern since they were discovered, as mutations appear to have made the highly infectious COVID virus even more infectious, Lenko said.

A doctor with the CDC confirmed last week that the "B.1.1.7" strain that was originally detected in the U.K. is the most common circulating strain in the United States, Lenko said.

The CDC's website has a list by state of COVID-19 cases that are caused by variants.

As of Saturday, Pennsylvania has 679 total COVID-19 cases that are caused by variants that include 672 cases caused by the U.K. Strain that was first identified in America last December, one case caused by a P.1 variant that as initially identified in travelers from Brazil who were screened at an airport in Japan in January, and six cases caused by the B.1.351 variant that was initially detected in South Africa and first identified in America in late January, according to CDC's website.

Two other variants that were first identified in California in February have not been detected in Pennsylvania as of Saturday.

Most variant strains seem to be more contagious and the "U.K. strain seems likely that it will cause more severe disease," Lenko said.

"At this time, we don't have enough information on the other strains to determine if they will cause more severe disease," Lenko said.

While it's difficult to determine the effectiveness that any of the vaccines will have against the variant strains, Lenko said it's "very likely" that the vaccines will provide at least partial protection.

She likened the COVID vaccine to flu shots, saying the flu vaccine does not always match strains in the community.

"But it is proven that if you get a flu vaccine and still get infected with the flu you will be less likely to die or be hospitalized from the flu," Lenko said. "The same holds true for the COVID vaccine. Being vaccinated with ANY of the COVID vaccines available will provide protection against severe disease, hospitalization, and death from COVID including the variant strains."

In addition to getting vaccinated, residents can protect themselves by washing their hands regularly, wearing masks and avoiding large gatherings  especially indoors, she said.

People who start to feel ill should stay home and contact their local health care provider to see if they need testing or further care, she said.

Contact the writer: sgalski@standardspeaker.com; 570-501-3586
In Bahrain, Alpine seemed to be struggling to keep up with the pace of the teams at the front of the midfield. Ferrari and McLaren had a bit more speed and the French team was battling with Aston Martin and Alpha Tauri. According to general manager Marcin Budkowski, this was mainly due to the heat in Bahrain, in which the blue car of Alpine could not perform well.

"It is clear that we are not very happy with the car in hot conditions. In Bahrain we struggled in FP3, while we were faster in representative conditions in FP2 and qualifying," Budkowski acknowledged in conversation with Motorsport.com.

According to the Alpine top man, the car of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso will perform a lot better in Europe, when the temperatures are lower.

Fixing it for the summer

"We do have some homework to do to understand why we are slower in warmer conditions. We don't expect these problems in Portugal or Imola yet, but it could start to have an influence in the summer months."
Jodie Bliss is a Monument blacksmith who turns heads due to being one of the few women in her profession, and also for her feminine large-scale sculptures, which dot the landscape of the Pikes Peak region. Her custom works, including railings, gates, fences and fire tables, also can be found in the homes of hundreds of private clients across the state.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Its September 2012 inside a coalition military base in Tarin Kowt in southern Afghanistan and an Australian soldier wearing the white gown and pointed hood of the Ku Klux Klan poses for the camera. His face obscured by the hood, the soldier holds up a noose like those used by the white supremacist group to lynch African-Americans. In another picture, the man stands with a burning cross, staring at the camera as his colleagues cheer around him. SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith with the prosthetic leg taken from an Afghan man whom he killed. The images, taken at a fancy-dress party in an unauthorised military bar called the Fat Ladies Arms, capture soldiers from the elite Perth-based Special Air Services Regiment a decade into Australias longest war. They were fighting an insurgency and trying to win hearts and minds in a Muslim country whose inhabitants had already made multiple complaints that some of their number  including that certain friends of the soldier dressed in KKK gear had executed their fathers, brothers and husbands. A series of images from parties at the makeshift bar hint at one of those suspected killings. A soldier dressed in a Ku Klux Klan outfit at a party at the soldiers bar, the Fat Ladies Arms. They show soldiers drinking beer from the prosthetic leg of a Taliban fighter killed by an Australian soldier in 2009. Most of the soldiers would have known little about the history of the leg, which they called Das Boot. But at least one man knew it represented something more sinister, because he had allegedly murdered its former owner outside the laws of combat on Easter Sunday, 2009.

Advertisement

That soldier was allegedly Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith, Australias most decorated Afghan war veteran and, until recently, a man lauded by politicians as the embodiment of Australias ideal fighter. Roberts-Smith is pictured, smiling and pumping his fist, in the background as the soldier in the KKK outfit  one of his mates  burns the cross. He is also happily pictured with people drinking from the leg  despite comments to the Federal Court from his lawyer, Bruce McClintock, in 2019 that his client thought it was disgusting to souvenir a body part. Australian special forces soldiers and friends drank from the prosthetic leg of an allegedly murdered Afghan man in a bar called the Fat Ladies Arms. The images published here, and hundreds more, were in the possession of Roberts-Smith. Among them is one that shows what former defence force chief Chris Barrie has told The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes is credible evidence of the war crime of desecrating a corpse. They are clear illustrations of what, when he came to investigate Australian military war crimes in Afghanistan, military Inspector-General Paul Brereton described as a culture in which ethical leadership was compromised by [the] toleration, acceptance and participation in a widespread disregard for behavioural norms. Justice Brereton singled out alcohol consumption at the Fat Ladies Arms as one part of that failure of discipline. One of the photographs shows a senior commissioned Special Air Services Regiment commanding officer simulating a sex act with a high-ranking soldier using an object taken from a model camel. A senior SAS officer, left, and a non-commissioned officer, kneeling, pretend to engage in a sex act using an object designed to look like a penis at a party in the makeshift Fat Ladies Arms bar. The images were stored on a series of USB drives that also contained classified documents and videos. But despite Breretons order at the start of his probe in 2016 that soldiers hand over all images and files, Roberts-Smith did not do so, according to sources with knowledge of the cache but who have asked to remain anonymous.

Advertisement

Instead, the sources say, Roberts-Smith dug a hole in the backyard of his house in the Sunshine Coast hinterland and buried the USB drives inside a pink plastic childrens lunchbox to hide them from both police and military investigations. Once the Victoria Cross recipient had filled in the hole, he placed a rock on top to mark the spot. According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, federal police who are conducting war crimes investigations into the war hero, have since obtained the contents of the USBs. Breretons landmark investigation report into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan last year posed the greatest challenge to the Australian military in decades after he found serious allegations of up to 39 murders committed by special forces. Roberts-Smith has repeatedly denied committing war crimes or any other wrongdoing and is suing The Age and Herald for defamation. He has insisted he has cooperated fully with the Brereton Inquiry and the federal police. But further evidence obtained by The Age, the Herald and 60 Minutes shows the former soldier  who is now an executive at Seven West Medias Queensland operations  intimidated witnesses in an attempt to stop them giving evidence in inquiries. Meanwhile leaked recordings of the decorated soldier speaking frankly to a number of associates suggest he is confident that he can see off those seeking to hold him accountable. As long as his employer and benefactor, Seven chairman Kerry Stokes, keeps funding his cause, he says, he will not only win, he will f---ing destroy his enemies.

Advertisement

Key points Ben Roberts-Smith buried a cache of compromising photos, as well as videos and classified documents in his Queensland backyard, apparently to hide them from police and military investigators.

Among the images were those suggesting war crimes had been committed in Afghanistan, and others representing a breakdown of discipline and order.

Mr Roberts-Smith also allegedly sent emails and letters intimidating people he believed would give evidence against him. A trophy of war On September 20, 2012, Ben Roberts-Smiths patrol choppered towards the village of Tizak in Southern Afghanistan. A battle was looming at a scrubby, stony stretch of land that the 203-centimetre soldier knew well. It was at Tizak in 2010, two years earlier, that Roberts-Smith had earned his VC by displaying an extreme devotion to duty paired with a total disregard for his own safety as he stormed the enemy position, according to the official citation. Two years later, Afghans would also die in Tizak. But unlike the famed battle of 2010, this fight would not involve stories of heroism. Instead, SAS members who spoke on the condition of confidentiality say the Brereton Inquiry questioned soldiers about whether some of the Afghan people left dead by Roberts-Smiths small patrol team had been illegally executed while unarmed. The Brereton Inquirys findings about this Tizak mission were released in November 2020 but were heavily redacted. Multiple sources, including SAS soldiers, said several deaths during this operation had been the subject of investigation. Some of the same sources said the inquiry never obtained one photo from that day. It was lying under dirt and a rock in Roberts-Smiths backyard. The image shows an Afghan man killed by the patrol team led by Roberts-Smith. The man is lying on his back on a woven mat. He has a trimmed dark black beard and looks to be in his 30s. His left arm appears badly injured, a bullet wound appears on his head and his face is smeared with fresh blood. No weapon is pictured.

Advertisement

On each of his eyes is a souvenir military coin. One bears the winged dagger emblem of the SAS, the second shows a picture of bushranger Ned Kelly posing with two six-shooters  the emblem of Roberts-Smiths SAS 2 squadron. The coins were intended to be given to Afghan military allies after joint operations. A dead suspected Taliban fighter on whose eyes were placed two souvenir Australian military coins. Former Chief of the Defence Force and Vietnam veteran, Chris Barrie, says the placement of the coins on a deceased mans eyes amounts to barbaric trophy hunting. The practice may also be illegal under international law  the Geneva Conventions prohibit the disrespecting of corpses on the battlefield. Barrie said the image trampled over basic military standards. Though it is not known who is responsible for the death of this Afghan man, or who placed the coins on his eyes, the picture invites questions for potential investigators from the Brereton Inquiry or the federal police. The boots of two different SAS soldiers can be seen in the shot. These are people who might hold critical information. Souvenir Australian SAS coins given to military allies in Afghanistan. Credit:60 Minutes Intimidating witnesses In June 2018, two years after the Brereton Inquiry was launched and as it was beginning to call in witnesses to testify about Ben Roberts-Smith, an SAS soldier who served with the Victoria Cross winner received a threat in the mail. It warned the soldier that if he did not recant war crimes allegations he would be targeted and would go down.

Advertisement
Samsung Electronics' chip-making plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics



By Baek Byung-yeul



Samsung Electronics will participate in a White House meeting, Monday (local time), to address the global semiconductor shortage issue.



Industry officials and analysts said Sunday that it remains to be seen whether the meeting will yield meaningful results. It also remains to be seen whether the Korean chip giant will speed up its investment plans in the United States as a result, they added.



A Samsung Electronics official confirmed that company officials will attend the meeting, but declined to elaborate. It is reported that Choi Si-young, chief of Samsung's foundry business, will attend the meeting virtually. But the Samsung official added the company cannot confirm who else will attend the meeting between executives of global companies and White House officials.



Samsung is the only Korean company to be invited to the meeting along with other big name companies such as Intel, Micron Technology, TSMC, Google, AT&T, General Motors, Ford and NXP.



White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the meeting will be led by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese as part of the Biden administration's efforts to resolve the shortage of semiconductors.



The meeting comes amid a worsening global chip shortage and is forecast to set the direction of the semiconductor and other industries as the U.S. places more importance on them to counter China's rising influence through technological development.



The global economy is struggling with a semiconductor shortage due to soaring demand for IT devices triggered by a surge in telecommuting and online classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The chip supply chain has begun to show its vulnerability as semiconductor companies have also been hit hard by bad weather and natural disasters.



The U.S. has been trying to boost local chip production to compete with China. In line with such efforts, U.S. chip giant Intel announced a $20 billion investment plan last month to build two new chip-manufacturing factories in the state of Arizona and open up its plants to outside customers.



Foundry business leader TSMC already unveiled plans last year to build a $12 billion chip plant in Arizona this year, and Samsung also has requested the authorities in Texas to grant tax incentives for over 20 years, which would be worth around $805.5 million, for its new $17 billion chip factory in Austin.



"The White House will put its priority on protecting its local industry through the meeting with officials of the companies, but the Biden administration will probably not appear empty-handed. The U.S. government will likely share opportunities and benefits for win-win outcomes," an industry analyst who declined to be named said.


MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Sunday some of the conditions outlined in the Minsk peace accords on eastern Ukraine must be met before a further round of peace talks can go ahead, Russian news agencies reported.

Political advisers are working on a possible round of such talks under the so-called Normandy format, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying on a state television channel. The agencies did not immediately give further details.

The Normandy format brought together the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France to help end the conflict in eastern Ukraine between Kiev's forces and pro-Russian separatists.

(Writing by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Gareth Jones)
A Queensland woman has tested positive to coronavirus after attending a hen's party in Byron Bay.

But Queensland state premier Annastacia Palaszczuk took to Twitter on Sunday to announce the woman was no longer deemed 'infectious'.

'One case believed to be historic linked to Byron Bay cluster,' she wrote.

'Not a risk to the community and under investigation.'

Chief health officer Dr Jeanette Young said the case was linked to the second outbreak at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, in Brisbane, on March 28.

A Queensland woman has tested positive to coronavirus after attending a hen's party at Byron Bay in New South Wales

State premier Annastacia Palaszczuk took to Twitter on Sunday to announce the woman was no longer deemed 'infectious'

The cluster, which now sits at 13, sparked a citywide three-day lockdown while authorities rushed to trace all known contacts.

The woman had attended a hen's party in Byron Bay, on the New South Wales north-coast, around the same time.

A Princess Alexandra Hospital nurse and another woman, who were Covid-19 positive, were also at the party.

Dr Young said the woman had received a Covid-19 test since coming into contact with the women at the hen's night.

Though it took four tests before finally returning a positive result.

'It may have been a very low viral load, but we need to look into it further to be sure,' she said.

'As this person had attended the party where Covid-19 spread to a number of people, they were placed into self-isolation at home and a testing routine commenced.'

Dr Young praised the woman for following health advice from medical professionals and self-isolating.

'I am very grateful to this person for following the advice and doing all the right things to protect the community,' she said.

A Princess Alexandra Hospital nurse and another woman, who were Covid-19 positive, were also at the party

Dr Young said the woman had received a Covid-19 since coming into contact with the women at the hen's night

'The case is still under investigation, particularly why they had returned four negative PCR tests while in self-isolation, but then a positive serology test.'

Queensland reported no new Covid-19 cases on Sunday with 57 cases still active.

It is the ninth day the state has gone without a community transmission of Covid-19.
The United States intelligence and South Korea suspect that North Korea may have completed its 3,000-tonne marine-based missile system that will given the nuclear-armed Korean nation the second-strike nuclear capability against Pacific US bases. A report carried by South Koreas state Yonhap News Agency stated that both United States and South Korea suspect that North Korea may be preparing to fire its submarine-launched ballistic missile when the time is right. "Both South Korea and US intelligence authorities made the assessment that North Korea has already finished building the 3,000-tonne submarine unveiled in July 2019 and is repositioning its submersible missile test barge," sources told the Yonhap, according to ANI.

A US think tank also speculated that North Korea had positioned its submersible to a strategic new position for an upcoming submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) test. The tower of the new North Korean submarine was first spotted in July last year, with two vertical launch tubes that could deploy either ballistic or cruise missiles, the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said. "The boat could serve as an experimental testbed for land-attack missile technology which, if successful, may be integrated into a new class of submarines," it added in a detailed analysis posted on 38 North website. Experts have warned that North Korea could pose threat not only to the mainland United States but to the overall global security.

The authorities assess that North Korea is reviewing the right timing to roll out the submarine for a strategic effect, including maximizing pressure against the United States," ANI quoted an anonymous source telling states Yonhap agency.

Upgraded SLBMs showoff at military parade

After North Korea showcased the nuclear-capable missiles arsenal, with upgraded SLBMs in its annual military parade last year, Pentagon issued a statement saying that the Pukguksong (Polaris)-3, North Korean submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) have an estimated range of 1,900 km and it could be a sea-based military threat. US statement came after North Koreas state agency announced that the country was testing a new type submarine-launched ballistic missile off Wonsan, in the territorial waters of North Koreas east coast.

The test-firing scientifically and technically confirmed the key tactical and technical indexes of the newly-designed ballistic missile and had no adverse impact on the security of neighboring countries, the Korean Central News Agency reported as North Korea fired a trajectory that landed in Japans exclusive economic zone off Shimane prefecture. According to the US think tank, North Korea may now have finally built its first evolutionary, second-generation ballistic missile submarine to launch at least four SLMBs.

(Image Credit: AP)
WASHINGTON (AP)  Former President Donald Trump insists he's enjoying his life off Twitter. The press releases his aides fire off on an increasingly frequent basis are more elegant, he says. Plus there's no risk of backlash for retweeting unsavory accounts.

But since Trump was barred from major social media channels after helping incite the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, his power to shape the national conversation is being tested.

Trump transformed from a reality television star to a politician and president by bending the tools of communication and the media to his will. He still connects with his supporters through his releases and appearances on Fox News and other conservative outlets, where he repeats misinformation about the 2020 election. And he remains a powerful force in the Republican Party, with a starring role Saturday at a Republican National Committee event at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

Still, the sway over American life he once enjoyed appears to be eroding  at least for now.

Itll never be the same for Trump unless hes a candidate again," said Harold Holzer, an historian who is director of Hunter College's Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute and wrote a book about presidents and the press. I dont think it's unnatural for coverage to diminish. I'm sure its tough on his ego, given how much oxygen he sucks up and how much ink he generates, but it's not unnatural for an ex-president to get less attention.

It's been a dramatic adjustment nonetheless. Trumps tweets used to drive the news cycle, with CNN, MSNBC and Fox News often spending dozens of hours a week combined displaying his missives, according to a GDELT analysis of television news archives. Since he was barred from Twitter and other platforms, Trump can no longer speak directly to large swaths of his audience and must now rely on his supporters and conservative and mainstream media to amplify his messages.

To compensate for the ongoing blackout, Trump aides have been pumping out statements and endorsements that often sound just like the tweets he used to dictate. Happy Easter to ALL, including the Radical Left CRAZIES who rigged our Presidential Election, and want to destroy our Country! read one sent from his political action committee. (Happy Easter! was the more subdued version offered by his official government office.)

At the same time, Trump has been ramping up his appearances on conservative media  even sitting down with his daughter-in-law for her online program. But few of those comments have reverberated as mainstream outlets, long criticized for allowing Trump to dictate coverage, have become increasingly wary of repeating his falsehoods, especially pertaining to the 2020 election.

While Trump still garners coverage, Google search results for his name are at their lowest point since 2015, as noted this week by The Washington Post. And on late night TV, some have tried to scrub him out entirely, with Late Show host Stephen Colbert refusing to say his name.

After five years of wall-to-wall Trump, the contrast is jarring.

"He was unlike any prior president in the amount of oxygen he sucked up. But he increasingly resembles many former president in how little oxygen he now gets," said Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary to George W. Bush. While that is the reality for any former president, Fleischer argued that Trump continues to loom large in the party and could return to the spotlight if he chooses to run again.

And though his dominance of cable news has dropped precipitously from its peak in fall 2016, when he was mentioned tens of thousands of times a month, per GDELT data, he remains a presence on cable news channels nonetheless.

Two months out of office, hes still roughly where he was in March of last year when the pandemic largely displaced him, said Kalev Leetaru, the project's creator. It shows that even two months out of office, hes still looming large.

While most of Trump's statements garner relatively little coverage, some, like one that blasted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack, dominated news coverage, with CNN, in particular, running with it for more than 44 minutes.

President Trump is the greatest news generator in American history," Trump spokesman Jason Miller said, insisting, "There was never this type of media interest in the post-Presidential careers of Clinton, Bush or Obama.

Others see it differently.

I think he lost all momentum when he got pulled from the platforms. Politics is about momentum and he has none now, said presidential historian Douglas Brinkley.

While Trump has tried to inject himself into news coverage, Brinkley said his comments are largely treated as add-ons to coverage focused on other matters. Where it used to be he was shooting tweets like Zeus, they were like thunderbolts from up high, and now it's little squeaks from the mouse of Mar-a-Lago, he said.

Yet Trump remains a commanding figure for the Republican Party. His endorsement is highly coveted heading into the 2022 Republican primaries. And he continues to publicly flirt with running again for president in 2024.

And Holzer believes Trump could reemerge if he is allowed to rejoin Twitter or goes through with much-hyped plans to launch his own social media outlet, as aides have said he is still considering.

GOP strategist Alex Conant argued Trump's power is waning by the day" as other Republicans make plans to run in 2024, and said Trump could be taking a more strategic approach if he wants to remain part of the daily conversation.

"When you're president of the United States, it's very easy to insert yourself into every news cycle. But once you've left office, it has to be more strategic," Conant said, arguing Trump could have announced a book, sat for primetime interviews, or delivered a series of major speeches about the future of the party.

Fleischer, too, argued Trump could have greater influence by following in the footsteps of presidents Bush and Obama, whose statements garner attention because they are rare.

The risk for a former president is you risk starting to be seen as former senators or former congressman or contributors who are on TV on a somewhat regular basis. A former president should be at an elevated posture," he said. "But Donald Trump has always done things differently with some success.
Aitken Spence invests in renewable energy project in hydropower View(s):

Aitken Spence PLC recently acquired Waltrim Energy Limited, a subsidiary of Sunshine Holdings PLC for Rs. 900 million. The company contributes 6.6MW to the national grid via three mini hydropower plants located in the Nuwara Eliya district, namely, Waltrim Hydropower (Private) Limited, Upper Waltrim Hydropower (Private) Limited and Elgin Hydropower (Private) Limited. The Waltrim hydropower draws energy source from Kothmala Oya, Upper Waltrim hydropower and Elgin hydropower from Dambagasthwala Oya, Aitken Spence said in a media release.

Aitken Spence is expanding its portfolio in hydropower in the pursuit of meeting rising energy demands, sustainable development, access to clean energy and lowering the national carbon footprint. This is the second hydropower plant which is owned and operated by Aitken Spence. Branford Hydropower (Pvt) Ltd. is the other hydropower plant with a 2.5MW capacity located in Matale. The company also owns and operates a wind power plant with 3MW capacity located in Ambewela.

This is yet another investment made by Aitken Spence that shows our commitment to expand the power generation portfolio with renewable energy projects. Hydro power plays a key role in renewable energy segment in Sri Lanka and this initiative strengthens the countrys efforts to move towards cleaner energy sources and effective and efficient management of sustainable and affordable generation of energy supplied to the national grid, said Parakrama Dissanayake, Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of Aitken Spence PLC.

Aitken Spence maintains highest environmental, safety and quality standards in the management of our power plants. These stringent management frameworks will be extended to the newly acquired power plants to meet compliance requirements as well as global benchmarks for cleaner production of energy, added Leel Wickremarachchi, Managing Director of the power segment of Aitken Spence.
Theirs was, perhaps, the most intriguing, most unlikely relationship in the entire royal drama. Princess Diana was just the kind of long-limbed and pretty girl he would have been attracted to had he been 30 years younger.

Prince Philip was a decisive and worldly man whose frankness she admired, the only man in the House of Windsor, she felt, who actually listened to her.

She once wondered out loud to friends: How many other wives would discuss their marital problems with their father-in-law instead of their husband?

But that is exactly what she did in the summer of 1992 when the worlds focus on her unhappy marriage to the Prince of Wales was the central crisis of the Queens annus horribilis.

Philip was the one figure within the family who was on familiar terms with the real world outside palace walls. His reputation as the Queens husband was of a short-tempered and sometimes brusque man who spoke his mind too freely.

But Diana had come to know another Philip, hard, yes, but understanding too. By the time of her death in 1997 she realised just how much she admired him.

Theirs was, perhaps, the most intriguing, most unlikely relationship in the entire royal drama. Pictured: Princess Diana and Prince Philip at the Royal Ascot in 1986

And he, a man who had lived more than a bit and understood a lot, had come, reciprocally, to admire her and also to understand why he felt such a well of sympathy for her.

He hadnt always been a fan. At times the very mention of her name had been enough to send him into an angry tirade.

If shed had enough of the Royal Family, he raged, she could get out and stay out.

Although he regarded Diana as hard-working, he doubted if the princess had any real sense of commitment to the institution that had elevated her to public prominence.

How different things had been just a few years earlier when Philip was told by his son Charles that he had proposed to Lady Diana Spencer and that she had accepted. Philip could relax at last, having been urging his 32-year-old son to find a bride.

She was sweet and inexperienced, and Philip went out of his way to make her feel welcome and comfortable. He made her laugh. He was very fond of her.

And he, a man who had lived more than a bit and understood a lot, had come, reciprocally, to admire her and also to understand why he felt such a well of sympathy for her. Pictured: Prince Philip greets Princess Diana at a dinner at the Royal Society of Arts in London in 1986

But eventually he began to notice  as did the Queen  that at times she could be, by palace standards at least, unreasonable. This included her apparently obsessive preoccupation with Mrs Camilla Parker Bowles within a year of the marriage, and soon after the birth of Prince William in 1982.

At the time he and the Queen were unaware of their sons infatuation for Mrs Parker Bowles, who they saw from time to time on the arm of her husband, the popular Royal Family friend, Guards officer Andrew Parker Bowles.

Throughout this early period Philip was increasingly baffled by what he saw as Dianas irrational and unpredictable behaviour.

The sweet-natured girl who had charmed the Royal Family on her first visit to Balmoral was morphing into a tetchy, discontented princess. They assumed her problems were most likely caused by post-natal depression.

In fact they were at that time unaware that Diana was suffering from the eating disorder bulimia nervosa, which was to cast such a shadow over her life for the next decade or so.

Whatever the early cause of her unhappiness, Philip had considerable sympathy for her.

At the time he and the Queen were unaware of their sons infatuation for Mrs Parker Bowles, who they saw from time to time on the arm of her husband, the popular Royal Family friend, Guards officer Andrew Parker Bowles. Pictured: Prince Charles speaking to Camila Parker Bowles at a Polo Match in 1975

She was, after all, an outsider like himself who had married into the Royal Family and was having to cope with the stresses and responsibilities of her new role in life. Pictured: Prince Philip pictured next to Charles and Diana on their wedding day

For Diana, the very fact that one of the royals  and a key one at that  was sympathetic towards her, and actually showed it, meant a great deal

She was, after all, an outsider like himself who had married into the Royal Family and was having to cope with the stresses and responsibilities of her new role in life.

For Diana, the very fact that one of the royals  and a key one at that  was sympathetic towards her, and actually showed it, meant a great deal. She believed no one else in her husbands family, so absorbed in their own interests, really cared.

By now Philip and the Queen had been made aware that Prince Charles was sleeping with the wife of a brother officer, and they strongly disapproved.

All the same, Philips sympathy for Diana was not without its limitations. He strongly objected to an assertion that Diana made, implying he had quietly given Charles a green light to resume his old affair with Camilla once he and Diana had been married for five years.

He wondered whether the princess was exaggerating her unhappiness and using Mrs Parker Bowles as an excuse.

Privately, Philip confided to a friend that he and the Queen had always had the highest hopes for Charles and Diana as a couple in love. Pictured: Princess Diana and Prince Philip at a Polo Match in 1987

He admitted he couldnt believe that his son was cheating on such a beautiful young wife, this despite the tradition of extramarital privileges enjoyed by so many male members of the Royal Family down the generations.

At the same time, Prince Philip made it clear that he hoped that Diana was prepared to accept the drawbacks as well as the advantages that went with being married to a Windsor.

Privately, he confided to a friend that he and the Queen had always had the highest hopes for Charles and Diana as a couple in love. Even so, nothing prepared him for the shock of her revelations in the Andrew Morton book in the summer of 1992.

He read it from cover to cover, having been briefed that Diana had helped the author, a claim which she vehemently denied at the time.

The disclosures, including her accusations that the family didnt care about her unhappiness, left him anguished and furious. He thought her account must be biased. And yet the deep-seated sympathy that he felt for her being trapped in a marriage to a man who, it was now clear, was in love with another woman, did not waver.

His first instincts, however, were to rationalise his sons behaviour, and when an exchange of frank letters with Diana began that summer, the rough-tongued ex-sailor pithily put some unflinching questions on the page.

What is clear is that while Charles and other family members were anxious to wash their hands of the troublesome princess, Philip was trying to find a way of keeping her within the family. Pictured: A pregnant Princess Diana stands next to Prince Philip at the Trooping of the Colour ceremony in 1982

Can you honestly look into your heart and say that Charless relationship with Camilla had nothing to do with your behaviour towards him in your marriage? he asked her in one letter. He also suggested to her that she had not been a caring wife and that, while she was a good mother, she had been too possessive with William and Harry.

Jealousy, he said, had eaten away at the marriage and her irrational behaviour had not helped.

He also reminded the princess that her husband had made a considerable sacrifice cutting ties with Camilla during the early years of the marriage and that Diana had not appreciated what he had done.

In another letter he crisply informed her that being the wife of the heir to the throne involved much more than simply being a hero with the British people. Diana was devastated by some of the points he made.

And yet she felt an integrity in everything he was suggesting. What is clear is that while Charles and other family members were anxious to wash their hands of the troublesome princess, Philip was trying to find a way of keeping her within the family.

Jealousy, Philip said, had eaten away at the marriage and her irrational behaviour had not helped. Pictured: Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Princess Diana and Prince William, who is holding his hand over his eyes, stand on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the Trooping the Colour ceremony in 1988

His attitude towards Diana was completely different from the attitude he showed to the Duchess of York after her toe-sucking extra-marital shenanigans were publicly exposed in a red-top newspaper, to the huge embarrassment of the Royal Family. When Fergie walked into a room  she occasionally has tea with the Queen  he would walk out.

All his letters to Diana he signed With fondest love, Pa, and he always referred to himself and the Queen as Pa and Ma. Diana continued to call the Queen Ma-ma, and Philip Pa until her death.

What she happily took to be her father-in-laws true colours emerged in another letter in which he wrote: We do not approve of either of you having lovers. Charles was silly to risk everything with Camilla for a man in his position. We never dreamed he might feel like leaving you for her.

I cannot imagine anyone in their right mind leaving you for Camilla. Such a prospect never even entered our heads.

Diana was in her apartment in Kensington Palace when she opened and read this letter from her father-in-law. She skipped joyously about the room.

This was what Philip the man, rather than Philip the royal prince, really thought about his eldest sons insistence on trading in the lissom Diana for an older woman.

It was what his friends thought as well. As one laconically observed, after hearing that Charles was digging in his heels and refusing to give up Camilla: Not many men would fight a duel over her.

All his letters to Diana he signed With fondest love, Pa, and he always referred to himself and the Queen as Pa and Ma. Pictured: Princess Diana and Prince Philip at a Polo Match in 1987

So here was Prince Philip trapped between his loyalty to his son and family and his incomprehension at Charless infatuation for Mrs Parker Bowles, and having to feel his way cautiously between the two.

Charles had, of course, always tried to live up to the womanising reputation that his handsome father enjoyed when young, producing a string of pretty conquests. But ultimately, here he was, drawn to the well-bosomed comforts of a slightly older woman of experience.

Prince Philip recognised that this was a crucial factor in Dianas unhappiness, explained a senior courtier. And she took great comfort in knowing he felt this way.

Madame Lucia Flecha de Lima, the late wife of the former Brazilian ambassador to London, and who became a close friend of Diana, also recognised the special relationship that emerged between the princess and the duke.

I personally read around half a dozen of the letters from Prince Philip, she recalled. Diana let me see them. And although they were tough, it was clear to me he was trying to be constructive.

They were warm and kind, courteous and helpful, like a father writing to a daughter.

He drew on his own experiences. In one letter he wrote about how, when he and the Queen married, they thought they would have some years together living their own lives, but it was not to be and Ma was called to her duty, and he had to give up the career he loved.

So here was Prince Philip trapped between his loyalty to his son and family and his incomprehension at Charless infatuation for Mrs Parker Bowles, and having to feel his way cautiously between the two. Pictured: Charles and Diana in Maitland, New South Wales, Australia in 1983

Madame de Lima added: Philip felt Diana and Charles did not have to be divorced. They could live separate lives, with separate apartments, if necessary, but they could remain together.

For her part, Dianas flow of letters to Prince Philip were filled with the pain and frustrations of a young married mother whose husbands ardour was focused on another woman.

She showed his letters to several of her friends who helped her construct replies that were as unblinking as his had been.

This remarkable exchange of letters ended when the princess and Charles separated in December 1992. Diana continued to see both Ma and Pa at formal royal occasions, Philip always taking an interest in what she was doing.

Significantly, however, in the wake of her Panorama interview in which she claimed there were three people in the marriage, it was the Queen who wrote to her, not Philip.

The prince was said to have gone ballistic at her interview. And although he was no longer corresponding with her himself, he forcefully told the Queen she must use her authority.

She suggested that the couple would be better off divorced. Prince Philip agreed. By now his patience had run out.

He was angry with Diana, not so much because of her admission of an affair with James Hewitt  he knew about that  but because of her belittling comments about Charles in the Panorama interview, particularly that he was unsuited to be king.

Philip recognised, however, that her emotional TV outburst was a response to Charless own television admission of adultery with Camilla. In the years that followed, his views of Diana soured, especially over what he saw as the princess upstaging the Queen on the public stage.

All the same, Diana remained thankful for Philips intervention at the height of her misery over her marriage until the day she died.

For his part, even after Charles married Camilla, ushering in a welcome period of calm, the duke never entirely got over his disappointment that all his efforts had failed to save his sons first marriage.
Also from the Volkswagen: A boy, 15, suffered bruising and was treated at Stroger, where his condition was stabilized; another boy, 17, injured his chin and he was in stable condition at Stroger; a male of unknown age suffered a possible skull fracture and he had been listed in critical condition at Stroger; a 21-year-old man suffered myriad injuries and he had been listed in critical condition and transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Former President Donald Trump insulted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel, deriding him as a dumb son of a bitch at a Republican National Committee donor retreat Saturday evening in which he called for GOP unity but also blamed party leaders for not helping him overturn the presidential election. Trump spoke in front of GOP donors and Republican leaders, including several senators, at Mar-a-Lago and seemed to suggest that Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer would have been better at fighting for Trump if they had been members of the same party. If that were Schumer instead of this dumb son of a bitch Mitch McConnell they would never allow it to happen. They would have fought it, Trump said referring to the certification of the election results on Jan. 6, according to the Washington Post.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Trump didnt just leave it there, he spent a significant chunk of his almost hour-long speech personally attacking McConnell to the delight of the audience that enthusiastically applauded his insults. He called the Senate Republican leader a stone cold loser at one point and even targeted his wife, Elaine Chao, who was his transportation secretary. I hired his wife. Did he ever say thank you? Trump said. He went on to mock her for resigning her post after the Jan. 6 riot on Capitol Hill.

Although aides had hoped Trump would talk about his presidency, the former commander in chief spent much of his speech repeating lies about how the election was stolen from him. And it wasnt just a general complaint, Trump went into details about the results in certain states, making clear how the issue continues to eat away at him. The former president called the election bullshit at one point and criticized Vice President Mike Pence for certifying the election. I wish that Mike Pence had the courage to send it back to the legislatures  I like him so much. I was so disappointed, Trump said.

Advertisement

Even as he insulted party leaders, Trump also called for unity and complained that Democrats are better at sticking together than Republicans. He vowed to help the party win the House and Senate next year but didnt address his own plans only expressing confidence that a Republican will win in 2024. Trump spoke as part of a three-day event that drew several potential presidential contenders. And his presence, coupled with his continuing combative stance, served as a reminder of the continuing tensions and schisms roiling the GOP, notes the New York Times.

This was not the first time Trump has gone after McConnell since leaving office. In February, Trump harshly criticized McConnell in a statement, characterizing him as a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack. That came after McConnell publicly criticized Trump on the floor of the Senate for his role in the Jan. 6 riot.
Senior Political Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr Kwame Asah Asante has advised Members of Parliament (MPs) to be wary of their way of living.



He partly blamed the MPs for the insatiable behaviour of the youth to look for quick money, hence seeking money rituals.



Dr Asah Asante, speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'' in relation to the gruesome murder at Kasoa, explained that the extravagant lifestyles of the Parliamentarians are a causative factor leading children and the youth to search for a shortcut to enrich themselves.



He noted that MPs are deemed to be role models, therefore the young ones imitate what they see them do.



He expounded that the MPs, in their line of service, end up amassing so much wealth to themselves which sends a bad signal to those looking up to them.



''They are role models. We watch them; we watch them speak in Parliament. As soon as they enter into politics, they return home with huge money and you ask yourself where did they get all this money from," he said.



Dr Asah Asante advised the MPs to live an exemplary life.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
This week, staff writer Laura Rysz talks with Lynnette Lepre-Van Deusen about the upcoming Lynnettes Twirlerettes recitals raising money for St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital.

Residence: Carbondale

Family: Husband, Jesse Van Deusen, and daughter, Vanessa Van Deusen

Professional background: Licensed baton twirling teacher and judge and registered radiology and mammography technologist

Title: Owner and director of Lynnettes Twirlerettes baton twirling group

Q: How many years has this recital been a tradition?

A: This is our 38th twirling season and our 35th recital. Our annual recital has changed (this year) to two smaller recitals rather than one big one. This will enable more social distancing for families attending, fewer twirlers performing together and a shorter time in general for each show. The last lift of some restrictions by the state was what made this possible. I, on the other hand, have double work  preparing everything twice. But I want this for our twirlers, their families and St. Jude Childrens (Research) Hospital. People have been very appreciative through it all.

Q: What are some other events Lynnettes Twirlerettes have participated in previously?

A: Weve held twirling benefits benefitting Griffin Pond Animal Shelter, Childrens Advocacy Center, Prayers for Carson and ... one of our twirlers, who was diagnosed with leukemia. We also have twirled at countless community parades (and) held performances at church picnics and city festivals all as a community service.

Q: How will proceeds be used?

A: St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital can use our donation in whatever way they feel fit to fight childhood cancers.

Q: What is unique about this event?

A: Twirlers are 3 years old and up, both boys and girls. We have special light baton routines where we shut the lights off and batons glow in the dark. We have special twirling routines that fathers of twirlers perform in. This has been a tradition since our very first recital, and they are an audience favorite every year. Along with the dads well have a group of brothers who twirl in the show, too. Its just a feel-good family atmosphere and tradition weve done for over three decades, all while giving our profit to those who can use it the most. Baton twirling offers so much to so many.
Tropical Cyclone Seroja has slammed into the coast of Western Australia and torn through townships on Sunday night, leaving a trail of damage and power outages.

Seroja made landfall south of Kalbarri at about 8pm AWST on Sunday as a category three storm, bringing wind gusts of up to 170km/h at the centre, reached land.

The fast-moving storm weakened to a category two system as it pushed inland towards Dalwallinu in a south-east direction at more than 60km/h.

Reports of property damage and power outages in Kalbarri and Geraldton started surfacing as the storm's force was felt and residents took shelter by candlelight.

Residents across WA's mid-west had been told to take shelter during what Premier Mark McGowan described as a cyclone 'like nothing we have seen before in decades'.

Kalbarri, which lies 580km north of Perth and is home to about 1400 people, has suffered widespread damage in the wake of tropical cyclone Seroja

The powerful Tropical Cyclone Seroja has slammed into the coast of Western Australia and torn through townships on Sunday night

Reports of property damage and power outages in Kalbarri and Geraldton started surfacing as the storm's force was felt and residents took shelter by candlelight

Pictured: Tropical Cyclone Seroja moving over Western Australia on Sunday afternoon

Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort north of Geraldton had its roof torn apart by Cyclone Seroja on Sunday afternoon

'People need to act to stay safe. Stay inside and shelter in the strongest, safest part of your house or evacuation centre. Keep your emergency kit with you,' he said.

'Stay away from doors and windows and keep them closed. Stay indoors until the all clear is given by authorities.'

Fallen trees, damaged homes and wrecked fences could be spotted amid the howling wind and rain in those towns, footage on social media showed.

Kalbarri, which lies 580km north of Perth and is home to about 1400 people, has suffered widespread damage in the wake of tropical cyclone Seroja.

'I've never experienced anything in my life like we experienced last night,' resident and caravan park manager Debbie Major told ABC television on Monday.

'It's only a small town ... half of it has been flattened.'

Reports of property damage and power outages in Kalbarri and Geraldton began to emerge as the storm's force was felt and residents took shelter by candlelight.

Fallen trees, damaged homes and wrecked fences could be spotted amid the howling wind and rain, footage on social media showed.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services said on Monday the majority of the more than 150 calls for help so far had come from Kalbarri.

'The whole town has been impacted. Some areas had a greater concentration of damage than others,' resident and Kalbarri State Emergency Service chief Steve Cable told ABC television.

'Some of the older buildings didn't stand up very well but even some of the modern buildings, they just couldn't hold.

'Large trees with quite substantial limbs just snapped off like carrots.'

Kalbarri resident Diane told 6PR's Gareth Parker that her roof has completely disappeared in the carnage.

Wind gusts of up to 130km/h and sustained wind speeds of nearly 100km/h were still being recorded in the storm's centre hours after landfall, BOM said

'Two other houses behind me, their roofs have gone. A huge big gum tree from the verge has gone right over my verandah onto the house, so it's fully exposed, there are no fences around me,' she said on Monday morning.

'It's like a war zone, there are powerlines, there's lines everywhere, there's debris, tin roofs everywhere.'

'My next-door neighbour kept me informed through the night and his comment to me was - after he got out of his bath with the mattress on top of him - 'Diane, your house and property is a war zone'.'

Another caller told the local radio station that she was left in 'complete darkness'.

Gales, destructive winds, high tides, heavy rainfall, flash flooding, dangerous surf and beach erosion were among the dangers

'The homes are not built for cyclones,' she said.

Another Kalbarri resident said an entire roof flew into her home and lodged itself under her carport.

'At 7pm it got dangerous pretty quickly. We had to duck for cover, we closed the door to our balcony as the cyclone came in pretty fast at 170km/h,' Nine News Perth journalist Darius Winterfield said.

'The roof to our balcony got ripped off and at one point we grabbed all our gear and ran to the back room. We were very seriously considering our options if the roof of the whole apartment had come off.'

The damage will be counted at daylight and could be extensive, with the Bureau of Meteorology expecting the impact to extend inland through to Wheatbelt communities overnight.

Western Power said more than 20,000 homes have been left without power.

'Once the red alert is lifted and it's safe, our crews will start assessing damage and responding to hazards,' Western Power's asset operations manager Zane Christmas said.

He said power crews had been preparing for Seroja since Friday but the damage caused by cyclones can make access to roads, properties and power infrastructure difficult, delaying repairs.

'Our top priority will be to make hazards safe, then commence restoration work as quickly as possible,' Mr Christmas said.

One Mile Jetty near Carnarvon was torn down by the tropical cyclone which was packing 165km/h wind gusts

At about 5.30pm, authorities urged anyone who has not already left to stay put because it is simply too late to evacuate

A red alert remained in place in the early hours of Monday for coastal areas from Carnarvon to Lancelin, extending to inland areas and towns including Coorow, Carnamah, Dalwallinu, Denham, Jurien Bay, Lancelin, Moora, Paynes Find and Wongan Hills.

Communities included in the zone were Geraldton, the shires of Carnamah, Coorow, Chapman Valley, Irwin, Mingenew, Morawa, Northampton, Perenjori, Shark Bay and Three Springs.

Gales, destructive winds, high tides, heavy rainfall, flash flooding, dangerous surf and beach erosion were among the dangers.

Wind gusts of up to 130km/h and sustained wind speeds of nearly 100km/h were still being recorded in the storm's centre hours after landfall, BOM said.

The cyclone will weaken as it travels further inland on Monday but is still likely to bring damaging winds and heavy rain as it moves through the eastern Wheatbelt, southern Goldfields and South East Coastal districts.

Satellite imagery of Tropical Cyclone Seroja. It has been upgraded to a Category 3 storm

Pictured: Worsening weather conditions in Carnarvon where a red alert has been issued

Tropical Cyclone Seroja is forecast to make landfall on Sunday afternoon as a Category 3 cyclone

Pictured: Conditions in Carnarvon where a red alert has been issued. At 5.30pm, authorities urged anyone who had not evacuated to stay put

Carnarvon's historic One Mile Jetty was one of the first casualties of the cyclone, reportedly ripped apart around lunchtime on Sunday.

The weather system has forced thousands of residents in an extended 'red zone' down the Mid-Gascoyne coastline to be confined to their homes amid fears of widespread devastation.

Thousands of locals were told to rely on AM radio until the early hours of Monday morning as internet and phones will be cut out by the storm.

The strong winds and high tides toppled the historic jetty near Carnarvon at about midday sparking widespread heartbreak amongst locals who took to social media to recount their fond memories fishing and camping at the popular spot.

'The jetty might be gone, but memories last forever,' one woman said on Twitter said.

The jetty was constructed in 1897 for wool and livestock export to Fremantle and became known for its sheep races.

A red alert is the highest alert level and directs residents to find the strongest and safest part of their homes and stay there until authorities change the warning to 'all clear'.

Residents have been told to pack medicines, clothes, important documents and pet supplies, and place items up high to avoid water damage.

People in Denham have been ordered to evacuate as the cyclone is expected to bring a storm surge, which is a high tide that will potentially inundate homes in the town.

Winds of about 100km/h are expected in Esperance, on the south coast of Western Australia

Pictured: Ominous clouds near Geraldton in Western Australia. The cyclone is expected to level homes

Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said: 'Now we need that assistance from the community. Stay inside tonight. Don't even think about coming out until tomorrow. And make sure you are listening to that AM radio with batteries.

'Ensure you do not move while this state of emergency is current.'

Bureau of Meteorologist senior meteorologist James Ashley said he had never seen such an event.

'I've been working here in Perth for over 20 years and I've never seen us have three systems so close to being cyclones or being cyclones at the one time,' he said.

'Generally, cyclones tend to need a bit of space between them so they don't mess each other's inflow and winds and moisture feeds and things like that.'
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was welcomed to Israel on Sunday with a guard of honour at the Ministry of Defence headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Austin inspected the honour guard alongside Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz.

He is expected to hold talks with senior Israeli officials later in the day and on Monday.

During Austin's overseas trip, he will also stop in Germany, NATO Headquarters in Belgium, and the United Kingdom.

Austin will meet with his counterparts and other senior officials to discuss the importance of international defence relationships, and reinforce the United States' commitment to deterrence and defence, burden sharing, and enduring trans-Atlantic security.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Advertisement

The Ukrainian military today said a soldier has been killed and another seriously wounded in artillery fire from Russia-backed separatist rebels, as hostilities rise sharply on the country's eastern border.

Tensions have soared in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin dispatched tanks, helicopters and tens of thousands of troops to the Ukrainian border.

Ukraine says 27 soldiers have now been killed in the region this year, more than half the number who died in all of 2020.

The news comes as chilling footage on social media showed thousands of Russian tanks, missile trucks, armoured vehicles and long-range guns being transported on freight trains to Crimea and the border of the disputed eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass, which has been occupied by Russian-backed separatists since 2014.

Russia denies Western claims that it has sent troops into eastern Ukraine to help the rebels, but officials say the army could intervene if Ukraine tries to retake the area by force.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Thursday said the situation in eastern Ukraine was 'very unstable' and warned it risked leading to 'full-scale combat operations.'

As Kiev warned it could be 'provoked' by Russia's aggression, several Western nations have voiced fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin's move could trigger an all-out war, which could drag Nato allies, including Britain, into the conflict.

Chilling footage on social media showed Russia moving tanks to Crimea and the border of the disputed eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass

Footage on social media has shown thousands of Russian tanks, missile trucks, armoured vehicles and long-range guns being transported on freight trains to Crimea and Donbass

The Ukrainian military today said a soldier has been killed and another seriously wounded in artillery fire from Russia-backed separatist rebels, as hostilities rise sharply on the country's eastern border. Pictured: A Ukrainian soldier is seen looking out on the line of separation from pro-Russian rebels near Donetsk, Ukraine on Saturday

A Ukrainian armed forces fires in an attempt to shoot down an alleged unmanned aerial vehicle on the line of separation from pro-Russian rebels near Donetsk on Saturday

As Kiev warned it could be 'provoked' by Russia's aggression, several Western nations have voiced fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin's move could trigger an all-out war, which could drag Nato allies, including Britain, into the conflict. Pictured: Ukrainian soldiers on the line of separation from pro-Russian rebels near Donetsk on Saturday

The military build-up  the biggest since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea  has so alarmed Western leaders that US president Joe Biden despatched two warships to the Black Sea. Pictured: A Ukrainian armed forces member on the line of separation from pro-Russian rebels near Donetsk on Saturday

Ukraine's government, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky, has accused Russia of planning to invade Donbass and condemned it for inciting violence between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian rebels. Pictured: A Ukrainian armed forces member walks near fighting positions on the line of separation from pro-Russian rebels near Donetsk on Saturday

US secretary of state Antony Blinken warned that 'if Russia acts recklessly, or aggressively, there will be costs, there will be consequences'.

Kiev estimates that Putin has ordered 85,000 troops into Crimea and to strategic locations between six and 25 miles from the Donbass border.

At least six 2S4 Tyulpan self-propelled mortars  capable of firing warheads 12 miles  were filmed on flat-bed trains. Dubbed the 'city destroyer', the weapon's devastating power has demolished strongholds from Chechnya to Afghanistan.

The military build-up  the biggest since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea  has so alarmed Western leaders that US president Joe Biden dispatched two warships to the Black Sea. They will arrive later this week.

Biden sought permission from Turkey to transport vessels through the Bosphorus after his press secretary said the US is 'increasingly concerned' by Russian movements at the border.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry confirmed the American ships will pass through the narrow strait on April 14 and April 15.

The official said the US notified Turkey 15 days prior to the ships' passage in line with a convention which gives Ankara control of the straits.

Such visits by the US and other Nato ships have vexed Moscow, which has long bristled at Ukraine's efforts to build up defence ties with the West and its aspirations to eventually join Nato.

Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists have been fighting in eastern Ukraine since shortly after Moscow's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

More than 14,000 people have died in the conflict, and efforts to negotiate a political settlement have stalled.

Ukraine says 27 soldiers have now been killed in the region this year, more than half the number who died in all of 2020

Ukrainian soldiers are seen at fighting positions on the line of separation from pro-Russian revels near Donetsk, Ukraine

A group of four Ukrainian soldiers make their way through land whilst carrying guns and artillery

A pair of Ukrainian soldiers pet a cat which stands atop a pile of tyres near the line of separation from pro-Russian rebels

Ukraine's government, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky, has accused Russia of planning to invade Donbass and condemned it for inciting violence between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian rebels

A Ukrainian military service member practices boxing on the line of separation from pro-Russian revels near Donetsk on Saturday

Dominic Raab has urged Russia to 'immediately de-escalate' the situation at the Ukrainian border where Russia has been amassing troops.

The British Foreign Secretary shared a tweet on Sunday, saying the UK and US 'firmly opposed' Russia's 'campaign to destabilize Ukraine'.

'Britain and the United States 'firmly opposed' Russia's campaign to destabilize Ukraine and called on Russia to deescalate the situation. @SecBlinken & I agreed Russia must immediately de-escalate the situation & live up to the international commitments that it signed up to at @OSCE,' the tweet read, referring to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

There were concerns for 100 British troops inside Ukraine who have been training the country's forces as part of Operation Orbital. The Ministry of Defence said they were not in the eastern part of the country.

Ukraine's government, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky, has accused Russia of planning to invade Donbass and condemned it for inciting violence between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian rebels.

Dmitry Kozak, the deputy head of Russia's presidential administration, said Kiev government members were like 'children playing with matches', adding: 'Military action would be the beginning of the end of Ukraine.'

Zelensky met Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Saturday amid the rising tensions.

Raab (pictured) shared a tweet on Sunday, saying the UK and US 'firmly opposed' Russia's 'campaign to destabilize Ukraine' [File photo]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) in Istanbul on Saturday amid the rising tensions

Erdogan said he hoped the conflict would be resolved peacefully, through dialogue based on diplomatic customs, in line with international laws and Ukraine's territorial integrity.

'Our main goal is that the Black Sea continues to be a sea of peace, tranquility and cooperation,' he said.

Erdogan stressed that Turkey's cooperation with Ukraine in the defence industry, which was the main item on the meeting's agenda, was not a move against any third countries.

MICHAEL BURLEIGH: Wounded Vladimir Putin turns up the heat as naked aggression threatens to reignite conflict

Vladimir Putin is sending a chilling message to the world.

For this naked aggression threatens to re-ignite the conflict in the region  Europe's only major war  which began in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and supported armed, Russian-speaking separatists in Eastern Ukraine with troops.

It is no wonder that Western governments are worried.

The US has deployed two warships to the Black Sea and sent its Secretaries of Defence and State to Nato headquarters in Brussels.

Western Governments fear that Vladimir Putin's moves could re-ignite conflict with Ukraine

About 13,000 people have died in the conflict already. Soon, it is feared, there will be thousands more deaths.

The fact is that Russia has long struggled to accept that Ukraine, its vast and sprawling neighbour with which it shares many religious and historical links, is a sovereign state.

But there is more than Ukrainian independence at stake here. It is part of Putin's grand plan, which has seen him flex Russian military muscle around the world in recent weeks.

Three Russian nuclear submarines broke through the Arctic icecap as the Kremlin deployed a new nuclear torpedo which, it claims, plausibly or not, could trigger a tsunami on America's eastern seaboard.

Meanwhile, Russian fighter-bombers have been pulverising the remaining Isis forces in Idlib province, Syria.

And, on March 29, Nato fighters including RAF Typhoons had to scramble to intercept six groups of Russian bombers in an area encompassing the Baltic to the Black Sea.

Reservists of the 130th battalion of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence forces have attended military exercises on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine

This multi-faceted show of force is quintessential Putin. As well as telling the world that Russia mustn't be messed with, it has been designed for a domestic audience. Photos of Russian tank transporters and troop trains feature prominently on social media.

In truth, the Russian leader has had an awkward few months. Covid-19 has been a heavy blow, forcing Putin to spend the last year in strict quarantine  hardly the image a world strongman wishes to present.

He only had a vaccine last month, seemingly reluctant to be seen as a vulnerable 68-year-old.

All the while, he has watched, infuriated, as opposition leader Alexei Navalny received worldwide press coverage after the Russian authorities locked him up in a penal colony.

The Russian people are suffering, too. There have been none of the pandemic support measures familiar across the West. The economy is stagnant.

US President Joe Biden, pictured, has despatched two warships to the Black Sea

And to top it all, US President Joe Biden tartly dismissed the Russian leader as a mere 'killer' and a man of no true importance in the new Cold War dividing the world between China and the US.

So where better for a wounded Putin to apply the heat than Ukraine?

It has been a characteristic of Putin, his country's longest-serving leader since Stalin, to behave as if he was in sole control of a giant gas hob, raising or lowering the temperature at will.

However, Ukraine remains defiant. Last month, its young president, Volodymyr Zelensky, stripped a leading pro-Russian oligarch of three television stations which Putin needs to make his case inside Ukraine.

Then, Zelensky intimated that Ukraine wished to join Nato, a move which would bring Western forces adjacent to Russia's heartlands  an absolute 'nyet' for Moscow. Never slow to tell outrageous lies, the Russian government has suggested that Ukraine plans to carry out a massacre of 'ethnic Russians'.

Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelensky has visited the eastern Ukrainian conflict zone

In truth, there is no ethnic difference between Ukrainian and Russian speakers in the region. Most people are bilingual and they are all Christian.

But the Kremlin has no time for such details.

Meantime, the world watches the region with deep concern.

Bad weather and muddy conditions make a fresh invasion of Ukraine unlikely before May, but the threat is real enough  and deadly.

As ever, Putin is telling Washington and its Nato allies that they ignore Russia at their peril, however puny its economy.

Significantly, he is inviting the West to find an urgent resolution to a Ukrainian conflict which, in his heart, he realises that Russia can neither afford to pay for  or lose.

That would, of course, be a resolution that would be made on his own terms.

Michael Burleigh is Senior Fellow at LSE Ideas.
Kolkata: With the announcement of election dates on February 26, we entered Bengal. We started from Delhi, passed through Varanasi and Bodh Gaya and finally crossed Jharkhand border to reach Asansol. Our coverage of West Bengal elections started here. My cameraman and I boarded a bus to Durgapur and we started talking to people about the elections. Most people on the bus said that the elections seemed to be a 50-50 affair and that anything can happen. After this, we traveled on a bus from Hooghly to Howrah. Most people either avoided the question or appeared to be playing safe when asked to predict the outcome by saying its a 50-50 contest. In the initial days, there were only a few people who spoke of change. Some even said that Mamata didi will win again as she has done a lot of work for the poor and women.

We reached Kolkata on February 28, the same day the grand alliance of Congress and CPM conducted a rally in Kolkata. The huge crowd turnout gave impetus to the existence of the Third Front in the Bengal elections. But as the elections progressed, the Third Front faded away.

After this, I went to Murshidabad, Malda, Dinajpur, and Siliguri. People everywhere except Murshidabad said that there is a tight race between BJP and TMC and the contest is 50-50. On 7 March, Prime Minister Modi held his first rally at the Brigade Ground in Kolkata. To make sure that the contest doesnt go entirely in favour of the BJP, Mamata Banerjee held a roadshow in Siliguri at the same time. On one hand, Prime Minister Modi launched a sharp attack on Mamata Didi and her government, while on the other, Mamata also targeted the Prime Minister fiercely. Here as well, everyone we talked to, was saying that the contest is 50-50 and that it was going to be a tough battle.

After this we reached Nandigram. Mamata Banerjee came here to file her nomination on March 10. Again, we asked people about their opinion and again, we got the same answer  the fight is tough, bolte parbo na (cant say anything). When I spoke to some local journalists, they said that whoever wins will win by a margin of 5 to 10 thousand only. That is, here too, the case was 50 -50. But by the evening of election day, it seemed that Suvendu Adhikari was likely to trump Banerjee here. On Twitter, I wrote that based on my reporting all day, I can say that Mamata Banerjee committed a mistake by contesting from Nandigram. But some of my colleagues said that anything can happen here. I believe both have an equal shot at winning.

In the first two phases, it seemed clear that be it Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram or West and East Midnapore, BJP has taken a good lead over TMC. Out of the 60 seats in both the phases, BJP and Amit Shah claimed victory on over 50 seats. In a conversation with Zee News, Home Minister Amit Shah said that we are winning over 200 seats and the BJP president told Zee News that a tsunami is going on in favour of BJP in Bengal. Prime Minister Modi even spoke of the BJP government's swearing-in ceremony at the Tarakeswar rally. At this, Mamata Banerjee took a jibe at the Prime Minister saying is he God that he has come to know the results beforehand.

TMC and Mamata Banerjee's team were confident that the atmosphere would be completely reversed by the third phase. Because about 110 seats of Kolkata Presidency were to be voted in 3rd, 4th and 5th phase. TMC's people did get a little breather after the 3rd phase of voting. Out of the 31 assembly seats of the 3rd phase, TMC claimed to have won more than 20 seats. However, BJP claimed 50-50 in this phase. But based on conversations with journalist friends reporting in different places, it looked like that out of 16 seats of South 24 Parganas in the third phase, Trinamool can do a clean sweep. On the other hand, BJP could do a clean sweep in Hooghly, where voting for 8 seats was held. I was staying at Tarakeswar constituency in Hooghly for a day, from where BJP nominated Swapnadas Gupta, who is one of the contenders for the post of Chief Minister if BJP wins the elections. A total of 7 seats went to polls in Howrah. TMC appeared to have an edge here, but BJP claimed to win 1 to 2 seats in here as well. Overall, TMC's lead was clear in the 3rd phase.

Then we set out for the fourth phase of polling in Cooch Behar area of North Bengal. On the way, we came across a coconut water-seller in Nadia district. While drinking coconut water, we asked the vendor of his opinion on the elections. He kept quiet for a while, but after noticing the tilak on my forehead, asked if I am a Hindu. I said yes. He then said something that reveals a major clue about the elections across the state. He said, all Hindus are with Modi and all Muslims with Didi.

At this point, let me make it clear that I had visited the Kali Ghat temple while for leaving Cooch Behar from Kolkata, where a priest had put tilak on my forehead. Thats how the coconut seller recognised I am a Hindu and that is why he did not hesitate in saying what he said. The boy hinted at the polarization of Hindu and Muslim voters in the election.

It is possible that since Nadia, Malda and Murshidabad have Muslim-majority population, Mamata Banerjee made a call to unite minority voters. After Banerjees statement, PM Modi at a rally said if he had appealed to the Hindu voters to vote in unison, he would have also received a notice from Election Commission.

Cooch Behar is about 17 hours from Kolkata, so we decided to stop in Murshidabad on the night of March 8. The Battle of Bengal i.e. the Battle of Plassey of 1757 took place in Nadia district. It is said that Siraj-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal lost the battle to the British because of Mir Jafar. Mir Jafar was the chief commander of army of Siraj-ud-Daulah. He had joined hands with the British. Because of this Siraj-ud-daula lost the battle despite having an army of 50,000 soldiers while the Britishers were only 3000. That is why Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in her speeches is calling TMC leaders who joined BJP as Mir Jafar or traitors.

I was curious about visiting the place where the Battle of Plassey was fought. When I went there and asked people about Mir Jafar and his family, they told us to go and talk to the family directly. We asked them where we can find them. They told us that Mir Jafars family lives in Hazarduari area of Murshidabad.

After stopping at Murshidabad at night, in the morning we went to meet the "Aulad of Mir Jafar". By the way, the word "Aulad of Mir Jafar" is used for a traitor. It is considered abusive. But we had to meet with the Aulad of Mir Jafar to know who he was with today.

On reaching the area, when we asked people about the location of the family, they did not seem pleased. But then a person standing there showed us the little Nawab's house. We entered through the gate of Hazarduari, the house of Syed Raza Mirza, the younger Nawab of Mir Jafar clan. I told the 80-year-old Mirza that there is a lot of discussion of your family in Bengal elections and asked who he was supporting. He said Mamata without any hint of doubt. You can now guess who the Aulad of Mir Jafar was with. I was there to do a story on who Mir Jafar was with. My story completed right then.

After this, I left for Cooch Behar to cover the voting for the fourth phase to be held on 10th April. From morning itself, news of bombings and firings started emerging from different booths. The TMC activists launched an attack on security forces at booth number 126 of Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar. The security forces retaliated killing 4 people. It would not be wrong to say that it was the result of the incessant incitement by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. I was busy covering this story all day. That is why I could not get a chance to discuss with anyone about what was the trend of the fourth phase. In the morning, I got a call from office to cover the story of the Election Commission ban on Mamata Banerjees rally in Cooch Behar.

While preparing to leave the hotel, I came across some journalist colleagues at a tea shop. I asked what the situation looked like, who would win now that four phases have been completed. A seemingly sad journalist said it looks like "there will be a change of power in Bengal". I asked him why he thought so. He replied that it was Mamata's angry demeanor that indicates so. My conversation with this journalist became the basis of this article.

50% of polling is complete in Bengal by now and 50% is yet to follow. Here too, the case seems 5050 as 4 out of 8 phases have been completed and 4 phases are still remaining. In the first two phases, BJP took a decent lead. TMC performed well in the third phase. But in the fourth phase, by making it a 50-50 contest, the BJP seems to have secured the edge. Except for Murshidabad, in the rest of places such as Bardhaman, Malda, Dinajpur, Siliguri, Darjeeling, Asansol or Durgapur, the outcome seems to be either 50-50 or going in BJPs favour. TMC can only win the 8 assembly seats in Kolkata city. In such a situation, instead of a 50-50 contest, the battle of Bengal seems to be signaling a change in regime. I can say this on the basis of my experience of reporting on the ground.

Live TV
Returning to the pre-January 2020 rate of 4.5% VAT on milk recording services has been ruled out by the Revenue Commissioners.

Because of changes in the commercial arrangements for provision of milk recording services, the current 13.5% rate stays, said Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe in the Dail last week.

He explained that the 4.5% VAT dates back to an agreement in 1993 between the Irish Dairy Records Co-op (IDRC) and the Revenue Commissioners.

In reply to a Dail question by Tipperary Fianna Fail TD Jackie Cahill (formerly a president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association), Minister Donohoe said the Revenue Commissioners accepted in 1993 that the IDRC was under the control of the Minister for Agriculture, and acting on his behalf.

At the time, the State was not normally considered to be a taxable person, for the purposes of VAT.

The services provided by the IDRC did not therefore come within the scope of VAT. Payments receivable by the IDRC, on behalf of the Minister, were not chargeable to VAT.

However, it was agreed between Revenue and the IDRC that, of the amount payable by farmers to their local co-op in relation to milk recording, two-thirds related to payments collected on behalf of the IDRC (and therefore on behalf of the State) and were not chargeable to VAT.

But the balance of the payments, being payments for separate services, were identified as being provided by the co-ops to its members in connection with milk recording, and were chargeable to VAT at the reduced rate, in line with EU VAT law, with which Irish VAT law must comply.

The reduced rate of VAT is 13.5%, and taxing one-third of the full payment at 13.5% resulted in the effective 4.5% tax on milk recording.

However, commercial arrangements for provision of milk recording services changed subsequently.

These services are no longer supplied by the State through the IDRC.

Minister Donohoe said the Revenue Commissioners were not made aware of those changes at that time.

As a consequence of the changes, the full payment for these services became chargeable to VAT at the reduced rate of 13.5%, being services provided in full by private taxable persons.

Revenue engaged with the suppliers of these services and accepted that the correct VAT treatment could be implemented from January 1, 2020.

Minister Donohoe said even if these services had continued to be supplied by the State, the VAT would need to be reviewed anyway, in light of changes in legislation in 2010 regarding the treatment of the State as a taxable person for VAT purposes.

ICMSAs Farm Business Committee Chair, Shane OLoughlin, said recently the VAT increase came at a time when dairy farmers should be incentivised to do milk recording, from animal health, AMR, and environment perspectives.

For example, milk recording is a key requirement for the move towards selective dry cow strategy, a positive step to address antibiotic resistance concerns.

However, Minister Donohoe has indicated that registering for VAT, so they can reclaim VAT on costs, including the cost of milk recording services, may be the only recourse for farmers unhappy with the extra VAT on milk recording.

For unregistered farmers, the flat-rate addition compensates at the aggregate level for the VAT borne on input costs, including milk recording costs.
Dhofar University, represented by the College of Commerce and Business Administration, signed an academic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Brunel University London to enhance its endeavour to consolidate academic links with prestigious international universities.

The MoU included many aspects of academic cooperation between the two universities, such as academic, research and developmental collaborations and exchanges of students, faculty and researchers. This will enhance the skills, knowledge and scientific capabilities of faculty and students and will be beneficial for the labour market, said a press release issued by the university.

The MoU was signed by Professor Hassan bin Said Kashoob, Vice-Chancellor of Dhofar University, and Prof Trevor Hoey  Vice-Provost International and Academic Partnerships of Brunel University, an Oman Observer report said.

The MoU was approved by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, wishing continued success for the university. -- Tradearabia News Service
If you are in Russia and are dying for an authentic taste of Vietnam, with pho and bia hoi, head to one of the 14 restaurants named Uncle Ho around the country.

browser not support iframe.

This restaurant is located within a luxury food court in Izhevsk city in the Volga and Ural region. It attracts diners with its selection of dishes with authentic Vietnamese tastes, such as beef pho and chicken rolls.

This is the 14th franchised restaurant in the chain. The 13 others are all located in the bustling and beautiful city of St. Petersburg. The chains owners now plan to open another in Tyumen city.

The fact that Vietnamese dining facilities thrive in Russia proves that Vietnamese cuisine has won the hearts of the Russian people./. VNA
Vogue Williams looked phenomenal as she stepped out for work at Heart FM in a figure-hugging maxi dress on Sunday.

The Irish TV and radio personality, 35, smiled in the spring sunshine as she headed in for her show at Global Radio in a striking pink patterned maxi dress.

Vogue added to her look with a pair of round-framed sunglasses, while understated tan leather boots rounded things off.

Spring in her step: Vogue Williams looked phenomenal as she stepped out for work at Heart FM in a figure-hugging maxi dress on Sunday

Accessorising tastefully, Vogue completed the look with a lilac cross body hand bag, which she toted hands free with a long chain strap.

The Heart FM presenter looked radiant as she walked in to work in the colourful ensemble while clutching her phone in her hand.

The outing comes after Vogue's sister-in-law, Pippa Middleton, 37, gave birth to a baby girl named Grace last month.

Happy days: The Irish TV personality smiled in the Spring sunshine as she headed in for her show at Global Radio in a striking ankle-length dress

Pippa - the sister of the Duchess of Cambridge - and her husband James Matthews, 45, are also parents to son Arthur, two.

Vogue's half-brother Alexander is a planning manager by trade, and works for Spencer's low alcohol-content drinks start up, Clean Co.

Spencer went teetotal shortly after he and Vogue got married at his family's estate in the Scottish Highlands in June 2018.

Colourful: The radio host cut a stylish figure as she sauntered along the sun drenched streets of the capital in round-framed sunglasses

The former Made In Chelsea lothario went on to set up his company to produce low and no-alcohol gin as a healthy alternative to traditional spirits.

It was recently revealed that Spencer furloughed staff at his firm Clean Co, despite being worth an estimated 3million.

MailOnline learned that both Spencer and his older brother James have both been claiming taxpayers' money to furlough staff.

On call: Vogue looked radiant as she walked in to work in the colourful ensemble while clutching her phone in her hand

Hedge fund boss James is believed to have been using the government handouts to pay the six employees of his Scottish shooting estate, Glen Affric.

The state-funded Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme (CJRS), running since the first lockdown almost a year ago, is designed to help cash-strapped employers survive the lean months of the pandemic.

Vogue met and fell in love with Spencer in 2017 after appearing on Channel 4 reality show The Jump, with the couple going on to marry at 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.
Cy Woods grads design tape dispenser for NASA

A tape dispenser redesigned by Cypress Woods High School graduates Andy Le and Nikolas Luangrath is now aboard the International Space Station, states a Cy-Fair ISD press release.

As a part of NASA HUNCH, or the NASA High School Students United with NASA to create Hardware project. The tape dispenser was redesigned by the pair after it began to malfunction due to design flaws.

Cy-Fair Resource Guide: Fundraising events and volunteer opportunities available

Le and Luangrath redesigned the chin of the dispenser where the blade for the tape is.

It has been an exciting experience to work with NASA HUNCH at Cy Woods, Jarrall Ford, Cypress Woods industrial technology teacher, said in the press release. Its really wonderful that the students get to be in contact with real astronauts and engineers that give them feedback on real-world designs.

More than 270 teams around the country are working on NASA HUNCH projects and 30 projects completed by Cypress Woods students have been used by NASA and the ISS.

Its just a wonderful opportunity for the students, Ford said. These projects help our students understand real-world application and to know that our projects are being used in real-time is incredible.

-Contributed by Cy-Fair ISD

Cy-Fair ISD student leaders present at TASB Governance Camp

Cypress Ridge High School senior Amrita Dhall, Cypress Falls High School senior Raj Kindra, Cy-Fair High School senior Kara Lucas and Jersey Village High School senior Emily Wussow gave a 60-minute video presentation to the virtual Texas Association of School Boards Governance Camp.

On HoustonChronicle.com: McNair family, Texans make playground possible with donation to Houston-area shelter

A Cy-Fair ISD press release states that the students are members of the Superintendents Student Leadership Advisory Council, or SSLAC, a group made up of four to five high school students selected by their principals. The group meets to discuss the district.

The presentation included personal statements from the students in SSLAC, a conversation with Superintendent Mark Henry and how SSLAC has impacted the district.

It was truly an honor for our session on Dr. Henrys Superintendent Student Leadership Advisory Council (SSLAC) to be selected for the 2021 TASB Governance Camp, Roy Garcia, chief officer for school leadership, said in the press release. Amrita, Emily, Kara and Raj represented their school, the SSLAC and CFISD extremely well. We are very proud of all members of the SSLAC as their voice is critical in making CFISD even better.

-Contributed by Cy-Fair ISD

Bridgeland and Cypress Creek high school students place in TASB video contest

Audio/video production programs from Bridgeland High School and Cypress Creek High School won first and second place, respectively at the Texas Association of School Boards Student Video Contest.

Winning the TASB Student Video Contest has been the most joyful and exciting experience for us this school year, Joe McKinney, Bridgeland audio/video production teacher said in a Cy-Fair ISD press release. After getting hit with the pandemic, we werent sure if we could safely get the hands-on training necessary to produce high-quality content. Fortunately, our district and campus created safety guidelines and processes that allowed us to move forward confidently. I am extremely proud of my students and look forward to them creating heartfelt content this upcoming school year that will continue to encourage Bridgeland, CFISD and Houston to push through all hardships and to win the day!

The contest was focused on overcoming adversity and strength shown by Texas public schools, with divisions for elementary, middle school and high school.

It is such an honor for Cypress Creek High School to represent not only CFISD and its community but all public schools, Donna Allen, Cypress Creek audio/video production teacher, said in the press release. My students work hard every day to represent our school and district showcasing the top of the line education they receive. It means the world to us that we were able to showcase our talents as well as represent our school, district, community and public schools. We could have not achieved this honor without the help of everyone at Cypress Creek, the parents and the community.

-Contributed by Cy-Fair ISD

Lone Star College-CyFair hosting virtual open house

Lone Star College-CyFair will provide info about upcoming semesters, scholarships and how to register during their open house event April 15 at 4 p.m.

Students and parents can also learn about internship opportunities and success stories from graduates, college orientations and on-campus advising. Registration for the fall semester begins April 12.

-From the Lone Star College-CyFair website

chevall.pryce@chron.com
Gwallaz!

10Tik, the viral Dancehall sensation from Red Hills Road, is heating up the streets with a hot new single called Roll Deep. As one of our breakout artists to watch in 2021, 10Tik has emerged with one of the grimiest street bangers of the year so far.

Staying true to his core fan base and signature sound, Roll Deep is a catchy anthem that only the realest can relate to as 10Tik calls on his thugs to roll deep fi mi dogs, roll deep/fulla killa and mi mean whole heap/4 caana we cover, anno two or three/if anno royalty, no come round we.

10Tiks official music video has received over 1.4 million views on YouTube since its February release, and he appears destined for much greater glories, with his 2021 record drop already generating major music industry insider buzz.

The rise of the Gwallas was inevitable, 4 Caanaz, the artist whose real name is Carlton Nembhard, told DancehallMag. The single was released on the Collins Close Records label and is available on all streaming and digital platforms.

Born in the tough neighborhood of Maxfield Park Road, 10Tik spent his formative years in Rockfort, growing up as a militant but calm person. He moved to Mandeville for his education where he attended the Mandeville Primary and Junior High school, and he was already a natural leader who became known as a protector among his friends.

During his high school years at DeCarteret College, he joined the cadets, which taught him militancy in self and where he developed many fond memories. He soon discovered his deejaying and writing abilities and honed those skills relentlessly. Interestingly, it was his experience in the cadets that taught him the life lessons he now employs in his life and his art.

Being in the cadets taught me that we create our limits in our mind. With enough determination, we can find an unknown power and with team work, we can challenge any force in the way, 10Tik reasoned.

At age 18, he moved to Kingston where he lived in the area close to the tough Common Sense off Red Hills Road, and later, he joined the Jamaica Fire Brigade where he worked five years as a top firefighter. He was one of the fearless first responders when an inferno destroyed sections of the 303-room Wyndham hotel in New Kingston in 2013.

He then decided to jumpstart his music career, releasing songs such as Lead Inna Head and She Dont Mind on his own X3M Inc Productions label. He began to solidify a potent underground fan base, and caught fire with songs like Gangsta, Soul of the City, before his monster hit, Roll Deep, the ominous trap banger that showcases all his lyrical gifts.

Roll Deep is the culmination of all his experiences risking his life as a firefighter daily in the slums of Kingston. It falls in the category of the rare track with universal appeal, that offers introspective analysis.

I talk about the ones who are unspoken, the ones who are marginalized and forgotten. When people listen to my music, its going to be personal to them, he said.

Asked what was the meaning of his signature slang, Gwallaz, he responded, Gwallaz is a way of life and no one word can explain its meaning.

At its core, ah the people who a come from nothing, born with a burning urge to change their conditions . As a Gwalla, you must be down to earth, spiritual and appreciative of life in its simplest form. A rebel. A warrior of life.

As the pandemic finally begins to subside, a major 2021 tour could also become a reality rather quickly.

Earlier this week, he also landed a face-to-face meeting with American producer and record executive DJ Khaled who is in Jamaica putting the final touches on his upcoming album Khaled Khaled.

I am ready for anything the future holds, he said.
New Delhi, April 11 : Three iPhone 12 series smartphones (12, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max) have contributed to 71 per cent of Apples total sales for the month of January, as the tech giant grabbed six places in the global top 10 best-selling smartphones list.

The Apple iPhone 12 led the list followed by the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, according to Counterpoint Research's 'Market Pulse' report.

There was a pent-up demand for 5G upgrades within the iOS base which, along with strong carrier promotions, resulted in robust sales for the iPhone 12 series.

"Besides, Apple launched the new iPhone series later than the usual date, resulting in strong demand for these models spilling over into January," the report said late on Saturday.

Nearly one-third of Apple's sales for the iPhone 12 series came from the US due to strong carrier promotions and 5G demand.

"The iPhone 12 Pro Max was the top-selling model in the US, as consumers preferred the high-end version. Old models iPhone SE 2020 and iPhone 11 also continued to do well," the report mentioned.

The iPhone 12 mini made it to the top 10 list, trailing the other iPhone 12 series models as well as the iPhone 11.

"The iPhone 12 mini, which offers specs similar to that of the iPhone 12 at a lower price, failed to attract buyers because of a smaller display and lower battery capacity".

The sub-$150 devices Redmi 9A and Redmi 9 managed to grab fifth and sixth spots, respectively, in January.

These smartphones together contributed a 25 per cent share to Xiaomi's total sales for the month which is gradually expanding its share in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.

Samsung's Galaxy A21s managed to maintain its position in the top 10 list.

The Galaxy A31, the other Samsung model in the top 10, entered the list for the first time.

"Samsung is aggressively promoting the Galaxy A series. It comes with a premium design, fresh colours and latest specs at affordable prices," the report noted.

Through the A series, Samsung is also looking to attract the users of Honor devices, present in sizeable numbers in Europe, Latin America, South East Asia and MEA.
Authorities in Boston continue to investigate the Saturday evening killing of a grandmother who was fatally struck by gunfire.

Officers were called to the area of 19 Olney St. in Dorchester just before 6 p.m. Saturday for a report of a person shot, according to Boston police.

Police found the victim, a woman in her mid-70s. She had gunshot wounds, police said.

The woman was rushed to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead. Police officials said the woman was not the intended target of the gunfire.

Boston Mayor Kim Janey called the killing disturbing, according to WCVB.

No arrests were made as of Saturday evening.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Boston Police Homicide Detectives at 617-343-4470. People who want to leave an anonymous tip can do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS.
POTTSVILLE  A Reading man faces more prison time after a Schuylkill County jury convicted him Tuesday of three drug crimes.

Reynaldo Flores, 30, is guilty of possession of contraband/controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin, who presided over Flores one-day trial, ordered preparation of a presentence investigation and will sentence Flores at a later date.

State police at Frackville charged Flores with possessing Buprenorphine on July 29, 2019, while an inmate at State Correctional Institution/Mahanoy.

Brendan McCann, a forensic scientist 2 at the state police crime laboratory in Bethlehem, testified Flores possessed 2.13 grams of Buprenorphine in the form of orange pills.

I did two tests to confirm that, McCann testified.

Also on Tuesday, Harry E. Hosler, 40, of Pottsville, pleaded guilty to false reports to law enforcement, false identification, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

President Judge William E. Baldwin accepted the plea and sentenced Hosler to serve two to 23 months in prison and an additional 12 months on probation, and pay costs, $100 to the Substance Abuse Education Fund, $50 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account and $113 restitution to the state police crime laboratory in Bethlehem.

Pottsville police charged Hosler with possessing methamphetamine, along with syringes and other paraphernalia, on Feb, 12, 2020, in the city.

Hosler already is an inmate at the county prison, and Baldwin conducted Tuesdays hearing by videoconference.
Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP)  Former Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that he wasnt sure that he and former President Donald Trump would ever see eye to eye over what happened on Jan. 6 but that he would always be proud of what we accomplished for the American people over the last four years.
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

Asia Pacific Acrylic Teeth Market - Overview

Artificial teeth made for dentures can be of acrylic, porcelain, or composite resin. The acrylic teeth are easy to adjust, and also has a chemical bonding with as denture as both are made of same material. Furthermore, acrylic teeth are more compatible than the porcelain teeth as well as easy to fabricate.

The increasing number of edentulous patients in the Asia Pacific region have created high demand for these teeth. Moreover, rising disposable income, increasing incidences of dental caries & other periodontal diseases, and various advantages of acrylic teeth over porcelain teeth are likely to boost the Asia Pacific market. However, factors such as inadequate reimbursement and problems associated with dentures may hinder the growth of the market up to some extent during the review period. The market also possesses significant growth opportunities, which include increasing focus on cosmetic dentistry and colossal pool of geriatric population in the region.

Considering the regional scenario of the Asian market, Japan is the pioneer followed by China and India respectively. Japan is one of the largest markets for acrylic teeth. The life expectancy and the geriatric population of Japan have increased, which will increase the growth of the market. Moreover, factors such as high prevalence for cosmetic dentistry, higher investments in the healthcare services will boost growth of the market.

Chinese acrylic teeth market is expected to witness the highest growth. The growth of the market is driven by increasing aging population in the country. According to the China National Committee on Aging, 185 million people were over 60 years old in 2011 (13.7% of the population); this number is expected to touch 297 million by 2021.

The Asia Pacific acrylic teeth market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10% during the forecast period till 2021. According to a recent study report published by the Market Research Future, the Asia Pacific Acrylic Teeth market is expected to gain eminence over the forecast period. The market is forecasted to demonstrate a steady growth by 2021, surpassing its previous growth records in terms of value with a constant CAGR during the anticipated period (20172021).

Asia Pacific Acrylic Teeth Market - Competitive Analysis

YAMAHACHI DENTAL MFG., CO (Japan), SHOFU DENTAL (Singapore), Heraeus Kulzer GmbH (Germany), Dentsply Sirona (U.S.), IvoclarVivadent (Liechtenstein), Vita Zahnfabrik H. Rauter Gmbh& Co. KG (Germany), Shandong Huge Dental Material Corporation (China), Unidesa-Odi (Spain),New Stetic S.A. (Colombia), Dental Manufacturing S.p.a (Italy) and others are some of the prominent players at the forefront of competition in the Asia Pacific Acrylic Teeth Market and are profiled in MRFR Analysis.

Acrylic Teeth Market Share in Asia Pacific for acrylic teeth is characterised by the presence of several well-established and small players, the global market of acrylic teeth appears to be highly competitive and fragmented. Major players are increasingly expanding their footprint in the emerging nations, making it putting pressure on the regional players, especially in terms of features such as type, product portfolios, and pricing. The market is witnessing intensified competition which is expected to get more intensified further during the forecast period. Asia-Pacific market is market by high intensity of rivalry. There are few large layers and high numbers of small players are operating in the Asia-Pacific market. The market of some of Asian countries such as China, Japan, and South Korea are marked by presence of large number of domestic players such as Shandong Huge Dental Material Corporation, Yamahachi Dental, Shanghai Pigeon Dental, and Guangzhou Doda Medical Instrument amongst others. These players offer their products at relatively low price as compared to other large players. As Asia-Pacific is a price sensitive market and the consumers tend to opt for products which are low priced. Due to this, the small players provide high competition to the large players.

In March 2015, Heraeus Kulzer GmbH launched a new product named PalaVeneer, a ready-made veneer shells that leave more room for aesthetics and can be arranged significantly more efficiently. This has helped the company to enter into new segment and capture a reasonable amount of share.

Furthermore, in September 2015, Dentsply International Inc. signed a merger agreement with Sirona. This proposed merger will help Dentsply to expand its geographic reach, increase its products range and sales.

Therefore, the growing key business strategies will help the key competitors to expand their presence in various parts of the Asia Pacific region for their competitive products and will has spurred the growth of the market.

Browse Full Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/asia-pacific-acrylic-teeth-market-622

About Market Research Future:

MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions
I leave it to you to decide why, from the Trayvon Martin case to the George Floyd case, the media has so consistently misrepresented the facts. Whether it is that unskilled reporters are covering these matters, or that the press is simply looking to attract consumers with florid tales, or that the media looks forward to destroying urban areas with false tales of murderous white racists (amid a shortage of real ones), I cannot say. But it was shocking to me to get letters from heads of very good independent schools who had bought completely into the initial media accounts of an out-of-control white cop deliberately murdering a black suspect in his custody. It occurred to me then that if people like these could be sold the false narrative, officer Derek Chauvin was surely in for a judicial lynching.

Once again, I turn to Legal Insurrection, which has consistently provided the most detailed and reliable accounts of high-profile trials and warn readers away from the AP, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and TV and cable news if you have any respect for truth. (Id also note that it is my experience that reporters deadlines often conflict with the way trials proceed, so that too often the prosecution (or in civil matters, the plaintiff) case is presented just before deadline and the cross examination occurs too late to be covered in that days edition, leaving only a false, one-sided version of the days action.)

There, a highly-skilled defense counsel, Andrew Branca, has been monitoring the trial and has posted so far nine daily accounts of the trial proceeding. Like me, Branca feels the publishing deadlines overvalue the direct testimony and underrate cross examination.

On Saturday, William A. Jacobson, the owner of the site, provided a wrap-up of the trial coverage to date. Here are the key points:

(1 [T]he widely accepted narrative that Chauvin kept his knee on the neck for 9 minutes has been thoroughly debunked by the prosecutions own witnesses and the body cams. There was pressure by Chauvins knee, but it was not continuously on the neck, and was mostly on the back and shoulders, according to prosecution medical witness testimony. Recognizing this evidentiary problem, the prosecution case has shifted from the initial several trial days of claiming that pressure from the knee to the carotid artery cut off blood flow to the brain causing loss of oxygen and inability to breathe, a claim rejected by the prosecutions own medical experts, to a broader claim that Floyd being restrained while handcuffed in the prone position with pressure from multiple officers impaired his ability to inhale. There are very significant evidentiary problems ignored or misrepresented in the mainstream media as to (1) cause of death, (2) whether Chauvin caused the death, (3) whether the force used by Chauvin was unlawful, and for some counts, (4) Chauvins intent. People who only read the mainstream media coverage of the case are ignorant of these issues.

2. The use of force was reasonable under the circumstances. Floyd was larger and heavier than the arresting officer, was resisting arrest, and complaining of being unable to breathe even as they tried to seat him in the squad car.

3. Floyd was high (on three times a fatal dose of fentanyl) and foaming at the mouth and had earlier experienced some of the same symptoms from a drug overdose for which he had been hospitalized.

4. Both fentanyl and amphetamine pills were found in the squad car where he had briefly been placed:

To the extent the drugs ingested by Floyd also contained methamphetamine, however (and we know that the found pills contained both), then they also contained a stimulant, which could explain Floyds energized state in forcibly resisting lawful arrest against multiple officers for some 10 minutes. The meth would also explain why Floyds pupils didnt demonstrate the pin-prick constrictions of fentanyl overdose but were instead dilated -- a condition the state used to argue, again, that it could not have been fentanyl that killed Floyd -- the dilation would be induced by the meth component of the drugs. All of this, of course, suggests an alternative cause of death other than Chauvins knee, and that is the self-induced overdose of Floyd via that pill ingestion on May 25.

5. The widely viewed video that seemed to show Chauvin had pressed against Floyds neck was misleading because of the cameras perspective. The body cam which had been in the custody of Minnesota authorities revealed that his knee was on Floyds shoulder. That is consistent with the autopsy finding that his carotid artery had not been compressed nor had he died of asphyxiation. This should be a consistent warning again of overreacting to videos of disputed events -- camera angles can provide misleading versions. Curious, isnt it, that the government has had this exculpatory evidence in its possession all this time and only produced when required to for this trial, not earlier when it might have checked the rioting?

6. [T]he use of pressure and body weight to restrain a suspect was adopted by the MPD because it was a lesser intensity of force than the prior practice of using strikes -- either barehanded, or with batons, or even with weighted gloves -- to compel compliance. [snip] The take home message for the jury is that Chauvins knee, far from being a public execution in a public street, was a lesser force than would otherwise have been required.

7. Angry bystanders interfered with the officers ability to control Floyd and obtain more quickly medical treatment for him. In effect, they at least contributed to his death.

More colorful than Brancas daily accounts is Ann Coulter's who refers to Chauvin as a white sacrifice.

She begins what we knew months ago but was buried in most press accounts:

In lieu of citing some B.S. media fact check, I shall quote directly from the autopsy report by the Hennepin County Chief Medical Examiner, Andrew Baker: No life-threatening injuries identified -- A. No facial, oral mucosal, or conjunctival petechiae B. No injuries of anterior muscles of neck or laryngeal structures C. No scalp soft tissue, skull, or brain injuries D. No chest wall soft tissue injuries, rib fractures (other than a single rib fracture from CPR), vertebral column injuries, or visceral injuries E. Incision and subcutaneous dissection of posterior and lateral neck, shoulders, back, flanks, and buttocks negative for occult trauma In short: No bloodshot eyes and no trauma to any part of Floyds neck. And yet, day after day, prosecutors, witnesses, and the media tell us that Chauvin squeezed the life out of Floyd. The medical evidence establishes that whatever else caused his death, it was NOT asphyxiation.

She reminds us that in the middle of jury selection the city of Minneapolis gave the Floyd family a $27 million settlement, certainly telegraphing to the jury that their already scorched and torched city would see a repeat if he is not found guilty. Of what we dont know, the prosecution seems to be stuck on the notion that Chauvin's treatment of Floyd, already suffering cardiac problems and high on a threefold fatal ingestion of fentanyl (plus amphetamines), makes him guilty of something, and, at the moment, that "something" seems to be having pinned Floyds shoulder to the ground four minutes longer than absolutely necessary.

Equally colorful is her description of one of the prosecutions witnesses, Genevieve Hansen:

So Genevieve, the states star witness on what the cops did wrong, testified that she would have done pretty much everything the officers did. But she would have been a lot bossier about it. As much as Genevieves one year with the fire department made her an expert on when a police officer should begin chest compressions, the Minneapolis Police Departments own experts directly contradicted her this week. These were, again, prosecution witnesses. On Tuesday, Lt. Johnny Mercil, the MDPs use-of-force trainer, and Officer Nicole Mackenzie, the MPDs medical support coordinator, testified that it would be appropriate not to provide care to a suspect who had just been fighting with officers, or in the presence of a hostile crowd. Chauvin had both those circumstances. Trying to do damage control, the prosecutor asked Officer Mackenzie to define a hostile crowd. She said, a growing contingent of people around, if theyre yelling, being even verbally abusive to those trying to provide scene security. Hey -- remember those weeping bystanders last week? Their own testimony confirmed that they were yelling and even being verbally abusive to those trying to provide scene security.

I dont see how the city, whose own actions contributed to this case, can avoid more rioting no matter how the case is resolved -- either in protest of a not guilty verdict or in celebration of a guilty verdict. Indeed, the geniuses there initially planned to hire six social media influencers to fight misinformation about the case but have dropped that plan.

And the Washington Post, disseminator of so much false information about the case, ran a piece by its columnist Margaret Sullivan attacking Coulter and Tucker Carlsons emphasis on Floyds drugged state as an attack on the victim, comparing to those who claim a rape victim asked for it. She cant understand why we are concerned about mob justice. Of course, she cant. Her paper helped light the match to Minneapolis.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Ashley Cain has said his daughter Azaylia has 'taught him how to be strong' and given him 'the best 8 months of his life' in an emotional Instagram post.

The Ex On The Beach star, 30, shared a series of images on Saturday showing his 'fearless little lion' wrapped in a pink blanket while travelling in an ambulance.

On Friday, Ashley and his girlfriend Safiyya Voraje, 34, took their baby home after doctors revealed there was no further treatment available amid her leukaemia battle following the discovery of multiple tumours in her body.

Daddy and daughter: Ashley Cain has said his little girl Azaylia has 'given him the best 8 months of his life through the toughest of times' in an emotional Instagram post

In the latest sweet snaps of Azaylia, the adorable youngster is seen wearing a bright pink hat and little lion baby-grow.

Sharing the series of images of his little girl during their ambulance journey home to Instagram, doting dad Ashley penned: 'Yesterday Azaylia returned home from hospital like the fearless little lioness that she is.

'Today is her 8th month birthday! Happy 8 months baby! I honestly thought @therock was my hero until I spent the last 8 months with you.

'You taught me how to be strong when I needed strength, you taught me how to smile when I am feeling sad, you taught me how to cherish every single moment - as these moments are all we have.

Fighter: The Ex On The Beach star, 30, shared a series of images on Saturday showing his 'fearless little lion' wrapped in a pink blanket while travelling in an ambulance

'You've been tenacious, fearless, courageous, positive, happy and loving through times which I thought would make it impossible!

'You've given me the best 8 months of my life through the toughest of times. MY HERO. I LOVE YOU.'

Earlier on Friday, Ashley marked baby daughter Azaylia turning eight-months-old by having moulds made of her feet.

Azaylia's doting parents were seen comforting their little one by cradling her in their arms, singing, and dancing in videos shared via Instagram on Saturday.

'My hero': The doting dad said Azaylia has taught him how to be strong and to cherish every moment as he gushed that the tot has been 'tenacious, fearless and happy'

Sweetheart: Azaylia is seen wearing a bright pink hat and little lion baby-grow as she made her way home from the hospital on Friday

Ashley penned: 'You've been tenacious, fearless, courageous, positive, happy and loving through times which I thought would make it impossible!'

Ashley held Azaylia in his arms as a person held a mould to his little girl's feet to make multiple casts that they could then keep and give to loved ones

Taking to Instagram to share a number of videos, Safiyya gushed over Azaylia as Ashley held her in his arms, saying she was 'so beautiful'.

She also danced with Azaylia to her favourite song from The Jungle Book, I Wanna Be Like You, writing that her and Ashley: 'keep her filled with the same energy and love she is used to.'

Safiyya wrote 'I only ever want you to experience happiness and love' over a video of her holding Azaylia and gently rocking her back and forth.

'She's so beautiful': Ashley also marked Azaylia turning eight months old by having moulds made of her feet made on Saturday

Memory: Ashley held Azaylia in his arms as a person placed her feet in a mould to make multiple casts that they could then keep and give to loved ones

Family: The reality star and his girlfriend Safiyya Voraje, 34, were seen with their little one and comforting her by cradling her in their arms, singing, and dancing

Moving: Safiyya said they were getting 'the most beautiful casting of the most beautiful girl' as she showed Ashley holding Azaylia from across the room, while a person made the moulds

Safiyya added that she was getting 'the most beautiful casting of the most beautiful girl' as she showed Ashley holding Azaylia from across the room, while another person made the moulds.

She added that they had a number of family members who were keen to get casts of Azaylia's feet, and so they were getting multiple made during the day.

After the process, Ashley shared a picture of Azaylia while she slept soundly in her cot and wrote: 'Get some rest my baby'.

Safiyya took to Instagram on Friday where she shared an image of @allontheboard's white board message which featured a heartfelt poem about Azaylia.

Sharing her appreciation for the support, Safiyya wrote: 'The [heart emoji] is incredible. Thankyou to you all.'

All On The Board's Twitter page had shared their message alongside a caption which read: 'Sending love, thoughts and prayers to the beautiful Azaylia Cain and her Mummy, Daddy and family.'

Doting mother: Safiyya also danced with Azaylia to her favourite song from The Jungle Book, I Wanna Be Like You, writing that her and Ashley: 'keep her filled with the same energy and love'

Poignant: Safiyya wrote 'I only ever want you to experience happiness and love' over a video of her holding Azaylia and gently rocking her back and forth

Helping hand: A woman who works on making casts visited Ashley and Safiyya so that they could get moulds of Azaylia's feet, and she made sure to wear a mask to keep her safe

While their heartfelt message on a board at North Greenwich Underground Station said: 'Sending love to Azaylia Cain, an 8 month old beautiful little princess and a hero.

'Smiling despite being in discomfort and pain, fighting battles and shining like a diamond, providing light on the darkest of days; her determination and strength deserves everybody's love and respect in so many ways.

'No words can be written or spoken to fix hearts that are broken, all we can offer sometimes are thoughts, prayers and love; through the hardest and saddest times, Azaylia has shone brighter than any star up above.'

Earlier that day, Ashley shared footage of himself giving his ailing daughter Azaylia her final hospital bath, as he prepared to take her home.

Supportive: After the process, Ashley shared a picture of Azaylia while she slept soundly in her cot and wrote: 'Get some rest my baby'

Thank you: On Friday, Safiyya thanked the London Underground for their touching tribute to her baby daughter Azaylia amid her leukaemia battle

Lovely: Safiyya took to Instagram stories where she shared an image of @allontheboard's white board message which featured a heartfelt poem about the tot

Kind: All On The Board's Twitter page shared their message alongside the caption: 'Sending love, thoughts and prayers to the beautiful Azaylia Cain and her Mummy, Daddy and family'

Just a day before, the reality star shared a heartbreaking video revealing he and Safiyya were bringing their little girl home to make her comfortable after learning doctors had found tumours throughout her body.

And as he faces up to the harrowing prognosis that his adorable child has just days to live, Ashley paid tribute to the brave youngster as he admitted: 'I don't know what I will do without you.'

In the video, the doting dad was seen gently splashing the water around Azaylia as she looked up at her dad adoringly while sitting in a small tub on the hospital ward.

Heartbreaking: Earlier that day, her partner Ashley shared footage of himself giving his ailing daughter Azaylia her final hospital bath, as he prepared to take her home

Captioning the footage, he wrote: Azaylia's last bath in hospital, before we take her home where she belongs. 

'9 days ago consultants told us my daughter had 1-2 days to live, but thought she may pass that evening. Even with a barbaric disease consuming her blood, tumours in her brain and organs and amounts of pain I cannot imagine...

'She is still battling through 9 days later, with parts of the day with nothing but smiles despite her discomfort.

Bonding: In the video, the doting dad was seen gently splashing the water around Azaylia as she looked up at her dad adoringly while sitting in a small tub on the hospital ward

Sad: As he faces up to the harrowing prognosis that his adorable child has just days to live, Ashley paid tribute to Azaylia as he admitted, 'I don't know what I will do without you'

'This is a testament of this little girls strength and the fight she has possessed all of the way through. She has fought a battle that not many, if any, of us could have endured and she's earned the love and respect of many on the way.

'The truth is though, I hope and pray that I have earned hers! Even through the hardest and saddest time of my life, she has found a way to make it better.

'She has shined light on the darkest of days and she has opened my heart to amounts of love I couldn't believe possible! 

'The truth is, I don't know what I will do without you. But for now, I find strength in giving you the best of me, and the only me that you deserve! 

'You are in my arms, my thoughts, my prayers and my heart everyday my princess. YOU'RE MY HERO!  DADDY LOVES YOU! '

Sad: Ashley spent his last night in hospital with daughter Azaylia, as the family prepare to return home after learning she could have just days to live

In a post on Thursday, Ashley said that Azaylia, who was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia six months ago, can no longer fly to Singapore for treatment after discovering the tumours, and vowed to make her final days 'as fun as they can'.

After sharing his moving video, Ashley took to Instagram Stories to share a snap of him kissing his daughter as they lay in the hospital bed together.

He wrote: 'Last night in here before we take you home baby,' along with a broken heart emoji.

Safiyya then shared a similar image with her baby girl in the bed, writing: 'My hero.'

Ashley marked his last night in hospital with little Azaylia after revealing the tot has just days to live amid her devastating battle with leukaemia.

Upsetting: The reality star shared a heartbreaking Instagram video on Thursday revealing he and the tot's mum Safiyya (pictured) were bringing their little girl home

Devastating: In the emotional post, Ashley added that Azaylia can no longer fly to Singapore for treatment, and vowed to make her final days 'as fun as they can.'

Adorable: The parents kept followers updated as they took their little girl home with them

Sweet: Safiyya shared this sweet clip of her daughter on Instagram

He took to Instagram on Thursday where he shared a heartbreaking video in which he explained what was happening, revealing to fans that they're taking their little girl back home from hospital to make her as comfortable as possible.

Speaking outside of the hospital, the TV star told his followers: 'Where do I start? Where do I start? A lot has happened. A whole lot. Too much to write in a caption, too much to explain in a picture, so I thought I'd do a video.

'So last week we had the bone marrow test and the lumber puncture and bloods taken to send to Singapore in the hope that they could create a CAR T therapy to save Azaylia's life.

'Then we had to have a CT scan on her head and the results came back the next day, saying that Azaylia's got two very big tumours on her brain.

'They also said that the intrathecal treatment that is usually given to treat leukemia in the spine or the brain will not be available, because she has too much pressure with these tumours.

Family: The reality star took to Instagram on Thursday where he shared a heartbreaking video in which he explained what was happening (Pictured with Azaylia's mum Safiyya)

Heartbreaking: Ashley revealed that little Azaylia cannot fly to Singapore for treatment because doctors have discovered tumours throughout her tiny body

'And if they tried to even go through the spinal tap it would kill her. At that point, obviously, our world came down.

'Because obviously, the current chemotherapy that we were doing was for her blood, not the tumours in her brain.

'Consultants said that they think she's only got one, two days to live, and it could even be that night. So, we took Azaylia home with the palliative care team and stuff.

'It was scary. You walk into your little daughter's room and there's big oxygen tanks and stuff like that and it was horrible.

'We took her home. She was on high levels of pain relief and we tried to enjoy every little bit we could, but it was tough. We got through the first night, we got through the second night, but we noticed that Azaylia wasn't really here properly.

Poor baby: Doctors have found tumours in Azaylia's stomach, her spleen, her liver and her kidneys, in addition to tumours in her brain. And sadly, the chemotherapy isn't working

'As a parental instinct, I told my girlfriend, I said: 'Let's take her off her pain relief'. So we took her off the pain relief and the next morning she was as bright as a button, she had her sharpness back, she was responding to everything.

'And we sat there, and we thought: 'this disease is not killing our daughter. We need to do everything that we can do to save this girl's life.'

'And so I rang up the consultant at hospital and said: 'We're coming back in, we're carrying on with treatment and we're getting her to Singapore.'

Ashley said he told consultants in hospital that he has always been a fighter and always will be, adding: 'My daughter is a product of me: through nature, via nurture. That means she'll be a fighter too.'

Fighter: Ashley told consultants: 'My daughter is a product of me: through nature, via nurture. That means she'll be a fighter too'

The TV star touched on how some parents might be more comfortable at home with their child, but explained that it would 'break him' to stay at home knowing his daughter is dying and he's not doing anything about it.

The father-of-one continued relaying his conversation with doctors, explaining that he told them: 'Azaylia had one in four hundred trillion chance of being Azaylia, and you only get one chance at life...

'So we, I are gonna do everything we possibly can do preserve hers, 'cause when you're gone, you're gone... But it's how you wanna be remembered when you're gone.

'She's fought a hard tough fight the whole way through, so I wanna honour that and give her the best chance of survival.'

Too rare: Ashley revealed to his followers that doctors in Singapore have now said that Azaylia's condition is too rare to treat

Ashley then told his followers that they took Azaylia back into hospital and were exploring treatment options.

He said: 'We've been back in hospital the last three four days. We've been pushing, fighting for options and we made steps forwards.'

'She's currently on the drug that we fought to get. We're talking about potential options of radiotherapy to target the tumours in her head.

'They don't usually get radiotherapy to children under three but they were potentially willing to make an exception potentially, after talks.'

After taking a deep breath, Ashley explained that they had an ultrasound scan yesterday and the results came back today revealing that they found tumours throughout her body.

Going home: Holding back tears, the doting dad said: 'So that means we're going back home. We're going back home and, we're gonna try and make our baby as comfortable as possible'

Ashley told fans: 'They found tumours in her stomach her spleen her kidneys, as well as the tumours in her brain, and the chemotherapy's not working.

'Her disease is that aggressive that nothing they are doing... Nothing's working.

'And then, to make it worse, the consultants got an email from Singapore, and because Azaylia's literally one in a trillion - she literally is she's so special, she's one in a trillion - but unfortunately so is her disease. In Singapore they can't create a CAR T for her leukaemia.

Holding back tears, the doting dad continued: 'So that means we're going back home. We're going back home and, we're gonna try and make our baby as comfortable as possible...

'And we're gonna have as much fun as we can with her as possible. And I thought that...

Fighter! Ashley explained that he told his girlfriend: 'We're gonna smile, we're gonna be strong and we're gonna go out with honour'

Champ! 'She's had a tough, tough life. From eight weeks old she'd been in hospital having chemotherapy, operations, transplants...' said Ashley of his incredible little girl

When you hear of all the other kids in the hospital they just wanna be at home, but Azaylia doesn't have a voice yet. I think if she had a voice, she'd wanna be at home too. So we're gonna take her home.'

Ashley told fans that he forced himself and his partner to get up, get dressed, eat and clean up, adding: 'We're gonna smile, we're gonna be strong and we're gonna go out with honour.

At the end of the harrowing video, while on the verge of weeping the reality star said: 'She's had a tough, tough life. From eight weeks old she'd been in hospital having chemotherapy, operations, transplants...

'And I feel like, for the last part of her life I just want to take her home. See her like a baby and give her the best rest of her life that we can give her. And that's it.

Sad news: Safiyya also took to Instagram to share the news in a lengthy caption alongside a photograph of herself and Ashley in hospital with baby Azaylia

Ashley took a moment to collect himself, and then confessed: 'I've been strong the whole way through this, but this last week I've been numb... Numb to the core.

'I've been upset, I've been sad, I've been depressed, I've been heartbroken. Some days I don't even know where I am.

'But I think right about now I've got to step up more than ever and be stronger than I've been the whole time, because I'm doing it for her. She needs to see her daddy smiling, she needs to see her mummy smiling. And that's it.

Ashley ended his video with a message of gratitude for his fans, saying: 'Thank you for all the love and support guys, honestly. I'm gonna go back into hospital now, to take my baby home.'

The media personality and his partner Safiyya recently raised more than 1.5 million to fund a trip to Singapore for potentially life-saving transplant, but she was being treated in the UK during the interim.

Honoured: 'I am so proud of my baby girl she has been fighting for so so long... I'm incredibly honoured to have become a mummy to my precious girl' wrote Safiyya

Safiyya also took to Instagram to share the news in a lengthy caption alongside a photograph of herself and Ashley in hospital with baby Azaylia.

She penned: 'With a heavy painful heart I share the saddest news of my life...' before confirming that which her boyfriend had told his followers.

Of the planned treatment in Singapore which is now no longer possible, Safiyya wrote: 'This was our last, our only and our final option to save Azaylia and her disease was even too complex for them.

'So we will be now returning home with our beautiful baby to give her the best possible time left that we can.

Devoted: Beneath Safiyya's heartfelt caption, Ashley wrote of their daughter: 'She has made me a better man, a proud, strong father and imprinted on me for life!'

'I am so proud of my baby girl she has been fighting for so so long, and doesn't deserve for this to happen to her!

'There isn't enough words out there to describe the heartache and pain I'm feeling but I'm incredibly honoured to have become a mummy to my precious girl.'

Beneath Safiyya's heartfelt caption, Ashley commented: 'We have fought an incredible fight. None of us more than our beautiful baby girl. She made us smile, she kept us strong and she always gave us hope.

'I've never ever been happier, more devoted and in love than this last 8 months. She has made me a better man, a proud, strong father and imprinted on me for life! You gave us so much, now it's time to go home!'

Supportive friends: Ashley's celebrity pals rushed to send messages of love and support to him amid what is the most devastating time

Ashley's celebrity pals rushed to send messages of love and support to him amid what is the most devastating time.

Charlotte Crosby wrote beneath his video: 'God ash I am so so so so so sorry. Wow my heart is breaking,' while Holly Hagan added: ' I'm so so sorry and sending all the love and prayers in the world.'

Love Islander Shaughna Phillips penned: 'No sense, no reason and no justice in this world at all. Your beautiful darling girl has the heart of a lion, and she could not have been more blessed to have parents like you and @miss_safiyya_ .

'You have both shown the world what the true meaning of love is, everything that was asked of you, you did. I pray so much you that you find strength to enjoy your precious daughter at home, and just know you all have the love of the country and beyond.'

Theo Campbell wrote: 'Really no words,' and Alex Bowen added: 'I'm so so sorry brother sending love to you all.'

Lauren Goodman shared: 'I'm so sorry! My heart is broken for you all. Sending you all my love and strength. You've done the best you could xx she has been so brave and tough!' while her sister Chloe Goodman added: 'No words completely heartbroken for your family.'

New mum Charlotte Dawson commented: 'Ash no I'm so so sorry. She is the most bravest little angel, fought so hard. You are the best parents ever.'

Pop star Aston Merrygold wrote: 'So sorry man! sending you guys love,' while Olivia Bowen penned: 'I am so sorry, there are no words. You have all been so brave, sending all my love you and your beautiful baby girl Azaylia - she stole the hearts of us all.'

Other celebs flooded Safiyya's heartbreaking post with messages of love goodwill amid Azaylia's last days.

Lisa Maffia wrote: 'Sending you so much love and strength. I am praying so much for you all. Your beautiful babygirl will be well looked after and I pray to meet her in another life. I hope you get as long as possible together and just know that my whole family are thinking of you every second. Love you all.'

Jessica Hayes shared: 'I'm so sorry just no words sending love and strength always . Holding you all in my thoughts xxxxxxxxxx.'

Wayne Lineker commented: 'There are no words. My daughter tia had to have a blood test today as she has bruises to her little finger and as A devoted parent I was naturally concerned but what you guys are going through and have been through is incredible compared. Ashley has been my friend for many years and he is a beautiful man I am just so so sorry.'

Comments from celebs: Other celebs flooded Safiyya's heartbreaking post with messages of love goodwill amid Azaylia's last days

At the end of March, Ashley revealed that his daughter Azaylia would be required to undergo another round of chemotherapy amid her battle with leukaemia.

And in a heartbreaking update, Ashley revealed that doctors have found 'blasts of leukaemia forming in her cerebrospinal fluid'  forcing yet more chemo for his daughter.

Taking to Instagram to share a snap of himself with his daughter, Ashley wrote: 'Azaylia had to go into theatre yesterday, for a bone marrow test to read her leukaemia count, plus, a lumber puncture to extract samples to send off to Singapore.

Treatment: Last month, Ashley revealed that Azaylia would be required to undergo another round of chemotherapy amid her battle with leukaemia

'After that, doctors had to take 60ml of blood from her followed by a 4 hour blood transfusion. Later, she had chemotherapy with two separate drugs: Azacitidine and the drug we've been working tirelessly to get hold of, Venetoclax.

'That was a tough enough because of Azaylia's pain and discomfort from the multiple procedures. Until we got told by consultants, that they had found blasts of leukaemia forming in her Cerebrospinal fluid, which can result in it finding the brain!'

He explained: 'This now means that Azaylia will now have to have another form of chemotherapy intrathecally, through the spinal tap to attack the leukaemia and protect her brain.

Update: In an update, Ashley revealed that doctors had found 'blasts of leukaemia forming in her cerebrospinal fluid'  forcing yet more chemo for his daughter

'This means today she will be having a CT scan on her head to make sure we can go through with this intrathecal procedure tomorrow.'

Touching on the strain of the experience on the family, he concluded: 'With 3 hours sleep in 2 days, the reality is that, there are no days off on this journey, no time out periods and no single second without worry or fear.

'If you asked me a year ago, I would've never imagined how strong I could or would have to be. That being said, you never really know how strong you are, until being strong is your only option. '

A day before, his partner Safiyya revealed their daughter Azaylia is 'in a lot of pain' ahead of her planned treatment in Singapore.

Upsetting: Ashley's partner Safiyya revealed their daughter Azaylia was 'in a lot of pain'

Keeping her followers updated on their journey, Safiyya detailed the blood transfusion and surgery which Azaylia underwent.

Addressing her followers from the hospital, Safiyya explained: 'We've got a heavy morning today, we are getting a bone marrow test done and then Azaylia needs 60ml of blood taken from her.

'She needs to have a blood transfusion so that they can send the blood over to Singapore. She's very swollen this morning, she's on lots of fluid as that keeps the leukaemia from sticking.'

Determined: Safiyya and partner Ashley Cain recently raised more than 1.5 million to fund the trip but she was being treated in the UK during the interim

Speaking about the emotional toll it has taken on her, Safiyya continued: 'Watching your daughter being put to sleep, again, really pulls another level of heartstrings.

'These days feel so long and tough, but you'd do anything for your child - you don't care about how you are yourself.

'So many people ask how are you feeling, and we have one destination and that is to get to Singapore and get through this.'

Thankfully, the blood transfusion and operation went smoothly, with Safiyya later updating fans: 'The procedures are all done and we are currently on a blood transfusion. Azaylia has recovered, she had to have blood taken from her.

Update: Keeping her followers updated on their journey, Safiyya detailed the blood transfusion and surgery Azaylia underwent

'60ml can leave you very anemic and your blood pressure and heart rate can go anywhere while blood's being taken from your body but luckily Azaylia was very stable.'

She then wrote: 'What a tough day she's had, bless her. She's been in a lot of pain today.'

While Ashley shared a clip of his little girl captioned: 'The amount this little girl has battled through today.'

He later added: 'One hour sleep with this little one last night. She went through the whole lot of procedures yesterday and she's really feeling it.

Heartbreaking: Ashley later shared a clip of his little girl in hospital captioned, 'The amount this little girl has battled through today'

'Three hours sleep in the last two days. There are no days off or times out on this journey. We're going to get you across that line baby'.

It comes after Ashley revealed pharmaceutical companies were not releasing the life-saving drugs needed to beat his daughter Azaylia's leukemia battle.

Ashley, whose baby girl was undergoing her fourth round of chemotherapy at the time, took to Instagram to admit he's in 'heavy talks' with consultants and doctors in an attempt to change the businesses' decision.

The reality star said: 'We found out today that one of the essential drugs we need tomorrow to bring her leukemia counts down and get her into remission is not being released by the pharmaceutical companies.

Update: The following morning, Ashley revealed it had been a sleepless night for all as Azaylia recovered, with the EOTB star promising to get his daughter 'across the line'

'Not only today have I been looking after Azaylia, but going through heavy talks with consultants, doctors and the companies themselves to try and get this essential drug that Azaylia needs.'

The media personality had previously asked fans for help in donating, explaining the treatment his daughter needs is only available in Singapore.

The total of his fundraiser for his eight-month-old's treatment reached over 1.5million, following donations from Love Island's Molly-Mae Hague and Maura Higgins.

Ashley penned a detailed account of Azaylia's health battle on his GoFundMe page and said that any extra funds the couple receive will be donated to other families in a similar situation to them.

Fighting for her: Azaylia was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia when she was just two months old and her parents have fought to save her life

According to the NHS, it is a 'highly complex and potentially risky treatment' but has been shown in trials to cure some patients when other treatments have failed.

Azaylia was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia when she was just two months old.

Ashley said he has spent the first eight months of fatherhood under Covid-19 restrictions in hospital as his daughter fought the cancer.

Doctors told the TV star and his partner Safiyya that chemotherapy would not be enough to cure Azaylia.
(CNN)  Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, paid tribute to his late father Prince Philip on Saturday in a pre-recorded statement.

"My dear Papa was a very special person who I think above all else would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that have been said about him, and from that point of view we are, my family, deeply grateful for all that," Prince Charles said in a statement from Highgrove House, his country home in Tetbury, Gloucestershire. "It will sustain us in this particular loss and at this particularly sad time."

Prince Philip died peacefully at Windsor Castle on Friday morning at the age of 99. He was the nation's longest-serving consort -- a term given to the spouse of a reigning monarch.

He will be laid to rest next Saturday.

"I particularly wanted to say that my father, for I suppose the last 70 years, has given the most remarkable, devoted service to the queen, to my family and to the country, but also to the whole of the Commonwealth," Prince Charles said.

Prince Philip's long-standing funeral plans had been adapted to respect certain Covid-19 restrictions, with all the usual elements that involve contact with the public removed.

Prince Philip's death has been marked in a somber fashion, as the royal household and the UK government have asked the public not to gather or leave flowers at royal residences, with the country still under strict Covid-19 restrictions.

This story was first published on CNN.com 'Prince Charles pays tribute to his father Prince Philip'
San Francisco, April 11 : Facebook spent more than $23 million (about Rs 171 crore) to provide security for its CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2020.

The company's annual reviews of company security "identified specific threats to Zuckerberg," according to a proxy statement filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), reports The Verge.

"He is synonymous with Facebook, and as a result, negative sentiment regarding our company is directly associated with, and often transferred to, Mr. Zuckerberg," read the statement.

Facebook spent $23 million for personal security at Zuckerberg's residences and for travel for him and his family. The Facebook CEO also received an additional $10 million to put toward security personnel and other security costs.

The cost of base security was up to $13.4 million last year, compared to $10.4 million the year prior.

"Under Mr Zuckerberg's overall security programme, we pay for costs related to personal security for Mr. Zuckerberg at his residences and during personal travel, including the annual costs of security personnel for his protection and the procurement, installation, and maintenance of certain security measures for his residences," the company said.

"We also provide an annual pre-tax allowance of $10 million to Mr Zuckerberg to cover additional costs related to his and his family's personal security," Facebook added.

In addition, Zuckerberg uses private aircraft for personal travel in connection with his overall security programme.

On certain occasions, he may be accompanied by guests when using private aircraft.

The costs of Zuckerberg's security programme vary from year to year depending on requisite security measures, his travel schedule, and other factors.

The company said that the increased costs in 2020 were primarily due to regular personal travel, costs relating to security protocols during the Covid-19 pandemic, increased security coverage during the 2020 US elections and other periods with increased security risk, and market increases in the costs of security personnel.

Zuckerberg has requested to receive only $1 in annual salary and does not receive any bonus payments, equity awards, or other incentive compensation, Facebook added.
IRVINE, Calif.; A new automotive operation in North America has been formed by HAAH Automotive Holdings to distribute, sell and service vehicles under the brand name VANTAS. The new company was announced today by Duke Hale, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of HAAH Automotive Holdings.

All vehicles sold in the U.S. and Canada will be assembled in domestic plants bringing new jobs to North America.

HAAH has a technical cooperation agreement with Chery Automobile, one of the top ten automakers in China and the leading auto exporter to over 80 countries. Chery manufactures and sells a full line of SUVs, passenger cars and electric vehicles under several separate brands, including the Exeed brand. As the first step in their cooperation VANTAS vehicles will be on the Exeed platform, which has been developed with global resources and technologies targeted specifically at United States and Canadian consumers.

The first of the vehicle models to be sold in North America will be a premium SUV. The specific model and other details have not been announced yet. Engineering development for homologation in the U.S. market has already begun.

This is a historic agreement creating VANTAS. The brand will incorporate a number of new technologies from its Chinese partner, including Intelligent Connected for a wide variety of safety and driver assistance technology, various aspects of autonomous driving and, in the future, new energy vehicles. VANTAS is fully committed to building every one of its vehicles in the U.S. creating jobs in America. HAAH Automotive Holdings is proud to be working with Chery, launching the new VANTAS brand in North America, said Hale. Chery is an automaker in China with outstanding vehicles. We are very proud they have selected HAAH to be their partner for North America. VANTAS vehicles will offer more choice in the premium category for U.S. and Canadian consumers with excellent safety, quality and reliability, Hale added.

The online sales process will be implemented using HAAHs unique modern digital platform with an industry-leading 100% cloud-based system which combines the ERP and Dealership Management System (DMS) to support VANTAS and Dealer Operations.

This unique system design comes from an integrated and open API platform which will provide real time transactions and visibility for all users increasing speed and precision.

This system is the next generation in the automotive industry, giving VANTAS technological superiority not available from any other manufacturer today. It will provide a 360-degree view of customers for dealers and VANTAS personnel with each having access to a single version of the data (single version of the truth) to provide customer excellence for service and support. Sharing this data allows HAAH to offer a new, transparent, customer friendly selling process, faster handling of customer purchase and service issues, and improved dealer parts fulfillment.

We are glad to witness the launch and establishment of this new American automobile brand, VANTAS, said Ray Bierzynski, Executive Vice President of Chery Automobile. New technology, new energy and new retail are profoundly changing the global automotive industry. HAAH is an excellent auto company in North America, with a first-class team that has deep auto experience and an innovative sales and marketing model. Chery is an auto company renowned worldwide with a global R&D system, having R&D centers in Europe, America, Latin America and China. The technical collaboration with HAAH will provide support for the development of new products which will meet and exceed North American customer expectations for the VANTAS brand. I have no doubt that VANTAS will bring consumers in North America an outstanding customer experience, said Bierzynski.

Details on the vehicles to be sold and more information regarding the production of those models will be provided at a later time.

HAAH Automotive Holdings was formed by a group of leading auto industry executives and experts to create a unique customer experience from the beginning of the buying process and throughout ownership. Using a total of more than 300 years of experience in the industry, HAAH executives are committed to disrupting the auto buying and ownership process. Designed to meet the needs of 21st century car buyers, the company is creating new methods, processes and procedures to increase transparency, clarify pricing, and simplify purchase and vehicle service for the customer. The company is based in Irvine, Calif.

About Chery Automobile

Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. was established on January 8, 1997. Over the past 20 years, the company has always insisted on independent innovation and established a complete technology and product R&D system. Its products have been exported to more than 80 countries and regions around the world, created well-known product series such as ARRIZO, TIGGO and high-end brand EXEED. Cherys joint ventures have brands such as Jaguar Land Rover, Qoros, and Cowin. Chery has been the top brand for the export of passenger vehicles from China for 17 consecutive years.
Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli denied accusations of sexual assault documented in a Chronicle investigation, saying in a statement released Saturday night that the allegations were unfounded and driven by politics, and making clear he would fight growing calls to resign.

Despite the clear political and social machinations that are outwardly and obviously driving the effort to put my head on a spike, I never imagined I would be pursued as a trophy to warn those who dare to have a positive impact in public service regardless of ideology, Foppoli wrote.

Foppoli had previously provided only a brief statement through his attorney denying the allegations. The Chronicle published the accounts of four women on Thursday, and the account of a fifth woman on Saturday.

I believe anyone who believes they have been victimized should have the opportunity to be heard and I didnt want to cloud my accusers stories with an immediate response and therefore decided to give them time to be heard, Foppoli said. But now is the appropriate time for me to address this matter: I am completely innocent of the conduct alleged and have not violated any of these women.

The mayor said he had never pressured any female to engage in sexual conduct with me, but did not address any of the specific accusations against him.

As of Saturday, five women had come forward to say Foppoli sexually assaulted them in incidents from 2002 to 2019. Numerous local political leaders, including every colleague on Windsors elected council and the North Bays two congressional representatives, have condemned his alleged actions and called for him to step down.

The Sonoma County Sheriffs Office has opened a criminal investigation into the accusations, though prosecutors may have limited ability to file charges. Many of the alleged incidents occurred more than 10 years ago, and may fall outside the states statute of limitations.

On Saturday, Foppoli attacked his critics.

To my fellow elected officials who have called for my resignation, your cowardly rush to judgment without evidence is a particularly alarming reflection of the state of our dwindling Democracy; indicative of your lack of commitment to critical thinking and logic; as well as an absolute collective failure to fully evaluate a challenging situation before making judgments and condemning a fellow colleague and citizen, he wrote.

He also attacked The Chronicle, saying the newspaper had self-ordained itself as my judge, jury, and executioner without caring to learn or understand all the facts.

Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, the editor in chief, responded, We stand by our coverage. The stories have been thoroughly reported by Alexandria Bordas and Cynthia Dizikes over many months. The Mayor was given numerous opportunities to respond to the individual allegations. When sources come forward they do so at great personal risk. We found the stories of these women to be credible. We still welcome Mr. Foppolis response to their allegations.

A portion of Foppolis statement included allegations against another elected official that could not be immediately confirmed by The Chronicle.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan
Shah also questioned her silence on the killing of a first-time voter, Ananda Burman of the Rajbanshi community

Kolkata: Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday squarely held West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjees recent provocative speech responsible for the violent mob attack on the Central paramilitary forces which, in turn, shot dead four villagers at a polling booth in Shitalkuchi of Cooch Behar during the fourth phase of the election a day earlier.

Asking the Trinamul Congress supremo to apologise to the people for her instigation, he also questioned her silence on the killing of a first-time voter, Ananda Burman of the Rajbanshi community, after linking him to the saffron party.

Rejecting Ms Banerjees demand for his resignation over the firing, Mr Shah said: Didi has been constantly claiming: Amit Shah must resign. Didi, I will resign when the people ask me to. But you should get ready since you will have to resign on May 2.

Mr Shah said: In the fourth phase of polls, a very sad incident took place. Some unidentified people attacked a polling booth and tried to snatch the weapons of the Central armed police forces (CAPF) personnel. When the CAPF jawans opened fire in self-defence and to protect their weapons, four people were killed. What is more sad is the way the entire incident is being politicised. He was speaking to the media at Shantipur in Nadia district.

He added: I saw Mamatadis statement. A few days ago, at the same Shitalkuchi seat, Mamatadi gave a brazen speech asking the people to gherao and attack the CAPF. I want to ask her: Isnt her speech responsible for the death of the four? Would the four have dared to attack the Central forces had she not made the speech? Provoking them, you made a cause for firing.

Mr Shah later claimed at a BJP rally at Basirhat South in North 24 Parganas: Didi, you, sitting in a wheelchair, left anyway but it was because of you that the four youths died. He said: I feel Mamatadi still has time to offer her respect to the fifth slain youth, talk about him and apologise to the people for her provocative speech.

Complaining about Ms Banerjees sympathy only with the four victims, who were Muslims, the home minister said: At the same booth, some goons of the TMC killed our worker in the morning so that polling could not take place. Later, the attack on the CISF followed. But Mamatadi mourned the loss of four lives only. She is not bothered by the death of Burman. This is a clear example to what level she brought down the politics of Bengal through her appeasement and vote bank politics even in death.

He added: We are equally saddened by the death of the four like that of Burman. The death of whosoever should be above politics. But she did not mourn the death of Burman, or shed tears This type of politics is neither the culture nor the tradition of Bengal.
Two teenagers have been arrested following the killing of 16-year-old Yannis Leulusoo in Brisbanes CBD on Thursday night.

Mr Leulusoo was fatally stabbed at Emma Miller Place off Roma Street about 8pm.

A cleaning crew at one of two CBD crime scenes set up after the fatal stabbing. Credit:Matt Dennien

Police on Sunday executed two separate search warrants in Brisbanes north and arrested two teenage boys, a 16-year-old Mango Hill boy and a 17-year-old Wooloowin boy, at each address, with both expected to face court on Monday.

The Mango Hill boy was charged with one count of murder and the Wooloowin boy was charged with one count of accessory after the fact to murder.
Washington, April 11 : US President Joe Biden on Sunday hailed the settlement of an electric vehicle battery dispute between LG Energy Solution Ltd. and SK Innovation Co. as a "win for American workers and the American auto industry." SK Innovation agreed to pay 2 trillion won ($1.78 billion) to settle the dispute with LG Energy Solution and withdraw all their other pending litigations to end their two-year legal battle, the companies said earlier in the day.

"This settlement agreement is a win for American workers and the American auto industry," Biden said in a statement posted on the website of the White House.

The president stressed that a key part of his plan to "Build Back Better" is to have electric vehicles and batteries of the future built in America and by American workers.

"We need a strong, diversified and resilient U.S.-based electric vehicle battery supply chain, so we can supply the growing global demand for these vehicles and components -- creating good-paying jobs here at home, and laying the groundwork for the jobs of tomorrow," he said.

"Today's settlement is a positive step in that direction, which will bring some welcome relief to workers in Georgia and new opportunity for workers across the country," he added.

The two Korean battery makers announced the results of their agreement hours before the deadline for an import ban on SK, reports Yonhap news agency.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in February sided with LG in a trade secret case and issued a 10-year import ban on SK, while temporarily allowing shipments of battery components for Ford and Volkswagen to give them time to find new suppliers.

Their settlement averts the import ban, which was set to take effect unless Biden vetoed the ITC decision before the Sunday night deadline.
GBP/AUD Exchange Rate Finds Support and Retakes 1.80 Handle

Australian New South Wales premier Berejiklian warned over complacency surrounding the situation with fears that Australia will be left behind in global terms which would limit the potential for re-opening the economy internationally.

Asian equity markets also lost ground which limited potential support for the Australian dollar while industrial commodity prices also retreated amid reservations over Chinese credit conditions.

In this context, the Pound Sterling (GBP) and Australian Dollar (AUD) both struggled for support against the US dollar in Asia trading on Monday.

The GBPAUD exchange rate initially dipped to near 1.7980 before a rally to above 1.8000 as the Pound stabilised

GBP/AUD Exchange Rate Struggles to Recover after Week of Pound Losses

While concerns about coronavirus vaccination rollout it both currencies, the British Pound to Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate ultimately tumbled last week. Investors sold the Pound from its best levels en masse due to a combination of profit taking and concerns about Britains vaccine rollout. Looking ahead, major UK growth data and Australian job market stats are due in te coming week, and these as well as coronavirus developments could influence the pair.

After opening last week at the level of 1.8173, GBP/AUD spent most of the week plunging as investors sold the Pound.

GBP/AUD quickly shed a considerable two cents, and towards the end of the week touched on a fortnight low of 1.7936.

Before markets closed for the week, GBP/AUD was trending in the region of 1.7970.

GBP/AUD recoiled after hitting a high of 1.8257 last week, which was the best level for the pair all year so far.

For most of the week, the biggest cause of Pound to Australian Dollar exchange rate movement was broad losses in the Pound. Investors sold Sterling across the board and the currency experienced sharp losses, as markets took profit from months of strong performance.

Sterling had hit highs against many major rivals. As it was increasingly seen as overbought, it recoiled and investors profited from its highest levels in months.

Part of the Pounds selloff was also due to concerns that Britains coronavirus vaccine rollout was slowing. As other nations are accelerating vaccines while the UK expresses concern about the AstraZeneca vaccine, Sterlings recent shine has faded.

According to Marsall Gittler, Head of Investment Research at BDSwiss:

It looks like perhaps people are getting more optimistic about the rollout of a vaccine in the EU and less optimistic about the comparable move in the UK.

The Australian Dollar was able to capitalise on the Pounds weakness thanks to a rise in market demand for risk and trade-correlated currencies.

The Federal Reserve continued to take a dovish stance on US monetary policy. This made markets more eager to take risks, and the Australian Dollar surged as a result.

As a result of this market sentiment, Aussie investors largely brushed over Australias own vaccine concerns. Similar concerns about the AstraZeneca vaccine have weighed on Australias vaccine rollout as well.

British Pound Outlook: UK Growth Report and More Reopening Expected

Next weeks UK economic calendar will be a little busier. As markets are likely to calm from the past weeks sharp Pound selloff, Sterling may be more influenced by UK news and coronavirus developments again.

Tuesday will see the publication of a slew of key UK ecostats from February.

This will include trade balance, production, construction output and of course growth rate results.

If Britains February growth rate prints better than expected, it could boost hopes for Britains economic resilience and potential to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Next week is also expected to see Britain continue to gradually reopen from its third lockdown. More shops and bars are expected to reopen, which could boost Sterling sentiment.

Any surprising developments in Britains coronavirus or vaccine situation will likely continue to be influential for the Pound as well.

GBP/AUD Exchange Rate Forecast

The Australian Dollar may be in for continued strength in the coming week, especially if Australian data continues to impress.

Data due for publication in the coming week includes new home sales data and business confidence stats on Tuesday.

However the biggest data of the week will likely be Australias job market report, due next Thursday. Australias job market is a key indicator of Australian economic health, so this data could influence AUD if it surprises investors.

As a risk-correlated currency, the Australian Dollar is positioned to keep benefitting from rising market sentiment.

Still, some analysts believe that concerns over Australias vaccine rollout could weigh on AUD more soon. According to Jeffrey Halley, Senior Market Analyst at OANDA:

Although the vaccination programme was running slowly anyway, that will complicate Australia's rollout timetable even more, Delayed full re-opening of borders equals a negative for Australia.

Overall, with key data and coronavirus developments expected in the coming week, there is plenty for Pound to Australian Dollar exchange rate investors to react to.
4 things to know about the border crisis

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

Nearly three months into President Joe Biden's first term in office, the southern border continues to experience a surge of migrants seeking entry into the United States as his administration works to undo his predecessor's policies meant to curb illegal immigration.

After taking office, Biden rescinded the national emergency at the border declared by former President Donald Trump, reversed the Migrant Protection Protocol requiring asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their claims were adjudicated, and halted construction of the border wall. These decisions resulted in the massive increase of encounters between border enforcement officials and illegal immigrants, reaching 101,028 in February 2021 and 172,331 in March.

By contrast, in the first four months of fiscal year 2021, the number of encounters hovered between 71,945 and 78,444. In February and March of 2020, the number of encounters was 36,687 and 34,460.

As the border crisis has become what some politicians have described as a humanitarian catastrophe  due to massive overcrowding and alleged abuse at detention facilities  here are four things you need to know about the issue, including the Biden administration's plans to restart construction on parts of the border wall and reports that terrorists have used the crisis as an opportunity to enter the country.




When schools around the U.S. closed starting in March 2020 because of COVID-19 restrictions, more American students than usual received low grades.

Now, many people are wondering: How will colleges and universities consider promising students who had trouble in school?

Information gathered by the Reuters news agency shows that the number of very low grades increased by two or three times in some places. School closures and the move to internet classes affected all grade levels in U.S. schools.

Reuters looked at schools in big cities like Chicago, and in smaller places like Carlsbad, California. Schools in all areas were affected by the move to teaching by video, or distance learning. But communities where people are poor and most students are minorities appeared to be affected the most.

Fairfax County, Virginia, is a large school system outside of Washington, D.C. A report showed that the largest increase in failing grades in Fairfax came from students who did not grow up speaking English and those with learning problems.



Grades drop compared to a year earlier

In Carlsbad, the number of Fs, the lowest grade possible, increased three times in the first half of the current school year compared to the same time the year before.

In the school system that includes Las Vegas, Nevada, 13 percent of all grades were Fs, compared to six percent the year before.

Many states offer tests to understand the progress of their students. The same test is given to every student in each grade. The results of those tests in North Carolina have not been good. More than half of the students who took exams in math and biology received a rating of not proficient.

The math examination given to students in 9th grade resulted in 66.4 percent of students getting the not proficient rating. A year ago 48.2 percent received that rating.

Jonathan Plucker is a professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education. He said it may take two years to make up the gap in learning.

If we dont find ways to help them start to catch up, these gaps are going to get bigger, he said.

How will colleges rate students?

Many school systems around the U.S. are expecting to receive increased money from the federal government in the coming years. Some of the money will pay for internet learning, after-school and summer programs. Schools hope that students will go back to classes in person, get extra help and improve their grades.

But what about those students who will be applying to college this year or next?

Older high school students, like those who will be graduating in 2022, may no longer have grades colleges will like. Some high schools even changed the way they give grades. Classes where the best students once received an A grade have changed to what is known as pass/fail. This hurts students who did well in those classes because they cannot show colleges a good letter grade at the end of the term.

Some strong universities in the U.S. also decided they would not require students to take the SAT, ACT or Advanced Placement tests. Many group tests were canceled when the coronavirus restrictions barred large events.

Those schools are now considered test-optional. Some of them include universities like New York University, Colgate University and Harvard University.

So how can a college evaluate a student without traditional grades and test scores?



Standards and expectations

Eric Hoover writes about college admissions for The Chronicle of Higher Education. He said universities are getting used to the idea of making adjustments and allowances for the many things that are missing from students high school transcripts.

In addition, he said, top colleges have had to loosen all kinds of rules and standards and expectations this year.

That is because qualified students could not show records that had letter grades for every class.

About a year ago, a project organized by the Harvard Graduate School of Education helped the heads of admissions from 300 colleges and universities say what they care about in this time of crisis. It was called Making Caring Common.

The document says students should be sure to let the admissions office know about the problems they faced during the pandemic. Universities said they understand that many after-school activities were canceled. They also know that students may have had to take a job or help care for a sick family member.

Some of the schools that signed on to this document were American University, Caltech, Hamilton College, Johns Hopkins, The University of Chicago and the University of North Carolina.

Lasting effects

Hoover and others at the Chronicle of Higher Education spent a lot of time writing about the way admissions officers thought about students who would be graduating early in the pandemic. Those students have now been accepted to college. Now, universities are considering the next group of students. He said they will be affected by the pandemics long tail.

So, students might feel like they have to make up for lost time when they finally get back to in-person learning, either this spring or in the fall, but I think colleges are not expecting students to leap over the moon.

When VOA contacted a number of universities to discuss how they will consider future students grades, they chose not to answer.

Even with the problems of the last year, Hoover said colleges want to see that students found a way to take on difficult projects. Also, he said, they should not give up on getting good grades. That is because colleges may be test optional, but no ones going grade optional.

Without a lot of normal activities like sports, theater and music, colleges are making decisions about students based on how seriously they take their studies.

Colleges are often impressed with students, who in addition to getting great grades, particularly in the subjects that they plan to study in college and major in, but also take those interests outside the classroom, right? Into their community, into other kinds of contexts.

The pandemic may have caused colleges to change how they judge students. But they still want students who take learning seriously and will do well in the university setting.

Im Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. Reuters and the Associated Press contributed material. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

Has the pandemic affected your grades? What are you doing about it? Tell us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page.

Quiz - How Will Colleges Evaluate Students during the Pandemic? Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

proficient adj. skilled or good at doing something

gap n. a difference between two people, groups or kinds of things

optional adj. available by choice but not required

adjustment n. a small change that improves or makes something work better

allowance n. the act of thinking about or including something when you make a plan

transcript n. an official record of a students grades

standards n. (often pl.) a level of quality or requirements that are considered acceptable or desirable

leap v. to jump

particularly adv. more than usual; especially

context n. the situation in which something happens; the group of conditions that exist where and when something happens
The modern American gun debate began on May 2, 1967, when 30 protesting members of the Black Panther Party marched into the California Capitol with loaded handguns, shotguns and rifles.As photos of gun-toting radicals from Oakland hit front pages across the country, many Americans were shocked to see who was embracing the Second Amendment. In California, as in most states at the time, there were few restrictions on carrying loaded weapons in public.That soon changed. The Panthers efforts to police the police already had led Republican Assemblyman Don Mulford to propose legislation to ban the open carry of loaded firearms within California cities and towns. After the Panthers showed up in the Capitol, his bill sailed through and was signed by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan. (Yes, that Reagan). Its hard to say which now seems more unlikely: that two dozen revolutionaries could legally stroll into the state Assembly chamber with semi-automatic rifles, or that a Republican governor would champion stricter gun control. In the years since, Californias progressive politicians have layered on restrictions while gun owners and manufacturers continue to try to find their way out of them.The battle continues. Gov. Gavin Newsom denounced a gun lobby willing to sacrifice the lives of our children to line their pockets. A National Rifle Association spokesman predicts the Trump-altered Supreme Court means winter may very well be coming for gun laws in California. And after a long hiatus during the pandemic, back-to-back mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado offered a stark reminder of what normal looks like and reignited a new round of a very old national debate.In California, that political fight is playing out through the legal system. A 2016 ballot measure championed by Newsom required background checks to purchase ammunition. That and another provision of the measure banning high-capacity magazines have both stalled after a federal district court judge declared them unconstitutional. Both rulings are being appealed. So while the governor and the Democratic Legislature try to add new restrictions, gun advocates are going to court to overturn existing ones.
Sundiata Cha-Jua is a professor of African American studies and history at the University of Illinois and a member of the North End Breakfast Club. His email is

schajua@gmail.com.
ADVERTISEMENT

Nigeria on Saturday recorded 84 new COVID-19 infections and a single fatality from the disease, according to health authorities.

With one death on Saturday, the total deaths from the disease in the country rose to 2,060.

This is according to an update published by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Saturday night.

Infections

The 83 new infections from 13 states are slightly higher than the 71 cases reported a day earlier.

The new figure raised the total number of infections in the West African nation to 163, 736.

In the past one week, there has been a further decline in new cases as daily infections have fallen below 200. Daily infections averaged over 1,000 between December 2020 and February 2021, during the peak of the pandemic.

Specifics

The 84 new cases were reported from 13 states  Lagos (26), Akwa Ibom (16), Rivers (10), Ebonyi (9), Abia (6), Kano (6), Osun (3), Bauchi (2), Delta (2), Edo (1), Jigawa (1), Kaduna (1), and Ogun (1).

Again, Lagos led on Saturday with 26 new cases to extend its lead as the most impacted by COVID-19 in the country.

Nearly 58,000 infections have been recorded in Lagos, about one third of the countrys total. One-quarter of the total deaths from the disease were reported from the commercial city.

Since the pandemic broke out in Nigeria in February last year, the country has carried out over 1.8 million tests.

More than two-thirds of the over 163,000 people infected by COVID-19 in Nigeria have recovered after treatment.

According to the NCDC, over 154,098 patients have recovered after treatment.

Meanwhile, nearly 8,000 infections are still active in the country.
A protest near the Virginia Beach Oceanfront turned tense Saturday when marchers refused police orders to get off the street and move to the sidewalk.

About five members of the group were handcuffed and received a summons after they ignored repeated warnings.

We respect your right to peacefully assemble, one officer with a bullhorn said to the group of about 20 people. But you are in violation of state code. Please move to the sidewalk.

After the summonses were issued, those taken into custody were released. The demonstrators then continued their march on the sidewalk as they headed toward the police departments Second Precinct on Virginia Beach Boulevard.

Saturdays event was held to protest the shooting of Donovon Lynch, a 25-year-old man who was killed two weeks ago by a Virginia Beach police officer.

Angie Day, the organizer of Saturdays event, said the group wants the officer to be held accountable and for a federal investigation to be conducted of the incident.

Police have said Lynch was brandishing a handgun, but his family and friends say the gun was in his pocket and he hadnt threatened anyone. The officer was wearing a body camera, but hadnt activated it, according to police.

Saturdays protest began about 4 p.m., at the intersection of 20th Street and Pacific Avenue, near where Lynch was killed. Carrying signs and chanting, the group walked on Pacific Avenue and then turned onto Virginia Beach Boulevard toward the precinct.

Shortly after they turned, about a half-dozen officers on bikes rode up and blocked the street. Several more arrived shortly afterward. Many of the protesters began shouting at the officers, and stood their ground as a handful of cars waited for the area to be cleared.

Those who were taken into custody were told they were being charged with a Class 3 misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to a $500 fine.

Jane Harper, 757-222-5097, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
Sinopharm vaccine given to Chinese, bypassing Lot Release certificate By Kumudini Hettiarachchi View(s): View(s):

The Chinese Sinopharm vaccine against COVID-19 is being administered to Chinese workers in the country without the mandatory Lot Release certificate, a requirement for all vaccines, the Sunday Times understands.

These Chinese citizens work largely on development project sites in Colombo, Puttalam, Kandy and Hambantota. They were inoculated with the vaccine this week.

The vaccine programme comes in the backdrop of the sacking of many board members of the NMRA (National Medicines Regulatory Authority) who refused to authorise the use of the vaccine in Sri Lanka for emergency-use.

Lot Release is the process of evaluating each individual lot of a licensed product before the granting of approval for its release into the market, it is learnt.

The usual practice involves the review of a manufacturers production data and quality control test results (product summary protocol) by the countrys regulator, the NMRA and the National Control Laboratory (NCL) of the Medical Research Institute (MRI).

The Sunday Times learns that the Lot Release cannot be issued for the Sinopharm vaccine because it does not have eligibility under the minimum requirements set by law in an emergency situation. The Sinopharm vaccine has no registration from the NMRA, neither does it have emergency-use listing (EUL) by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The vial labelling and product information are in Chinese and not in English and the labelling does not match the artwork given with the dossier submitted to the NMRA.

The matter has been brought to the notice of the Chief Epidemiologist, it is understood, but attempts to contact him failed.

At a media briefing on Thursday, several high level health officials assured that the Sinopharm vaccine would not be administered to Sri Lankans until the WHO granted this vaccine EUL and local experts gave the nod after receiving the data on safety and efficacy.

According to the WHO, the Lot Release certificate  after review of a summary protocol and access to a laboratory  is essential for a national drug regulator to assure the quality of a vaccine.

The scientific process of Lot Release is mandated by law for all vaccines in Sri Lanka. They include Gazette No. 2149/25 issued on November 14, 2019 (Gazetted regulations for Vaccine Lot Release in Sri Lanka) and the NMRA Act.

Lot Release is also a mechanism that provides the national drug regulator with a real-time system to continuously monitor product quality on document review, it is learnt.

Earlier, the NMRA, in a much-criticised move, granted a waiver of registration for the importation of a donation of 600,000 doses of Sinopharm after the original members were removed from the Board and then Chairman Dr. Asita de Silva resigned.

The last Board Member to be shown the door was the nominee of the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians (SLCP), Dr. LakKumar Fernando who told the Sunday Times that he only asked for safety and efficacy data of Phase 3 clinical trials as he did not want a bad precedent set in the country. He also did not want the people to be used as guinea pigs.

The SLCP has urged the Health Minister to revoke the sacking, while seeking an urgent meeting her.
The first world is ruled by ideas, by knowledge. Africa is ruled by religion. Nigeria, the giant of the continent, is the biggest exponent of the African predilection. The majority of Africans are almost evenly divided between Christianity and Islam. Many of them combine the practice of their traditional belief with the practice of Abrahamic religions. So, although, officially, many people identify themselves as Christians or Muslims, they manage to adapt indigenous African religious concepts and belief systems to domesticate the foreign religion

In many societies, it is still not politically correct to identify oneself as an adherent of traditional religion because the indigenous belief system has been so misrepresented and demonised by colonialists who used religion to control the minds of their subjects.

Europeans used religion as a tool of domination. They still do. Both religion and commerce are eternally intertwined in their consciousness. Religion is a handmaiden of virile commerce. Religion, in this instance, is the oil that lubricates the engine of capitalism. God wants his creatures to prosper and the only way they can prosper is to follow the precepts laid down in the bible or the koran.

Religion has been so entrenched that many African Christians think they are Jews (I wish they knew what the average true-blood Jew thinks of them). Similarly, the African Muslim, especially the Nigerian variant, thinks he is an Arab by extension. Some dont even have any native African name anymore. They have subsumed their cultural identity to the mores of the founder of the foreign faith.

The ruthlessness of American capitalism is honed by a Christian religious fervour second to none in all its opiate glory. Say what you will, it works for the Americans. They built a country that became bigger than their mother, Great Britain. They became the number one country in the world. Little Belgium came to Africa with the bible in one hand and the sword of elephantine greed on the other. While the Congolese acquired new French names, the Belgians carted away the mineral resources of the country. The bringer of the new religion became humongously prosperous while the recipients of the new faith became poorer and poorer.

Shall we then say that the God that prospered the Belgian is the same one that pauperised the Congolese? No! We should rather be interrogating the use to which each side put religion. Africa has made an industry out of religion  an industry that prospers only the acolytes around the altar of salvation.

See what the Emirati have made of their expanse of desert! The same Islam they profess is the same as that practiced by some of the most backward countries in Africa whose far-right brand of Islamic extremism is their call to fame. Some of the great mathematicians of yore were Arab. In addition to praying five times a day, they devoted their lives to knowledge, to research and development. By contrast, many Africans live for their religion, devoting more time to seeking the face of God than working for the development of their societies. But who is going to tell them that no matter how long a bicycle sleeps in a garage, it will never become a car!

Lawyer and political economist, Olu Fasan, answers the puzzle of why the same religion used by the first world to realise their capitalist aspirations becomes a millstone around the necks of Africans, stagnating them in poverty. Looking at the case of Nigeria, he says, To be sure, Nigeria is a deeply religious country, but its religiosity is shallow; it does not conform with biblical principles. What is more, it does not inspire the spirit of capitalism needed to generate wealth and prosperity and tackle poverty. Indeed, Nigerias religiosity erodes, rather than helps, prosperity!

If that sounds like a damning verdict, consider the facts:

Nigerias religiosity lacks the moral fervour and drive to engender a viable capitalistic economy and therefore prosperity.

Take the two elements of the spirit of capitalism: the accumulation of wealth and thrift. Nigeria is an oil-dependent mono-economy that has failed woefully to diversify. Once it discovered oil in the 1970s, it abandoned all other economic sectors, including agriculture. A capitalistic economy does not behave like that; it fires on all economic cylinders, not just one, to accumulate wealth.

What about thrift? Well, Nigeria is a profligate country; it hardly saves or invests but rather borrows and spends excessively and unproductively, with recurrent expenditure accounting for over 70 per cent of its annual budget.

All the successful Asian countries financed investment out of savings. Nigeria could easily have built the infrastructure for a strong economy with all the money it made from oil. But it squandered its huge oil money. That is not the behaviour of a capitalistic economy. At the individual level, Nigerians indulge in conspicuous consumption. A few years ago, there was an event in Kenya. All the prominent Nigerians who attended the event went in their private jets to the amazement and amusement of Kenyan journalists. Weber would argue that such behaviour is inconsistent with the spirit of capitalism and the Protestant values.

Then, what about work ethic? No country has ever developed without an efficient bureaucracy. The economic success of Singapore and China is partly associated with the quality of their civil service. But Nigeria has a broken and dysfunctional bureaucracy. For instance, the following are words used by Nigerias Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, in various press releases, to describe the countrys civil servants: habitual late coming, truancy, lukewarm and shoddy attitude to the discharge of duties and corrupt practices.

Yet Nigeria is a deeply religious country, where everyone wears their religion on their face. But the work ethic of the people is not consistent with the duty in calling associated with religion and the spirit of capitalism.

When Karl Max said religion was the opium of the masses, he could have been referring to Nigeria. In the run-up to 2023, Nigerian politicians have started using religion again. Rather than give account of their stewardship, theyre flinging religion into every discussion as if the constitution cares a hoot about what direction a president faces when he prays. We have so weaponised religion that we are now captives of the holy monster of our creation.

The world is not going to wait for us. In this same land, our forebears used to be kings, queens, men and women of noble character who had enough to satiate their needs. Had we simply copied and pasted the received foreign religions of the colonialists who interrupted our development, we probably would have been materially better. But we enthroned the Abrahamic religions of Christianity and Islam in place of hard work, knowledge, diligence and good old honesty.

Religion is not the problem. The use to which religion is put is the issue.

ADVERTISEMENT

Godless China is prospering while religious Nigeria, where every activity begins with a prayer, goes about with a begging bowl for loans and grants. Japan doesnt lace every discussion with God, Jesus or Allah, but it is one of the least corrupt nations on earth while our categorisation as a fantastically corrupt country is universally acknowledged.

Now, from the depressing to the ridiculous. De-branding Nigeria is gradually becoming a globally acceptable pastime. Or how else is one supposed to react to the improbable shipment of human penises from Nigeria to China.

A story titled, Chinese authorities seize over 7,200 human penises on a cargo ship from Nigeria has been making the rounds on social media. It states that Chinese customs officers made the worlds biggest seizure of human organs in history when a total of 7221 penises of African origin were found hidden in a refrigerated freight container. The organs were allegedly shipped from Lagos, Nigeria, but may have only transited through that country and could possibly originate from elsewhere in Africa.

That must be a cruel joke on our fake, poverty-romancing religiosity.
Dear compatriots who once voted for [PM] Nikol [Pashinyan], now that you are tearing throat, posting heartbreaking photos from Yerablur [Military Pantheon in Yerevan] on Facebook, or making angry posts about [opposition PAP leader] Gagik Tsarukyan's family event [his sons wedding], I remind you that it is about the same Tsarukyan who used to bring you water, with whom you used to greet and forming a coalition partnership, and now you are going hand in hand to "coalition [snap parliamentary] elections." Mikayel Minasyan, Armenias former Ambassador to the Vatican and son-in-law of ex-President Serzh Sargsyan, wrote this on Facebook.

"Let me also remind that the honorary guests of Tsarukyan's previous joy were your Nikolhis family. And both feasts, the splendor of which made you so upset, took place during his [Pashinyans] time.

And the [the ruling] My Step [bloc] nothings, who were going live, singing, dancing during the previous feast, as you can see, this time are keeping a stony silence because they were instructed not to make a noise and not to spoil the holiday, but to direct the wave of discontent to the opposition.

Dear oppositionists, why are you upset that the feast is being attributed to the [opposition] Homeland Salvation Movement? Isn't the PAP a member of the movement? Was he presenting the view of the movement when Tsarukyan was reaching an agreement with Nikol on going to the election with Nikol's prime ministership and the Electoral Code being unilaterally amended by Nikol? If not, why is he still part of it [the aforesaid movement]? But do not say that you did not imagine the consequences. ().

Dear parents of the captive, missing and fallen soldiers, only you have the right to speak (not only on this topic, but in general). But realize once and for all: since you are exercising your right to remain silent and apolitical, Gagik Tsarukyan is exercising his right to have a wedding and fireworks.

Dear society, as most of you have already forgotten that there was war, betrayal, defeat in Armenia, and the country is in disaster, do not expect anything else from the organizer of the wedding; they have the same right as you.

I repeat: the moment of sincerity has come in Armenia. Stop taking the people for a fool and youfor saints.

PS: It was a pity for the guys [who lost their lives in the recent war], "Minasyan added.
To the Editor:

Re What Has the Pro-Life Movement Actually Won?, by Ross Douthat (column, April 4):

The pro-life movement has failed to recognize a crucial fact: Abortion has always existed, even where laws ban it. No public censure, legislation or punishment, not even protection of the fetus under the 14th Amendment, would prevent all abortions.

But we do know how to reduce the number of abortions. Comprehensive and accurate sex education and easy access to contraception, including for teenagers, have been proved to reduce abortions. Many abortion opponents resist those programs.

According to Mr. Douthat, abortion opponents have begun to realize that their stance requires them to back policies that support pregnant women and the children they bear. This is a welcome change.

Even if those new policies were adopted, abortion is much too controversial and complex to be settled with a ban that would not actually eliminate the procedure. Instead, lets devote more resources to preventing unwanted pregnancies.
Let us know what you're seeing and hearing around the community.

Submit here
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 19:08:12|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

DUBLIN, April 11 (Xinhua) -- People arriving in Ireland from the United States and 15 other countries and regions will have to complete a 14-day mandatory quarantine at a government-designated facility starting from 4 a.m. (Irish time) on April 15, according to a latest decision of the Irish government.

The 16 countries and regions, which are deemed as high risk for COVID-19 transmission, include the United States, Canada and Bermuda in North America; France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Ukraine and Armenia in Europe; Pakistan, Bangladesh and Maldives in Asia; Kenya in Africa and Curacao in South America, according to a list published on the government website.

People coming from or through the above-listed areas must pre-book their accommodation at a government-designated hotel online and make the payment for their accommodation and food in advance, according to the relevant regulations.

The standard rate for an adult is 1,875 euros (about 2,230 U.S. dollars) for the quarantine period.

Those who refuse to be quarantined or leave the designated hotel for mandatory quarantine without authorization will face a fine of 2,000 euros, or a sentence of one-month imprisonment, or both.

People can leave the designated facility for mandatory quarantine if they are tested negative on the tenth day of their arrival in Ireland.

Diplomats, aircrew and maritime crew, among others, can be exempted from such a mandatory quarantine if they can meet the other public health requirements of Ireland.

Ireland started to implement a mandatory hotel quarantine regime on March 26. To date, a total of 75 countries and regions have been placed by the Irish government on a list which requires a mandatory quarantine for travelers coming from these areas.

The list, which is subject to change, can be found on various websites of the Irish authorities including the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The Irish Department of Health on Saturday night said that a total of 240,643 people had been infected with COVID-19 in Ireland and 4,783 of them had died from the virus.

As of April 8, a total of 1,018,264 people in the country had been partially or fully vaccinated against COVID-19, accounting for over 20 percent of Ireland's total population, according to the department.

Vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca are being used in Ireland with Johnson & Johnson's single-shot vaccine to be available here soon.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in an increasing number of countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 273 candidate vaccines are still being developed -- 87 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Friday. (1 euro = 1.19 U.S. dollars) Enditem
WE WENT to Newport for three days last week, two Minnesotans long married, to rediscover the fact that ocean air is delicious and invigorating and can even make you happy. That surely is why the Vanderbilts built their monstrous mansion on the shore: sinking into decadence in a fake palace w
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Apr, 2021 ) :Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi here on Sunday left for a two day visit to Germany on the invitation of the Foreign Minister of Germany Heiko Maas.

The Foreign Minister will have delegation-level talks with Foreign Minister Maas at the Federal Foreign Office.

During the visit from April 11 to 13, he will also call on the President of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Schauble and have interactions with other dignitaries.

In a statement, Qureshi said during the talks, the two sides would review the entire gamut of Pakistan-Germany relations and discuss ways and means to further deepen bilateral cooperation in diverse fields, including trade, investment, health, security and defence, education, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.

He said he will take the German leadership into confidence on the security environment in the region of South Asia particularly about the peace process in Afghanistan.

This year, Pakistan and Germany were celebrating the 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations. Both countries were planning to undertake a number of activities in this context.

Pakistan and Germany had been collaborating closely on regional matters and at the multilateral fora. Germany was the largest trading partner of Pakistan in the EU. Germany was also home to more than 100,000 Pakistani diaspora.

The Foreign Minister's visit to Germany was part of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries. This was the first visit of a Pakistani Foreign Minister to Germany after 2012. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas visited Pakistan in March 2019.
Federal COVID-19 relief funding will allow school districts to offer summer school, update buildings and provide additional mental health services.

After a year of unprecedented challenges, the $423 million allocated to districts in Northeast Pennsylvania gives educators a chance to make investments and a difference in the lives of students, leaders say.

Its been a difficult year for everyone, Scranton Superintendent Melissa McTiernan said. This is something that is exciting, and its going to benefit our kids. Its going to benefit our community. Its going to give us an opportunity to prioritize for our kids.

Through three separate bills, the federal government authorized the money, known as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funds.

Districts received the first funds, part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, in May. The $28.6 million allocated to the districts in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties allowed schools to distribute laptops to children for remote learning and buy cleaning supplies and protective equipment to help buildings reopen.

The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, enacted in December, will provide the districts with $132 million. The latest, through the American Rescue Plan, will give area districts $263 million. Of that, at least 20% must be spent on helping students overcome the learning losses of the last year.

We need to support the kids, Abington Heights Superintendent Michael Mahon, Ph.D., said. We recognize that ground has been lost.

Academic programs

Each district or charter school receives relief money using a formula proportional to what they receive in federal Title I funds. That means that schools whose students have the greatest need generally receive the most in funding.

Schools can use the rest of the funding for a wide range of activities, including food service, professional training, technology, sanitization and cleaning supplies, summer and after-school programs, mental health support and some building repairs, such as ventilation improvements. Funds must be used by September 2024.

All schools statewide closed from mid-March 2020, through the end of the 2019-20 school year. Some local districts reopened fully in the fall, but most stayed virtual or opened in a hybrid mode  a combination of in-person and remote learning  through at least the fall and winter.

Even districts that offered full in-person learning know students have struggled over the last year. Districts in Northeast Pennsylvania must spend at least $52.6 million of the American Rescue Plan funds on helping students regain what theyve lost.

Many districts plan tutoring programs and summer school, which wont be mandatory, but will be free for students. Plans should be announced in the next month or two.

At North Pocono, the district plans to offer a five- to six-week program this summer for all students.

We want to open it up to everyone, no matter what level youre at, Superintendent Bryan McGraw said. This additional funding, I think, will close some of the achievement gaps we have.

The Western Wayne School District plans to start an after-school program for struggling students and offer a mid-to-late summer program to help bring students up to grade level.

The funds are tremendous help and very much needed, Superintendent Matthew Barrett, Ed.D., said. Our tax base can only cover so much.

Long-term investments

With the first round of COVID-19 relief funding, districts focused on immediate needs, such as laptops for remote learning. The districts had always planned to increase the amount of technology available to students, and the pandemic quickly necessitated it. The funds made purchasing the equipment possible. Districts also spent money on cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment, such as masks and face shields. The Carbondale Area School District also hired a service to provide extra cleaning during the day, such as high-touch areas and bathrooms, Superintendent Holly Sayre said.

Money from the second and third rounds of funds will allow the districts to make greater investments. Superintendents said they will be careful not to spend the funds on recurring expenses they cannot afford after the money is spent.

This is a one-time infusion of funds. Its a really big opportunity for the district, Mid Valley Superintendent Patrick Sheehan said. We have to really be cautious and strategic in how we approach the use of funds.

Many districts have formed committees and hold regular meetings to determine the best use of funds.

The Scranton School District could use some of its $57 million to upgrade building ventilation systems, update curriculum and start a cyber program for elementary students. Officials plan to unveil a plan near the end of April.

While the one-time funds will not help the district leave financial recovery, the funds present a unique opportunity to make improvements.

Its what kids need and what kids deserve, McTiernan said.
Police in the north-central province of Quang Tri have arrested a tractor-trailer driver for causing a hit-and-run that killed two people on a motorbike on Saturday afternoon.

The traffic police division under the provincial Department of Public Security confirmed on Saturday evening they had apprehended D.V.N., 42, to facilitate an investigation.

Preliminary information showed that the crash occurred along a section of National Highway No. 9 in Huong Hiep Commune, Dakrong District at 3:45 pm.

T.H.T.V., 22, and N.T.Q.N., 20, were traveling on a motorbike when they was hit by a tractor-trailer driven by N..

The two people on the motorcycle were killed on the spot, while N. continued to driver away and headed to Dong Ha City in Quang Tri Province.

After the incident was reported, local authorities promptly mobilized multiple police officers to track down the hit-and-run driver.

The tractor-trailer was pulled over about 35 kilometers away from the crash site.

N. was then escorted to the police station.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Then there was the Lip of it all. His character has had so many ups and downs over the years, and in the episodes leading up to the finale, things were on the downswing. His attempt to sell stolen bikes went south, with the cops coming to his house; he had to hide and then dispose of an infamous painting Frank stole; he lost out on a deal to sell the house to a developer, and he reintroduced alcohol into his life, even if he didnt slide down the slippery slope he did years prior. In the finale episode he fumbled through delivering food while chewing on his own problems, namely that he may be a father again. (The series failed to resolve whether Tami, played by Kate Miner, truly was pregnant, let alone what they would choose to do if she was.) Arguably, things were looking a bit brighter when an old friend from the neighborhood expressed interest in buying the vacant lot next to the Gallagher house and Lip asked him how much he had for his house, too. The answer was only $75,000 (a far cry from the $200,000 he could have received from the developer), but Ian offered to give Lip his share if the deal closed.
Officials of the Customs and Excise department jointly raided 'rave' parties held in some star hotels in the city and arrested four people in this connection.



Drugs including MDMA (an illegal drug that has stimulant effects), cocaine and ganja in small quantities and apparatus used for smoking weed were seized during the raids carried out in four hotels on Saturday night, officials said on Sunday.



Four people, all youngsters and professionals were arrested under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, they said.



However, the kingpin of the rave parties, a foreign national, has managed to escape.



"We are looking for him. Operation is still going on", a top official told PTI.



The raids were carried out with the help of sniffer dogs following tip off that underground rave parties were being organised at the hotels.



Customs (Preventive) Commissioner Sumit Kumar the customs had been conducting similar operations in coordination with the state Excise Department for the past few years to send a "message" to those who organise such parties and the youngsters who are their potential targets.



Intelligence inputs suggested that major cities in Kerala, particularly Kochi, are emerging as "good markets" for certain foreigners to sell "drugs" by organising underground parties at hotels and resorts.



Kumar said certain foreigners based in Goa are moving to Kerala for doing illegal business through such parties.



He warned that the southern state will become a hub of 'rave' parties through which the sale of drugs are done, if this scenario continues.



According to officials, the state is slowly becoming a hub of drug mafia because of its vast international connections.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
You have to wonder if Statehouse debate on Ohios pending state budget  for the two years beginning July 1  will produce a Spring Surprise.

Any officeholder, including Gov. Mike DeWine and General Assembly incumbents, would rather say yes than no at budget time, especially when she or he will be seeking re-election in 2022. And it looks like Ohios gravy boat is running over.

At the moment, the bad news is still bad: The General Assembly still  after 24 years and counting  hasnt fixed school funding. And it still hasnt fully repealed House Bill 6, which continues to force Ohios electricity consumers to subsidize two coal-burning power plants (one, in Indiana).

Incidentally, Columbus-based American Electric Power Co. and Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. paid no federal corporate income taxes in their most recent fiscal year, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington think tank. So thats why the legislature wanted ratepayers to bail out two nuclear plants  and still wants ratepayers to subsidize the two coal plants. Funny: Its a handout on the rare occasions when the General Assembly tries to help Ohios poor, but economic development when the General Assembly jumps through hoops to benefit banks, insurance companies and utilities.

Ohios state finances are in more-than-decent shape. For the seven months ending Feb. 28  latest data available at deadline  state tax receipts were $1.3 billion, or 8.3 percent more than during the comparable 2019-2020 period. And total revenue, including federal grants, was $2.3 billion, or 10.1 percent more, than the comparable 2019-2020 period  amid the worst pandemic in more than 100 years.

Meanwhile, fiscal year-to-date spending from the General Revenue Fund, Ohios checking account, was nearly flat. It rose only 0.4 percent compared to last years same seven-month period. Yet for 12 months through February, the Consumer Price Index, all items, increased 1.7 percent before seasonal adjustment, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

So, Ohios piggy bank has fattened under DeWine. That may seem paradoxical, given COVID-19. But as a very shrewd bystander recently said, voters may forget DeWine furloughed about 16,000 non-union state employees last year for 10 workdays  the equivalent of a 3.8 percent pay cut, cleveland.coms Andrew Tobias reported. Earlier, DeWine cut state agencies spending.

Then theres this: All the extra cash sluicing into the states cash drawer this fiscal year? That doesnt include even 1 cent of Ohios rainy day savings account, which totals almost $2.7 billion and remains untouched. Wait, theres more: The American Rescue Plan Act, signed March 11 by President Biden, should ship $5 billion-plus to Ohios state government cashbox.

There are pluses and minuses to having a pile of spending money. As noted, politicians everywhere would rather say yes than no. But a governors toughest financial duty, and maybe the most critical, is to say no to a legislator who thinks Ohio taxpayers should fund, say, a new horseshoe pit in West Jerkwater (including a bronze plaque ballyhooing that hometown legislators name).

Typically, legislative brainstorms are much pricier than that, or start out, like Ohios charter schools, as pilot projects that balloon in successive budgets into must-fund entitlements.

In that connection, a minor Statehouse mystery of the last six months or so is the sudden scuttling, by the Senate, of a school funding plan that looked as if it might actually comply with the 1997 Ohio Supreme Court school funding order. The House passed it, the Senate didnt, and the 2019-2020 session ended on Dec. 31, killing all pending measures.

You have to wonder if in the back of some sly Statehouse minds was a hunch that, pandemic or not, there might be extra cash pouring into the states checking account when  complete coincidence!  DeWine and the General Assembly would be crafting a two-year budget whose spending (another darn coincidence!) would kick in during Campaign 22.

And if perchance that spending could be packaged as getting Ohios public schools closer to school-funding Nirvana? And if  also  General Assembly incumbents will be running in redrawn districts? The pending budget, funded with help from the state revenue bump Mike DeWine has banked in Ohios treasury, might just script another GOP sweep of Ohios Statehouse in November 2022.

Thomas Suddes, a member of the editorial board, writes from Athens.

To reach Thomas Suddes: tsuddes@cleveland.com, 216-408-9474

Have something to say about this topic?

* Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication.

* Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this opinion column to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com.
McAuley Place, located in the center of Naas town, is a residential development of 53 self-contained apartments, dedicated to older people living independently and with engagement in their local community.

Located on the grounds of the former Convent of Mercy, and opened in 2011, McAuley Place also hosts an arts and culture centre, and cafe.

At the end of March last year, the Government advised people over 70 years of age to cocoon within their own homes due to the risk of contracting Covid-19.

Mark Hazzard, general manager of McAuley Place said: Once we were locked down in March, there was a sense of panic in the world and there was no clear directive on what we should or shouldnt do.

McAuley Place is focused on independent living for its residents. However, as residents began to cocoon, McAuley Place staff onsite stepped in to assist.

I believe our staff would be deemed to be frontline in a facility with elderly people living in it.

At the beginning of April (last year) there was just three staff on site, and a resident volunteer, Mary Deegan, who manned the front desk from March until July  and this has more or less been the case since then, said Mr Hazzard.

We offered to make a hot dinner daily for residents at a minimum cost of 5, which quite a few of them were delighted with.

We also did shopping for them and collected medication from chemists. Thankfully Naas First Responders then offered to do the shopping for our residents and delivered it to them, which was a great help to all of us.

We also arranged that McAuley Place volunteers would contact residents on a daily basis, to see if they were OK and if they needed anything. The volunteers would then contact me to flag any concerns, added Mr Hazzard.

From April of last year, McAuley Place also supported local artists by requesting them to perform in the car park of St Marys College to entertain the communitys residents from the safety of their balconies.

McAuley Place, Naas

We had 35 artists that played over the course of April to July. Renowned soprano Celine Byrne was one of the artists to entertain the residents, which was a wonderful treat for them. said Mr Hazzard.

The Covid-19 restrictions also prevented family members from visiting the residents, so McAuley Place set up a live video stream of the events on Facebook, allowing relatives to connect with each other.

That was the only time, for a number of months, that families were actually getting to see their parents and grandparents, said Mr Hazzard.

Many of the residents decided to stay at McAuley Place over Christmas. The Christmas With Friends voluntary group from Newbridge, which has a long-standing tradition of providing festive meals for the elderly and those in need, arranged Christmas dinner for 10 of the residents.

The residents committee of McAuley Place kindly arranged a large hamper for every resident and it was delivered to everybodys front door before Christmas, added Mr Hazzard.

There was a lot of camaraderie among the residents which really helped. Christmas was tough for them, but it could have been a lot tougher.

Closed tea rooms

The Convent Tea Rooms is a main source of revenue for McAuley Place and it has also been impacted and closed for the majority of the pandemic due to Covid-19 restrictions.

We had to diversify our business, like most organisations, said Mr Hazzard.

Firstly we came up with nationwide distribution of our Cakes by Anna products and are also supplying ten cafes in Kildare, which is all working very well.

Our Tea Rooms manager, Anna Burke, is a fantastic pastry chef and all her products are being very well received by all that order them.

McAuley Place is still closed to the public, but through the support of the community of Naas, volunteers from Naas First Responders, Naas GAA, St Marys College, volunteers associated with McAuley Place and Naas Community Garda Gary Cogan it has been able to survive and strive against Covid-19.

From March 2020 to the present day, weve had one resident that has contracted the virus and has fully recovered, thank God, noted Mr Hazzard. The future is looking positive for McAuley Place.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 18:25:37|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A man receives a shot of COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Prayagraj, India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh, on April 10, 2021. India is witnessing a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. The federal health ministry on Saturday morning said 145,384 new COVID-19 cases and 794 related deaths were registered in the past 24 hours across the country. (Str/Xinhua)

NEW DELHI, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Chief Minister of the northern Indian state of Punjab Amarinder Singh Saturday said they have only five days of COVID-19 vaccine doses left with them.

Singh has written a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and federal health minister Harsh Vardhan about the shortage urging them to replenish the stocks.

Singh said if the state reaches its target of 200,000 shots per day, then it will be left with only three days supply.

Punjab is the latest state to flag the issue of COVID-19 vaccine shortage amid a deadly second wave of the pandemic in the country.

Chief Minister of adjacent Rajasthan state Ashok Gehlot has issued a similar warning to the federal government seeking vaccine supplies.

"The present stock of vaccines in Rajasthan (which has reported high vaccination rates) will finish in the next two days," Gehlot has written to the federal government. "It is requested that at least another 30 lakh (3 million) doses be provided."

Jharkhand too has warned of vaccine stocks running low.

The issue of shortage has also been flagged by Maharashtra, where reports said over 100 vaccination centres have been shut.

India is witnessing a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. The federal health ministry on Saturday morning said 145,384 new COVID-19 cases and 794 related deaths were registered in the past 24 hours across the country.

So far, this is the highest single-day spike since the start of the pandemic in the country. Enditem
At the beginning of March, the first of two F-15EX s was deployed at the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, where it will begin a series of combined developmental and operational tests. If you are living in the Gulf of Mexico or Florida region, you might have already seen the thing buzzing overhead, accompanied by older F-15s.Naturally, the new winged war machine, now officially called Eagle II, is described as the most advanced to date, coming with increased payload capacity, electronic flight controls, and an overhauled cockpit and mission systems  this last bit courtesy of something called ADCP-II, described as the world's fastest mission computer.It will be equipped with BAE Systems Eagle Passive Active Warning and Survivability System, a range of sensors that provide the pilot with radar warning, situational awareness, geolocation, and a number of self-protection capabilities.The plane already being tested, named EX1, wears the marks of the 96th Test Wing, 40th Flight Test Squadron, while the EX2 which should arrive by the end of this month will be marked with the symbols of the 53rd Wings 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron.Were very proud to be part of the next evolution of this historic aircraft. I look forward to seeing this unique test collaboration prepare the F-15EX for the warfighter, said in a statement Brig. Gen. Scott Cain, 96th Test Wing commander.In a bid to honor the milestone achieved in March, Boeing released last week two videos showing both the arrival of the airplane at Eglin, and a short montage showing the people who worked on making it a reality. You can watch them both below.
Berlin, April 11 : The coronavirus situation in Germany remains "very, very serious" according the country's Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control, which recorded high infection numbers on Sunday.

Within 24 hours, the RKI reported 17,855 new infections and 104 deaths. On Sundays figures tend to be slightly lower due to less testing on the weekend. But one week ago, the RKI reported 12,196 cases and 68 deaths, showing cases are rising.

The so-called incidence rate of infections per 100,000 people in seven days rose to 129.2 from 127 one week ago, the RKI said, DPA news agency reported.

According to data from 70 hospitals around the country, more and more young people were being hospitalised with respiratory infections and intensive care units were rapidly filling up.

With infection numbers high and the vaccine rollout in Germany achieving only limited coverage so far, the organisers of popular fairs and festivals have said that such large-scale events will not be able to take place until herd immunity is achieved.

"Working with rapid tests, when you have large crowds such as the Kranger fair, we won't have that," Albert Ritter, president of the German fairground people's guild, told dpa.

Meanwhile, Labour Minister Hubertus Heil announced plans to introduce free rapid coronavirus tests in all workplaces.

"Everyone has to do their part, also the world of work. To protect those who cannot work from home, we need comprehensive tests in businesses," Heil told newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

At present, only 61 per cent of businesses offer free coronavirus tests to their employees. The proposal, to be discussed by cabinet on Tuesday, would make it mandatory for employers to test their workers.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Oregon started out, back in 1973, with a strong public records law.

The law essentially says that any writing that contains information relating to the conduct of the publics business should be accessible to any person, unless specifically exempted from disclosure.

Over the years, however, many exemptions have been added to the law -- there are more than 600 at last count. And, worse, many secrecy provisions are written into other statutes.

Right now, legislators have an opportunity to make government more transparent during a pandemic. Legislators are considering changes to a statute that requires the state to keep confidential any information obtained during a public health investigation.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, journalists have repeatedly found this statute a barrier to fully informing the public.

For instance, The Oregonian/OregonLive requested coronavirus cases by ZIP code, in order to inform the public where outbreaks were occurring.

At first, we were told no, but then the state relented after we shared examples of other states releasing the data.

The state also cited the law in refusing to disclose, by county, the number of people infected with COVID-19 by race and ethnicity.

In another case, Brad Schmidt, who has led much of the newsrooms coronavirus coverage for the past year, was analyzing a chart released by the state. He requested the data the chart was based on but was denied.

I do understand the original thinking behind the law. No one wants details of his or her illness, whether food poisoning or a sexually transmitted disease, to be made public.

In fact, Senate Bill 719 would protect individuals privacy. But it would allow aggregated, anonymized statistics to be disclosed.

To be fair, the Oregon Health Authority has a robust dashboard of data about COVID-19. But the agency has also repeatedly chosen to withhold information.

In some cases, it reversed course. Most recently, The Oregonian/OregonLive requested information about so-called breakthrough cases, coronavirus illnesses in people who already had been fully vaccinated. The state at first denied our request but has since released the number.

Other states, and even some Oregon counties, do release information on those cases, which could provide important context about the role of virus variants.

The COVID Tracking Project, led by The Atlantic and powered largely by volunteers, amassed a years worth of publicly available data. The project rated Oregon poorly in some areas. Oregon did not, for instance: provide a breakdown of confirmed vs. probable coronavirus cases, regularly provide total tests in terms of unique people tested, report race or ethnicity data for tests. Regarding long-term care facilities, the state does not break out staff vs. resident cases, neither by facility nor statewide.

Legislators should look to the solid track record of Schmidts reporting team during this pandemic and amend the law to allow health investigators to release the data.

Absent a reason not to do it, we should be doing it, Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, told reporter Fedor Zarkhin. Dembrow sponsored the bill with Rep. Karin Power, D-Milwaukie.

The Legislature is also considering two other laws with transparency implications. One proposal, according to the summary, prohibits law enforcement agency from releasing booking photo except in specified circumstances.

Booking photos, commonly called mugshots, have been basic public records for decades. This proposed law would allow release to the public only if the law enforcement agency determines that there is a law enforcement purpose for the release, including asking for help finding a fugitive or suspects.

Its been my experience that whenever a public body is given discretion over release of information far less information ultimately gets released. In other words, the default becomes a denial.

The Oregonian/OregonLive no longer routinely publishes mugshots of crime suspects but I strongly believe they should remain public records. A mugshot tells you much more than a name. The photo might inform you of the arrest of someone youve seen in your neighborhood or at the grocery store. Police may not suspect additional victims, but additional victims are more likely to speak up if they see the person who victimized them has been arrested.

Photos also help provide clarity when people have a common name.

Another legislative change that should be rejected is an effort to keep secret forever any material protected under attorney-client privilege.

The Oregon Court of Appeals last year affirmed that the privilege expires after 25 years in relation to public records. The city of Portland is appealing to the Oregon Supreme Court.

The use of attorneys to investigate potential wrongdoing is common practice among public bodies. After 25 years, the public deserves the right to a full understanding of historical decisions, many of which likely have lasting effects.

Certainly, Oregon has made some improvements in the past few years. The office of Public Records Advocate was created and can be a low-cost way to resolve disputes between records requesters and state agencies. We also now have a Sunshine Committee, made up of legislators and others, charged with reviewing exemptions.

But as long as we keep adding new secrecy provisions, the Sunshine Committee will never catch up.
The famed American economist John Kenneth Galbraith once described forecasters as falling into one of two categories: those who dont know, and those who dont know they dont know.

The past year has seen more experts moving into the group willing to admit the future is too unpredictable and complex to ever have a firm grasp on. But this doesnt, and shouldnt, stop the nations top minds from attempting to make sense of the economy and its trajectory.

Predicting the future is a lot more complex than just looking to the stars. Credit:iStock

However, it should make the rest of us extra vigilant when considering how likely it is that the latest predictions will come to pass in reality.

Reports published by the nations best economists are filled with uncertainty. This is a feature rather than a flaw of forecasting, with extensive explanations provided by forecasters about the risks and assumptions that could mean they are wrong.
New Delhi: India in the last 24 hours added 1,52,879 new COVID-19 cases that took the country's active count to over 11 lakh, as per the official data released by the Union Health Ministry on Sunday (April 11, 2021).

The country also witnessed 90,584 recoveries and 839 deaths in the last 24 hours. India's active count now stands at 11,08,087. The country's total coronavirus caseload has now increased to 1.33 crore, of which, 1.2 crore have recovered, whereas, 1.69 lakh have died of the virus.

The daily cases in the country have been on a steady increase for over a month now. On Friday, the country saw a single-day rise of 1.31 lakh COVID-19 cases, followed by 1,45,384 infections on Saturday.

As per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 11,73,219 samples were tested on Saturday. The ICMR stated that 25,66,26,850 samples have been tested across India up to April 10.

Meanwhile, the country's COVID-19 vaccination has touched 10,15,95,147. This comes a day after the Centre informed that India is the fastest country in the world to administer 100 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

#Unite2FightCorona#LargestVaccineDrive #amrutmahotsav India took 85 days to administer 100 million #CovidVaccine doses. In 85 days, USA administered 92.09 million doses and China's vaccination coverage was 61.42 million. pic.twitter.com/KROFFpjdjm  Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) April 10, 2021

As per the provisional report at 08:00 pm on Saturday, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed that the cumulative number of coronavirus vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 10,12,84,282.

The 10.12 crore figure achieved across 15,17,260 sessions includes 90,03,060 Healthcare Workers (HCWs) who have taken the 1st dose and 55,06,717 HCWs who have taken the 2nd dose, 99,39,321 Frontline Workers (FLWs) (1st dose), 47,28,966 FLWs (2nd dose), 3,01,14,957 for over 45 years old to 59 years old (1st Dose), 6,37,768 for over 45 years old to 59 years old (2nd dose), 3,95,64,741 for above 60 years (1st Dose) and 17,88,752 for above 60 years (2nd Dose).

The world's largest COVID-19 vaccination drive had kicked off in India on January 16, 2021.
Janet Pablo, a Camden mother of three, says when the clock read 5:30 p.m. on March 23, she dropped what she was doing at home and clicked the Facebook app on her phone as the local school board meeting began streaming.

With her kids preparing to return to classrooms after more than a year of remote learning, she was eager to hear updates. And, for the first time, she was able to listen to the online meeting in her native Spanish.
For more than three hours on Thursday, Corrections Commissioner Marcus Hicks squirmed in his seat as horrified legislators grilled him over the unchecked rapes and assaults at the states only prison for women, the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility.

His defense was painful to watch. The hearing comes three months after a midnight raid of a cell block by guards in body armor who beat and stomped several women, leaving one in a wheelchair, and another with a broken eye socket. One inmate claimed that she was handcuffed to the bars of her cell and digitally raped. So far, eight guards have been charged with assault, with 22 suspended, along with nine supervisors. This was a massive and premeditated attack.

The horror is that Hicks had warning. In April of last year, the federal Department of Justice issued a scorching 30-page report with this conclusion: Sexual abuse of women prisoners by Edna Mahan corrections officers and staff is severe and prevalent throughout the prison.

And while Hicks tried hard to shift the blame to past administrations, the DOJ report demolished that defense, too. Credible allegations of sexual abuse by both corrections officers and civilian staff continued to surface throughout 2018 and 2019, it concluded. And this was before the guard riot in January.

All this has me wondering: Why is everyone giving Gov. Phil Murphy a free pass on this scandal? Why are the hammer blows landing on Hicks alone?

The commissioner admitted he speaks to the governors office all the time, says Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz, a Republican. And the buck stops with the governor.

Ive been trying to find out when the governor learned of the Jan. 11 attack, which the administration kept under wraps for two weeks, until the Star-Ledger and NJ.com broke the story. It was only then that Murphy said he was horrified and hired attorney Matt Boxer to investigate.

So, did Murphy know about the attack on Jan. 11, and do nothing until that story broke and created a political embarrassment for him? Or are we supposed to believe that for two weeks he didnt know that 31 guards and staff had been suspended? And if he has nothing to hide, why has Murphy refused to answer that simple question?

And why is the governor defending Hicks, fending off a bipartisan roar demanding his resignation? The Senate has passed a resolution calling on Hicks to resign or be fired, and members of the Assembly are pushing for impeachment hearings. Hicks spoke Thursday about putting in more cameras, hiring more female guards, and bringing in expert consultants. But its obvious to all that the problems run much deeper.

Still, Murphy stands by Hicks, without explanation, even as the rapes and assaults continue to pile up.

Theres more reason to give Murphy his fair share of the blame. At Thursdays hearing, legislators reserved some of their harshest criticism for Dan DiBenedetti, the ombudsman charged with protecting the safety of state prison inmates. He doesnt report to Hicks and is not part of the Department of Corrections. On the organizational chart, he is part of Murphys Treasury Department.

The Legislature last year handed him new oversight powers that two experts at a Thursdays hearing called the strongest for any prison watchdog in the country. He is supposed to establish a secure means for prisoners to make complaints, to investigate those complaints, to demand internal reports from the Department of Corrections, to conduct unannounced inspections, and to recommend systemic reforms.

He is supposed to be a lion, but the testimony showed him to be a kitten.

Why werent you doing this over the course of the last decade? asked Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee,

We can only report on the contacts and the contacts and the complaints that we receive, DiBenedetti replied,

He has never inspected Edna Mahan, saying his staff of nine is too small. Hes failed to ensure inmates complaints are confidential or stop guards who throw their complaint forms in the trash, as described by inmates on Thursday and in the DOJ reports. And he does not recommend policy changes, he conceded.

Hes holding a clipboard and checking boxes when we need someone to be dynamic, says Mukherji, who later called on DiBenedetti to resign.

For the women at Edna Mahan, the good news is that the federal government is rushing to the rescue. The damning report from last April laid the groundwork, making an overwhelming case that the women are facing cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the 8th Amendment. The state has agreed to federal oversight because it had no defense.

When pressed on Thursday, Hicks would not concede any violation of the 8th Amendment, underscoring his unfitness for his job. But he did say the state would agree to federal oversight, and that a final agreement would be announced within a few weeks. It is likely to be similar to the consent decrees that led to reforms of the State Police and the Newark Police Department.

For now, though, this episode should put to final rest the governors pretention of being a feminist. This is the administration that ignored Katie Brennan when she reported that she had been raped by a senior staffer for Murphys campaign, and broke its promise to fire him. Hes the governor who imposed gag orders on women who worked for him, and then lied about it. And now hes the governor who failed to stop the rapes at Edna Mahan. This is a scandal that makes Bridgegate look like a harmless tea party by comparison.

So, sure, blame Hicks. He must go if the warped prison culture he presides over is to change.

But Phil Murphy is his boss. He failed those women, too, and hes still not saying what he knew and when. So, please, save the deeper blame for the governor, the man who has been sleeping while these guards have had their way.

More: Tom Moran columns

Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
Ras Al Khaimah Chamber of Commerce and Industry and CEO Clubs Network signed a cooperation agreement which aims to contribute to developing and supporting the skills of the leaders and mangers of the private companies in Ras Al Khaimah.

This alliance aims to attract CEOs from different countries across the world to bring their experience and professional skills to the business community in the emirate including all its categories, a statement said.

Mohamed Ali Mosabbeh Al Nuaimi, Chairman of the Ras Al Khaimah Chamber of Commerce and Industry emphasised the importance of the collaboration with the CEO Clubs Network through the diverse upcoming events that shall be arranged to cover three categories including the entrepreneurs from owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the young CEOs and the expert CEOs. He underlined the full support provided by Ras Al Khaimah Chamber of Commerce and Industry to the private sector in the emirate.

Al Nuaimi added that the focus should be on SMEs, being one of the key sectors in the emirate in particular and the UAE in general. He underscored the importance of supporting all the categories of the business community to overcome the challenges that impede their performance, and to provide solutions by global expertise to convert the challenges into opportunities that shall enhance the investment opportunities in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.

It is important to support and diversify the industries in the emirate and promote them through the events to be organised with the CEO Clubs Network to attract the attention of investors to this vital sector, as Ras Al Khaimah accommodates over 6000 factories, which comes in line with the industrial strategy which has been launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Chairman of RAK Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Al Nuaimi added.

Tariq Ahmed Nizami, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CEO CLUBS Network worldwide, said: today is an important day for both the organisations, this memorandum of understanding shall help the CEO Clubs Network, members of RAK Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the other companies to have a platform for local and international communication to share experiences and bring delegates to visit Ras Al Khaimah and explore all the investment and industrial opportunities.

Nizami noted that the CEO Clubs Network is an international business organisation with members across the various activities including private sectors, government entities and branches around the world. The organization focuses on connecting the CEOs and businessmen to exchange experiences, explore the opportunities and grow the businesses locally and internationally. The member activities and the phone app dedicated for the members of CEO Clubs Network and a service-oriented support team are the three pillars that enable the members to be connected and participate in the entire community, with an unrestricted and value-oriented spirit of harmony; the CEO Clubs Network has created great values, and has chosen ZERO Hunger, which is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to give back to our community. --TradeArabia News Service
Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business.
Former Pres. Donald Trump is expected to tell GOP donors on Saturday that Republicans are expected to take the White House in 2024.

Trump Says Republicans Will Take White House in 2022 and 2024

Former U.S. Pres. Donald Trump is expected to tell the GOP donors that Republicans will win back the U.S. House of legislatures in the 2022 midterms election. The same goes with the 2024 Presidential election in his prepared speech, according to a recently published article in The Hill.

The former President is expected to deliver these remarks during the Republican National Committee's summit in Florida, where he will give his keynote address. This is according to the draft of his speech obtained by different news outlets.

According to a published report in CBS News, the closed-door event was supposed to occur at the Four Seasons Resort in Palm Beach. However, it was found out that the guests were transported to Trump's Mar-a-Lago to hear the former President deliver his speech.

Pentagon Approves to House Unaccompanied Migrant Children in Its Military Base

Trump Optimistic To Win the U.S. Legislature and the White House

Former President Trump is expected to say, "We are gathered tonight to talk about the future of the Republican Party - and what we must do to set our candidates on a course to victory," according to a published report in The Associated Press.

Part of the draft of his speech is his confidence and optimism that members of the Republican party will win the 2022 midterms election and the 2024 Presidential election. He firmly believes that the GOP will reclaim both the House of Congress and Senate.

Meanwhile, it is not clear in the draft of his speech if he plans to run for President and represent the party. The only clear thing is his confidence that Republicans will dominate the upcoming elections.

Biden Officials Order GOP Senator to Delete Migrant Photos Crammed in like Sardines

Trump Slams Biden Administration

Trump is also expected to slam Pres. Joe Biden for not addressing Congress in the first few weeks in his office. Trump's speech reads, "With an agenda this unpopular, it is no wonder that Joe Biden is the first new president in modern times not to address a joint session of Congress within his first few weeks."

Trump will also tell the donors that the Republican Party will be able to win the House or Senate and Congress because of how the current Democratic Party handles the immigration policies in the country.

It can be remembered that right after Joe Biden took office, he released different executive orders, including unraveling Trump's immigration policy. Following it, there was a surge of immigrants arriving at the different borders.

The numbers of immigrants, including unaccompanied children, are higher compared to the data in 2006. Trump's prepared speech uses this also as an advantage for the party. It reads, "On this issue alone, we can win the House, the Senate, and the White House."

It can be remembered that former Pres. Donald Trump has a strong immigration policy during his time, and it was also part of his agenda in the previous Presidential election.

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Comptroller-General of the Ghana Immigration Service, Laud O. Affrifah has asked its men on the ground to be on high alert following the escape of some 1,800 prisoners from the Owerri Custodial Centre, Imo State, Nigeria Prison.



This is to prevent the entry of these persons into the country.



The prisoners escaped last week after an attack by suspected militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns.



Gunmen stormed the prison in the southeastern city of Owerri after blasting their way in with explosives.



It was among a series of coordinated assaults launched in the early hours of Monday, which also targeted police and military facilities in the capital of Imo state.



Nigerian police have blamed the attacks on the paramilitary wing of a banned separatist movement in the region called the Eastern Security Network.



However, the group has denied involvement.

Source: kasapafmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Generally sunny despite a few afternoon clouds. High 88F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Generally fair. Low near 65F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Australians working in industries devastated by the coronavirus pandemic could be dealt a fresh blow with yet another possible delay to a rise in the minimum wage.

The Fair Work Commission is reviewing whether to delay pay rises for 2.2 million Australians on the minimum wage across 2021-22 for a second consecutive financial year.

Businesses struggling to bounce back from the pandemic have called for a 12-month minimum wage freeze or to delay pay increases in the worst-affected industries by up to seven months.

Currently the minimum wage is $753.80 per week, for a 38 hour week, or $19.84 per hour (pictured, a waitress in Melbourne)

At least at 75 per cent of workers on the minimum wage already waited at least three months for a 1.75 per cent rise, while those in hardest-hit sectors didn't see an increase in their weekly pay packets until February this year - a seven month wait.

They included workers in the accommodation, food services, arts, retail trade, aviation and tourism sectors.

Currently the minimum wage is $753.80 per week, for a 38 hour week, or $19.84 per hour.

Hard-hit industries have cited the recent end of the JobKeeper scheme and uncertainty over the vaccination roll-out as reason for a 12-month freeze or staggered approach to the pay rise.

More than 2.2 million Australians may have to again wait for a rise in the minimum wage. Among them most affected will be those in the hospitality industry. Pictured is a bartender in Bunbury, Western Australia

Industry leaders believe pandemic-impacted employers shouldn't be forced to fork out for a second pay rise within five months as many businesses struggled with lockdowns and wildly fluctuating sales.

'The commission has reset, potentially permanently when wage increases happen for industries that have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19,' Restaurant and Catering chief executive Wes Lambert told The Australian.

'Now that the vaccine rollout has been disrupted potentially, the most affected industries will continue to be the most affected and should not be forced to incur two wage increases within five months.'

The accommodation, food services, arts, retail trade, aviation and tourism sectors were among the industries hardest hit by the pandemic. Pictured is an airline attendant at Sydney Airport

Retail workers (pictured in Western Australia) will also be hard hit if a proposed rise to the minimum wage is frozen

Other employer organisations such as Business NSW and the National Farmers Federation have called for a zero rise in the minimum wage in 2021-22.

Unions have objected the staggered approach and called on the commission to award a 3.5 per cent pay rise to all minimum-wage and award-reliant workers from July 1.

Fair Work Commission president Iain Ross has sought the views businesses as well as the ACTU and the federal government, which urged a 'cautious approach' in its initial submission.

Justice Ross also called for feedback on changes on how industries are classified.

A recent report to the commission by Professor Jeff Borland reclassified several industries, with information, media and communications as among the industries most affected by the ongoing pandemic.
MySQL and PostgreSQL cloud migration service form Google is now is generally available (GA)

New Delhi, Sun, 11 Apr 2021 NI Wire

Google Cloud announced the availability of MySQL and PostgreSQL cloud migration service to support the enterprise customers. The new MySQL and PostgreSQL cloud migration service is now generally available (GA) for the migration of these databases to the Google Cloud. The new service will help the customers to move their business infrastructure and their databases to the Google Cloud computing environment.

Google Cloud Product Manage Shachar Guz announced MySQL and PostgreSQL cloud migration service generally available (GA) by posting the details on the Google Blog. According to the post this service will help businesses in migrating on-premise and other cloud data to Google Cloud SQL.

These days enterprises are moving their compute infrastructure to the cloud to leverage the reliability, security, and cost-effectiveness of fully managed cloud computing environment. This service will help enterprises in fast migration of MySQL and PostgreSQL to Google Cloud infrastructure. The Google Cloud computing will help businesses to use the modern computing environment to meet todays computing needs.

Google Cloud Product Manage Shachar Guz posted Were excited to announce that Google Clouds Database Migration Service (DMS) is generally available, supporting MySQL and PostgreSQL migrations from on-premises and other clouds to Cloud SQL. Later this year we will introduce support for Microsoft SQL Server. You can get started with DMS today at no additional charge, on the official blog.

Guz further added Enterprises are modernizing their business infrastructure with managed cloud services. They want to leverage the reliability, security, and cost-effectiveness of fully managed cloud databases like Cloud SQL. In November, we launched the new, serverless DMS as part of our vision for meeting these modern needs in an easy, fast, predictable, and reliable way.

Guz blog post further added, Weve seen accelerated adoption of DMS, including customers such as Accenture, Comoto, DoiT, Freedom Financial Network, Ryde and Samsung, who are migrating their MySQL and PostgreSQL production workloads to Cloud SQL. DMS provides these customers the power to migrate quickly and with minimal disruption to their services.

Google unique migration method utilizes both MySQL and PostgreSQLs native replication capabilities, maximizes security, fidelity and reliability. These like-to-like migrations to Cloud SQL are high-fidelity, and the destination database is ready to go after cutover, without the hassle of extra steps, and at no additional charge, Guz said.

Post further says Weve seen accelerated adoption of DMS, including customers such as Accenture, Comoto, DoiT, Freedom Financial Network, Ryde and Samsung, who are migrating their MySQL and PostgreSQL production workloads to Cloud SQL. DMS provides these customers the power to migrate quickly and with minimal disruption to their services. 

The Data Migration service is powerful serverless architecture which is available to clients without provisioning the servers. The data service is powerful, secure and serverless which supports multiple methods of private connectivity between source and destination databases. It comes with powerful interface to configure the data migration process.

Cloud Migration Services: Are you looking for services to migrate you on-premise data and applications to Cloud? Check Cloud Migration Services for our next project.
Think about that moment in childhood when a scary noise sends you diving under your bed covers? Then, with trembling hands, you shine a flashlight into the room and find renewed confidence to venture out.

Thats how I feel as my wife Becky and I board a plane to Honduras to visit our newest grand-baby. Fully vaccinated, we are finally busting out of this quarantine.

My regular readers recognize Honduras as the place we go to support Chispa Project. The charity was founded by my daughter Sara in 2015 to establish elementary school libraries.

Now, on final approach into Tegucigalpa, the capital city, I see the scarring impact of the two hurricanes that broadsided this country last year. In a region still recovering from the 11,000 fatalities caused by 1998 Hurricane Mitch, these new storms bring a double whammy into the pandemic year.

A few minutes later, the topography forces our plane to assume a steep angle toward one of the most challenging runways in the world for commercial aircraft. The braking force is so forceful that people applaud our stop.

We disembark from the plane and find Sara curbside. She drives us through the capitol city to see firsthand how the Honduran people are coping with the pandemic.

My daughter narrates the early days of the pandemic when armed guards at checkpoints blocked those from family businesses heavily dependent on transportation.

Supplies and workers dwindled, inventories were lost, and proud families relied on handouts. Without the vaccine, my daughter tells me, the people have precious little hope.

Nevertheless Hondurans are pushing back with everything they know to do. Businesses open with common precautions because the alternative is starvation. They wear masks everywhere  while on motorcycles, walking the road, or staying indoors under three layers of masks. They wear them because, for now, thats all the hope they have.

Two million school children still remain at home without laptops or internet. So many children depend on homework given through teacher text messages. Often the texts are only exercises in copying skills.

School here was supposed to start March 1, but without vaccines, teachers battle parents over the safety of reopening.

The extraordinary circumstances have led to extraordinary costs, says Chispa Project Director Sara Brakhane. Its become unaffordable for parents and teachers to keep their kids in school. Families cant afford the one dollar a week in paper copies or prepaid phone data cards they need to do the homework.

Yet we are determined adds Brakhane, to help schools through this crisis on an extraordinary basis, despite it being out of our normal practices of donation.

Now Chispa Project is joining local efforts to help parents put their kids back in school by launching Back for a Buck.

The slogan gives a clearer picture to the cost, that only one dollar can send a kid back to school. Just one dollar buys a reusable mask for a student and also gives jobs to local women. One dollar will purchase school supplies. One dollar helps parent volunteers send a library book home in a protected packet.

As the vaccine becomes widely available in the U.S. and the hope of normalcy becomes more realistic, it is easy to forget that this hope is not a global one. The complications of COVID are expounded in low-income countries like Honduras, where 2 out of 3 people live off less than $2.50 a day.

Thats why a buck can make such a difference, providing hope for these students to come out from under the blanket of fear that COVID has created.

The vaccine allows my wife and me to bask in our grandsons laughter and feel the hope of new life. Thats why my family will pledge to match every donation from readers this year up to $5,000. Buck for buck, lets band together to blanket Honduras with hope and send kids back to school.

Donate at chispaproject.org/thechaplain or send a check to Norris Burkes 10566 Combie Rd. Suite 6643 Auburn, CA 95602

Visit Chaplain online here. Or Facebook here. Email comments to comment@thechaplain.net or via voicemail (843) 608-9715.

Twitter @chaplain.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

By JOE CIESZINSKI

Parallels are painfully obvious to anyone from a Judeo-Christian background. The time, place, controlled secrecy and, yes, the money.

As Christians around the world recall the incredibly painful passion and crucifixion of Christ during Easter season, we see commonalities with our political situation in New Mexico.

The crucifixion of Jesus and the crucifixion of New Mexico. The Jewish capital of Jerusalem/the New Mexican capital of Santa Fe, City of Holy Faith. The secret overnight trial of Jesus/the gated community closed legislative sessions.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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

Roman solders and Jewish leaders conspired then, many legislators now. The 40 pieces of silver paid to Judas and hundreds of thousands sunk into the campaign of Lujan Grisham by pro-abortion/pro-euthanasia/pro-recreational pot.

These people do not want what is best for New Mexico, they want what is best for their bank account. Selling out/betrayal 2,000 years ago and today.

Many know the passage from John 10:10: The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy, which remarkably resembles MLG.

Michelle Lujan Grisham has:

1. Stolen. She has stolen prosperity from New Mexico by getting rid of clean coal, and sabotaging our oil and gas business, a huge part of the New Mexico economy. The way she handled COVID has permanently shut down many restaurants and other small businesses. The legislative sessions security, including the fence around the Roundhouse, cost NM from $700,000 to $1,000,000. MLG charged New Mexico over $11,000 for food catered/delivered to her. She was sorry she got caught, but not that she stole from New Mexico.

2. Killed. Under the MLG reign, the most hostile abortion and euthanasia bills in the country were passed by this legislature.

3. Destroyed. New Mexico has been trashed economically and morally during the MLG reign. The marijuana bill will destroy the future of many youth and others, and make poorly performing New Mexico schools worse. It will bring in more gangs and drugs. It will prey upon the poor and hurt families, workers and hospitals. It will cause more crashes on New Mexico highways. It will not help the economy, but hurt it. A report by Colorado Christian Universitys Centennial Institute said that, for every tax dollar generated by legal marijuana sales, costs to the state of marijuana are over $4.50. People in the real world cannot perform well at real jobs or in real schools if they are out of their real minds. Social costs now always translate into financial costs later.

Michelle Lujan Grisham has betrayed us. She has exchanged the best interests of New Mexico for money and power, kind of like Judas.

During this sacred time of year, we are reminded of the second half of John 10:10. Here Jesus said,  but I have come that they might have life to the fullest. Through Jesus, God has invited us into his family as adopted children. God has a great plan for New Mexico, a plan of safety, fruitfulness, prosperity, well-being, healthy persons, families, schools and businesses. The Lord invites us to partner with him to make New Mexico beautiful in every way.

Another generous offer of the Lord to us is, I place before you life and death, a blessing and a curse, choose life (Deuteronomy 30:19). Fellow New Mexicans, let us choose life.

It is appropriate during this Easter season to remind us of the promise of Jesus at the very end of the gospel of Matthew: Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of time. He is risen!!!

Joe Cieszinski lives in Santa Fe.
Hyderabad, April 11 : JanaSena Party founder and Tollywood film star Pawan Kalyan has gone into self-imposed quarantine, a statement issued by the party said on Sunday.

According to the statement, several members of the JanaSena Party president's personal team, and security team have tested Covid positive. Moreover, with several members of his family also found to be Covid positive, doctors have advised Pawan Kalyan to self-quarantine as a precautionary measure.

He will, however, continue his routine party activities during quarantine, and interact with party colleagues through video conferencing, the statement said.

As an ally of the BJP, Pawan Kalyan has been actively campaigning for the BJP candidate Ratnamala in the Tirupati Lok Sabha bypoll scheduled for April 17.

Pawan Kalyan was scheduled to participate in an election campaign meeting in Tirupati along with BJP national President J.P. Nadda on April 12.

Pawan Kalyan is also currently riding high on the response to his latest movie 'Vakeel Saab' -- a remake of Amitabh Bachchan starrer "Pink" -- released this week to packed houses.
OnScene

A man was shot to death Saturday while sitting in a car outside a west Houston convenience store, according to police.

The suspect walked up to the mans vehicle and opened fire around 9:15 p.m. in the 2900 block of Walnut Bend, police said. The unidentified man died at the hospital.
Officials in Iran have revealed that a nuclear facility in the country has been the target of a suspected terrorist attack.

The country's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said an incident at the facility, located in the desert in the central province of Isfahan, on Sunday was caused by an act of 'nuclear terrorism'.

The cyber attack took place a day after Tehran unveiled new advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges at the Natanz facility, which is a key part of the country's uranium enrichment programme.

Iran's Natanz nuclear facility was the target of a terrorist attack, according to top officials

Centrifuges are used as part of the process to create enriched uranium, which can be used to make reactor fuel, but can also be used to create nuclear weapons.

Mr Salehi did not name who was responsible, but urged the international community 'to deal with this nuclear terrorism' and added that Iran 'reserves the right to take action against the perpetrators.'

Israeli media has claimed that Israel's Mossad spy agency were responsible. There has been no official Israeli comment.

Earlier on Sunday, Iranian media reported that a spokesperson for Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation (AEOI) said a problem with the electrical distribution grid had caused the incident, and that no one was injured.

It isn't the first incident at the facility. In July last year, a fire broke out, which Iran claimed was part of an attempt to sabotage the country's nuclear programme.

In 2010, the Stuxnet computer virus, written to take over programmable industrial control system and cause equipment to malfunction, was discovered after it was used to attack Natanz.

It is widely believed that the virus in 2010 was developed by the United States and Israel.

Israeli media has claimed that Israel's Mossad spy agency were responsible for the reported cyber attack on the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, pictured

The incident comes as Washington and Tehran work to revive a 2015 nuclear deal, abandoned by U.S former President Donald Trump in 2018, which limits the quantities of uranium enriched up to 3.67% that Iran can make and store.

Uranium which is enriched to 90 per cent and above can be used in the production of nuclear weapons.

President Trump reimposed economic sanctions on Iran which had been lifted under the 2015 deal, fearing the country's intentions with its nuclear energy programme.

Iran, which has stated it does not want nuclear weapons and has denied seeking to build a nuclear bomb, refused to negotiate a replacement deal and has since breached a number of commitments including increasing uranium enrichment to 20 per cent concentration and stockpiling material.

The two nations have been in indirect talks on how to resume full compliance with the deal.

Mr Salehi stated that Iran 'will continue to improve its nuclear technology on the one hand, and to lift oppressive U.S sanctions on the other hand' to 'thwart the goals of those who commanded this terrorist act.'

Centrifuges are used as part of the process to create enriched uranium, which can be used to make reactor fuel, but can also be used to create nuclear weapons

'The action taken against the Natanz site shows the failure of the opposition to Iran's industrial and political progress to prevent the significant development of Iran's nuclear industry,' he added.

'While condemning this despicable move, Iran emphasizes the need for the international community and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to deal with this nuclear terrorism and reserves the right to take action against the perpetrators.'

The IAEA, the U.N nuclear watchdog which monitors the facility, said it was aware of media reports but had no comment to make at this stage.

U.S Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin did not comment after talks with his counterpart on a visit to Israel on Sunday.

Tensions between Iran and Israel are already running high following the death of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was seen by Western intelligence services as the mastermind of an Iranian nuclear weapons programme.

Iran has blamed Israel for the killing, which has neither confirmed or denied responsibility.
Debt repayment commitments are being met: CB Governor View(s):

Upcoming debt repayments are being met with more non-debt inflows and contingency plans were in place to raise necessary funding from donor countries including the Chinese Renminbi swap, Central Bank Governor Prof. W D Lakshman said this week.

Addressing a news conference at the Central Bank, Prof Lakshman said that so far, on account of Sri Lanka Development Bonds (SLDBs) and foreign currency loans from domestic banks, debt service payments of close to US$ 1.2 billion had been met.

In May, a US$ 693 million SLDB raised mainly from local investors is expected to mature and another $1 billion sovereign bond will be maturing in July this year. Sri Lanka is also finalising a $700 million loan facility from the China Development Bank soon, he disclosed.

The comments came as the gross official reserves were estimated at US$ 4.1 billion (excluding the swap facility with the Peoples Bank of China) with an import cover of three months at the end of March.

Prof Lakshman noted that the Central Bank and the government would remain committed in honouring foreign currency debt service obligations on time.
Southern Pines, NC (28387)

Today

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 88F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 67F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson released a statement from his office on Saturday that he will not attend the funeral of Prince Philip.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson Will Not Attend the Funeral

United Kingdom's Prime Minister Boris Johnson released a statement from his office on Saturday. He said that he would not attend Prince Philip's funeral, according to a recently published article in NBC News.

The statement reads, "Only 30 people can attend the funeral of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The prime minister has throughout wanted to act in accordance with what is best for the royal household, and so to allow for as many family members as possible will not be attending the funeral on Saturday."

In another published article in Sky News, Prime Minister Boris Johnson decided not to attend due to COVID-19 restrictions and allow more royal family members to be present. As reported, only 30 persons are allowed to participate in the funeral.

Prince Philip on His Dying Days: Serene, Peaceful, the Queen at His Side

Will Prince Harry Attend the Funeral?

Many speculated if Prince Harry, who just left his throne as the Duke of Sussex, will attend his grandfather's funeral. According to a published report in BBC News, Prince Harry will be in attendance on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the palace also clarified that Prince Harry will still follow COVID-19 protocols since he will be flying from the U.S. to the United Kingdom. Under the country's regulation, anyone who flies from a foreign country must quarantine for ten days. However, they have an option to take the COVID-19 test after five days of isolation and end their quarantine.

On the other hand, Harry's wife, Meghan Markle, who is currently pregnant for their second child, cannot attend the funeral. Her physician did not give her the clearance to travel, according to a statement released by the palace.

It is expected that all eyes will be on Harry and how he will act with the Royal Family members. After their controversial interview with Oprah Winfrey last month, the couple revealed a raft of allegations that led them to decide to leave their thrones.

Prince Philip Gets Wish Of 'No-Fuss' Funeral, Brings William and Harry Face To Face Since Rift

Some Information of Prince Philip's Funeral

Due to COVID-19, there will be many changes in Prince Philip's funeral. Buckingham Palace announced on Saturday that the ceremonial funeral would take place in St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, where he died on Friday at the age of 99, with no public access.

The procession will take place entirely inside the grounds of the 11th-century palace and will be streamed live from a small town about 30 miles west of the capital. There will not be a state funeral, customary for reigning monarchs, and his body will not be laid to rest.

According to the palace, Philip's naval cap and a sword will be set on top of his coffin before it is carried from the castle to the chapel in a specially designed Land Rover that he helped build. Prince Charles and other senior royals would walk behind them. A national minute of silence will be observed before the ceremony.

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
'Unusable evidence' led to quick dismissal of abuse charges, Newman told Bar

District Attorney Greg Newman acted like his hair was on fire to dismiss felony sexual assault charges and offered the defendant a plea bargain that outraged the victim and her family, a member of the state Bars disciplinary board said last November.



Newmans actions in the case of James Franklin Sapp and a charge that he pursued a vindictive prosecution in a separate case are the subject of a hearing in Henderson County Superior Court on Monday to decide whether the district attorney is removed from office. Newmans actions in the Sapp case were explored at length last Nov. 11-12 by the state Bars Disciplinary Hearing Commission, which ruled that Newman failed to notify the alleged victim in Sapps case of his plea-agreement hearing and that he had made a false statement to the District Court judge who approved the plea agreement.

Sapp faced a long prison sentence had he been convicted of the five felony charges a Henderson County grand jury handed down in May 2015. Six months earlier, Valerie Marie Owenby and her mother met with a Henderson County sheriffs deputy at the Upward Road Waffle House to report Sapp, a next door neighbor, had abused her from the time she was 5 years old until she was 12.

In an interview last week, Sapp, 66, denied the allegations contained in the felony charges that were dropped.

Its all a buncha bullcrap, he said. My lawyer (Chris Stepp) told me not to do something (to contest the charges) until after the 12th. I do want to put my word out there."

The Owenby case is among those a group of people  made up of victims of crimes or their families  cite in a campaign to remove Newman from office. The filing of an affidavit by Peggy McDowell with Clerk of Superior Court J. Tyler Ray on Feb. 11 set off a process under state law requiring a Superior Court judge to convene a formal inquiry into the allegations. McDowell, whose daughter fled to Toronto after Newman charged her with child abduction in her custody case with her sons father, listed numerous reasons why a judge should remove Newman. Henderson Countys resident senior Superior Court judge, Peter Knight, referred the matter to Superior Court Judge Robert C. Ervin of Morganton.

In an order filed on March 17, Ervin ruled that there was adequate evidence for a hearing on charges involving the Sapp case and in a separate case in which a defendant charged with domestic violence has accused Newman of vindictive prosecution. The vindictive prosecution lawsuit, which the defendant won at the state Court of Appeals level, is pending before the state Supreme Court.

The court file in the complaint against Newman contains a 201-page transcript of the Bar grievance hearing last November that covered in detail the Sapp case and Newmans explanation for why he dropped the serious child sex abuse charges and offered the misdemeanor plea.

'The evidence was essentially unusable'

After the grand jury indictment in May 2015, Newman initially assigned the case to Doug Mundy, a trusted assistant D.A. that he often called on as second chair in many major cases. At the time, Newman and the prosecutors were coordinating the end-of-year calendar and planning to try a second-degree murder case that Newman had made a high priority. Because Newman wanted Mundy to join him in the second-degree murder trial, he reassigned the Sapp file to another assistant district attorney, Michael Bender.

The case started to fall apart, Newman told the Bar commission, when Bender came to me with the file and expressed very strong concerns, Newman told the Bars Disciplinary Hearing Commission during more than three hours of sworn testimony last Nov. 11.

A key to the case against Sapp, the prosecutors thought, was Valeries statements that Sapp had identifying marks around his groin that she would be able to describe to a jury. After Henderson County sheriffs detective Tonya Reeves obtained a search warrant, a deputy made a photo of Sapp unclothed from the waist down. Valeries description of an identifying mark or scar, prosecutors reasoned, would strongly support her testimony about sexual abuse.

Now, Bender was pointing to the Sapp photo, Newman told the panel.

The concern was raised by Mr. Bender that the evidence that we were relying upon as the corroborative proof was essentially, in his opinion, unusable, he said. It had very little evidentiary value that he could see, and he wanted me to look at it and see if I could point out something different to him.

When he looked at the photo, Newman told the panel, I couldnt identify any kind of prominent marks that we were supposed to be relying on apparently. Newman said he then picked up the phone to call Reeves, the case detective, who was on maternity leave. He contacted another detective from Reevess unit, Dottie Parker, who pulled up a copy of the photo on her computer screen.

So I walked over to Ms. Parkers office, looked at what she had pulled up on the computer screen, it was no different from what I had in hand, he testified. And so I know that we had a problem with the evidence.

But for a separate report that was added to the file, Newman said, he might have dropped the charges altogether. The second report involved a complaint against Mr. Sapp by another young lady and included a lab report that he did not further describe. I kept thinking there was something maybe going on here, maybe this man was doing, saying, or touching, or doing something that was inappropriate, he told the Bar commission. So I didnt want to just completely dismiss the matter.

Plea agreement fact tracked



Newman told the Bar that he decided he had to tell Sapps attorney, Chris Stepp, about this turn of events. Stepp was located somewhere in the courthouse and summoned to D.A.s office, where Newman told him that he was willing to dismiss the felony indictments and refile a misdemeanor assault charge in District Court.

Mr. Stepp took that offer and we discussed it for a while, Newman testified.

Then came a bizarre coincidence. He took that, and for some reason apparently his client was there in the courthouse building. Neither one of us know why  He wasnt on any docket, he wasnt on the Superior Court docket 

Stepp met with Sapp and explained the plea offer.

It was Mr. Stepp that came back to me and said, My client would like to do that. Can we do it today? Newman told the Bar commission.

Newman said that he later asked Stepp if he had any idea why Sapp had been in the courthouse that day. And Mr. Stepp went back and looked at his file, he said he had no notation, nothing to show why.

Once he had the defendants agreement, Newman proceeded on a fast track. Newman said he directed someone in his office to prepare a statement of charges  in the Bar hearing he testified that he did not remember which lawyer carried out the order  and that he and Stepp were able to wedge in a time before District Court Judge Athena Brooks, who was presiding in court at the time. At the end of the docket Brooks was handling that day, in an essentially empty courtroom, Stepp and Newman resolved the case that had started six months earlier with five felony indictments. And it was  it went smoothly, it went fairly quickly.

Later, during cross examination, G. Patrick Murphy, the Bars deputy counsel, asked Newman about his decision to drop the felony charges and offer to settle for a guilty plea to one misdemeanor charge.

Murphy said: Did you think about maybe calling up Valerie and bringing her in and letting somebody talk to her and see, you know, what she would say about this? Let her look at the picture and point out the area where it (an identifying mark) was?

No, I didnt, Newman responded, because the picture, as I looked at it, I didnt see anything that would be pointed out as anything prominent or unusual I didnt think that would be helpful.

Plea deal in 'bang bang fashion'

Earlier in the hearing, Judge Brooks had testified via Zoom about her question as to whether the D.A.s office had notified Valerie and her mother and father of Sapps court appearance, as required under the states Victims Rights Act. Brooks confirmed that she made the hand-written note on the case file that said, State said victim had been advised of the plea and did not wish to be heard.

When the Bar counsel asked Newman about Brookss recollection of the plea hearing that day, he said he thought at the time his office had contacted the victims mother. When he asked for the charging document to be made, he testified, he would have also asked that Valeries mother be contacted because she was our contact.

Newman said he had met with Valerie and her mother, Carol Siebert, one time. He denied that he had met alone with Valerie to go over her story and show her the photo of Sapp  as both Valerie and her mother had told the panel in earlier testimony before the Bar commission.

No, I would never do that, he said. I will not meet with a female victim or person by myself  Ill have another female in with me typically, just to avoid any type of complaint or allegation  I would never have them in my office by myself.

He told the panel that within a few days of Sapps plea agreement, I did find out that no one had spoken to the mother.

Newmans attorney, F. Lane Williamson, a former Disciplinary Hearing Commission chairman and a former Superior Court judge, told the Bar that Newman is not denying that his office failed to notify the victim of the Sapp hearing.

You will not hear us dispute that apparently no one notified Valerie or her parents, he said. The question is what was done intentionally and was there intentional misrepresentation.

When the Bar counsel asked about inaccurate statements he made in a deposition before the disciplinary commission hearing, Newman responded that I was relying too much on my memory and that I think I was a little too confident in my memory. Among the statements that the disciplinary commission called false were Newmans assertion that he handled the Sapp plea in District Court and not Superior Court because a jury trial was under way in Superior Court and another that he had directed Lisa Buckner, his offices victim advocate, to contact Valeries mother. There was no Superior Court jury trial in Henderson County that week.

As the hearing was winding down, Commission Chair Donald C. Prentiss, an attorney from Elizabeth City, described the quick process that led a major felony case to collapse.

The way this looks to me, looks like this plea deal came together in kind of a bang-bang fashion, he said. I mean, really, but for the stars aligning and happenstance that Mr. Sapp happens to be in the court that day, this plea never even takes place.

On that day, youre right, Newman responded. Thats right.

And that leads me to wonder how possibly your office could possibly have gotten notice to the family when it came together like that, Prentiss said, snapping his fingers.

After seven witnesses and more than eight hours of evidence  including three hours of testimony from Newman in his own defense  commission member Ronald C. Brinson remained puzzled about the urgency of the case. It was unclear, he said, whether the photo of Sapp was of poor quality and thus unusable or whether it failed to show a scar or some other distinguishing mark that would corroborate Valeries testimony.

So what was it in particular that had you running to get, my phrase, like your hair was on fire, to get this thing dismissed that day, within two days?

Yes, sir, Newman responded. The picture did not show what it purported to show.
WHITEHORSE - Yukon residents will head to the polls on Monday for Canada's fifth election held during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Yukon provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa, Monday July 6, 2020. Yukon residents will head to the polls on Monday for Canada's fourth election held during the COVID-19 pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

WHITEHORSE - Yukon residents will head to the polls on Monday for Canada's fifth election held during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the legislature was dissolved, the Liberals held a majority followed by the Yukon Party and the NDP.

Liberal Leader Sandy Silver, who was first elected in 2011, led the party to a surprise election win in 2016, going from the only elected representative to leading the party's second-ever majority government.

"People wanted change," he said in a recent interview about the win. "The first year, we were feeding from the fire hose  I was the only member of my team at that point that had any legislative experience."

Silver pointed to his government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent territorial budget, which estimated the GDP would grow by 7.9 per cent in 2021, as reasons voters should choose to keep his party in power.

"Now is not the time to change courses," he said. "We're in a good place, we've balanced the budget and now is not the time to retrain a bunch of (members of the legislative assembly)."

The Liberals' win brought an end to 14 years of Yukon Party rule, relegating the party to the Official Opposition.

Currie Dixon, a former member of the legislature, was chosen as the party's new leader in 2020, marking a return to politics for someone who was once one of Canada's youngest cabinet ministers.

"The current government has said the right things," he said. "But where we've noticed Yukoners are left asking for more is on action. We want to deliver action, for a change."

If elected, Dixon said the party will take actions including reversing cuts to the territory's business relief program, freezing power rates for two years and enhancing tourism funding in the first 100 days in office.

The territory's spending and debt have risen during the Liberals' time in power and the Yukon Party is concerned about repaying that debt, Dixon said.

Dixon also criticized the decision to hold an election as the territory works through its vaccination rollout.

"We think it was driven by self-interest," he said.

Silver disputed that characterization.

"Was it the intent of calling the election at this time? No," he said. "We had the Opposition calling for the election since August. Every second question in the legislative assembly was, 'When are you going to call the election?' "

Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and New Brunswick have all held provincial votes during the pandemic. In every case, the result was a majority government for the party that held power heading in to the campaign.

The New Democrats, Yukon's third party, and its leader Kate White are advertising themselves as the progressive alternative to the two main parties.

White has led the NDP since 2019, and has been an elected representative since 2011.

"The goal for the election is a fundamental shift," she said. "The pandemic has really done a good job of highlighting where those gaps exist ... this is an opportunity to look forward to the future that we want."

White said an NDP government would freeze rents and improve access to health care.

The NDP previously led the territory for 12 years between 1985 and 2000, but hasn't been able to do so since the turn of the century.

However, White said the party is focused on winning a majority government.

 By Nick Wells in Vancouver

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2021.
FOUR units of Limerick Fire and Rescue Service spent over six hours tackling a thatched house ablaze in County Limerick on Saturday.

Two units from the city and two units from Rathkeale rushed to the house fire in Clarina after receiving the call-out at 4.30pm.

They brought it under control and remained at the scene until 11pm. Due to the nature of thatched fires they need to be constantly dampened down.

No injuries have been reported.
International

Iranian parliament files charges against president

TEHRAN, APR 11 (IANS) | Publish Date: 4/11/2021 1:35:37 PM IST

The Iranian parliament has filed charges against President Hassan Rouhani, in an intensifying power struggle between hardliners and moderates in the country.

The deputies accuse him of having disregarded laws passed by parliament. Citing the Fars news agency, DPA reported on Sunday that 190 of the 235 lawmakers present voted in favour, without providing any further background or detail.

Observers see a connection between the vote and the renewed nuclear negotiations in Vienna, which may require a compromise with the hardliners arch-enemy, the US.

Shortly after their victory in parliamentary elections in February 2020, the hardliners and conservatives have pressured the moderate president to be called in and ultimately resign.

They argue that Rouhani distanced the Islamic Republic from its ideological goals with pro-Western policies and the 2015 Vienna nuclear agreement. Rouhani for his part accuses the hardliners in parliament of sacrificing national interests for domestic power struggles ahead of the presidential election in June.

Rouhani himself may not be able to run again after two terms in office, but according to observers, the hardliners also want to minimize the chances of the other moderate candidates.
 Flash

Another 2,589 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,368,045, according to official figures released Saturday.

The country also reported another 40 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 127,080. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

More than 32 million people have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the official figures.

The estimated coronavirus reproduction number, also known as the R number, in England is unchanged at between 0.8 and 1, according to the latest official data.

It means that, on average, every 10 people who have coronavirus will infect between eight and 10 others.

Government advisory scientists said the situation is too variable to produce a Britain-wide R rate, but the number is believed to be above one in some parts of the country, which means the outbreak could grow exponentially in these areas.

From Monday, non-essential shops will reopen and pubs and restaurants will reopen outdoors as Britain moves to step two of the roadmap out of the COVID lockdown, the third of its kind since the pandemic started in the country.

Meanwhile, hairdressers and barbers as well as gyms can reopen, along with zoos, theme parks, libraries and community centers.

Experts have warned that despite progress in vaccine rollout, Britain is "still not out of the woods" amid concerns over new variants and the third wave of pandemic on 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.
The late Prince Philip has been remembered as a man of intellectual curiosity and generous spirit in a prayer service at St Andrews Cathedral in Sydney on Sunday.

The cathedral altered its regular Sunday service to pray for the royal family as they mourn Prince Philip, who died on Friday aged 99. The service was attended by Governor-General David Hurley, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Premier Gladys Berejiklian and NSW Police Minister David Elliott.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and wife Jenny, and Governor-General David Hurley and wife Linda attend the St Andrews service on Sunday.

After the service, the Prime Minister extended his condolences to the royal family and said the Prince was a man of service, loyalty and devotion, not just to his homeland but to all the Commonwealth.

Prince Philip attended St Andrews Cathedral with Queen Elizabeth on several occasions, most recently in 2006.
With the second wave of COVID-19 sweeping across various parts of Tamil Nadu, some of the industrialists in the State are apprehensive of migrant workers leaving for their hometowns considering the health conditions.

The industries recovered from the jolt of the first wave of coronavirus when over one lakh migrant workers from both Coimbatore and Tirupur industries rushed back to their home towns in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha by special trains.

Even as the business started picking up, the 30 per cent increase in the raw materials has affected the industries, sources from different industrial associations said. A few workers reportedly left for their natives early last week as they feared the availability of transport like trains to reach their towns. However, there was no major exodus from the industries as the workers working on weekly payment basis had taken their wages Saturday last, the sources said.

Coimbatore and Tirupur reported increased infection cases and a correct picture of workers returning would emerge only after another week, they said. No worker left the city till Saturday from nearby Tirupur, a major hub of knitwear garments where 80 per cent of over three lakh workers hailed from the North, said sources in the Tirupur Exporters Association.

Also Read: India reports highest-ever one-day spike with over 1.52 lakh COVID-19 cases

Also Read: 20-30% recovered people lose natural immunity against COVID-19 in 6 months
The owners of Bunga Bunga  the London nightclub once frequented by Prince Harry  are preparing a legal battle to recover millions of pounds in an insurance dispute.

Inception Group, co-founded by Duncan Stirling and Charlie Gilkes, paid 130,000 for comprehensive annual insurance cover for 11 bars, restaurants and clubs in London, including Mr Foggs, Maggies and the Barts speakeasy.

The group filed a claim in March last year after Prime Minister Boris Johnson told people to stay away from bars and restaurants, triggering an immediate collapse in revenues.

Bunga Bunga: The nightclub's owners are preparing a legal battle to recover millions of pounds in an insurance dispute

In a letter seen by The Mail on Sunday, insurance company AXA initially appeared to suggest the company could be covered for loss of business. However, AXA said last night that Inception Groups policy does not provide cover for losses due to the pandemic.

A test case in the High Court ruled that thousands of firms with similar claims are eligible for compensation for Covid-related losses as a result of the lockdown.

Inception Group says AXA is trying to wriggle out of making a payout and it plans to launch a 3million claim in the High Court. It is represented by Fenchurch Law, which is also acting for firms including chef Marco Pierre Whites Black and White Hospitality.

Inception will tomorrow open five venues with outside spaces.

Stirling said: We just want to move forward and focus on the recovery path. But 12 months later were still having to fight insurers that were meant to be protecting our interests.

To see them behave in this disgraceful way after we have paid thousands of pounds in premiums has been a big wake-up call.

A spokesperson for AXA said: No cover is provided by the policy wording for this particular claim. We are continuing to work to ensure all valid claims are paid as quickly as possible.
More than a full year into the Covid-19 pandemic, cracked and chipped teeth are significantly on the rise as pandemic stress takes its toll.

Irish dentist Dr. Lisa Creaven of Spotlight Oral Care has seen a huge increase in stress-related oral care issues, but particularly, in cracked teeth.

Unsurprisingly, this concern is being raised globally, as a recent survey by the American Dental Association Health Policy Institute found that over 60% of dentists surveyed in the US had also identified a significant rise in issues with cracked and chipped teeth.

Dr. Creaven commented on the rise in cracked teeth: "Particularly over the past six months, we have noticed a huge increase in patients with cracked teeth. This is typically stress related, and a common side effect is people tend to clench or grind their teeth more which puts a stress on the teeth and can cause them to chip or crack.

"Speaking with other Irish dentists, this has become a concern for oral care practitioners across the board. To avoid stress-related cracked teeth, I recommend daily focus on stress relief in the form of exercise, meditation, and being aware of not clenching during the day.

"Most people tend to clench their teeth at night, and if so, you may require a night guard that can be made by your dentist."

Due to the pandemic, many patients have avoided the dentist for months, missing check-ups and non-essential visits. As a result, Irish dentists are still trying to keep up with demand and according to Dr. Creaven, basic services such as teeth cleaning are very busy.

A concern for Irish dentists is that these missed appointments can lead to more long term damage. Dr. Lisa recommends resuming regular visits with your hygienist and dentist every 6 months, or as often as you had pre-pandemic.

"Its important to remember most oral health is achieved at home, so by using clinically proven active ingredients that target your individual oral care needs, you will largely reduce your risk of a dental emergency.

"Basic things like thorough brushing with a sonic brush, flossing daily and maintaining a good lifestyle goes a long way in preventing oral disease."
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken

Washington [US], April 11 (ANI): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held telephonic talks with UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and discussed the situation in Ukraine and expressed support for Kiev, US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price on Saturday (local time).

"The Secretary and Foreign Secretary discussed Afghanistan and reaffirmed their support for Ukraine in the face of Russian provocations. They both emphasized the need for Moscow to immediately cease its military buildup and inflammatory rhetoric," Price said in a statement.

According to Sputnik, the top US diplomat is reportedly expected to travel to Brussels next week to discuss Russia's alleged military activities near the Ukrainian borders.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said during a press briefing on Friday that the US remained in contact with Russia, Ukraine as well as its European allies, on the current situation in southeastern Ukraine (Donbas).

Sputnik further reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Ukraine does not reject the idea of a military solution to the problem of Donbas, and in that case, no country, including Russia, would remain silent.

Peskov said that the current situation in Donbas is very unstable and "in general, creates the danger of a resumption of full-scale hostilities."

The Normandy Four format, which includes Russia, France, Germany, and Ukraine, was established in June 2014 to mediate the conflict in southeastern Ukraine, after the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, known together as Donbas, proclaimed independence following what they considered to be a coup in Kiev in February of that year. Kiev launched a special military operation against the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DPR and LPR) in 2014.

In 2015, the Normandy Four negotiated the so-called Minsk II protocol which stipulated a ceasefire in Donbas and sought a long-term political resolution to the conflict. During a Normandy summit in Paris in late 2019, all sides agreed that the Minsk agreements remained the basis of Donbas conflict resolution.

Story continues

Despite the Minsk peace agreements, ceasefire violations continue in southeastern Ukraine. According to UN data, about 13,000 people have fallen victim to the Donbas conflict.

Sputnik also reported that earlier this month, a four-year-old boy was killed and his 66-year-old grandmother was injured in what locals and the DPR said was an attack of a Ukrainian strike drone.

The Russian Investigative Committee has opened multiple criminal cases against the Ukrainian security forces over the shelling of Donbas in recent days. (ANI)
Thousands of Western Australians are bracing for widespread devastation as Tropical Cyclone Seroja hurtles towards the coast, threatening lives and homes.

The cyclone was upgraded from Category 2 to 3 on Sunday evening and is expected to make landfall between Geraldton and Kalbarri, on the state's mid-north coast, between 4 and 11pm.

Gusts of 165km/h are expected to level homes in the eye of the storm, most of which are not built to withstand cyclonic conditions.

Thousands of locals were told to rely on AM radio until the early hours of Monday morning as internet and phones will be cut out by the storm.

Pictured: Tropical Cyclone Seroja moving over Western Australia on Sunday afternoon

Pictured: Satellite imagery of Tropical Cyclone Seroja. It has been upgraded to a Category 3 storm

State authorities issued a red alert Carnarvon and Lancelin, north of Perth, along with Geraldton and Shark Bay, on Sunday afternoon urging residents go to their nearest evacuation centre or to stay with family or friends.

A red alert is the highest alert level and directs residents to find the strongest and safest part of their homes and stay there until authorities change the warning to 'all clear'.

Residents have been told to pack medicines, clothes, important documents and pet supplies, and place items up high to avoid water damage.

People in Denham have been ordered to evacuate as the cyclone is expected to bring a storm surge, which is a high tide that will potentially inundate homes in the town.

Pictured: Worsening weather conditions in Carnarvon where a red alert has been issued

Tropical Cyclone Seroja is forecast to make landfall on Sunday afternoon as a Category 3 cyclone

At about 5.30pm, authorities urged anyone who has not already left to stay put because it is simply too late to evacuate.

Those who stay put are advised to organise an emergency kit including first aid supplies, torch, portable radio, spare batteries, food and water.

BoM Meteorologist Jackson Browne said residents should prepare for high tides, destructive winds and non-stop rain for about three hours.

'Seroja's unusual trajectory so far south from the west coast poses a greater risk than usual due to communities being unfamiliar with the destructive force of a tropical cyclone,' he said.

'Gusts of 125km per hour may extend inland as far as the northern Wheatbelt, equivalent to a rare intense winter storm.'

Winds of about 100km/h are expected in Esperance, on the south coast of Western Australia.

Premier Mark McGowan told reporters the situation is 'nothing like we have seen in decades'.

Pictured: Conditions in Carnarvon where a red alert has been issued. At 5.30pm, authorities urged anyone who had not evacuated to stay put

'This is a very large storm posing a serious threat,' Mr McGowan said.

'Lives and homes are at risk. We expect serious damage.

'I want everyone to stay safe.'

Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said: 'Now we need that assistance from the community. Stay inside tonight. Don't even think about coming out until tomorrow. And make srue you are listening to that AM radio with batteries.

'Ensure you do not move while this state of emergency is current.'

He said one person had already lost a life yesterday in Coral Bay from an incident with a downed power pole.

Evacuation centres have been established in Denham, Port Denison and Carnarvon and a free bus service will run on Sunday from Geraldton to Port Denison.

Pictured: A Western Australian standing on the shore, watching the cyclone roll in

Unusually high tides could cause serious flooding in the Denham and Shark Bay region and near Kalbarri, and minor flooding on the coast between Coral Bay and Lancelin, BOM says.

'We hope we can get through the next few days without loss of life,' Emergency Services Minister Reece Whitby said on Saturday afternoon.

Unlike the state's northwest, buildings in the Mid West are not built for cyclones, including structures in Geraldton which has not seen cyclonic conditions for decades, he said.

A number of roads will be closed in the area on Sunday because of the cyclone, which should weaken as it moves inland on Monday.

Bureau of Meteorologist senior meteorologist James Ashley said on Saturday that he had never seen such an event.

Pictured: Ominous clouds near Geraldton in Western Australia. The cyclone is expected to level homes

'I've been working here in Perth for over 20 years and I've never seen us have three systems so close to being cyclones or being cyclones at the one time,' he said.

'Generally, cyclones tend to need a bit of space between them so they don't mess each other's inflow and winds and moisture feeds and things like that.'

Cyclone Odette and Cyclone Seroja are expected to rotate around each other to create the extremely rare Fujiwhara Effect.

Tropical cyclone forecaster Craig Earl-Spurr said the rare meteorological phenomenon would make it look like the cyclones were 'dancing' and was not common in Australia.

Because both are trying to throw each other around their own wind fields, as each one moves the wind field moves with it,' he told ABC News.

'Depending on how that then pushes the other [system] around, little changes can become big changes very quickly.'
By Kim Bo-eun





LG and SK groups' corporate images / Korea Times file

SK Innovation (SKI) has agreed to pay 2 trillion won ($1.78 billion) to settle its battery dispute with local rival LG Energy Solution (LGES) in a last-minute settlement that will allow SK to avert a 10-year import ban ruling by the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC).



The two companies said Sunday that they also agreed to drop all lawsuits filed both here and abroad, and pledged not to lodge any additional suits over the next decade. Of the 2 trillion won in settlement money, 1 trillion won will be paid over the next two years while the remaining 1 trillion won will be delivered in royalties.



The compromise, which came ahead of an April 11 deadline for the White House to veto a USITC ruling, ended a two-year legal battle between the two Korean battery makers that was initiated by LG Chem in April, 2019. LG Chem spun off LGES in December, 2020.



Biden welcomed the settlement in a statement, Sunday. "This settlement agreement is a win for American workers and the American auto industry," the statement said.



The USITC ruled in February that SKI stole trade secrets from LG's EV battery making unit by poaching its employees. The ruling imposed a 10-year import ban of battery components into the U.S. on SKI, but allowed temporary permits for Ford and Volkswagen to use its batteries and components until they found new vendors.



"The agreement reflects LGES' willingness to engage in fair competition and coexist (with competitors) and it is meaningful in that (LGES') intellectual property was recognized," LG said in a statement.



"Based on this agreement major clients including Volkswagen and Ford have acquired a stable supply of batteries in the global market, and SKI's Georgia plant will be able to operate, enabling both companies to coexist in the global market and compete in good faith."



SKI stated "SKI has come to bear greater responsibility in the U.S. government's environmental policies, the growth of the state of Georgia's economy and the creation of jobs, with regards to this dispute."



"We plan to focus on launching operations of our first plant in Georgia and accelerate the construction of the second while making additional investments both here and abroad to enable the development of the global EV industry and the creation of an ecosystem."









The two battery makers had earlier failed to settle their dispute due to differences over settlement money. LGES is known to have called for 3 trillion won, while SKI had been willing to offer only 1 trillion won.



The settlement overrides the USITC import ban and enables SKI to go forward with building its 2.91 trillion won ($2.6 billion) plant in Georgia, which will supply batteries to Ford and Volkswagen. SKI is seeking to build two plants in Georgia by 2024 that would produce batteries for 300,000 EVs annually. The plants will employ 2,600 workers, according to reports.



Earlier, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp requested U.S. President Joe Biden to exercise a veto over the USITC ruling, citing the job losses that would occur if the plants were scrapped.



While both companies declined to comment, SKI is seen to have reached out to LGES, as it appeared the White House did not intend to reverse the USITC ruling.



On policy grounds, the U.S. president would have been able to exercise a veto within 60 days of the Feb. 10 ruling. There has only been one preceding case of the White House exercising a veto on an ITC ruling so far, which was not on the theft of trade secrets.





The construction site of SK Innovation's battery plant in the U.S. state of Georgia / Courtesy of SK Innovation
Back in 2018, after interviewing technology and security leaders in Georgia, it was clear that the Georgia Cyber Center (GCC) was special  for many reasons. My interview with Calvin Rhodes , CIO of Georgia and executive director of the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA), described the vision, planning, teamwork and execution that made the vision a reality.Fast-forward three years, and the GCC continues to receive a lot of (well-deserved) attention and offers one model for federal, state and local governments to consider on a range of cybersecurity training, solutions and emergency management exercises.After hearing about some new developments, I reached out to the current chief technology officer and chief information security officer in Georgia for an interview to learn more about a range of topics.As Georgia CTO, Steve Nichols advises the leadership of GTA and state agencies on technology issues. He has played a key role in important initiatives to modernize state government IT, including the privatization of IT infrastructure services and managed network services in 2009.named Nichols as one of the nations Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers for 2012. The National Association of State Chief Information Officers awarded Dr. Nichols the State Technology Innovator Award in 2017. He holds a Ph.D. in physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology.I have worked with Steve for many years going back to my time as Michigan CSO, and he is always willing to help and address the latest cutting-edge technology issues with excellence. He is a global leader who offers impressive insights, and his perspectives are sought after by governments worldwide. David Allen is the Georgia CISO and leads GTAs Office of Information Security, which unifies information security responsibilities for the states IT enterprise, the Georgia Enterprise Technology Services (GETS) program and GTA.Prior to joining GTA in 2019, David served as the chief technology officer and chief of cybersecurity for the Georgia Army National Guard. He deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in December 2011 with the 648th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade to oversee communications for the Kabul Base Cluster. Davids exemplary military service earned him multiple medals and decorations, including the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal and Army Commendation Medal.GTA Leadership (Dr. Steve Nichols and David Allen joint answer): The Georgia Cyber Center (GCC) continues to evolve as a nexus of cyber education, innovation and strategic partnerships. A third facility is now planned to handle continued demand for services. From startups to university researchers to Army Cyber Command and its private-sector partners, the GCC is excited to serve these critical needs now and into the future.GTA Leadership: The vision and mission of the Cyber Center are to create an ecosystem for government, academia and private industry to collaborate and innovate around cybersecurity. That is unchanged. What does continue to change are the opportunities, variety of partnerships and entrepreneurship activities that have flourished much more rapidly than originally anticipated.GTA Leadership: Cyber Dawg is a live-action cybersecurity exercise led by the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) Office of Information Security. The award-winning annual event serves as Georgias capstone interagency cyber exercise, building on essential processes and technical skills relevant to the defense of state networks. Over an intense five days, participants move through a staged mock corporate environment being subjected to multiple attack scenarios. The exercise is conducted in the controlled, contained learning environment of the states cutting-edge Cyber Center.GTA Leadership: Cyber Dawg involves three groups of participants. Multiple blue teams consist of integrated network defense teams from multiple state agencies that are the primary focus of the training event. Assisting the blue teams are mentors from the Georgia National Guard guiding them in the finer points of cyber defense. Second, the red team (adversary) provides realistic attack simulation for the defenders. These roles are supported by National Guard and GCC trainers. Finally, the white team provides overall command and control of the exercise to ensure training objectives are met and keep the exercise on schedule.GTA Leadership: Cyber Dawg enjoys international participation through the State Partnership Program that exists within the National Guard. The Georgia Army National Guard enjoys partnerships with the country of Georgia and Argentina. Cyber represents only one component of the training partnership that enhances readiness of our guard forces for state and federal missions.GTA Leadership: Cyber insurance continues to hold an important place in our portfolio of cyber defense tools. The insurance market itself has shifted in how these policies are viewed and in what instances they may be employed. A continued high level of cyber risk and many ransomware incidents across the country have increased premiums in the U.S. With several years of experience under our belt, we now carefully assess the severity and impact of a given incident before making a claim. The policy does not fit every incident response requirement, and Georgia has added in-house capabilities to provide multiple response options, especially for dealing with smaller/less severe incidents.GTA Leadership: Our cyber insurance will continue to be a part of our cyber strategy. The policy covers the executive branch, excepting education. We have seen a lot of interest from other branches (judicial and legislative), higher education and local government. Some, like the university system, have contracted for their own policies and we have given a lot of advice to others about how to get started. We will continue to aggressively pursue cyber defense improvement across the executive branch and manage risk to stabilize premiums and ensure the long-term value of the policy.GTA Leadership: GTA continues to be at the forefront of the state IT modernization strategy and has multiple cybersecurity and infrastructure projects in progress. Gov. Kemp fortified the Statewide Cybersecurity Review Board through an executive order, and the board is taking an active role in setting cybersecurity policy. Those policies have resulted in cybersecurity projects focusing on protection of the mobile workforce and ensuring we have the right mix of tools to keep our workers safe during remote work. Some of these categories are identity access management, continuous vulnerability management, next-generation SIEM and cloud security. Outside of security-specific projects, GTA is committed to the states broadband deployment initiative and the expansion of IT services available to other government entities via our GTA Direct services catalog.GTA Leadership: The cyber threat and technology landscapes continue to change rapidly and increase in complexity in a way that presents many challenges for state government. A focus on partnerships and enabling processes conducive to rapid change are necessary, and GTA has been up for the challenge. While cyber incidents will certainly not decline, strategic efforts such as security awareness training, Cyber Dawg and modernization have bolstered our ability to respond quickly and in a way that allows continuity of operations and continued service of our citizens.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to address six public programs in poll-bound West Bengal on Sunday (April 11).

The Home Minister will address three roadshows, one public gathering and two town hall meetings in the state. The senior BJP leader will carry out a roadshow in Santipur at 12:20 PM. The second roadshow will be held in Ranaghat Dakshin at 1:30 PM.

Schedule of Union Home Minister Shri @AmitShah's public programs in West Bengal tomorrow, 11th April 2021. pic.twitter.com/JnFq1pli8a  Office of Amit Shah (@AmitShahOffice) April 10, 2021

Shah will then address a public meeting in Basirhat Dakshin at 3:40 PM, while the fourth event will be a roadshow in Panihati at 04:25 PM. Post that, the Home Minister is slated to address two town hall meetings.

One Town Hall Meeting will be organized in Kamarhati at 5:30 PM. While at 7:00 PM, he will carry out another town hall meeting in Rajarhat Gopalpur.

The fourth phase of voting concluded for 44 constituencies on Saturday with 76.16 per cent voter turnout recorded till 6 pm, as per the Election Commission data.

The fifth phase of West Bengal elections for 45 assembly seats will be held on April 17. The eighth and final round of elections is scheduled for April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

(With ANI inputs)

Live TV
Through the Civil War, the Great Depression, two World Wars and now a pandemic, the Seamens Society for Children and Families has served Staten Islands neediest with passion and compassion  and without interruption  for 175 years.

Founded on April 2, 1846, the non-profit organization strengthens and preserves families through foster care and adoption services, family support services, domestic violence counseling, behavioral healthcare, a youth enrichment program, tutoring support and a scholarship program.

To kick off its yearlong 175th anniversary celebration, the St. George-based agency has announced the creation of the Robert and Barbara Fitzsimmons Children and Family Fund at Seamens Society, established by their children, Laura L. Volsario and Robert J. Fitzsimmons Jr.

As native Staten Islanders and longtime supporters, the Fitzsimmons were hands-on volunteers who never turned down an opportunity to support Seamens Society staff members and the 1,250 children and 500 New York City families they serve.

Robert Fitzsimmons, who died in July 2019, was a Staten Island business leader who owned and operated Gateway Arms Realty Corp. He ran holiday parties for Seamens children, organized the annual calendar drive and helped secure the agencys current headquarters at 50 Bay St.

Barbara Fitzsimmons, who died in June 2010, served on the Seamens Society Board of Managers in the 1980s and its Advisory Board in the 1990s. Also a licensed Realtor, she worked alongside her husband as office manager and oversaw daily operations of the property management and sales divisions.

The fund we are creating continues our parents desire to help children and families, said their daughter, Laura Volsario, chairperson of the Seamens Society Board of Trustees and vice president and broker/owner of Gateway Arms Realty. They had a passion for helping people and supporting the community.

Robert Fitzsimmons Jr., left, and Laura Volsario with their dad, Robert Sr. Staff-Shot

Giving back to the community was never a question, said their son, Robert Fitzsimmons Jr., president and broker/owner of Gateway Arms Realty. The question was finding the specific need, and this experiential fund establishes a way to support the good work of the agency.

The Fitzsimmons Children and Family Fund will enhance experiential opportunities -- including cultural, educational and recreational activities -- for children and families in the organizations care. For a young person aging out of care, it will help provide furnishings and other necessary essentials for their first apartment.

We are very grateful to Laura and Robert for continuing their familys legacy by providing this extraordinary gift that will benefit many children and families in the years ahead, said David W. Gaskin, president and CEO of Seamens Society. As we approach our 175th anniversary in April, this special tribute to Mr. and Mrs. Fitzsimmons will be the cornerstone of our celebration.

For information about contributions to the Fitzsimmons Children and Family Fund at Seamens Society, contact Andrew Miller, senior director of development, at 718-447-7740 ext. 4269.
As per Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal, a Tika Utsav or vaccine festival will be organised across the country from today. The aim of this utsav is to vaccinate as many eligible people against coronavirus as possible. The mass vaccination 'festival' will be conducted from April 11-14. This utsav comes after PM Modi appealed to chief ministers of all states and union territories to ramp up COVID-19 vaccination.

"Sometimes, it helps in changing the atmosphere. The birth anniversary of Jyotiba Phule is on April 11 and on April 14, there is the birth anniversary of Baba Saheb. Can we organise a Tika Utsav or vaccine festival and create an atmosphere of utsav?" PM Modi had said in the meeting.

States like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have ramped up their efforts to increase inoculation. They have urged people to get themselves vaccinated during the four-day programme.

The Tika Utsav will start in UP in 6,000 COVID-19 vaccination centres. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as well as the Governor will take part in webinars too on all four days.

Bihar aims to vaccinate 4 lakh people during the Tika Utsav. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has also asked people to come forward for vaccination to contain the pandemic.

VACCINE SHORTAGE

While the aim of the utsav is to inoculate as many people as possible, several states have alerted the government of depleting vaccine stocks. Maharashtra has already been making headlines over its war of words with the Centre due to vaccine shortage. Now, Punjab and Rajasthan have also alerted the government of vaccine shortage.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said on Saturday that the state had only five days worth of COVID-19 vaccine stocks, while Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that the state would run out of vaccine in 48 hours.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has also said that vaccine stock is depleting and there's enough only for 10 days.

Jharkhand has also asked for 10 lakh doses urgently.

So far India has inoculated over 10 crore people. With 35,19,987 inoculations in the last 24 hours, India has administered 10,15,95,147 doses of coronavirus vaccines.

Also read: India's COVID-19 vaccination drive hits roadblock; Punjab, Rajasthan, Maha report vaccine shortages

Also read: 'Modi govt mismanaged COVID-19; exported vaccine, allowed shortage', says Sonia Gandhi
"I put my health and my family's health at risk to serve our community during the pandemic," said Tiffany Miller, an emergency technician, and Napa resident. Miller will also be laid off in early May.

For Providence to start laying off caregivers at the Queen further demonstrates that it's focused on maximizing profit, not delivering better care for Napa residents, said NUHW President Sal Rosselli.

The Queen regularly assesses operations, staffing levels, and financial performance, Buck said.

"One of the impacts of COVID-19 is a shift in how patients are seeking and receiving medical care, including the use of telemedicine. This has also affected the volume of visits to the emergency department at Queen of the Valley, which has had an impact on staffing needs," said Buck.

"While we were able to delay staff reductions during 2020, even while many other health care organizations and hospitals made significant cuts, the cumulative negative impact of the pandemic on our operations now requires that we make a small reduction to staff," said Buck.
India reported over 1.52 lakh new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours. The nation's total coronavirus cases have now reached 1.33 crore, with fresh 1,52,879 cases. With 839 deaths, the death toll in India has reached 1,69,275. In the last 24 hours, India also saw 90,584 discharges. So far, India has reported over 1 lakh cases for five days in a row.

Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Kerala account for 72.23 per cent of the total active coronavirus cases. Ten states, including Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Rajasthan have shown a steep increase in the number of cases.

After the latest additions, India's total active cases has reached 11,08,087. As much as 51.23 per cent of the total active cases are in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra reported 58,000 cases, while Delhi recorded 7,897 fresh cases on Saturday. Delhi announced new restrictions on Saturday. It ordered restaurants, bars, Delhi Metro, cinema halls to operate at 50 per cent capacity. Maharashtra, on the other hand, is staring at another lockdown.

India that had seen over 1 crore coronavirus cases on December 19 last year, had seen a brief improvement in the situation this year before the second wave hit.

As for the vaccination, India has administered 10,15,95,147 doses, including 35,19,987 doses administered in the last 24 hours. Many states have alerted the government of depleting vaccine stocks. After Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Punjab flagged shortage in vaccine. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed states to ramp up vaccination. As per the appeal, India is organising a Tika Divas for four days, starting today.

Also read: 'Don't worry if Covid numbers are high, focus on testing more': PM Modi amid Centre-Maha row

Also read: 'No need for masks, coronavirus is gone in Assam,' says health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma
ADVERTISEMENT

The Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar III, has advised Nigerian Muslims to look out for the crescent (moon) of Ramadan 1442AH from Monday.

Sultan Abubakar, who is the president of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) gave the directive on Sunday in a statement issued by Prof. Sambo Junaidu, Chairman, Advisory Committee on Religious Affairs, Sultanate Council, Sokoto.

This is to inform the Muslim Ummah that Monday, April 12, which is equivalent to the 29th day of Shaaban 1442AH shall be the day to look for the new moon of Ramadan 1442AH.

Muslim are, therefore, requested to start looking for the crescent moon on Monday and report its sighting to the nearest District or Village Head for onward communication to the Sultan, the statement read.

The Sultan prayed Allah to assist Muslims in the discharge of their religious duty.

Junaidu gave telephone numbers that could be used directly to report the sighting of the new Ramadan moon to the committee.

The numbers are 08037157100, 07067416900, 08066303077, 08036149757, 08035965322 and 08035945903.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar observed by Muslims worldwide as a month for fasting, prayer, reflection and assisting the needy.

(NAN)
A comedian has offered her amusing explanation about laundry after a confused American woman discovered how Australians wash and dry their clothes at home.

Jane Hamilton-Foster, from Tasmania, shared a very Aussie response in a now-viral TikTok video after US woman Miranda Blakeslee asked why 'dryers are not a thing?' Down Under.

'G'day love. Australian here. Just wanted to let you know that right there is a Hills Hoist,' Jane said in the tongue-in-cheek video - as she showed viewers a glimpse of her clothesline in the backyard.

'We just hang stuff out with little pegs and it dries with the copious amounts of sun that we have here in Australia.'

Jane Hamilton-Foster (pictured) offered an amusing explanation about laundry after a US woman discovered how Australians wash and dry their clothes at home. The comedian explained how Aussies use a Hills Hoist (right) to hang their clothes out to dry in the sun

Poll How do you do your laundry? Hang on a clothesline outside Hang on a clothes rack indoors Dryer How do you do your laundry? Hang on a clothesline outside 579 votes

Hang on a clothes rack indoors 92 votes

Dryer 87 votes Now share your opinion





She said the Hills Hoist was 'named from Mr Hill or something', referring to South Australian man Lance Hill, who invented the rotary clothes line in his backyard.

Jane went on to explain why Australians keep a separate drying rack indoors.

'Drying racks - they're good for bits and pieces. Wasn't sure if it was going to rain so had to put it inside, didn't I?' she said.

She added: 'So that's the story about drying clothes in Australia. Dealing with the really big issues here.'

Jane's video has since been viewed more than 530,000 times, with many around the world agreeing with her explanation about hanging clothes outside.

'UK here and if you haven't got at least two lines out in good weather you've wasted a good drying day. Why waste electricity using a dryer,' one British woman wrote.

'Why would you use electricity when you have the sun?' another asked, while another added: 'Why would we pay for a dryer when it's 45 degrees outside and it'd dry before you walk back in the house?'

And one American woman said: 'I live in Texas, why on Earth would I use a dryer to heat up my house when I can use the outside for free and it's faster than my dryer?'

Miranda Blakeslee (pictured) revealed her surprise after learning how Aussies do their laundry

Her response comes just days after Miranda revealed her surprise after learning how Aussies do their laundry at home.

'Here in America when we do our laundry days we put everything in the washer and then take it out and put it in the dryer,' she said in her video, which has since been viewed more than 300,000 times.

'And then within 20 to 30 minutes everything is dry and you just put it away in the closets and stuff.

'In Australia almost every single influencer I see that does laundry day takes it from the washer and then hangs it up throughout their house on these drying racks.'

She then asked whether it was because there were no dryers Down Under or if they were 'not a thing' for environmental reasons.

'Is it like a pollution thing or something? Please let me know if you're like living in Australia and you don't own a dryer, is there a reason for that?' she said.

'I just don't understand.'
The tough stance of the Trump administration against the nuclear deal with Iran has now morphed and changed into the Americans feeling their way back to the deal. A day after an April 6 Red Sea attack attributed to Israels naval commando on the Iranian military vessel the MV Saviz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made this amazing declaration at a ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day: To our good friends as well, I say, 'The deal with Iran that poses and threatens our destruction will not obligate us.' History, Netanyahu added, has taught Israel that such agreements are worthless. There is only one thing that we will be committed to: deterring all those who wish to annihilate us from achieving their goal," he warned, Al-Monitor writes.

This weeks fast-moving events were nothing short of dramatic. Hours after the attack, US Special Envoy Robert Malley arrived in Vienna for the start of indirect European-mediated talks with Iran on reinstating the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Also on the same day, the first Emirati ambassador to Israel, Mohamed Al Khaja, took up his post in Tel Aviv. That evening, Netanyahu informed Israels most important ally  the United States  that as far as he was concerned, the Vienna talks were irrelevant and Israel does not intend to abide by any agreement reached.

Israeli analysts describe the last development in the shadow war between Iran and Israel as a controlled escalation, meaning the sides are upping the ante but making sure not to lose control and deteriorate into an all-out war. The problem is that the ability to control deterioration is limited and you could find yourself deep inside a war at any given moment, without meaning to go there, a senior Israeli diplomatic source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity.

Events are further complicated by Israels crisis of governance and unprecedented political chaos. The government is barely functioning, Defense Minister Benny Gantz is barely talking to Netanyahu, who is himself entangled in a widely publicized criminal trial. The security Cabinet is rarely convened, decisions are made in ad-hoc or strange forums, and many Israelis fear that Israel could find itself embroiled at some point in open warfare that it did not want.

This weeks attack on the Saviz was the first of its kind, as far as is known. Intelligence officials describe the Saviz as an electronic surveillance and operational logistics platform for Iranian military activity in the Red Sea, used to launch speedboats carrying commando units and to help Iran-backed Houthi rebels mount attacks on Saudi targets. Nonetheless, both sides are clearly trying to avoid inflicting casualties or sinking each others vessels so as not to provoke retaliation. Such was the case, for example, with two Iranian attacks on Israeli-owned tankers in recent weeks, which resulted in minor damage.

The explosion on the Saviz, reportedly caused by limpet mines attached to the hull, was followed two days later by an airstrike attributed to Israel on a Syrian weapons depot in suburban Damascus. The razing of the facility, which was being used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, lit up the skies over Damascus, according to eye witnesses. Reportedly, Syrian air defenses were activated to intercept the alleged Israeli missiles. One Syrian anti-aircraft missile reportedly crossed the skies over the Galilee region and landed in the southern Lebanese village of Houla.

Meanwhile, a top-level Israeli team is scheduled to visit Washington later this month to present the Americans with Israels position on the Iran deal, to share relevant intelligence information and try to convince the United States of the dangerous flaws in the 2015 deal. The team will be led by Israel Defense Forces Chief Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi and include Military Intelligence head Maj. Gen. Tamir Hayman and Mossad Director Yossi Cohen. This is the so-called intimate intelligence dialogue that Israel has been trying to launch with the new administration since it took office in January. The two sides have already agreed on a zero surprise policy  the Americans will not sign anything without informing Israel in advance, while the Israelis will not undertake unusual operations without advance coordination. The leak  probably from the US side  about the operation against the Saviz likely followed an update from Israel. Whether Israel was pleased or furious at the leak is unclear.

Israel is looking on in amazement as the Trump administrations maximum pressure strategy has morphed almost overnight into Iranian maximum pressure on the United States. The relatively tough line that Biden adopted toward Iran in his first weeks in office has vanished and the Americans are now feeling their way back to the deal, knowing they will not be able to squeeze any significant concessions from the Iranians.

That, in turn, could push Israel to the edge, where Iran is already perched. The election of a conservative or hard-liner president to replace Hassan Rouhani in the upcoming June presidential elections could prompt an Iranian decision to retaliate for every Israeli provocation, risking the control Israel believes it has over the escalation. The Americans, too, are well aware of the sensitive situation, which is expected to feature prominently in the Washington talks with Israels top brass.
Former President Donald Trump told an audience of Republican Party donors on Saturday that the COVID-19 vaccine should be named after him as he admonished them to call it 'the Trumpcine.'

He also called the November election in which Joe Biden won 'bulls**t,' according to the Washington Post, which cited an attendee, who also said he spoke for about an hour at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort for a party fundraiser.

He said he wished former Vice President Mike Pence had possessed the 'courage' to send the certification of the Electoral College votes back to state legislatures.

'I like him so much. I was disappointed,' Trump said, according to the Post.

Most Democrats even think he won the election, Trump said, according to the Post, but they won't say it out loud.

He repeated a line from 2015 calling immigrants crossing the border illegally violent criminals, this time saying 'they're coming in from the Middle East.'

'They're not sending their best people. You have murderers, you have rapists, you have drug dealers,' Trump said, according to the Post.

The former president also hit out at Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former Republican Senate Majority Leader who's since fallen out with Trump after pinning blame on him for the January Capitol riots.

McConnell is a 'dumb son of a bit*h,' Trump said in his Saturday remarks, according to a CNN reporter who was told by a person in the room.

Scroll down for video

A picture posted on social media shows former President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive for dinner on Saturday at the Trump Mar-a-Lago Resort, where Republican National Committee donors gathered

Trump at the event boasted that he would help the GOP reclaim the House of Representatives

Trump is said to have called for the COVID-19 vaccine to be called 'Trumpcine,' according to a Twitter posting from a CNN reporter

During the Saturday talk, Trump said some have told them there were 'more than a million' people at the rally that preceded the riots, according to the Post.

Meanwhile, Trump said he will help the GOP win seats in 2022 congressional elections but shed no new light on whether he will seek a second term in 2024.

Trump played host to a dinner at his Mar-a-Lago Club for Republican National Committee donors who are spending the weekend charting the future course of the party in Palm Beach, Florida.

His comments on the vaccine come after polls showed Republicans are more reluctant to get the vaccine than Democrats and independents. Trump pushed vaccine development along with his Operation Warp Speed.

Trump in March recommended that his supporters get vaccinated against COVID-19. The former president, 74, was vaccinated before leaving the White House on January 20.

Trump is seen above mingling at the fundraiser (left). Melania is pictured at the event, right

The former president, 74, was vaccinated before leaving the White House on January 20. Trump is pictured above at Mar-A-Lago on Saturday

On Friday, he also held court at his resort, where he endorsed his former press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, for governor of Arkansas

As for politics, Trump said he would continue to be the leader of the party.

'We are gathered tonight to talk about the future of the Republican Party - and what we must do to set our candidates on a course to victory,' Trump said, according to a prepared text of his speech to the group seen by Reuters.

'I stand before you this evening filled with confidence that in 2022, we are going to take back the House (of Representatives) and we are going to reclaim the Senate. And then in 2024, a Republican candidate is going to win the White House,' he said.

Trump has spent the 2-1/2 months since his chaotic exit from the White House considering requests from 2022 candidates for his endorsement and has been giving them his blessing based on whether they support him and his agenda or not.

He has said any talk of his own plans - the Constitution gives him the right to seek another four-year term - should wait until after the November 2022 elections.

A variety of other Republicans are considering their own potential runs for the party's presidential nomination in 2024, such as Trump's former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

While Democratic President Joe Biden defeated Trump by millions of votes, the Republican made inroads among traditional Democratic voters such as Hispanics and African Americans.

Trump, who sprinkled his remarks with attacks on Biden, said the key to victories in 2022 is to build on those gains, saying 'the Republican Party will succeed and grow in the future by embracing its destiny as the champion of working-class Americans.'

Trump's active role in Republican politics despite losing the 2020 election is unlike other former presidents who have tended to retreat from the limelight upon leaving the White House.

'Saturdays speech will be welcomed words to the Republican donors visiting Mar-a-Lago to hear directly from President Trump. Palm Beach is the new political power center, and President Trump is the Republican Partys best messenger,' said Trump adviser Jason Miller.

Mar-a-Lago was a busy place over the last couple days, as it played host to political events for Sarah Huckabee Sanders and for GOP donors; people gathered outside on Friday

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is running for Arkansas governor, posted a picture to Instagram on Saturday thanking Trump for endorsing her at Mar-a-Lago on Friday

Security was tight outside the premises as the former president spoke

Trump endorsed Huckabee Sanders on Friday in front of a crowd at Mar-a-Lago

Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to address donors Saturday night as well.

Earlier in the weekend, a slew of candidates already positioning themselves for a 2024 presidential run made appearances.

Besides DeSantis, the potential White House contenders included South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina also spoke.

On Friday, Trump held a campaign event for his old press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders at Mar-a-Lago to endorse her gubernatorial run in Arkansas.

The former president, who has been seldom seen since leaving office and being banned from social media, appeared before a cheering crowd to endorse Sanders.

After a game of golf on Saturday afternoon, before the speech, a woman who said she was Vietnamese and who was wearing wearing a '45 LOVE' dress explained to former President Donald Trump the meaning of the dress as he has lunch with his golf partners at Mar-A-Lago

He praised her and boasted about how he won Arkansas 'by so much' in 2016 and 2020.

'A special woman, this was so easy for me. This has to be the easiest endorsement that I made,' he said.

Sanders launched her campaign in January. She served with Trump from 2017 until 2019, replacing Sean Spicer as Trump's press secretary before becoming an adviser.

On Thursday, Trump emailed a statement to subscribers to endorse Sanders and trash the current governor of Arkansas.

He said Gov. Asa Hutchinson 'supported the chemical castration of children' because he vetoed a bill banning hormone treatment for transgender children.

'Asa Hutchinson, the lightweight RINO Governor of Arkansas, just vetoed a Bill that banned the CHEMICAL CASTRATION OF CHILDREN.

'Fortunately for the Great State of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders will do a fantastic job as your next governor.

'Bye-bye Asa,' that's the end of him!' he added.
Fierce fires, swift water currents, and terrible accident scenes are where everyone wants to escape from, except for firefighters and rescuers who have to constantly practice there to improve their skills.

Many fires have recently occurred in Ho Chi Minh City, causing great damage to human lives and property.

During such incidents, firemen and rescuers always face the dangerous fires and the risks of building collapse to access and save the trapped victims before taking them to safe places.

These forces have to undergo harsh training every day to master the rescue skills and they are ready to be dispatched to such scenes any time.

At moments of life and death, human lives must be put above anything else, said Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Nhat Phuong, from the Fire Prevention and Fighting and Rescue Police Division (PC07) under the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Public Security.

Last year Phuong was honored as one of the Outstanding Young Citizens of Ho Chi Minh City. There have been times when the firefighting order was issued as soon as we began to have meals, the official said.

We always bear in mind that taking action one minute faster will help significantly reduce possible damage.

Last year saw 537 fires, explosions, and accidents happen in the city, taking 12 lives, injuring 27 others, and damaging more than 40,000 square meters of houses and factories, said Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Manh Truong, PC07s deputy head.

Truong added that 82 victims were rescued during such calamities.

Nguyen Chi Thanh, an officer from a firefighting and rescue team, takes part in rescue operations in a real-life fire in Ho Chi Minh City.

A drill is conducted to improve skills of firefighting, rescue, and salvage in Ho Chi Minh City.

Firemen join a drill to rescue people trapped in a high-rise building fire in Ho Chi Minh City.

Firemen are deployed to put out a fire in a drill in Ho Chi Minh City.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Nhat Phuong practices saving drowning people in Ho Chi Minh City.

A firefighting and rescue drill takes place at an apartment building in District 8, Ho Chi Minh City.

A rescuer looks for missing victims in a river during a drill in Ho Chi Minh City.

Firefighters and rescuers play volleyball to relax and enhance their physical fitness in Ho Chi Minh City.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Fathers New Year dream for the return of missing son By Susitha Fernando Ranga Bandaranayakes one episode New Year teledrama Al Hale Kiribath View(s): View(s):

Award winning television producer and teledrama director Ranga Bandaranayakas newest single-episode teledrama for Sinhala New Year, Al Hale Kiribath will be telecast at 9.00 pm on April 13, on National Rupavahinin Channel.

Starring Chandrasoma Binduhewa, Manike Attanayake, N. Thiba Dharshani, John Dinesh Sandaruwan, Priyantha Prabhash, Ramesh Keshan and R. Jeyanthan the screenplay is written by Chamara Prasanna Kodituwakku and editor is Demuth Kuruppu. Behind the screen, camera by Janith Susewhewa, music by Nadeeka Weligoidapola, recording by Padmasiri Gunatillaka and Sanath Perera, lighting by Chathura Ekanayaka, make up Chandana Senarath Bandara and art director is Kokila Wijesundara. To a script of Chamara Prasanna Kodituwakku, the assistant director of the teledrama is Saman Premaratne.

Presented by the Teledrama Unit of Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC), the teledrama is produced and directed by Ranga Bandaranayake.

Al Hale Kiribath revolves around an elderly couple who are awaiting the return of their missing son and young Tamil girl boarded in their house.

Many in the village think that Wijesinghe is not on his real sense. Lighting a lamp for the Buddha and going to the grocery with a Marxist hat is part of the daily routine of Wijesinghe.

He talks about social equality. However at home Wijesinghe is an extremely sensitive father who anxiously waiting for his son who had gone missing years ago. In this house a Tamil girl is boarded and she is almost a part of Wijesinghe family. In this New Year too, the Wijesinghe couples main wish and dream is that their disappeared son would return to celebrate the New Year.

Ranga directed his first single-episode teledrama Premagni for the Christmas of 1998. Thereafter Ranga, the son of award winning filmmaker Dharmasiri Bandaranayaka directed nearly 60 singe-episodes dramas of Sitha Niwana Katha Poya drama series scripted by Somaweera Senanayake. Some of these dramas won awards at different teledrama award festivals, said young Bandaranayaka speaking about his long career as a teledrama director attached to the Teledrama Unit of SLRC.

At the first State Tele award ceremony in 2003, Sitha Niwan Katha directed by Ranga won the Best Single-episode teledrama of that year while in 2007, another Sitha Niwana Katha was nominated for a number of awards at the Raigam Tele Awards.

His debut lengthy teledrama serial Bhawanthara telecast in 2014 nominated for 22 major awards including Best Teledrama, Best Director, Best Script, Best Editor, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Cameraman at almost every tele award ceremonies. Bhawanthara won the Best Makeup at the Raigam Tele awards while it won the Best Script and the Best Editor at the State Teledrama awards. At the OCIC UNDA Salutation, the teledrama won the Best Cameraman.

In 2019, Bandaranayakas docu-drama The Silance won the golden award under the category of Civil society  Documentary films devoted to the fight for civil rights, at the XXI International Festival of Detective Films and Television programmes on Law-Enforcement Themes Detective FEST, which was held in Moscow. 1,218 films and TV productions of 78 countries were contesting in 12 categories at this International Film Festival.

The main aim of our productions at the SLRC is to give quality teledrama experience to our view said Bandaranayake who is planning his next feature teledrama series.
I loved Adam Zagajewskis poems before I ever met or came to love him. I recall the shock and transport, the mounting excitement I felt in reading his early selected poems, Tremor, the first book of his translated from Polish into English, published in 1985, and I resolved immediately to try to hire him in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston, where I had recently begun teaching.

I had no idea whether or not he spoke English or had ever taught before  it didnt matter to me, so enamored was I of his poetry  and my passion prevailed. I argued that we had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try to hire an heir to Czeslaw Milosz and Joseph Brodsky, a European poet of the greatest magnitude. At the time, Adam was living in Courbevoie, a suburb of Paris, and needed a job  the French did not understand the sophisticated flaneur moving in their midst  and so in 1988 he stepped off a plane in Houston with a red scarf, a migraine headache and a German-English dictionary. He was very polite, but he seemed tired and disoriented. For a moment, I wondered what I had done.

Houston was an incongruous place for him to land for many reasons. The city is obsessed with the future to the point of pushing aside history. And though Houston had long seen itself as a global city, in 1988 that was more aspiration than reality. His arrival gave the European intellectual tradition more of a foothold on the swampy Gulf Coast, but Houston and its people changed him as well.

The first time I went, I had only the weakest impressions of the place, I pictured a brown desert, a wasteland, Adam wrote of that time in Slight Exaggeration, his 2011 book of essays. I saw the gigantic trees, evergreen oaks overgrown with Spanish moss, like ancient bison  [T]hey never lost all their leaves even for an instant, they renewed them systematically, new leaves grew beneath the previous years leaves and after a moment mercilessly pushed the old ones out  the battle of the generations crystallized in pure, clinical, horrifying form  so that the trees were never naked.

Adam was born in Lvov, Poland, in 1945 just weeks after the Nazis surrendered to Allied forces. He was a leading member of the Generation of 68 or New Wave writers resisting communism in Poland and the government there banned his work. By the time he came to Houston, Adams work had evolved. He never forgot the importance of addressing communal concerns, but he also valued his privacy, the morality of only speaking for oneself. Or as he put it: I have discovered there is also a metaphysical part of myself that is rather anarchic  not interested in politics or in history but in poetry and music. He had impeccable manners and carried himself with dignity; he had become a sort of spiritual aristocrat, a pure artist like Thomas Mann or Rainer Maria Rilke.

By his second day in Houston, we settled into a French cafe in Rice Village and started talking about poetry, a conversation that never stopped. I also took him to get a rental car and soon he was zipping round on what he called the Texas boulevards. In those days, we lived on either side of the Menil Collection, and Adam said that he could often see me coming to get him across the meadow. He seemed endlessly amused by my American openness, which wore him down, and eventually cracked his carefully constructed facade. In fact, our entire Creative Writing Program wore him down with our friendliness and our rigor  and he responded deeply to our core group: the sly irony of Donald Barthelme, the full-throated embrace of Cynthia Macdonald, the capacious intellect of Richard Howard. Our graduate students also rapidly embraced the unlikely intellectual in their midst.

Adam challenged those students. He chided them gently, So you all have been writing a lot of small poems about small things. I would like for you to try something larger. He assigned one class to write elegies to the 20th century. He made space for students to probe big questions with utter seriousness and depth. The course titles speak for themselves: The Imagination and Its Enemies. End of the Century, End of the World. Memory and Oblivion. Poetry and Doubt.

I have heard more than one of his students do spot-on imitations of his accent and manner. I liked to try to make him laugh and see his caterpillar eyebrows arching upwards. Adam was kind-hearted and pensive, a reticent, somewhat introverted person, quiet by nature, modest, solitary, inclined to melancholy, though he also had a gift for friendship, a quick wit, a droll sense of humor, and a special talent for joy. He had clear, piercing eyes.

Adam quickly influenced more than his students and fellow faculty. He became a prized member of our community  collaborating on classical music events with Sarah Rothenberg at Da Camera, collaborating with Rich Levy and Lillie Robertson for readings sponsored by Inprint. He liked our swagger, our energetic go-to intellectual spirit, and we loved his rectitude and gravitas. It was an unlikely marriage of equals.

Adam settled in surprisingly well, partly because he discovered the Rice University library, where the open stacks and well-stocked, mostly untouched books especially appealed to him. Long shelves brim with books of largely forgotten authors, who labored their whole lives, he wrote in Slight Exaggeration. In vain, since the dusty tomes of their poetry and prose now shivered hopelessly in the librarys air-conditioned halls? But occasionally someone still got read, still lived.  I found many books that I hadnt been able to get in Parisian libraries.  [I]n the United States memory is preserved chiefly in libraries and museums, since the cities mostly suffer from amnesia, old buildings are laid waste and gleaming new buildings take their place every couple of decades. He wrote a poem called The Polish Biographical Dictionary in a Library in Houston.

I was nervous that another creative writing program would poach him (many tried over the years) and did not want to tell him that quiet, open stack libraries were a common feature of American universities. When his wife Maja came to visit, the first place that he decided to show her was the Rice library. For the next fifteen years, Adam spent one semester a year in Houston, writing poems, teaching in our program, and traveling around the country to give poetry readings. We had many adventures together  he had a sly way of disagreeing with me on panels, carving up my arguments with Old-World knowhow, the cutting remark (My dear friend Eddie believes)  and we sparked each others imaginations. His work had a tremendous impact on me personally, but it also began to impact the overall American scene.

I like to think the influence ran in two directions. After Milosz, the Polish Nobel laureate, moved back to Krakow, he missed the interchange with American poets that had been such an integral part of his life in California, and Adam got the idea of cheering him up by creating a colloquy in his honor. Together, we invented the Krakow Seminar, which was sponsored by the University of Houston, and for a decade we brought ten of our graduate students together with Polish, European and American luminaries (Tomas Venclova, Seamus Heaney, Eavan Boland, W. S. Merwin), to ask central questions about poetry, politics, metaphysics and history. Milosz even convinced Wislawa Szymborska to read with us in a church  the church of Polish poetry. Zagajewski was one of its high priests.

Adam deepened American poetry. His work is accessible and serious, weighted down by tragedy, informed by historical understanding. Two contradictory elements meet in poetry: ecstasy and irony, he asserted. The ecstatic element is tied to an unconditional acceptance of the world, including what is cruel and absurd. Irony, in contrast, is the artistic representation of thought, criticism, doubt. He valued both elements, but his broadest impulse was to try to praise the mutilated world, as he urged in a poem by that name, written before the Sept. 11 terror attacks and published by the New Yorker shortly after. It was a poem that summed up a collective feeling. So many people felt that the world had been damaged. It had been shaken by cruelty, unimaginable horror, but we still needed to find a way to live. The poem was heard around the world. After everything that has happened during this year of all years, it has special meaning again.

I will always be grateful to Houston for giving Adam Zagajeweski such a welcoming American home. Adam begins his poem, Houston, 6 p.m. with these lines: Europe already sleeps beneath a coarse plaid of borders / and ancient hatreds: France nestled / up to Germany, Bosnia in Serbias arms, / lonely Sicily in azure seas. We feel in this poem the insistence of the past, the living presence of history, the ancient hatreds. Later in the poem, though, Adam seems to have found respite in Houston: Poetry summons us to life, to courage / in the face of the growing shadow. / Can you gaze calmly at the Earth / like the perfect astronaut?

Houston gave Adam the solitude he needed to write his poems, but it also gave him a community, a place of shared purpose until he moved and then returned to Krakow in 2002. He was a contained person, but the sorrow of those he touched in Houston cannot be contained. It is a flood that overflows the bayous. We changed him, but he also enriched us beyond measure, and we will not be the same without him.

Hirsch taught in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston for seventeen years. His new book is called 100 Poems to Break Your Heart.
London: The UKs national broadcaster switched instantly into mourning mode when Prince Philips death was announced but not everyone has agreed with that BBC decision.

The BBC cancelled its regular programming on Friday (UK time) and aired special coverage hosted by black-clad news anchors throughout the day. Popular prime-time shows such as the cooking contest MasterChef were supplanted, and the networks music radio stations played instrumentals and sombre tunes.

A tribute is projected onto a large screen at Piccadilly Circus in London. Credit:AP

Some Britons saw the BBCs actions as a fitting mark of respect. For others, it was a bit much.

The broadcaster received so many complaints alleging its reporting was excessive that it set up a special website page for viewers to register objections if they felt there was too much TV coverage of the death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. It didnt disclose how many people had complained by Saturday.
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Some sun in the morning with increasing clouds during the afternoon. A stray afternoon thunderstorm is possible. High 78F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds from time to time. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 65F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.
British bank HSBC has become more strict with its crypto policy. The bank now prohibits its clients from purchasing the stock of public companies holding Bitcoin in its treasury.

HSBC's new crypto policy

An HSBC customer has shared a message that he had received from the bank on Twitter. The message informed him of a policy change regarding cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin and Ethereum. The bank's new policy applies to products related to or referencing the performance of virtual currencies.

The notice states that HIDC or HSBC Invest Direct will not participate in facilitating, such as buying or exchanging, products related to virtual currencies or products related to or referencing to the virtual currency's performance.

Also Read: Can Bitcoin Mining Be a Source of Livelihood in 2021?

The notice singles out one stock, in particular, is MicroStrategy Inc., a virtual currency product that is currently on HSBC's chopping block. Every customer that has stocks invested on MicroStrategy will receive a message from the bank.

While MicroStrategy does not offer any crypto services, it has been heavily purchasing BTC since Oct. 2020. The company has amassed almost 100K BTC and has made acquiring cryptocurrency one of its main goals.

The HSBC notice also stated that while the bank permits MicroStrategy Inc to hold and sell or even transfer out of a customer's HSBC Invest Direct account, new purchases or transfers-in will no longer be allowed.

The British bank did not specify how much Bitcoin a company has to hold in order for its stock to be banned from the bank. MicroStrategy Inc. has made it a policy to hold 100% of its treasury reserves in BTC.

A rapidly expanding list of companies has stated that they are investing in Bitcoin but usually in smaller percentages than MicroStrategy.

This includes Tesla, which Elon Musk owns. The car company invested $1.5 billion in January on Bitcoins. Jack Dorsey's Square Inc. put 5% of its total cash reserves in Bitcoin.

The website bitcointreasuries.org curated a growing list of companies with Bitcoin in their treasuries.

One Twitter user comment on the situation, speculating that HSBC Canada is probably arbitrarily deciding what percent Bitcoin reserves is okay for clients to invest in.

The HSBC customer who received the notice from the bank tweeted to MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor to ask his legal team if HSBC Canada is legal. Many people are questioning the recent policy change, with some claiming the whole ordeal sounds illegal.

The customer further opined that all of the companies with Bitcoins might be on the chopping block, and the latest policy of HSBC is the opposite of the free market.

MicroStrategy's Bitcoin purchase

MicroStrategy is the first publicly listed corporation to invest in Bitcoin directly. The company first made its Bitcoin purchase in Aug. 2020. After many consecutive investments, it now holds a total of 91,579 Bitcoins that are worth billions of dollars.

The company made its latest Bitcoin purchase earlier this week for $15 million, according to Finance Magnates.

Though numerous companies are now adopting Bitcoins, HSBC's stance towards virtual currency is still negative. The bank earlier banned its customers from transferring profits from Bitcoin trades to their HSBC account.

Related Article: Tesla CEO Elon Musk Not the Richest Man Anymore After Bitcoin Tweet Cost Him $15 Billion Loss

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Sieeka Khan

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
To the Editor:

Re Biden Should Complete the Wall, by Bret Stephens (column, April 6):

Suggesting that President Biden should complete Donald Trumps border wall represents the worst political optics for a proposal since some Democrats supported the term defund the police. Not only is the wall a racist and xenophobic symbol driving fear and misunderstanding among the American public, but it is also an expensive, ineffectual and ecology-damaging attempt that runs against the traditional image of an immigrant-welcoming United States.

Some physical barrier is warranted, especially if we can create security along the border with effective technologies and humane patrolling instead of medieval structures and militaristic maneuvers. Yes, immigration is a very complex problem. We should embrace a multipronged approach consisting of border security, humane policies, international relations, humanitarian aid and a workable pathway to legal residency.

Is it too much to ask Congress and the administration to work together to pass needed legislation instead of constantly bickering along partisan lines?

David P. Dolson

Sacramento

The writer is a former administrator of immigrant and refugee programs for the California Department of Education.
TRAVERSE CITY, MI - As Northern Michigan winemakers head into bottling season for some white wines soon, the excitement that surged around last falls harvest has many of them feeling pretty good about the 2020 vintages theyre creating.

Last summers warm, dry days and well-placed rains created a cautious buzz about how remarkable some of these pours might ultimately be. An MSU extension specialist talked about the promise of full-bodied wines.

Were feeling optimistic about the wines in general, both for whites and reds, Lee Lutes, Black Star Farms winemaker, said in a recent update from members of the Traverse Wine Coast, which includes about 40 wineries that grow their fruit near Traverse Citys Old Mission and the Leelanau peninsulas. Were seeing wine quality that could be on par or better than the wines weve made over the past five years.

Much of the anticipated success rests with last years growing season, and with vineyard managers and grape farmers careful choices about what vines will grow well along the unique and glacially-carved outcroppings of Up Norths 45th Parallel region.

It was a promising year, and we expect good things, said Shady Lane Cellars General Manager Rick DeBlasio. The head winemaker there, Kasey Wierzba, said last fall she was happy with what she was seeing in the vineyards 63 acres, and noted it was a very good summer to grow Riesling grapes.

Harvest time at Shady Lane Cellars of Suttons Bay. Photo by Shady Lane Cellars, republished with permission.

While the growing season was a highlight, tasting room crowds were down in most spots in 2020 because of safety precautions for the COVID-19 pandemic. This led wineries to get creative with curbside pickup, online specials, and new ways to serve customers outdoors. Those lessons will help them better navigate this season.

It forced us to look more at the customer experience, said Jenna Veiga, marketing manager for Mari Vineyards. With fewer people in wine tasting rooms, we created more of an intimate experience. Were moving from a turn-and-burn experience to one where you sit back, relax, enjoy, and learn about the wines. Take your time and take it all in.

Some places, like Left Foot Charley in Traverse City, created new spaces like their Barrel Room so wine enthusiasts could enjoy tastings in a small-group atmosphere with some delicious perks from a nearby award-winning restaurant. Or also like LFC, they encouraged people to bring take-out from nearby restaurants that also needed a boost and enjoy a meal on their outdoor patio with a glass of wine or a flight of hard cider.

The patio outside the Barrel Room at Left Foot Charley. Photo from Left Foot Charley and Alaina Leech with Think Fresh Consulting, republished with permission.

Looking ahead, Up North wineries are sensing a lot of pent-up desire for safe and fun outdoor travel experiences that they think will have wine tours rocket to the top of peoples vacation plans this year.

I think its going to be one of the busiest summers weve seen up here  maybe ever, said DeBlasio. Theres more of an emphasis on regional travel.

Everybody is hungry to get out, Veiga said.

Heading Up North soon? This Traverse City Escape package offers special deals through May 21.

Want to read more stories about Northern Michigan winemakers and the tasting rooms we love to visit? Here are a few recent ones:

This Northern Michigan vineyard pays tribute to Irelands famous Wine Geese

How an award-winning Northern Michigan winemaker came home to find her perfect fit

5 Traverse City wineries rack up awards at San Francisco competition

Why this freediver stashes bottles in underwater wine cellar in Grand Traverse Bay

This delightful Northern Michigan winery is perched atop Leelanau Peninsulas highest point
Click here to read the full article.

Chiles BTF Media has unveiled its next project, El Estallido, a six-part docuseries telling the story of young psychology student Gustavo Gatica, who lost both of his eyes after being shot twice with rubber bullets by the Chilean police while participating in the social uprising in Santiago in October 2019. In anticipation of pitching the series at this years MipTV, BTF has released a first international teaser featuring Gustavo and his brother Enrique.

Hernan Caffiero, director and producer of 2018s International Emmy-winning The Suspended Mourning, will head the series with executive producers Ricardo Coeto and Francisco Cordero. El Estallido will enlist academics, analysts and experts in social behavior to examine the circumstances which lead to the massive demonstrations that overtook the entire country in 2019.

Key to the series narrative is the relationship between Gustavo and Enrique, with Enrique narrating the series, as he does in the teaser. The history of the brothers family will be juxtaposed with the recent history of Chile as a whole, unveiling decades of social discord reaching back to the era of Pinochets brutal dictatorship and how it affected ordinary people, and leads to the 2019 uprising. Variety talked to Gustavo Gatica.

Your story is one of the most emblematic of the Chilean social outbreak, reaching international visibility and support. Why did you decide to tell your story and be part of this series? How did you meet Hernan?

I think it is necessary to make cases like mine visible, especially in a country like Chile. I think justice doesnt work otherwise, and that is why the international attention, especially from a series like this, is crucial to let us know everything that happened in Chile, and what continues to happen in the wake of the October 18 protest.

In the last few months, I have spoken with several Chilean filmmakers about productions that were made in the hope of inspiring social change. What kind of impact do you think this series can have and what are your hopes for possible changes it can inspire?

Thats my hope too. My simplest expectation is to let people know what happened here, and then hopefully pressure for justice will follow, not only for me but for everyone involved. I insist, it is necessary for the Chilean people to be certain that justice will be done. Unfortunately almost half of the causes of human rights violations were closed and archived because of lack of progress, and I feel that international pressure is needed to move things forward.

We know that the series will examine Chilean history to better understand the events that occurred in 2019. What kind of repercussions do you think the Pinochet dictatorship has to this day?

Its like a still-open wound precisely because there was never justice for the violations committed, which meant that wound could never close. Thats why projects like this are necessary. They seek to give visibility to what happened so as not to make that same mistakes again. Thats also why we are doing this project with Hernan so soon after the events it discusses.

This series is proposed as a critique against the actions of the Chilean police, with experts arguing that the organization acts under the same logic of the dictatorship. Do you think this series can contribute to the debate and reflection regarding the need to reform the police?

I think its important that the actions of the Chilean police be addressed in depth, with advice from experts. I also think it is clear that important protocols have not been complied with within law enforcement, because we have a militarized police force which continues to act as it did in that era. So yes, I do think we need to reform or completely rebuild a new law enforcement system.

Some months ago, Chile held a historic vote in which it was decided to update the countrys Constitution. What do you think will happen? What would you like to see change in your country?

There are great expectations about what may come from the process of establishing a new constitution, and I believe foremost among them must be basic human rights such as the right to water  it should belong to the public not to private companies  education and health. These are basic issues that are not guaranteed right now in Chile. And of course, what we are talking about with this series, that a new police force with more democratic values must be created separate from the legacy of the dictatorship. There are so many things that must be addressed, but for me these are paramount.

Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Galle Fort boulder wall project abandoned as residents protest By Namini Wijedasa View(s): View(s):

The Urban Development Ministry had cancelled plans for a 30 million-rupee boulder wall around the sea-side ramparts of the Galle Fort after residents protested to the World Bank (WB), the funder, that it would destroy the surrounding coral reef.

The WB decided not to finance the boulder-stacking component of the restoration and improvement of the ramparts under the Strategic Cities Development Project (SCDP) for Galle after an outcry by residents in the Galle Fort. The SCDP has no further interest in those activities hereafter, says a letter from H.M.A.R. Madawela, Additional Project Director (Galle).

The SCDP is an Urban Development Ministry initiative being carried out in Kandy, Galle, Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Dambulla, Ratnapura and Kurunegala and backed by the WB, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Agence Francaise de Developpment (AFD).

Lawyer Uzman Anver occupies a historic Dutch house in the Fort and his family has lived in Galle for eight generations. He said residents had welcomed initiatives to preserve the Galle Fort. But when it came to the boulder wall, they had been concerned it would affect the long-term stability and quality of the coastal zone. It, therefore, required an environmental impact assessment (EIA) but this had not been done.

The Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Department (CCD) had recommended the construction of a six-metre-wide, 2.5m high boulder wall stretching around 1.5km on the sea-side of the Galle Fort ramparts to prevent erosion, said Nilan Cooray, a conservation architect who leads the project consultancy team. The technique envisaged was the ancient ralapanawa systemwhich used stone liners on reservoir banks to guard against erosion from waves.

Dr Cooray backed the proposal saying a similar technique was adopted during the Dutch period. So, it was not an addition but restoration of a defunct system, he said. The CCD produced the design and the team initiated a community consultation.

Everybody was fine with it but when we were about to start, and the contractor was mobilised, some Galle Fort residents started protesting, Dr Cooray said. One concern they had is that the coral reef will be damaged. The CCD says there wont be any damage. In some areas, the coral reef is around 150m wide. The boulder wall was to be, at maximum, 6m in width.

There was no other way to mitigate erosion of the Galle Forts sea-side ramparts, he said. But Mr Anver, who spoke on behalf of a residents group, rejected this. He said Prof Saman Samarawickremawho is a coastal, port and estuarine engineerhad submitted a report on their request. And while this independent expert had supported installing a boulder wall in some areas, he had said it was not necessary in places where considerable protection was available from wide reef formation acting as submerged breakwaters.

What they (project) were trying to do was an over-development measure that was unnecessary for the Galle Fort, Mr Anver said.

Residents propose protecting the coral reef through mesh-packing or other means, on its outer side. This would help protect the dying reefaffected by the tsunami and bleachingand break down high waves. It will encourage the dead reef to regenerate and return to its original beauty.

If boulders were to be used, the most sustainable solution would be to pack them in selected areas. Another concern had been that transportation of the heavily boulders would expose roadside properties to damage. Many houses in the Fort did not have a strong foundation.

The residents protested to the WB, also sending their own analysis and proposals. According to World Bank regulations, if there are protests from the community and social issues, they will not proceed with the work, said Dr Cooray. So this was called off.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10)  Public health authorities on Saturday said the severe adverse event experienced by a vaccinee from Caloocan City was not caused by the COVID-19 shot.

In a statement, the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration said an investigation was immediately conducted after a social media post on April 8 claimed a 54-year-old male from the city experienced a serious side effect after being vaccinated.

Based on the casualty assessment by the Regional Adverse Events Following Immunization Committee, the DOH and FDA said "the COVID-19 vaccine did not cause the stroke, the adverse event is inconsistent with the causal association to the vaccine, and the adverse event is coincidental to underlying or emerging conditions of the patient."

The DOH and FDA then reminded all vaccination sites to strictly follow screening protocols for assessing potential vaccinees, while the public is urged to fully disclose their underlying conditions during registration.

They also assured the public that the vaccines are safe and effective against COVID-19, and in preventing the occurrence of severe cases.

"With the expansion of the national vaccination program to cover senior citizens and persons with comorbidities, the DOH and FDA likewise urge the public to avail of the free COVID-19 vaccines to acquire the protection it provides not only for yourselves, but also for your families," the agencies added.

The government has started administering COVID-19 vaccines to certain groups based on its prioritization line up. First in line are healthcare workers, followed by other members of the population who are most vulnerable, namely the elderly and those with comorbidities.

Under the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021, the government has allocated P500 million for the COVID-19 National Vaccine Immunity Fund to compensate vaccinees who may experience serious side effects or die after inoculation.
Waldorf Astoria Ras Al Khaimah has appointed Trevor Allan Macleod as its new Executive Chef.

In his new role, Macleod will oversee the culinary operations across Waldorf Astoria Ras Al Khaimahs nine vibrant restaurants and lounges, including Azure, Marjan and Lexington Grill, which has been named the Fine Dining Restaurant in the Northern Emirates for 2020 by BBC Good Food.

Chef Macleod said: To join the Waldorf Astoria Ras Al Khaimah team as Executive Chef, is an absolute honour. I am excited to get started and implement some exciting new concepts to this renowned culinary destination.

The Canadian national takes the esteemed position following senior culinary roles with other hospitality brands in the UAE, China, Philippines and Canada. He brings with him a wealth of creativity following over two decades of experience.

Trained in Culinary Management from Algonquin College, Chef Macleod began his career in the UAE as Chef De Cuisine at Fairmont Bab Al Bahr and was an integral part of the pre-opening in 2009, with his main responsibilities being Chef de Cuisine for Chef Marco Pierre Whites restaurants. From there, Chef Macleod became the Senior Banquet Chef, where his responsibilities included overseeing all Banquet and Catering operations. Following brief stints in China and Philippines thereafter, he joined The Ritz-Carlton DIFC team as Executive Sous Chef.

After leaving Ritz Carlton DIFC, Chef Macleod spent the next three years at Fairmont the Palm as Executive Chef. He led a talented team throughout his time there, and successfully oversaw their award-winning portfolio of 12 culinary venues, opening five of them during his tenure.

Most recently, he was the Executive Chef of the Mandarin Oriental in Guangzhou, China where he was responsible for managing the propertys five culinary venues including a Michelin Plate awarded restaurant and a two-Michelin-Starred venue.

Chef Macleods specialty cuisine spans across many regions, as with every country he has worked in, he takes with him techniques and flavours he acquired while there and incorporates them into his dishes. - TradeArabia News Service
A Nigerian national has been arrested in Msallata town, northwestern part of Libya over the alleged murder of another foreigner.



According to local media, the Nigerian allegedly killed the foreigner, stole his money and tried to escape the the town disguised as a woman.



However, he was arrested by security forces in Msallata.



"Security forces in Msallata town have arrested a foreigner from #Nigeria for killing another foreigner before stealing all his money. The killer disguised himself as a woman in an attempt to escape from the town" the report says.

Source: LIB









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
By Reuters Staff

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe expects sales of tobacco, its biggest agricultural export, to increase by 8.7% this year after the southern African country received its highest rainfall in three years, the industry regulator said on Wednesday.

Last year, tobacco exports earned $782 million, only behind gold and nickel matte, according to official data.

Zimbabwes tobacco farmers sell their crop at auction floors in the capital Harare and to contracting companies, which then export it, mostly to China.

Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board data showed this years tobacco sales will reach 200 million kilogrammes from 184 million kgs last year, when output fell due to drought.

Agriculture Minister Anxious Masuka said tobacco farmers would this year receive 60% of their sales in foreign currency compared to 50% last year.

With a more stable macro-economic environment this selling season and no fixed exchange rate, growers should clearly get better value for their effort, Masuka said at a ceremony to mark the start of the tobacco selling season.

He said the government was targeting to increase tobacco production to 300 million by 2025.

After the collapse of Zimbabwes commercial agriculture following the governments seizure of land from many white farmers in 2000, tobacco has emerged as the most successful sub-sector.

Most of the growers are contracted by private companies to produce the crop and receive seed, fertilisers and chemicals, helping to boost output.

Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise
Two people died in a fight between two groups of people after a karaoke stint in southern Vietnam on the weekend, according to local police.

Police officers in Binh Duong Province said on Sunday that they are working on a case where two people were killed in a confrontation on Saturday night.

The dead were identified as Thach Chien and Thach Chum Rone.

Early reports said that a man, only known as Thanh, and some friends came to Thanh Phuoc Ward, Tan Uyen Town for a karaoke spree.

Thanh was waiting for his friends in front of the karaoke parlor after the singing stint when he saw a group of men looking at him.

When his friends went out from the parlor, Thanh and one of them chased after the group to have a word, as he believed that they had cursed him.

Both sides engaged in a violent fight, causing two people from the group to die.

Thanhs friend, identified as Quyenh, was badly injured while two others from the group also sustained injuries.

Police officers in Tan Uyen are hunting for Thanh and other escapees.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Where are Colorado legislators at in passing the state budget? How does Gov. Jared Polis' upcoming election season come into play? And what does any of this have to do with WuTang Clan and the Notorious B.I.G.?
Dressed in combat gear and brandishing a Kalashnikov, the Ukrainian soldier pictured far right stands in a makeshift trench, ready to resist the military might of Russia.

The soldier and his comrades may resemble a Dads Army band of defenders, but Russian president Vladimir Putins military build-up along Ukraines border is being seen as a deadly serious escalation by leaders in the West.

As Kiev warned it could be provoked by Russias aggression, Western nations voiced their fears that Putins move could trigger an all-out war, which could drag Nato allies, including Britain, into the conflict.

Footage on social media has shown thousands of Russian tanks, missile trucks, armoured vehicles and long-range guns being transported on freight trains to Crimea and Donbass

Chilling footage on social media showed thousands of Russian tanks, missile trucks, armoured vehicles and long-range guns being transported on freight trains to Crimea and the border of the disputed eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass, which has been occupied by Russian-backed separatists since 2014.

Kiev estimates that Putin has ordered 85,000 troops into Crimea and to strategic locations between six and 25 miles from the Donbass border. At least six 2S4 Tyulpan self-propelled mortars  capable of firing warheads 12 miles  were filmed on flat-bed trains. Dubbed the city destroyer, the weapons devastating power has demolished strongholds from Chechnya to Afghanistan.

The military build-up  the biggest since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea  has so alarmed Western leaders that US president Joe Biden despatched two warships to the Black Sea. They will arrive later this week.

Last night, there were concerns for 100 British troops inside Ukraine who have been training the countrys forces as part of Operation Orbital. The Ministry of Defence said they were not in the eastern part of the country.

A Ukrainian armed forces member walks near the rebel-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine

Ukraines government, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky, has accused Russia of planning to invade Donbass and condemned it for inciting violence between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian rebels.

Dmitry Kozak, the deputy head of Russias presidential administration, said Kiev government members were like children playing with matches, adding: Military action would be the beginning of the end of Ukraine.

Ukraines president yesterday met Turkeys leader Recep Erdogan in Istanbul in a bid to ease tensions.Last night, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: We will work closely with Ukraine to monitor the situation and continue to call on Russia to de-escalate.

MICHAEL BURLEIGH: Wounded Vladimir Putin turns up the heat as naked aggression threatens to reignite conflict

Vladimir Putin is sending a chilling message to the world.

For this naked aggression threatens to re-ignite the conflict in the region  Europes only major war  which began in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and supported armed, Russian-speaking separatists in Eastern Ukraine with troops.

It is no wonder that Western governments are worried.

The US has deployed two warships to the Black Sea and sent its Secretaries of Defence and State to Nato headquarters in Brussels.

Western Governments fear that Vladimir Putin's moves could re-ignite conflict with Ukraine

About 13,000 people have died in the conflict already. Soon, it is feared, there will be thousands more deaths.

The fact is that Russia has long struggled to accept that Ukraine, its vast and sprawling neighbour with which it shares many religious and historical links, is a sovereign state.

But there is more than Ukrainian independence at stake here. It is part of Putins grand plan, which has seen him flex Russian military muscle around the world in recent weeks.

Three Russian nuclear submarines broke through the Arctic icecap as the Kremlin deployed a new nuclear torpedo which, it claims, plausibly or not, could trigger a tsunami on Americas eastern seaboard.

Meanwhile, Russian fighter-bombers have been pulverising the remaining Isis forces in Idlib province, Syria.

And, on March 29, Nato fighters including RAF Typhoons had to scramble to intercept six groups of Russian bombers in an area encompassing the Baltic to the Black Sea.

Reservists of the 130th battalion of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence forces have attended military exercises on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine

This multi-faceted show of force is quintessential Putin. As well as telling the world that Russia mustnt be messed with, it has been designed for a domestic audience. Photos of Russian tank transporters and troop trains feature prominently on social media.

In truth, the Russian leader has had an awkward few months. Covid-19 has been a heavy blow, forcing Putin to spend the last year in strict quarantine  hardly the image a world strongman wishes to present.

He only had a vaccine last month, seemingly reluctant to be seen as a vulnerable 68-year-old.

All the while, he has watched, infuriated, as opposition leader Alexei Navalny received worldwide press coverage after the Russian authorities locked him up in a penal colony.

The Russian people are suffering, too. There have been none of the pandemic support measures familiar across the West. The economy is stagnant.

US President Joe Biden, pictured, has despatched two warships to the Black Sea

And to top it all, US President Joe Biden tartly dismissed the Russian leader as a mere killer and a man of no true importance in the new Cold War dividing the world between China and the US.

So where better for a wounded Putin to apply the heat than Ukraine?

It has been a characteristic of Putin, his countrys longest-serving leader since Stalin, to behave as if he was in sole control of a giant gas hob, raising or lowering the temperature at will.

However, Ukraine remains defiant. Last month, its young president, Volodymyr Zelensky, stripped a leading pro-Russian oligarch of three television stations which Putin needs to make his case inside Ukraine.

Then, Zelensky intimated that Ukraine wished to join Nato, a move which would bring Western forces adjacent to Russias heartlands  an absolute nyet for Moscow. Never slow to tell outrageous lies, the Russian government has suggested that Ukraine plans to carry out a massacre of ethnic Russians.

Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelensky has visited the eastern Ukrainian conflict zone

In truth, there is no ethnic difference between Ukrainian and Russian speakers in the region. Most people are bilingual and they are all Christian.

But the Kremlin has no time for such details.

Meantime, the world watches the region with deep concern.

Bad weather and muddy conditions make a fresh invasion of Ukraine unlikely before May, but the threat is real enough  and deadly.

As ever, Putin is telling Washington and its Nato allies that they ignore Russia at their peril, however puny its economy.

Significantly, he is inviting the West to find an urgent resolution to a Ukrainian conflict which, in his heart, he realises that Russia can neither afford to pay for  or lose.

That would, of course, be a resolution that would be made on his own terms.

Michael Burleigh is Senior Fellow at LSE Ideas.
Setting a password on your device is a common way to prevent your important data or private information from leaking.

But if you forget your password, pattern, or pin, get your device broken with a screen cracked, enter the wrong password enough time, or other instances, you won't be able to access your phone and the files on it.

Many users are stuck on this problem and are wondering how to unlock their device without a password. There are three simple methods that you can try, especially if you are using an Android device.

Android Device Manager

If you have enabled Android Device Manager on your phone before locked it, you can take advantage of ADM to unlock your device.

The first step is to visit Google Find My Device on your computer or another smartphone. Sign in using your Google login details that you used on your locked phone.

Also Read: Microsoft Develops a Feature to Log in the History of Each Cell

Next, choose the device you wish to unlock, select "Lock," enter a temporary password and click "Lock" again.

Then when you are done, you will see a confirmation below the box with the options: Ring, Lock and Erase. You will also see a password field on your phone. Just enter the temporary password.

Lastly, go to your phone's lock screen settings and disable the temporary password.

PhoneRescue for Android

PhoneRescue for Android could be the ideal choice for all Android users to help unlock their Android phones without a password, as it requires no technical knowledge to access your device.

The PhoneRescue for Android can safely bypass Android lock screen password, fingerprint, pattern, or pin without any data loss. All of the files and privacy will remain secure. The locked screen removal feature of PhoneRescue for Android is free for users.

It also works well with almost all Android models, including LG, Sony, Samsung, Google, Huawei, and more. It also supports recovering deleted or lost photos, messages, contacts, apps, and other Android file types.

First, you need to connect your Android phone to the computer. Download PhoneRescue for Android and install it on your computer through its USB cable.

Then choose the Lock Screen Removal Mode. Click the second button on the upper left corner to choose the Lock Screen Removal function.

Click on the Unlock button. After it recognizes the device, click on the Start Unlock button to start the removal process. When the screen lock is removed successfully, the interface below will be displayed, and your phone will restart automatically.

Forgot pattern

Every phone allows users to enter the wrong passcode at least five times, and then the user will be blocked. At this time, you will receive a message showing that you have to wait for 30 seconds, according to How to Geek.

In this way, if your phone is running in Android version 4.4 or lower, then you will be able to unlock the Android phone by using the Forget Pattern feature.

If you forgot your password, just enter the wrong code five times on your device, then tap "Forgot Pattern" at the bottom of the lock screen.

Enter your backup pin, tap OK or sign in with your Google account, and tap 'Sign In.' After that, your device should be unlocked now.

Related Article: Netflix Password Sharing Crackdown: What is the Reason Behind This? Is the Situation Serious?

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Sieeka Khan

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-12 05:33:53|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

MADRID, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Four migrants trying to reach the Canary Islands from the coast of African were found dead inside a dinghy, in which they attempted the crossing, the government delegate of the Spanish-controlled Canary Islands confirmed on Sunday.

The dinghy was first spotted by a fishing boat around 120 nautical miles south of the island of El Hierro and three rescue helicopters were called to the scene.

The Red Cross said the dinghy was carrying 23 people from sub-Saharan Africa and that the remaining 19 were suffering from dehydration and hypothermia to varying degrees, with three reported to be in a serious condition.

The 19 survivors were flown to hospital on Tenerife, while the four bodies were taken to El Hierro.

The four deaths raise to 47 the total number of people known to have lost their lives attempting to reach the Canary Islands since the start of 2021. Enditem
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday warned an "increasingly aggressive" China not to attempt to change the status quo around Taiwan, saying to do so would be a "serious mistake."

"What we've seen, and what is of real concern to us, is increasingly aggressive actions by the government in Beijing directed at Taiwan, raising tensions in the (Taiwan) Straits," Blinken told NBC's "Meet the Press."

He added that the United States has a long-standing commitment to Taiwan "to make sure that Taiwan has the ability to defend itself, and to make sure that we're sustaining peace and security in the Western Pacific."

Blinken would not be drawn on whether Washington would respond militarily to any Chinese action involving Taiwan.

But he added: "All I can tell you is it would be a serious mistake for anyone to try to change the existing status quo by force."

The United States has been concerned for some time about the buildup of Chinese forces in the region, including aggressive actions in the region's oceans and military overflights in skies near Taiwan.

Taiwan, a self-governing democracy, is considered by Beijing a territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

bbk/st
A relevant Vietnamese authority said it has not been officialy informed about LGs reported plan to sell its smartphone plant in the northern city of Hai Phong for over US$89 million.

Le Trung Kien, who heads the Hai Phong Economic Zones Authority (HEZA), told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Saturday the authority was aware of media reports of the plan and had reached out to LG for further information.

However, so far the South Korean company has only confirmed that it will shut down its smartphone production line in Hai Phong, without mentioning any plan to sell its factory there, Kien said.

HEZA oversees the Trang Due Industrial Park in Hai Phong, where the LG Electronics factory is based.

I think this could be LGs business strategy in light of its loss-making smartphone business, Kien said.

[Smartphones] are just one of the products that LG manufactures in Hai Phong and right now we do not know whether LG plans to sell the factory or [only] its [smartphone] production line, the official added.

Business Korea reported this week that LG was looking to sell off its smartphone plant in Hai Phong for over 100 billion Korean won, or more than $89 million.

The move follows the companys announcement early this month it will wind down its loss-making mobile division  a move that is set to make it the first major smartphone brand to completely withdraw from the market.

The Hai Phong plant is LGs largest smartphone manufacturing hub, churning out an average of ten million mobile devices every year, or roughly half of LGs global smartphone output.

Other plants in Taubate, Brazil and Qingdao, China are next in line to be shut down, according to the Business Korea report.

LG currently operates three major manuafacturing plants in Hai Phong, including the LG Electronics factory which produces smartphones, television sets, air conditioners, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, refrigerators and the like; an LG Innotek Vietnam plant specializing in making camera modules for its smartphones; and an LG Display Vietnam facility which makes screens.

As the factories generate thousands of jobs, news of the sale has caused concerns among plant workers worried for their future.

Despite holding a ten-percent share of the North American smartphone market, where it is the No. 3 brand behind Apple and Samsung, LGs mobile division has logged nearly six years of losses totalling some $4.5 billion, according to Reuters.

Dropping out of the fiercely competitive sector would allow LG to focus on growth areas such as electric vehicle components, connected devices, and smart homes, it said in a statement.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
At least eight people have been killed after an earthquake of 6.0 magnitude struck off the coast of Indonesias Java island and tourism hotspot Bali on April 10. The afternoon quake hit offshore about 45 kilometres south-west of Malang city in East Java, damaging homes, schools and offices, as per the country's National Board for Disaster Management. However, the agency has not issued any Tsunami warnings as yet.

In addition to those killed, at least 36 people have suffered minor injuries while three suffered moderate to severe injuries. Out of the total casualties incurred, four bodies were retrieved from rubble in Lumajangs Kali Uling village while another three were found dead in Malang district.

The latest development, Sunday (11/4), at 08.00 local times, BNPB recorded 8 people died, 36 minor injuries, 3 moderate to severe injuries. BPBD Lumajang Regency identified 5 people who died in their area, while Malang Regency 3, said BNPB in a statement.

'Ring of Fire'

According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake struck 82 kilometres deep inside the earths surface. Tremors in Indonesia are ubiquitous as it is located on Ring of Fire, a pacific region where tectonic plates often collide. Rahmat Triyono, the head of Indonesia's earthquake and tsunami centre, said in a statement the undersea earthquake did not have the potential to cause a tsunami. Still, he urged people to stay away from slopes of soil or rocks that have the potential for landslides.

Image: BNPB_Indonesia/Twitter

At present, a rescue operation is underway in the affected areas. "The District and city Regional Disaster Management Agencies (BPBD) have established command posts (posko) to carry out emergency handling effectively after the earthquake", read a statement on BPBD's website. Additionally, the agency has also begun a programme to provide food to those affected.

Image Credits: AP

Main Image Credits: AP


Iraq received its first shipment of Pfizer vaccines on Sunday, days after the country recorded its highest daily number of COVID-19 infections since the start of the pandemic.

The health ministry is distributing the jabs to hospitals in Baghdad and the governorates.

Many are hoping the arrival of the vaccines will speed up a lagging inoculation campaign.

Earlier this week, the health ministry warned of "dire consequences" ahead because citizens were not heeding coronavirus rules amid surging infections.

Iraq recorded 8,331 new virus cases within a 24-hour period on Wednesday, the highest figure since the ministry began keeping records at the onset of the pandemic last year.

That was double the number of new infections from last month, and well ahead of a previous peak of some 6,000 in March.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Parks Make You Happier In Just 20 Minutes

Urban parks improved emotional well-being, even without doing any exercise.

Just 20 minutes in an urban park makes people feel happier, research finds.

There is no need to do any exercise (although it may help), just being there is enough.

The park provides time for the mind to recover from stress and fatigue.

Professor Hon K. Yuen, the studys first author, said:

Overall, we found park visitors reported an improvement in emotional well-being after the park visit. However, we did not find levels of physical activity are related to improved emotional well-being. Instead, we found time spent in the park is related to improved emotional well-being.

The study included 94 people who were visiting one of three urban parks in the US: Overton, Jemison and Cahaba River Walk Parks in Mountain Brook, Alabama.

Each was asked about their emotional health.

The results showed that being in the park improved emotional well-being, even without doing any exercise.

Dr Gavin R. Jenkins, study co-author, said:

There is increasing pressure on green space within urban settings. Planners and developers look to replace green space with residential and commercial property. The challenge facing cities is that there is an increasing evidence about the value of city parks but we continue to see the demise of theses spaces.

The study was published in the International Journal of Environmental Health Research (Yuen et al., 2019).
More than two weeks after President Joe Biden placed her in charge of addressing the crisis at the border, Vice President Kamala Harris has made few public moves to show she has a handle on the situation.
Police said the collision occurred just after 3:35 a.m., near Columbus Park and the citys boundary with neighboring Oak Park. A 22-year-old man driving a red Dodge pickup used the exit ramp at South Austin Boulevard to go east on the Eisenhower Expressway.
San Francisco police and federal authorities are ramping up their search for Arianna Fitts, a toddler who went missing in late February 2016.

Less than two months after Ariannas disappearance, her mother, Nicole Fitts, was found dead at McLaren Park, in the south end of the city. Employees of the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department discovered her body in a tangle of ivy and brush near Woolsey and University streets on April 8, 2016. She had disappeared a week earlier, on April 1.

Five years later, local and federal investigators are hoping to find out what happened to Fitts and her little girl.

Arianna would now be 7 years old. She was last seen in Oakland, in the care of her babysitters.

Weeks after the little girls February disappearance, Nicole Fitts received a phone call around 9 p.m. on April 1 asking her to go out and meet the babysitter, according to San Francisco police. After leaving home that night, Fitts was never seen alive again.

Officials have not disclosed a cause of death for Fitts, but have said they do not believe Arianna was with her mother at the time she was killed.

The case captured public attention and has recently picked up new leads, said Katherine Zackel, a spokesperson for the FBIs San Francisco office.

Weve been able to reinterview witnesses recently, including in the past week, Zackel told The Chronicle. Weve gotten additional information.

She and other officials are encouraging people to come forward with any new details they may remember. Seemingly minor facts about the places Nicole and Arianna Fitts went, or the people who were with them, could help investigators, Zackel said.

The cold case could also benefit from advances in forensic science and technology. The FBI now has better tools to analyze biological and digital evidence. And San Francisco police have released a new age progression sketch of Arianna.

Thats why were doing the big public push, Zackel said.

The FBIs Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team and Behavioral Analysis Unit are assisting the investigation, the agency said in a release Thursday.

Separately, police are offering $100,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of those responsible for the killing of Fitts and the disappearance of Arianna.

We want to take the opportunity today to assure the public  and those who knew Nicole and Arianna  that we will continue to investigate this matter as long as it takes to find out what happened, FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig Fair said in the release. This is a tragic situation for everyone involved.

Anyone with information on the killing of Fitts or on Ariannas whereabouts is asked to call 415-553-7400 or visit tips.fbi.gov.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan
Multiple police and 70 SES personnel on Sunday searched through bushland, waterways and neighbourhoods in Brisbanes bayside in a bid to find a Cleveland man missing since last month.

Cleveland man Anthony Roper is still missing.

Anthony Roper, 69, was last seen on March 19 outside a Cleveland service station at the intersection of Princess and Bloomfield streets.

Mr Roper was wearing blue jeans, a shirt with dark stripes and thongs at the time, and is described as Caucasian, about 180 centimetres tall, of a large build, bald and has blue eyes and a slightly grey beard.

Multiple police and 70 SES volunteers searched through bushland, waterways and neighbourhoods in the Redland Bay, Thornlands and Cleveland areas.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has sent a message of condolence to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and to the British Royal Family on the death of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, which occurred on Friday, 9th April 2021.



Describing the Duke of Edinburgh as Queen Elizabeths devoted companion of the last seventy-three (73) years, President Akufo-Addo recounted their visits to 1961 and in 1999, adding that the Ghanaian people have excellent memories of his dynamic and engaging personality.



The President noted further that Prince Philips life had a positive impact on us in Ghana. Over seven hundred and fifty thousand (750,000) young Ghanaians have benefitted from the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, the great initiative he established in 1956, sixty-five (65) years ago, to unearth talents amongst young people the world over.



He continued, It is now known in Ghana as the Head of State Award Scheme, and I had the honour, two days before his death, of cutting the sod for the construction of its own administrative office building, making Ghana one of the few countries in the world, and the second in Africa, to have such an office. His place in Ghanaian history is secure, and we appreciate very much his contact with us.



President Akufo-Addo, in conclusion, stressed that the British people have lost a redoubtable public servant, and we wish him peaceful rest in the bosom of the Almighty until the Last Day of the Resurrection when we shall all meet again.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
New Delhi:

After entertaining crores of people worldwide, Tollywoods epic drama Babuhali 2 is now helping doctors perform critical surgeries.

In a bizarre case, doctors in Andhra Pradeshs Guntur performed a critical brain surgery while the patient was watching Bahubali 2 on the operation table.

The operation was successful and ecstatic with their success, doctors have labelled it as Bahubali Brain Surgery.

It took four hours to a team of doctors of Tulasi Multi-speciality Hospital in Guntur to complete the operation.

According to news reports, 43-year-old Vinaya Kumari was suffering from fits and had a tumour in her brain. Doctors have decided to operate her brain but during the surgery, it was important to stay awake.

To keep the patient awake, the hospital played Bahubali 2 movie in a laptop which helped doctors to successfully perform the critical brain surgery.

In another case, a musician in Bengaluru played the guitar during his own brain surgery in July this year.

In an unusual manner, a techie-turned-musician played guitar in a seven-hour-long surgery while doctors operated on him. The guitarist was operated for 'musician's dystonia', termed as a movement disorder.

Since the man suffered from the problem only while playing the guitar, he was asked to play the guitar while everytime doctors "burnt" a circuit in his brain to cure 'musician's dystonia'.
Since publicly disclosing his 1991 diagnosis and launching the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research in 2000, actor Michael J. Fox, 59, has been an advocate in the crusade to find a cure.

Partnered with Shake It Up Australia Foundation, an aggressively funded research agenda to the value of over $15million (AUD), has ensured not only the fight to find a cure, but also the development of improved therapies for those with the disease.

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia for World Parkinson's Day, this Sunday April 11, Michael said he's 'absolutely certain' they are 'tip of the spear' in finding a cure.

'We're tip of the spear': Michael J. Fox, 59, reflected on progress made in ultimately finding a cure for Parkinson's Disease - as the latest groundbreaking research in Australia is revealed. Pictured in 2015

The Michael J. Fox Foundation has already funded $1billion (USD) in research in under 20 years.

'One billion dollars is a lot of money, and twenty years seems like a long time, but in research terms, we're high-velocity,' Michael said.

He continued: 'In the quest to cure Parkinson's, we're absolutely certain we are the tip of the spear.'

In 2006, his foundation donated just under $1million (USD) to the University of Melbourne to aid further research, and soon after formed a partnership with Shake It Up Australia foundation, founded in 2011 by Clyde Campbell.

Advocate: The Michael J. Fox Foundation has funded $1billion (USD) in research in under 20 years. 'One billion dollars is a lot of money, and twenty years seems like a long time, but in research terms, we're high-velocity. In the quest to cure Parkinson's, we're absolutely certain we are the tip of the spear,' Michael said. Pictured with wife Tracy Pollan in 2019

In the 10 years since Shake It Up's inception, the foundation, co-funded with The Michael J. Fox Foundation, has enabled research projects across 13 Australian research institutes to the value of over $15million (AUD).

In Australia, there are over 100,00 living with Parkinson's Disease, and a further person diagnosed every 40 minutes.

Groundbreaking research, led by Dr Richard Gordon at the University of Queensland, shows that changes in gut function often come years before the onset of symptoms.

A significant issue for those with the disease is a slow-down in digestive tract movement, leading to constipation.

Queensland researchers, backed by Advance Queensland, have begun a human trial in South East Queensland to treat constipation and gut dysfunction.

Groundbreaking research: The Michael J. Fox Foundation has formed a partnership with Shake It Up Australia foundation, founded in 2011 by Clyde Campbell (pictured). The latest groundbreaking research from the University of Queensland shows that changes in gut function often come years before the onset of symptoms

What is Parkinson's Disease? * A progressive, degenerative neurological condition that affects a person's control of their body movements * The disease affects an estimated 10 million individuals worldwide  100,000 in Australia * Symptoms can include slowed movement (bradykinesia), rigid muscles, resting tremors, sleep difficulties, a loss of smell, apathy and fatigue Source: Shake It Up Australia Foundation Advertisement

The research team have screened more than 20 people with Parkinson's who have expressed interest in the trial.

It will determine if a new treatment can restore beneficial gut microbiome species and improve symptoms such as constipation in Parkinson's Disease patients.

Innovation Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said 'the trial will determine if a targeted treatment can restore specific beneficial gut bacteria that are known to be substantially reduced in people with Parkinson's'.

Clyde Campbell said: 'The gut microbiome is emerging as an important area for Parkinson's research,' adding that he's excited to be supporting researchers in Queensland to 'accelerate new treatments targeting the microbiome'.

Shake It Up invites Australians to Pause 4 Parkinson's this April, and draw awareness by donating or hosting a fundraising event with family, friends and colleagues.

To get involved with the Michael J. Fox Foundation this month, including virtual ways to connect, visit the Parkinson's Awareness Month activities page.
By Dr. Benjamin Levi

Young children need to be protected from abuse. But child abuse investigations are not necessarily benign and shouldnt happen when theres little chance that a child has been abused. Finding just the right balance is as challenging as it is important. This is why U.S. Representative Susan Wild (D-PA) and Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) are sponsoring bipartisan legislation, the Jenna Quinn Law, to channel funds to train those who work with children on how to prevent, recognize and report child abuse.

In the United States, more than 7 million children are reported annually for suspected abuse. By the time they reach their 18th birthday, one in three children will have been screened-in for some sort of assessment by child protective services (CPS), and for Black and indigenous children that frequency rises to more than half. In 2019, more than 42,000 children in Pennsylvania were reported for concerns they were being abused (physically, sexually, or emotionally, or seriously neglected); and more than 123,000 children were assessed for some concern about their well-being.

Thats a lot of children and families being investigated by county and state agencies, which are often understaffed, underfunded and ill-prepared to recognize and counter implicit bias. Its a lot of work, a lot of pressure and a lot is at stake to correctly identify when abuse has  or hasnt  occurred. This is because the consequences of getting it wrong  whether failing to identify actual abuse or mistakenly identifying individuals when no abuse has occurred  can be devastating for children and adults alike.

There are many reasons this situation is hard to improve. But one sure way to help is to decrease the number of reports that shouldnt be made to CPS and to raise the quality of reports that should be made. By decreasing the noise-to-signal ratio, CPS staff can devote more time to cases that warrant careful attention. And by receiving better, more actionable information, more can be done to both identify and protect abused children.

Such a process begins by recognizing the importance of evidence-based mandated reporter training. Weve known for decades that children and families are often referred to child welfare agencies because mandated reporters dont know where else to turn or they fear civil or criminal penalties for not making the right call. Yet despite the high stakes, there remains no real commitment to high-quality, effective education for educators, healthcare professionals, law enforcement and others whose work brings them into contact with children.

Such training should include learning what is and isnt child abuse, that less than ideal parenting doesnt equal abuse, and that neglect isnt the same thing as not having enough money to meet all your childs needs. It includes learning the physical, emotional and behavioral signs that constitute red flags for abuse, as well as the risk factors that put children and families at greater risk for abuse to occur. It also includes learning how and where to report concerns about abuse so that action can be taken  because if the relevant information doesnt get reported to the right person, its a lot less likely that help will arrive.

We all know that higher levels of stress tax our patience and resourcefulness. Each one of us is more likely to be short-tempered, inflexible and less attentive to others needs when were experiencing financial or psychological stress, or battling fatigue or pain. It also doesnt help that the pandemic and political and social differences make it so hard to connect with others in our community.

But we need to rise above these challenges when it comes to supporting at-risk children and families. We do this in part by putting a human face on child maltreatment  both its victims and those who bring about their suffering  committing ourselves to knowing the signs and symptoms of child abuse, spotting a family thats struggling and offering help before things get out of hand. In our polarized society, real or perceived boundaries may make us hesitant to offer a hand to help someone through a difficult time.

That said, there are resources for those who want to make a difference. Programs such as the Network of Victim Assistance and Pennsylvanias Family Centers offer excellent community-based assistance if you or someone you know needs resources. Theres also new evidence-based, online mandated reporter training thats free and uses a video-based storyline to make it genuinely engaging. A recent study shows how this program, iLookOut for Child Abuse, provides a more interactive, practical approach to child protection than other trainings (see: https://www.ilookoutproject.org/how-ilookout-compares/). iLookOut allows people to progress at their own pace as they learn what they can do to be part of the solution to this vexing problem.

This upside-down world has caused a lot of us to rethink how we look at things, which in and of itself can be troubling. But its also a chance to begin again  and what better motivation for this could we have than promoting the well-being of our children. A good place to start is with evidence-based interventions that truly prepare us to do the right thing.

Benjamin Levi, MD PhD is a pediatrician and philosopher at the Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Childrens Hospital. He is director of the iLookOut for Child Abuse project, and was the founding director of Penn States Center for the Protection of Children.
In his day, Rex Brasher, of Chickadee Valley, just west of Kent, was lauded as the true heir to John James Audubon.

Brasher spent decades traipsing across the North American continent sketching birds. He transformed those sketches into 875 radiant watercolors, then published a gorgeous 12-volume set of his paintings, Birds and Trees of North America, hand-coloring each print in each of the 100 sets he produced  an astonishing 90,000 prints in total.

The naturalist John Burroughs called Brasher the greatest bird painter of all time. In the 1930s, T. Gilbert Pearson, then president of the National Audubon Society, said Brashers watercolors were the most beautiful things I have seen.

And today  who knows him?

The state of Connecticut owns the paintings, but has nowhere to show them. Theyve been in storage, out of sight, since 1988, at the University of Connecticut Library in Storrs.

Many of the volumes of Birds and Trees of North America sit in institutional libraries  UConn, Yale University and Trinity College all have sets. But others have been sliced up, their prints sold individually on the market.

And while theres a Brasher Road in Wassaic, N.Y., three miles west of Kent, its unclear if motorists driving by have any idea who lived in the old farmhouse at the dirt roads end or his heroic work there.

A group of Brasher devotes in Kent and Wassaic hope to restore his place in American art and ornithology. The Rex Brasher Association, formed about a decade ago, has a website Rexbrasher.org.

The association also has digital prints of a few of Brashers paintings so that people can get some idea of the glory that exists, hidden.

And its now trying to reorganize itself, to better spread the word.

I think we are set for a major expansion, said Don Cramer, of Kent, as one of the associations members.

Rex Brasher  christened Reginald  was born in Brooklyn N.Y. in 1869. His father, Philip Marston Brasher, was a dedicated amateur ornithologist who taught his son to look seriously at birds.

Rex trained as an engraver at Tiffany & Co. but had no formal art instruction. Nevertheless, by 16, he was painting birds, and at age 20 set himself a goal  to paint all the species listed by the American Ornithological Union.

He sailed down the East Coast alone, sketching as he went. He worked odd jobs  carpenter, road hand, bookies assistant  as he traveled west to see the birds there.. He hired out on a fishing boat for two years to watch seagoing species off the Atlantic Coast. He became a jack-of-all-trades.

He could do anything, said Bob Meade, of Wassaic, a member of the association.

Meades grandparents befriended Brasher when he moved to a farmhouse in Wassaic  what he called Chickadee Valley  in 1911. The house had no electricity and Brasher  a lifelong bachelor who split 20 cords of wood a year to heat the place  would walk the three miles to Kent when he needed supplies.

Brasher twice destroyed all his paintings, unhappy with his work. But by 1928, he finished his watercolors to his own satisfaction  875 paintings, compared to Audubons 489.

But he had monumental bad timing. He began selling Birds and Trees of North America when the Great Depression hit and many of his subscribers bailed on him.

The state of Connecticut bought his watercolors in 1941 for $72,290 but balked at building a planned museum for them at Kent Fall State Park. When the U.S. entered World War II, people forgot all about the Brasher Museum.

In 1953, the state began exhibiting Brashers paintings on a rotating basis at Harkness Memorial State Parks mansion in Waterford. But direct sunlight and salt air are not good for watercolors and in 1988, the state removed the entire collection for safe keeping to the UConn Library, where its been ever since.

The irony is that he wanted the art to be kept as a collection, said Cynthia Ayers, of Wassaic and a member of the association. He got his wish.

Brasher died in 1960 in the Gaylordsville section of New Milford. His fame began to dissipate after his death.

Ayers said that Brasher  who painted birds realistically, in their natural settings  was an artist, but also an environmentalist and conservationist. Even in the 1920s, he could see species being threatened.

He was so ahead of his time, she said.

Contact Robert Miller at earthmattersrgm@gmail.com
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. -- Police have identified the driver in Saturday's fatal crash on Franklin Blvd as 52-year-old David Anthony Chavez of Springfield, who died at the scene.

Police say nobody else was injured.

The vehicle was travelling westbound and crashed into a power line at the intersection of Franklin Boulevard and Glenwood Boulevard Saturday afternoon. Police got a report of a single car crash around 1:15 p.m.

The vehicle was a 2004 Lexus RX330.

Witnesses said they saw the driver going about 80 mph before crashing into a power pole. The pole toppled over, and shortly after the crash, the car burst into flames.

"I'm not sure if the fire started because of the involvement of the electrical wires, or if it's just the vehicle fire from the impact," Sgt. David Grice with the Springfield Police Department said.

People in the area pulled the victim out of the car and bystanders performed chest compressions, police said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, according to officials.

Several blocks in the area do not have power as a result of the crash. There is no exact time for when power will be restored but workers on scene said they won't be able to complete the job until the police complete their investigation and clear the area.

Traffic is closed for a portion of Franklin Boulevard while crews work to clean up the damage as well.

Residents that live near the incident said they are familiar with motor vehicle incidents on that specific boulevard.

There's been several accidents here where lives have been taken from a car accident right among these trees right here," said Kelley Martinez, a nearby resident that frequently travels on Franklin Blvd.

The trees that she was referring to were directly behind the power lines that the man crashed into. Just a few feet away from the crash, there is a heart painted on one of the trees. Martinez said that heart was painted in honor of someone who died previously, in a separate collision.

All lanes of Franklin Blvd. were diverted for more than five hours following the collision while investigators collected evidence and processed the scene.

Police say speed appears to have been a contributing factor for the crash.

Police ask anyone with information to call Lt. George Crolly with the Springfield Police Department at 541-726-3714.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison attended a church service on Sunday which paid tribute to the UK's late Prince Philip.

Philip, Queen Elizabeth II's husband of 73 years who was also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, died on Friday at the age of 99.

A service held at St Andrew's Cathedral in Sydney paid tribute to the royal who made many state visits with his wife to Australia.

Governor-General David Hurley and his wife also attended the service along with New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

A condolence book was available for members of the public to sign.

The Anglican Dean of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, led the service and extended his deepest sympathies to the Queen.

The service concluded with a rendition of the Naval hymn 'Eternal Father, strong to save' in memory of the Duke of Edinburgh's naval service.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 20:12:50|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

An American entrepreneur who lived in China for 10 years explains how Western media shapes people's perceptions of China.

"I want people to understand that there is a bias. And again, this has been a large contribution to why Asian hate crime is rising so rapidly in the United States today, and something needs to change," says Cyrus Janssen.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
Arizona News

Phoenix, Arizona - Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced Thursday that a State Grand Jury has indicted Charles Rodrick, of Phoenix, for Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices, Illegally Conducting an Enterprise, Computer Tampering, and Harassment. Rodricks co-defendants, Brent Oesterblad and Sarah Shea were also charged in a scheme where they allegedly harassed victims on their websites.

Rodrick and Oesterblad are accused of illegally obtaining information from the National Predator Databases website and posting that information onto websites created by him. From there, the indictment alleges between August 2011 and November 2015, Rodrick, Oesterblad, and Shea, received payments by victims in exchange for the removal of their profile from Rodricks website(s) but then failed to do so or otherwise republished the victims profiles on other websites Rodrick owned.



Additionally, Rodrick, Oesterblad and Shea are accused of harassing additional victims (not in the National Predator Database) by posting fraudulent sex offender profiles on Rodrick's websites.



All defendants are presumed innocent until convicted in a court of law.



This case was investigated by the FBI Phoenix Field Office. Assistant Attorney General Nicole Shaker is prosecuting the case.
The mayor of Windsor, a small town in Sonoma County, is under a sheriff's investigation after five women stepped forward with allegations of sexual assault.

Five women told the San Francisco Chronicle that Dominic Foppoli, 38, assaulted them. The alleged incidents took place from 2002 to 2019 and include claims of forced oral copulation and rape, prompting the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office to open an investigation, the Chronicle reported. (SFGATE and the San Francisco Chronicle are both owned by Hearst but operate independently of one another.)

Foppoli has denied the women's claims, writing in a statement he is "completely innocent of the conduct alleged."

Calls for Foppoli's resignation have been near-unanimous in Bay Area political circles. All Sonoma County supervisors have expressed support for his removal, and eight county mayors signed a joint statement "demand[ing] Dominic Foppoli resign immediately from the Windsor Town Council and all other elected and appointed positions and roles held with special districts and regional boards."

"I will say he was known as a partier, he was definitely an extrovert and he enjoyed socializing," Lynda Hopkins, chair of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, told KTVU. "It's just hard to imagine you would have a sexual predator at work in your community in a leadership position."

The two California state representatives of the North Bay also issued a joint statement demanding Foppoli step down.

"These multiple, corroborated accounts suggest a pattern of predatory sexual misconduct that is deplorable and totally unacceptable. It is not possible for Mr. Foppoli to credibly or effectively continue serving on the Windsor Council. We call on him to resign immediately," Rep. Jared Huffman and Rep. Mike Thompson wrote in the statement.

Along with being a local politician, Foppoli is also a well-known winery figure. His family has been prominent in Wine Country for decades, and Foppoli is the co-owner of Christopher Creek Winery, Foppoli Wines, Benevolo Wines and the Old Redwood Brewing Company. He is the youngest mayor in Windsor history. His term is set to expire in December 2022.

For his part, Foppoli is remaining defiant. In a statement issued Saturday he wrote, "If I have done anything wrong, I would accept responsibility and I would resign. But I have not."
Justine Bateman photographed by Steven Meiers Dominguez for FACE One Square Foot of Skin

Justine Bateman, author of FACE One Square Foot of Skin Credit - Photograph by Steven Meiers Dominguez

Well hello! A version of this article also appeared in the Its Not Just You newsletter. Sign up here to receive a new edition every Sunday for free.

When my youngest child was just a little creature, shed settle into my mothers lap and pat the velvety folds of skin under moms chin.

Mormor, I love all your necks, the kid would say before fading into sleep. Mom laughed every time, but with a tinge of embarrassment.

I was reminded of those moments when I read Face: One Square Foot of Skin by actor and director Justine Bateman. She spoke to 47 women about their aging faces and turned their stories into a collection of short narratives. Bateman asks, what if we just rejected the idea that older faces need fixing. What if we ignored all the clanging bells that remind women every day on every platform that we are in some kind of endless battle with aging.

Bateman writes: I hated the idea that half the population was perhaps spending the entire second half of their lives ashamed and apologetic that their faces had aged naturally.

Sign up here to receive a new essay from @SusannaSchrobs in your inbox every Sunday for free.

What struck me in reading these stories was how much time we spend fretting about whether we should do something about our faces or hold out. We are still stuck in the crack between empowerment feminism and reality. And I dont just mean older women. I have friends in their 20s who also fall into a vortex of products that promise to reverse aging that isnt even visible yet. The Instagram generation hasnt been spared, in fact, they may have accumulated more time examining their faces than any before them.

One of Batemans characters, Faith, a 48-year-old former advertising executive, catches a glimpse of her face reflected in a tabletop as she leans over. Shes horrified at this new view of her sagging skin. She knew her face was no different than it had been an hour before, but now shed was aware that her face had crossed over, and she couldnt unsee it, couldnt stop her confidence from eroding.

Story continues

My mother had her own crossing-over story. She called it the day she became invisible. She was a nurse, and after every shift, thered be a handover report to the incoming doctors and nurses. One day, when she was in her 50s, she realized that the unit physicians, both men, had started looking past hertheir eyes and their questions drawn to the younger nurses behind her. And thats when my pretty mother realized shed used up the currency of a youthful face just as shed reached the peak of her expertise.

There lies the problem with simply ignoring the terrible way some people react to older female faces. Ageism is pervasive, and it has real economic effects. Research shows that women over 50 who lose their jobs or quit to care for a family member have an extraordinarily tough time finding work again. And even if they do, theyll likely make less than they did before.

Read More: How to Age When Your Celebrity Peers Dont

That angst about being seen as older and less valuable in the workplace fuels the anti-aging industry as much as vanity or peer pressure. Its infuriating but not crazy to believe that looking younger might get you a few more years of relevance and retirement contributions before youcross over.

However, Bateman argues that even when we think were buying more time with cosmetic procedures, its an illusion, a Ponzi scheme in which age always wins.

Shes probably right. But I wish we could create a new currency, a better system, like a pro-aging Bitcoin. Your value increases every year and for developing soft neck wattles that comfort small granddaughters.

Or better yet, we could have our own personal NFTs (non-fungible tokens). NFTs represent unique, non-replicable assets like digital art, and the tech world is obsessed with them. So lets imagine that our one-of-a-kind-woman faces are a new kind of NFT, a currency backed by a life lived without hesitation in the sunshine of good days and bad.

If youre new to Its Not Just You, SUBSCRIBE HERE to receive an essay every Sunday. And write to me at: Susanna@time.com

In her new book, Face: One Square Foot of Skin, actor and director Justine Bateman asks why women still spend so much time in a frustrating quest to fix their faces. Of her own unaltered 55-year-old face, Bateman writes:

Youre looking at f***ing determination and truth and creativity. Youre looking at loss and sorrow and the effort for a deeper perspective. Youre looking at satisfaction and happiness. Youre looking at a manifestation of a connection so deep and rooted that its more real than I am. Youre looking at my face.

Justine Bateman, #TheresNothingWrongWithYourFace

COPING KIT 

What Loss Looks Like: The New York Times asked readers to share photos of objects that remind them of those who died over the last year, whether from the coronavirus or other causes. Grief and solace are intertwined in these artifacts, from a 50-year-old mixer that reminds one woman of her dad who loved to bake to a music box inscribed with To My Gorgeous Wife.

You can submit your own remembrance to this virtual memorial here.

EVIDENCE OF HUMAN KINDNESS

Heres your weekly reminder that creating a community of generosity elevates us all.

Mindy is a mother of three girls who lost her husband Carlos to COVID-19 last July. The past ten months have been so difficult for usfinancially, yes, but also the grief has been too large for me to hold, says the Sacramento mom. I see my daughters, and they just want their Papa back.

In the wake of this tragedy, Pandemic of Love matched Mindy with seven individual donors who were able to provide enough funds to get her family through the holidays. One donor, Janice, was moved to tears by Mindys story and helped with car and car insurance payments, she says:

I know what loss is like and how much a blur the aftermath is. I just had to contribute in some way to ease her hardship.

Mindy has been working since January, and her mother is helping look after her girls (two of whom are pictured above). She tells us shes learning to live with the pain one day at a time and find moments of joy again because Carlos would have wanted us to just be happy.

Story and images courtesy of Shelly Tygielski, founder of Pandemic of Love, a grassroots organization that matches volunteers, donors, and those in need.

COMFORT CREATURES  

Our weekly acknowledgment of the animals that help us make it through the storm. Meet MISCHA submitted by SUZANNE.

SHARE this edition of Its Not Just You here. And you can send comfort creature photos and comments to: Susanna@time.com

Did someone forward you this newsletter? SUBSCRIBE to Its Not Just You here.
Funeral Announcements A daily list of current funeral annoucements as heard on KXRA 1490 AM/100.3 FM

News Updates The daily news, sports, and events delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria.



Sports Update This current sports headlines delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria.

Upcoming Events This email is the events of the area delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria.

Breaking News The big news. Sent only as it happens.
They are just spent, said Katharine Lusk, executive director of Boston Universitys Initiative on Cities, which carries out an annual survey of mayors. Mayors surveyed last summer expressed deep anxiety about the effects of lost tax revenue on their budgets, as they juggled the pandemic, economic recovery and their core responsibilities.

Meanwhile, Ms. Lusk said, the positive aspects of the job were stripped away.

They will tell you its the most personal job in politics, she said. If you cant interact with the community, all of the things that sort of fuel mayors  the inputs that build up that reservoir of energy  that aspect of the job has been taken from them.

There is little national data on local elections, so it is impossible to say whether this years turnover of mayors is unusual. In Massachusetts, nearly a fifth of the states mayors have announced they will not run again, as CommonWealth, a politics journal, reported, but that is not an unusual portion, according to the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

Decisions to step down are rarely made for one reason, and the year has increased pressure on leaders on many fronts, including conflicts over policing and racial justice. Among those who have offered an explanation, however, Covid fatigue comes up a lot. Michelle De La Isla, the mayor of Topeka, Kan., told The Topeka Capital-Journal that campaigning would make her workload unmanageable, and there there was no way I was going to be able to do this at the same time as heading coronavirus response.

Mayor Grover C. Robinson IV, of Pensacola, Fla., said he decided not to run out of frustration with the politicized reaction to health directives, after returning from a vacation and attending yet another contentious meeting. Similar explanations have come from the mayors of Highland, Ill., Pascagoula, Miss., and Seattle, among others.

Thomas M. McGee, the mayor of Lynn, Mass., a large, blue-collar city north of Boston, described parts of last year as a blur, as the virus raced through crowded neighborhoods that were home to multiple generations of families.

Lynn was classified as a high-risk zone for all but two weeks of the past year, and the sense of crisis has never abated, even now that the vaccination drive is underway.
A medical staff at a public health center in Yangcheon District, Seoul, extracts AstraZeneca vaccine from a vial to a syringe, March 18. Yonhap



Jitters linger over safety of AstraZeneca vaccine



By Lee Hyo-jin



The government decided Sunday to resume AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccinations except for people aged under 30, as public concern continues over the safety of the drug. The resumption comes four days after the government suspended inoculations for certain groups of people citing safety issues.



Due to concerns over potential blood-clotting side effects, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on people aged under 60, Wednesday, and temporarily called off plans to begin inoculations for school teachers and school nurses that were scheduled to begin Thursday.



But the agency announced the resumption of injections based on experts' opinions and a thorough review of the latest report from the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which found possible links between the vaccine and very rare cases of blood clots.



The KDCA stated that among the three blood-clotting cases reported in Korea, two did not have any causal links with the vaccine, while the other did not fall into the category of the EMA's definition of rare blood-clotting.



"With the public's safety as our top priority, we came to the conclusion that proceeding with the nationwide vaccination program is of utmost importance in reducing COVID-19 fatalities and curbing the spread of the virus," said KDCA Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong during a briefing held Sunday.



Inoculations will begin today for school nurses, special school teachers, residents and staff at facilities for the disabled as well as homeless shelters, in accordance with the government's initial plan. But people under 30 will be excluded.





Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong speaks about potential benefits and harm of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine during a briefing held at the agency's headquarters in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Sunday. Yonhap
UBC has invited Journalist Hartosh Singh Bal, Political Editor, Caravan Magazine to deliver an address on the topic of Perspectives on the Farmers movement in India 2020-21 on April 7, 2021.

Canadas University Of British Columbia (UBC) has cancelled Harjit Kaur Sidhu Memorial Program 2021, in which journalist Hartosh Singh Bal, Political Editor at Caravan Magazine was slated to deliver an address on the topic of Perspectives on the Farmers movement in India 2020-21 on April 7, 2021. The university website has put up notice stating that the lecture has been cancelled.

Even though the university has reassured students that the lecture will be rescheduled and announced in due course, UBS alumnus Aadil Brar has pointed out that the lecture has been cancelled under pressure from radical Sikh elements in British Colombia. Expressing how this sets a wrong precedent, Aadil added that he would be writing a letter as an alumnus to UBC in protest.

In a conversation with The Print, Hartosh Singh Bal further alleged that the event has been cancelled amid pressure from SSA (Sikh Students Association). Bal expressed that he received an invitation by the university to speak on farm laws through WhatsApp. He was later informed that the event had to be cancelled due to pressure from SSA. Meanwhile, many went ahead to draw links between farm laws and the article written by him on KPS Gill years back.

UBC Asia Studies has cancelled the lecture where Hartosh Bal was supposed to speak out of pressure from radical elements in British Columbia. I will be writing a letter as an alumnus to UBC in protest. This is a wrong precedent. https://t.co/CmsFFSx02d  Aadil Brar (@aadilbrar) April 10, 2021

This was the event poster. pic.twitter.com/Ntc0LacRvR  Aadil Brar (@aadilbrar) April 10, 2021

Further questioning the universitys norms on free speech, Hartosh added, What is important to note is, how does a university operate like this? What norms are there for free speech or whether there are any norms.
Alabama allows voters to opt out of So Help Me God oath on voter registration form

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

In response to a lawsuit brought by a leading atheist organization, Alabama has decided to allow residents registering to vote to opt out of signing an oath that includes the phrase So Help Me God.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, an outspoken secular group that advocates for a strict separation of church and state, filed a lawsuit against Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, a Republican, last September. The lawsuit challenged the constitutionality of the states mail-in voter registration form, which required applicants to sign a declaration beginning with I solemnly swear or affirm and concluding with So help me God.

FFRF lawyers believed that this provision violated the First and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution. One of the plaintiffs, atheist Randall Crugan, sought to register to vote in Alabama in November 2019 but did not want to sign the declaration that concluded with so help me God.

He was told that there is no legal mechanism to register to vote in [Alabama] without signing the oath as it is stated and If you cross out a portion, the board of registrars in your county will reject the application and ask you to resubmit. Because he refused to sign the declaration, Crugan was unable to vote in the 2020 election.

In the wake of the lawsuit, the Secretary of States office has revised the voter registration form. While it still includes the oath, nonbelievers now have the option to check off a box stating: Because of a sincerely held belief, I decline to include the final four words of the oath above.

Following the introduction of this lawsuit, our office took action to see that an option was provided to voters to either swear a religious oath or opt out when registering to vote, Merrill said in a statement. While the language so help me God has been included on voter registration applications since well before I took office, this issue was just brought to light, and we remain willing to accommodate all voters of Alabama. All registration applications, online or on paper, were updated on March 8, 2021, to include the option to opt out, if interested.

In a press release Wednesday, the FFRF and the plaintiffs cheered the huge constitutional victory for secular voters in Alabama. According to FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor, Millions of Alabamians were being asked to swear a religious oath as a fait accompli. We warmly thank the plaintiffs, without whom we could not have put an end to this unconstitutional mindgame.

Because of this suit, I will finally be able to register to vote in Alabama, Cragun said. It is disappointing that the state prevented me from voting in the 2020 elections, but I am looking forward to participating in the future, and I now have a better appreciation of the value my voice and other individual voices contribute to shaping the state.

The other plaintiffs echoed Craguns gratitude. Co-plaintiff Robert Corker proclaimed that he was proud to have been a part of this effort to secularize voting in the state of Alabama, adding, I relish more opportunities to foster inclusiveness for nonbelievers in this state.

Co-plaintiffs Chris Nelson and Heather Coleman, a married couple, also expressed gratitude that the state has  at least, begrudgingly  made some concessions to support state-church separation, promising that freethinkers in Alabama will continue to push for these reforms.

As a result of Alabamas amendment to the voter registration form, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has dropped its lawsuit challenging the uniquely Alabamian mandatory religious voter registration oath. Even before the voter registration applications were updated, the Alabama Secretary of States office began implementing changes to address FFRFs concerns.

In November, the office adopted a new rule allowing applicants to strike out the phrase so help me God when filling out the voter registration form. The rule directed the Board of Registrars to accept as valid voter registration forms with the phrase so help me God crossed out.

Nearly a year before filing the lawsuit, FFRF sent a letter to Secretary Merrill, asking him to drop the religious oath altogether, describing it as unnecessary and irrelevant to voter registration. According to the letter, Multiple Alabama residents have contacted us over the past decade to complain about the religious oath.
In the coming weeks, the General Assembly will vote on two important resolutions that could place constitutional amendments on the ballot in November 2022 on early voting and no excuse absentee balloting in our future elections. Unlike Georgia which recently adopted a new law to make it harder for voters to cast their ballots, Connecticut can be on the right side of history.

Unfortunately, voter suppression seems to be a top priority for the Republican party nationally. The Georgia law is a poisonous offshoot of baseless conspiracies about voter fraud that were fertilized constantly by former President Donald Trump and his loyalists after decisive losses in the 2020 presidential election and U.S. Senate special elections in Georgia.

However, in Connecticut, we are fighting to make voting more accessible and make democracy more democratic. The more people who vote, the healthier our democracy.

Absentee ballots

Connecticuts absentee ballot laws are restrictive and archaic; and keep many people from voting. Connecticuts constitution currently allows a voter to vote by absentee voting only under very strict circumstances  but what if you work two jobs and cant get to a polling place on Election Day? You would be breaking the law if you tried to vote by absentee ballot.

The COVID pandemic forced Connecticuts hand on temporarily modernizing our absentee ballot process. We mailed ballot applications to every voter in 2020 and allowed everyone the opportunity to vote by absentee due to pandemic concerns. And guess what? People liked it and there was no voter fraud  The State Election Enforcement Commission received no complaints alleging voter fraud after the 2020 election and our voter turnout hit record highs.

To build on that success of increasing voter participation, we have HJ 58, a constitutional amendment that will be put to the voters on allowing No-Excuse absentee voting under the state constitution. The amendment would allow the legislature to expand who is eligible to vote by absentee ballot  a chance to make the voting process work for modern life.

Early voting

In addition, HJ 59 proposes another constitutional amendment to authorize the General Assembly create an in-person early voting system for any election or referendum.

We proudly call ourselves The land of steady habits, but sometimes that just means slow and behind the times. There are currently 44 states that allow early voting before Election Day. Connecticut finds itself in the company of South Carolina, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Missouri by requiring in-person voting on Election Day unless the voter has a statutorily defined excuse to vote absentee.

Our absentee ballot reforms during the pandemic have been overwhelmingly bipartisan and I hope that trend continues as we move forward with early voting and no-excuse absentee ballots. Lets buck the nationwide trend of voter suppression.

Matt Ritter is speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives. He is the state representative from the 1st Assembly District in Hartford. Jason Rojas is House majority leader. He represents portions of East Hartford and Manchester in the state House of Representatives.
Gig-economy Western Nomadland won four prizes including best picture on Sunday at the British Academy Film Awards, which were handed out during a pandemic-curbed ceremony that recognised a diverse array of screen talent.

Nomadland filmmaker Chloe Zhao became only the second woman, and the first woman of colour, to win the BAFTA for best director, and star Frances McDormand was named best actress. Nomadland also took the cinematography prize.

Emerald Fennells revenge comedy Promising Young Woman was named best British film, while the best actor trophy went to 83-year-old Anthony Hopkins for playing a man grappling with dementia in The Father.

Nomadland filmmaker Chloe Zhao became only the second woman, and the first woman of colour, to win the BAFTA for best director. Credit:Instagram

An event that was criticised in the recent past with the label #BAFTAsSoWhite rewarded a diverse group of talents, including Black British star Daniel Kaluuya, newcomer Bukky Bakray  who shone as a London teenager in Rocks  and veteran Korean actress Yuh-Jung Youn.
Kifowit said it is good for legislators to hear from residents about their concerns with redistricting. For instance, she said she was told of an issue of people living in an apartment complex that would have half the group with one state representative and the other half with another. These are nuances we need to know before the lines are drawn.
(Photo : Pexels/Pok Rie) Semiconductor shortage in 2020

TSMC, Apple's chip partner, will be attending a White House virtual summit on Apr. 12 to discuss with other chip producers and tech executives how to fix the ongoing global semiconductor shortage.

Apple and TSMC at the White House summit

The United States government and the governments around the world are all keen to fix the issue of chip shortages, which has led to problems for device producers in getting sufficient supplies.

The issue is also affecting Apple and its products, with issues acquiring some parts affected by the market problems.

As part of a bid to find a solution to this problem, the White House is holding a virtual summit on Apr. 12, including the CEOs and other executives from many major producers.

Also Read: Qualcomm Warns of Semiconductor Shortage: What Will This Mean for Smartphone Companies?

According to CNBC, the companies will include Dell, Intel, Samsung HP, GM, Alphabet, and others.

While Apple is not on the list of companies that are included in the discussion, it is represented in proceedings by TSMC.

The chip foundry, which works with Apple on A-series chips as well as Apple Silicon, is making major investments in production in the United States.

TSMC's plans include a factory in Arizona for chip production, an effort that is valued at around $12 billion, which is highly likely to provide some production expansion, with the company declaring its April plan to spend $100 billion to chip fabrication expansion over three years.

The White House summit will be hosted by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and NEC Director Brian Deese, and will also be joined by Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.

The session will discuss President Joe Biden's American Jobs Plan and how to improve the U.S supply chain for semiconductors.

President Biden signed an executive order on Feb. 24 that set up a 100-day review of supplies for batteries, processors, and pharmaceuticals.

It is thought that the review could lead to a more proactive one-year review probing domestic production and the possibility of using the Defense Production Act.

The White House also issued its budget request to Congress on Apr. 16, which The Verge reports includes a request for $150 million to find a pair of manufacturing programs. One of the programs will focus on the semiconductor shortage.

Semiconductor shortage effects

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a shortage of semiconductors worldwide. Semiconductors are needed in devices, vehicles, and more in order for it to function, according to CNBC.

Semiconductor chips are very important components of new cars for areas like infotainment systems and more basic parts like power steering and brakes.

Depending on the car and its options, experts stated that a car could have hundreds of semiconductors. High-priced cars with advanced safety and infotainment systems have far more than a base model, including different types of chips.

In 2020, numerous companies lost billions due to slow production and a shortage of semiconductors.

General Motors lost almost $2 billion last year in its earnings. Ford Motor stated that their earnings could lower by $2.5 billion by the end of the year. Honda Motor and Nissan Motor combined expect to sell 250,000 fewer cars through mid-2021 due to the shortage.

Related Article: Samsung Q1 2021 Sees Massive 44% Profit Jump Due to Strong Galaxy S21 Sales; Semiconductor Division Expects Drop

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Sieeka Khan

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
David Shers ComebackTown giving voice to the people of Birmingham & Alabama. Click here to sign up for newsletter. (Opt out at any time)

Its very difficult to publish a piece these days and not appear to be political.

And this piece is not meant to be political - but it is concerning.

It is true of both Alabama Democrats and Alabama Republicans.

And its something that many of us may not have noticed.

In talking with a state legislator, he pointed out the current racial makeup of Alabama elected officials.

He said there are 35 Senators in the Alabama SenateAll 27 Republicans Senators are white; 6 of the 7 Democrats are Black. (One vacant seat)

He said there are 105 Legislators in the Alabama HouseAll 76 Republicans are white; 26 of the 27 Democrats are Black. (Two vacant seats)

Alabama is a white majority state as are most others, but in Alabama all major political offices are held by white Republicans.

Some Alabama politicians, like Mo Brooks, who recently announced hes running for the U.S. Senate, stir up their base by emphasizing this racial divide. According to al.com, senatorial candidate Mo Brooks on the day he kicked off his campaign for Alabamas special Senate election in 2017, said The Democrats, for decades now, have tried to divide Americans based on skin pigmentation. Birmingham Watch reports that Brooks in his tweets and speeches accused (Democrats) of stoking a war on whites.

The Alabama Political Reporter says exit polls show in the 2020 presidential election 71 percent of Alabama white men and 77 percent of white women voted for the Republican presidential candidate; 84 percent of Black men and 94 percent of Black women voted for the Democratic candidate.

Politically Alabama is not red or bluewe are white and black.

I would like to believe that most modern Alabama citizens dont see politics as white or black, but the optics dont look good.

And Alabama, as well as many other Southern states, has a dismal history in racial politics.

Slavery

Jim Crow laws and segregation

Lynching

Racial intermarriage

Slavery

Slavery ended when the North defeated the South in the Civil War in 1865. If it had been up to Alabama political leaders, slavery would have continued.

Jim Crow Laws and segregation

Alabama passed numerous Jim Crow laws between 1865 and 1957  laws like white woman nurses cant help black men and no children are allowed to go to a place that is racially mixed. Jim Crow laws were overruled by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. If it had been up to Alabama politicians, Jim Crow laws and segregation would have continued.

Lynching

Between 1877 and 1943 more than 300 Black people were lynched in Alabama. Lynching was rarely prosecuted and Alabama never passed any anti-lynching laws.

Racial intermarriage

The Supreme Court overturned the ban on interracial marriage in 1967 making Alabamas law banning racial intermarriage moot. But it took until 2000 for Alabama to legislatively overturn its banthe last state in the country to do so.

Alabama not like Georgia

Some people feel Alabama will one day be like Georgia and become a purple state. This is not likely to happen any time soon.

Georgians voted for a Democratic presidential candidate and elected two Democrats to the Senate.

Georgia is 52% white and Alabama is 65.3% white.

Georgia is becoming much more urban while Alabama remains mostly rural. Fifty-seven percent of Georgians live in metropolitan Atlanta while only 22 percent of Alabamians live in metropolitan Birmingham.

It shouldnt be acceptable of state-wide elected officials that Republicans are all white and all but two Democrats are black.

By being aware that Alabama is so racially divided, maybe both Democrats and Republicans can find a way to be more inclusive.

David Sher is the founder and publisher of ComebackTown. Hes past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).

Click here to sign up for our newsletter. (Opt out at any time)
The United Arab Emirates named the next two astronauts in its space program Saturday, including the country's first female astronaut.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai who also serves as the autocratically ruled country's prime minister and vice president, named the two astronauts on Twitter.

He identified Noura al-Matroushi as the UAE's first female astronaut, with her male counterpart as Mohammed al-Mulla.

A later government promotional video described al-Matroushi, born in 1993, as an engineer at the Abu Dhabi-based National Petroleum Construction Co.

Also read: NASA teams up with Fitbit to protect their astronauts from COVID-19

Al-Mulla, born in 1988, serves as a pilot with Dubai police and heads their training division, the government said.

The two had been selected among more than 4,000 applicants in the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula that's also home to Abu Dhabi.

The two will undergo training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

If al-Matroushi ends up going on a mission, she could become the first Arab woman in space, the UAE government said.

Anousheh Raissyan, an Iranian-American telecommunications entrepreneur and millionaire from Dallas, became the first Muslim woman and first Iranian in space when she traveled as a self-funded civilian to the International Space Station in 2006. She reportedly paid $20 million to travel there as a tourist.

The first Muslim in space was Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman, who joined the crew of the shuttle Discovery in 1985.

Read more: United Arab Emirates launches mission to Mars

In 2019, Maj. Hazzaa al-Mansoori became the UAE's first astronaut in space, spending an eight-day mission aboard the International Space Station.

The Emirates has had other recent successes in its space program. This February, the UAE put its Amal, or Hope, satellite in orbit around Mars, a first for the Arab world. In 2024, the country hopes to put an unmanned spacecraft on the moon.

The UAE also has set the ambitious goal of building a human colony on Mars by 2117.
Plans for Australia's Covid-19 vaccine rollout have been abandoned, as Scott Morrison admits that many may be forced to wait until next year to get even their first jab.

Despite earlier assurances on Sunday from Trade Minister Dan Tehan that the government aimed to vaccinate all Australians by the end of 2021, Mr Morrison took to social media to clarify 'such targets' had not been set.

'While we would like to see these doses completed before the end of the year, it is not possible to set such targets given the many uncertainties involved,' the Prime Minister wrote on Facebook.

'We will just get on with the job of working together to produce, distribute and administer the vaccines as safely and efficiently as possible.'

The government has already implied on several occasions that Australians will be be unable to fly abroad for the first time since March 2020 without being fully vaccinated, with airlines including Qantas set to demand customers have their jabs.

Scott Morrison has warned some Australians may have to wait until next year to get their first coronavirus vaccination. Pictured is a Townsville nurse getting the jab in early March

The Federal Government has been forced to change its Covid-19 vaccine timetable after concerns over the AstraZeneca jab through the rollout into doubt (pictured, a nurse in Tasmania receives her Covid-19 vaccine in February)

The Federal Government's heavily-criticised Covid-19 vaccine rollout had already been thrown into further chaos amid confusion over a revised timeline to have every Australian inoculated.

Blood clot fears over the AstraZeneca jab forced a rethink of the nation's vaccine program, but a further 20 million doses of the Pfizer jab are due to arrive in the last few months of 2021.

'That is definitely the aim, that is the goal we have set - trying to have all Australians have a dose by the end of the year,' Mr Tehan told Sky News on Sunday afternoon.

But Health Minister Greg Hunt also appeared to walk back Mr Tehan's comments just hours later while holding a press conference by refusing to commit to a timeframe.

'There's been no change in our permission as the Prime Minister said and our goal is to ensure that every Australian is vaccinated as early as possible,' Mr Hunt said.

The Government's vaccine program - criticised for being too slow - suffered a major setback last Thursday after health authorities recommended the AstraZeneca vaccine should only be given to people over 50 due to the risk of blood clotting.

Australian health authorities recommended the AstraZeneca vaccine (pictured) should only be given to people above 50 due to the risk of blood clotting. Those aged under 50 should instead get the Pfizer vaccine, authorities recommended

The AstraZeneca jab was the vaccine the government was relying heavily on, but it has since secured an additional 20million Pfizer vaccine doses that will be shipped from overseas later in the year.

The Pfizer vaccine is now the preferred vaccine for those aged under 50.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison originally planned to have all Australians vaccinated by October.

Mr Tehan had warned while speaking to Sky News the world was still under the cloud of a pandemic and things could quickly change.

'But I think Australians understand when you're dealing with the pandemic, there are a lot of unknowns and you have got to make sure you set your goals and are prepared to adjust those as things occur,' he said.

'While we would like to see these doses completed before the end of the year, it is not possible to set such targets given the many uncertainties involved,' Scott Morrison (pictured on Saturday) admitted on Sunday night

The Prime Minister's admission comes after Trade Minister Dan Tehan (pictured) tried to assured the government aimed to vaccinate all Australians by the end of 2021

In an indication of just how quickly things can change, a government spokesperson also told AAP there had been no change in the government's position from last week, where there was a reluctance to commit to a timetable for delivering the vaccine.

'We await further advice from the medical experts about potential timeframes, but our goal is to ensure every Australian is vaccinated as early as possible,' the spokesperson said.

Australia has just passed the one million mark in terms of vaccinations, well short of the four million Mr Morrison originally promised by the end of March.

In the last 24 hours, 88,500 new vaccine doses were administered, bringing the total number inoculated to 1.16million.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured, flanked by Department of Health Secretary Dr Brendan Murphy) had been aiming to have every willing Australian receiving their first Covid-19 vaccine dose by the end of October

Mr Hunt said there were now 4000 GP clinics across the nation taking part in delivering the vaccine.

'General practices have flocked to participate,' Mr Hunt said on Sunday.

'We've reached that figure of 4000 (general practices and Aboriginal controlled health services administering vaccines) earlier than expected and that's because of the heightened level of participation of our GPs.'

Mr Hunt added the Government had indemnity agreements for vaccines.

'Our advice is very clear that doctors are protected by the government indemnity agreement, against any side effects which flow from the blood clots themselves,' he said.

Labor's health spokesman Mark Butler said the Government should have secured more vaccine deals to ensure there was a backup when something like the AstraZeneca situation arose.

'We are now in a very difficult situation,' Mr Butler told ABC's Insider program.

Health Minister Greg Hunt (pictured left while a woman receives her Covid-19 vaccine) said there were now 4000 GP clinics across the nation administering the vaccine

'Australia was already way behind schedule in the vaccine rollout, not in the top 100 nations in the world and a bad situation has been made far worse by these unforeseen events around the AstraZeneca vaccine.'

Meanwhile, Mr Tehan will embark on a 'vaccine diplomacy' trip to Europe from Wednesday.

He will speak with the European Union and his ministerial counterparts in France, Germany and Brussels.

'I will also be meeting the director general of the World Trade Organisation to talk about what we can do to ensure supply of the vaccine, not only for Australia, but globally,' Mr Tehan said.

HOW SAFE IS THE PFIZER VACCINE? Scientists have carried out extensive clinical trials on the Pfizer vaccine and established that it is safe to use. And the UK regulator rubber-stamped it with a seal of approval, saying it was safe to administer, after evaluating data from 44,000 volunteers in the trials. But they issued an advisory notice saying that those with a history of allergies should not get the vaccine. Concerns have been raised over the speed with which the vaccine was approved - in a matter of months - but scientists have said no corners were cut and this was possible due to the enormous number of volunteers that signed up for the clinical trials. Pfizer and BioNTech both said they found no serious safety concerns during their four-month long trials. A spokesman for Pfizer said their jab was 'generally well tolerated with no serious safety concerns reported'. 'The trial has enrolled over 44,000 participants to date, over 42,000 of whom have received a second vaccination.' Professor Ian Jones, a virologist at the University of Reading, said that the vaccine was 'extremely safe' and that he would be cautious about attributing the allergic reactions to the jab. 'I think it's probably safer in my view than many other vaccines currently available,' he told MailOnline. 'It really is very clean technology.' I would be cautious about attributing the allergic reactions to the vaccine at this moment, especially as it hasnt cropped up in clinical trials, he said. The big allergic reaction to vaccines normally is an egg allergy, because historically influenza vaccines and several others have been grown in hens eggs and you inevitably get a bit of egg protein coming through with the final product. But theres nothing like that in the mRNA vaccine. The only addition is the lipid coating that they put on the mRNA before it goes into cells  but theres no history of allergic reactions to that. He added that the MHRA had been 'cautious' in saying that those with a history of allergies should not get the vaccine. Professor Heidi Larson, director of the Vaccine Confidence Project, told Sky News the vaccine was approved so quickly due to a ramping up of its clinical trials. 'The safety regulatory process is still there but the time frame between things, they've tried to shorten, just in terms of it's not sitting in a pile of things to be approved,' she said. Advertisement

Pacific nations will soon have shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured in Australia to distribute, with the Government promising to export 10,000 doses a week.

The Government said it will start with hard-hit Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste.

Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu will also begin to receive doses in the coming weeks.

In a joint statement, Mr Hunt, Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Minister for International Development and the Pacific Zed Seselja said: 'Our region's health security and economic recovery is intertwined with our own.'

Queensland on Sunday reported no new Covid-19 community transmission cases.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said there was one case believed to be an historic link to the recent Byron Bay cluster and was under investigation, adding it was not a risk to the community.

Victoria and NSW have reported no new Covid cases in the past day.
The Johnson and Johnson vaccine was seen to have "rare" blood clot occurrence. Because of this, a European drug regulator is reviewing the blood clots among four Americans who received the said vaccines.

It can be remembered that AstraZeneca vaccines were suspended in several countries from the European Union such as France, Portugal, and Germany because the said vaccine also formed blood clots on some of their constituents. Meanwhile, Johnson and Johnson noted that they are aware of the blood clot occurrence from their vaccine and are working with regulators.

READ NEXT: U.S. Experts Questions EU's Decision to Halt AstraZeneca Vaccine Rollout

Blood Clot After J&J Jab

The Safety Committee from the European Medicine's Agency (EMA) is the one who is investigating the blood clot occurrence on four Americans who received the jab, according to a report from Reuters.

EMA noted that among the four serious cases of the blood clot and low platelets, three were identified during the COVID vaccine rollout in the United States. The three incidents were added to the death of an individual during the which were reported in Johnson and Johnson's clinical trial, due to blood clotting disorder.

In an emailed statement of Johnson and Johnson to Reuters, the company emphasized that the three incidents still have no clear relationship between the "rare events" and their COVID-19 vaccine.

EMA's investigation on the Johnson and Johnson vaccine follows their preparation for including the shot among the roster of COVID vaccines that are used in Europe's vaccine rollout, according to an Insider report.

EMA's report is the first to mention a blood clot occurrence on people administered with Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration pointed out that they were aware of the blood clot allegations. The agency also emphasized that they also did not find any relationship between the blood clot to Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

Experts on Johnson and Johnson Vaccine

Data from the World Health Organization reflect the U.S. has recorded a total of 30,692,226, with 554,783 deaths, from January 3, 2020 to April 10, 2021. As of March 31, 2021, the country has administered about 154,238,865 vaccine doses.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that nearly five million people in the United States have received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine as of Thursday morning.

"You don't want to be fueling unnecessary worries about the safety of vaccines when you're still on an enormous outbreak," said Art Caplan, a bioethicist from New York University.

Meanwhile, Ian Douglas, a professor from pharmacoepidemiology at London School Hygiene and Tropical Medicine noted that it is "too early to comment" on the blood clot with Johnson and Johnson vaccine and the capillary leak connected to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The Johnson and Johnson vaccine who was observed by EMA because of blood clot incidents is already approved in Europe. However, the said COVID vaccine is not yet distributed or included in the region's vaccine rollout.

READ MORE: Biden Administration To Share Millions of AstraZeneca Vaccine To Mexico

WATCH: Sites pause using Johnson & Johnson vaccine after reported side effects - from ABC News
Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez gestures as she speaks during a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela on April 7, 2021. (Manaure Quintero/Reuters)

After Delays, Venezuela Pays $64 Million for COVAX Vaccines

Venezuela has paid $64 million, half of the required amount, for doses it is set to receive through the United Nations COVAX program, Vice President of the Maduro regime Delcy Rodriguez announced Saturday on state television.

You know that the COVAX mechanism requires an advanceVenezuela has even doubled the required advance, said Rodriguez, adding that the government had deposited 59.2 million Swiss francs in the accounts of GAVI, a co-leader of the COVAX program that seeks to improve low-income countries access to vaccines.

Rodriguez did not specify what funds the Maduro regime used to pay for the vaccines.

In recent months, the countrys internationally recognized leaders in the opposition and various civil organizations have been pushing the regime to purchase more vaccines via COVAX. However, the regime delayed any purchase even after being accepted into the COVAX program last year, saying that the necessary funds were frozen in the United States in an effort to confuse Venezuelans, opposition leader Juan Guaido said on Saturday.

Guaido said that the delay has cost lives, and the excuse of U.S. sanctions was to confuse the populace.

They preferred to delay what is an urgency to lie and cheat  Through the facts, the regime recognized what we always maintained: there is no blockade or sanctions that prevent the purchase of vaccines, Guaido said.

The demand of Venezuelans, the pressure of civil society and the actions of the National Assembly and the Legitimate Government, have made the regime take a first step for Venezuela to join COVAX, he added.

La dictadura perdio tiempo que significaron vidas en Venezuela. La propia vocera del regimen hoy reconoce que el ano pasado habian aceptado el ingreso de nuestro pais al mecanismo COVAX, pero prefirieron retrasar lo que es una urgencia para mentir y enganar. https://t.co/3o1iR8xx5Y  Juan Guaido (@jguaido) April 11, 2021

Vaccination efforts in Venezuela have also been complicated by Venezuelan socialist leader Nicolas Maduros refusal to accept the AstraZeneca vaccine following reports of blood clotting elsewhere. COVAX this year said it had set aside doses of the AstraZeneca shot for use in Venezuela.

In her announcement, Rodriguez said Venezuelan health authorities were evaluating which vaccines the country would accept, especially considering various variants of the coronavirus, particularly the variant that originated in Brazil.

The vice president disclosed that in September 2020, the socialist government entered into the agreement for over 11 million doses, which can vaccinate around 20 percent of the population.

Rodriguez added that the remaining $60 million worth of vaccines were now guaranteed.

COVAX expects to deliver at least 2 billion doses this year and to diversify the offering beyond the AstraZeneca/Oxford and Pfizer/BioNTech shots it is currently supplying.

An elderly woman receives a dose of Russias Sputnik V coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in Caracas, Venezuela on April 9, 2021. (Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/REUTERS)

Venezuelas vaccination campaign is behind most other countries in the region.

It has received about 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from China and about 250,000 of Russias Sputnik V, of which authorities recently said they expect the arrival of another 30,000 shortly.

The opposition said that it has been pushing for the COVAX mechanism over Chinese and Russian vaccines as its first choice for offering affordable, safe, high quality and internationally certified vaccines.

Maduro has extended coronavirus lockdown measures several times as the country continues to register high rates of infections.

As of Friday, Venezuelan authorities had registered 172,461 coronavirus cases and 1,739 deaths. Medical unions say the number of cases and deaths are likely much higher.

The Epoch Times contributed to this article.
EUGENE, Ore -- After court documents revealed 50-year-old Creswell resident Gwenyth Davies allegedly violated her probation, community members are speaking out against her.

"She should have all of her animals taken away and maybe she should do some time," Mike Curtis said.

RELATED: CRESWELL WOMAN WILL BE BACK IN COURT IN HORSE NEGLECT CASE

A total of 61 horses were removed from Davies' property during the initial investigation in 2019 after a veterinarian found that the horses were not receiving the minimum care standards under Oregon law.

"A lot of times people have a huge heart and they think that they're doing something good. But they don't have the idea of what they're truly doing," Pat Mills said.

Davies pleaded guilty to 11 counts of second-degree animal neglect in early 2020.

"She's been warned. She got her warning. She needs to go to prison," Rachel Smith said.

RELATED: CRESWELL WOMAN GETS PROBATION IN MASS HORSE NEGLECT CASE

Davies will appear back in court over claims that she did not provide monthly pictures of the four horses that she's allowed to have currently.

The hearing is scheduled for April 26th at 8:30 a.m.
New Delhi, April 11 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will begin campaigning in West Bengal from April 14 where he will address the rallies in Goalpokhar and Matigara-Naxalbari.

The former Congress president will start the campaign after four phases of polling has ended in the state where the party is contesting on 92 seats in allianc with the Left.

The party is filled up with energy after the announcement as it was struggling to find leaders to campaign in the state as state in-charge Jitin Prasada tested positive for Covid. The only big names from Delhi who had campaigned here are Salman Khurshid and Jaiveer Shergill. Apart from them, party leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is also holding the fort in the state.

Sources said that lack of positive feedback from the state is stopping the leaders from coming here.

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.

Sources also said that the Congress leaders were refraining from sharing the dias with the Left till elections in Kerala got over as Rahul Gandhi has been attacking them in Kerala.
Union Minister of Home Affairs, will address six public programs in poll-bound on Sunday.

Out of the six public programs, he will address three roadshows in the state today.

At first, Shah will carry out a roadshow in Santipur at 12:20 PM. After concluding this event, another roadshow will be carried out in Ranaghat Dakshin at 1:30 PM.

At 3:40 PM, Shah will address a public meeting in Basirhat Dakshin. The fourth event will be a roadshow in Panihati at 04:25 PM.

The last two public programs will be in the form of town hall meetings.

Union Home Affairs Minister will carry out a Town Hall Meeting in Kamarhati at 5:30 PM. After this, he will carry out another town hall meeting in Rajarhat Gopalpur at 7:00 PM. 45 assembly segments will go to polls in the fifth phase which is scheduled on April 17. The sixth round for 43 seats would be held on April 22. 35 constituencies will go to polls in the seventh phase elections on April 26. The eighth and final round of elections is scheduled for April 29, when the remaining 35 assembly segments would go to the polls.

The Election Commission of India would declare the results 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.)
Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier?

Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop.

Breaking News Columbia Breaking News Greenville Breaking News Myrtle Beach Breaking News Aiken Breaking News

Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time.

Success! Please click the 'Allow' button in the 'Show Notifcations' alert in your browser if one is available. Thank you for signing up!

Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page.
Pro-life Democrats rally nationwide to save Hyde Amendment: 'The time to push back is now'

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

WASHINGTON  A group of pro-life Democrats and other pro-life activists gathered on Capitol Hill and across the country Saturday to oppose the exclusion of a long-standing ban on federal tax dollars being used to fund most abortions in a recently passed spending bill.

The Democrats for Life of America hosted a Save Hyde National Day of Action." The flagship rally took place in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, with the U.S. Capitol Building in the background.

Satellite events took place in 21 different locations nationwide. Dan Green, DFLAs national communications director, estimated in an interview with The Christian Post that up to 1,000 people would likely attend the events.

The day of action comes just one month after President Joe Biden signed into law a coronavirus relief package that did not have Hyde Amendment protections guaranteeing that federal tax dollars can't be used to pay for abortions in most cases.

If [Democrats] keep going down this road, where they want to fund abortion and ignore the needs of women,  its going to be a tough 2022 for Democrats," DFLA Executive Director Kristen Day told CP.

The Hyde Amendment has existed in some form since 1976, three years after the Supreme Court's ruling in Roe v. Wade. Every year, the amendment has been affirmed by Congress as part of a Department of Health and Human Services appropriations bill. The most recent version of the measure included exceptions for Medicaid funds to fund abortions in the case of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.

Both before and after the 2020 presidential election, top congressional Democrats vowed to do away with the Hyde Amendment. Polling has shown that restrictions on tax dollars being used to fund abortions enjoy wide support among the American public.

Between three and four dozen people gathered in front of the Supreme Court to show support for the measure.

While Democrats for Life of America hosted the event, the event featured speakers and attendees from all political persuasions and religious backgrounds.

Speakers discussed the Hyde Amendment's popularity, called on attendees to put pressure on their elected representatives to preserve Hyde and stressed the need to make the pro-life movement more bipartisan.

Terrisa Bukovinac serves as president of the DFLAs board of directors and is the founder and executive director of Pro-Life San Francisco, another group of pro-life Democrats.

Speaking with CP before the event, she declared that she hopes people understand that the "Hyde Amendment is one of the most effective resources we have as Americans to limit the number of abortions that are occurring in our nation.

Giving voice to this cause  and really magnifying our grassroots efforts will help bring attention to this issue, will help bring the attention of the senators and the members of Congress on this issue," Bukovinac said. "So, were hoping that it will moderate some of their opinions, that they will see that theres a nationwide effort to support the Hyde Amendment and that will compel them to protect it."

Bukovinac criticized the Biden administrations newly announced commission to study possible reforms to the Supreme Court, including expanding the number of Supreme Court justices and limiting the amount of time justices can serve on the bench.

We would be very, very concerned that expanding the court would be detrimental to the unborn," she said.

While Bukovinac identifies as a liberal and an atheist with no intention of changing parties, she made her discontent with the Biden administrations abortion policies quite clear.

The Biden administration is the most extreme, most radical pro-abortion administration in the history of our nation," the activist said. Repealing the Hyde Amendment and forcing the taxpayer funding of abortions would increase abortion dramatically in this country at all gestational ages, and thats absolutely terrifying."

Bukovinac described the appointment of HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra as extremely concerning, citing the possibility that he will expand fetal tissue research, which she characterized as one of the worst aspects of pro-abortion extremism in America today that is going to be expanded and funded by this administration.

The time to push back is now, she argued. Pro-life Democrats for many years have tried to play nice and have a seat at the table and try to demonstrate that there are pro-life Democrats in the party and that  we do care about other issues. And yet, that strategy has not done very well for us. It has only led us down this horrific path of abortion extremism, and I think the time has come where people are ready to be seen in public and on the streets advocating for this issue.

Bukovinac predicted that there will be "more and more pro-life Democrats rising up and resisting this pro-abortion influence" in the Democratic Party "because they have gone too far."

She argued that the Biden administrations stance on abortion might cause the president and his party to lose support in upcoming elections because Democrats "cannot rely on those votes going forward because of the dynamic of Trump in the last election."

Democrats for Life of America did not endorse Joe Biden," she assured. "I did not vote for Joe Biden. But my sense is that many pro-life Democrats did, and I think that many did it because of their reluctance to support President Trump. And I think  given  a different scenario  in the next four years, I think that the Democrats have a reason to be afraid that pro-life Democrats will rise up and hit them in the  ballot box and in the polls.

Day agreed with Bukovinac.

Theres a lot of independents and swing voters that will not vote, Day stated. In 2016, a lot of pro-life Democrats did not vote for Hillary Clinton. A lot of pro-life Democrats stayed home that year.

She suggested that in 2020, There was so much anti-Trump sentiment that I think that overshadowed the  life issue a little bit because people were just so disgusted with President Trump."

"So I think there was a shift where people did vote for Biden  within the pro-life Democrat spectrum because they wanted to see  a more compassionate government," Day contended.

I think 2022 will  kind of shift back to that 2016 era where the abortion issue is going to be the No. 1 issue that will push people to vote one way or the other.

Maria and Julia, two members of American Universitys Students for Life chapter, explained that they "wanted to come out in support to make sure that the Hyde Amendment is not repealed."

I think that theres a big fear from the Democratic Party that the court right now is extremely conservative and that they know that the court has the ability to make abortion policy that could basically take down their whole position, Maria shared.

She asserted that Democrats want to attack the court in a way that helps support their policy, but its completely unconstitutional." She believes "no president ever has done something that extreme just to push a policy.

I think its really unfortunate that [they] fear the pro-life movement advancing itself through the court, she continued. Theyre attacking the whole Constitution by doing that, and I think  its very much out of fear.

DFLA Maryland State Director Kathy Kelly expressed a desire to see Biden build on the unity that he promised by respecting our conscience rights [and] by respecting the taxpayers, since theres wide taxpayer support for maintaining the Hyde Amendment.

Noting that taxpayer-funded abortions already exist in her state, she illustrated how injuries to women that late-term abortion has caused in Bethesda and chemical abortion debacles in the state demonstrate that we dont need more abortion and more funding of abortion at the federal level.

Blayne Clegg, the president of the Catholic University College Republicans, told CP that the Hyde Amendment "has provably and verifiably saved thousands of American lives over the decades."

"Unfortunately, that bipartisan tradition has been wasted away and  degraded by political opportunists like Joe Biden despite the fact that he voted for it for the first time in 1976 and then overrode President [Gerald] Fords veto again and then voted for it again in 1978," Clegg stated.

He has kowtowed and bent the knee to the progressive wing of his party, he lamented.

Reacting to the Biden administrations creation of a commission looking at expanding the Supreme Court, which critics refer to as court-packing, Clegg said that I think its really quite remarkable how brazen the Democrat Party can be with ideas like this.

I mean, every American high school student who had half an eye open during history class understands that Franklin Delano Roosevelts court-packing scheme was an absolute disaster," Clegg added. "It was a very clear power grab. We knew it back then and we know it now.

Other speakers at the event include Michael New, a professor at the Catholic University of America and an associate scholar at the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute, pro-life student activists and Americans United for Life President Catherine Glenn Foster.

In between speeches, Bukovinac led the crowd in chants of Save Hyde! Save lives! Additionally, she held up a model of a 21-week-old baby when warning that babies are going to die if Hyde is repealed, and that means all gestational ages up until the moment of birth.

DFLA Vice President Xavier Bisits, a native of Australia, spoke about how Australia and America are very similar in many respects, but there is one big difference." He said that "in Australia, one in four pregnancies are aborted. And in America, that numbers actually lower, its around [18%.]

In some of the most pro-life states in this country, its 10 to 15%. That is the difference between thousands of deaths or none, he continued. A big reason for that is funding. In Australia, we have fully funded abortion by the federal and state government.

He warned that federally funding abortions in the U.S. would dramatically increase the number of abortions across the country.

Liz Matory, the vice president of government relations at the nonprofit pro-life organization And Then There Were None, warned that the absence of Hyde Amendment protections would lead to a mass genocide, particularly in reference to the black and brown community here in the United States and, quite frankly, the world.

Everyone agrees  pro-life researchers, pro-choice researchers  when you start funding abortion with taxpayer dollars, abortion rates go up. That is irrefutable," New said.

He cited research from the pro-abortion organization Guttmacher Institute, which used to serve as the research arm of Planned Parenthood, finding that when you cut off taxpayer funding for abortion, abortion rates go down, lives are saved.

New also mentioned a study from The Center for Reproductive Rights, another pro-abortion rights organization, concluding that the Hyde Amendment had saved over 1 million lives since 1976.

In his capacity as a scholar for the Charlotte Lozier Institute, New discovered that the Hyde Amendment had saved over 2.4 million lives since 1976 and continues to save over 60,000 lives every year.

Kelly said that in Maryland, the state already pays for Medicaid abortions through state taxes.

Since we Marylanders are neither stupid nor pushovers, were not going to roll over and cheerfully finance the killing of the children we seek to save and the medical violence against the women who are already suffering in Maryland from terrible injuries and chemical abortion debacles," Kelly said.

Do we want to add federal funding of abortion to this existing pro-abortion mess in Maryland?

As the event came to a close, Bukovinac pushed back on the idea that pro-life Democrats should abandon the party in favor of the Republican Party, which a handful of speakers suggested.

The answer is not to leave," Bukovinac said. "The answer is to stand up and be seen and be empowered by my voice and the voices of so many diverse people here and in America today demonstrating in over 21 locations across the country.

Democrats for Life of America reached out to former President Jimmy Carter as part of its effort to save the Hyde Amendment.

Green, the DFLA communications director, told CP that the organization's leaders took a pilgrimage to the Carters' hometown of Plains, Georgia and spoke with Carter at his church.

He is a pro-life Democrat and in 2004, he signed a letter with us to the Democratic National Convention saying that ... the Democratic Party needs to moderate its position on abortion," Green explained. "So he's helped us with things before. So, we're trying to get his help on those, and just to help us speak with leaders of the DNC, and the leaders of the party and just kind of be a voice for us.
Omans National Detergent Company SAOG has announced strong financial results for 2020 with profit after tax rising 44%. The diluted earnings per share increased from 36 Bzsto 52 Bzs.



Net cash flow from operating profit also increased to RO2.5 million ($6.47 million). With the support of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the company produced its first Ministry of Health-registered drug products.



NDC is leading the way to producing products in Oman for Omanis, local residents and tourists. When Omani people demand products like Farah hand sanitizer versus products made in other countries, the country benefits in numerous ways, said Bill Hunt, Chief Executive Officer of NDC.



Omanis responded very well to Farah hand sanitizer due to its highly favoured rose fragrance and noting the high quality of the product that is registered and approved by MOH and carries a Drug Facts label. Consumers move towards a healthier tomorrow when they choose and use sanitizers with the drug facts label on the back.



NDC is the home of Omans most trusted brand Bahar laundry detergent, washing powder and other Made in Oman products.  TradeArabia News Service




Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 11:16:13|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

SHANGHAI, April 11 (Xinhua) -- China, the world's biggest toy exporter, saw its toy exports continue to grow in 2020 despite the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

China exported approximately 33.5 billion U.S. dollars worth of toys in 2020, up 7.5 percent year on year, according to the China Toy & Juvenile Products Association.

Toy exports have continued to rise this year, with the export value hitting 5.02 billion U.S. dollars in the first two months, up 96.8 percent compared with the same period last year.

China's toy exports have grown for five consecutive years since 2016. Despite being hindered by the COVID-19 epidemic in the first half of 2020, toy exports quickly picked up again as the epidemic waned and production resumed in the second half.

The United States maintained its position as the top importer of toys made in China last year, with exports to the United States rising 6.8 percent year on year to 8.57 billion U.S. dollars, according to the association.

China's toy exports to markets including Japan, Singapore, Russia, the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia all registered double-digit growth in 2020, with year-on-year growth in exports to Saudi Arabia surging to 67.8 percent.

Toy sales in the domestic market rose 2.6 percent year on year to 78 billion yuan (about 11.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020.

The association noted that the share of online sales continued to increase in the domestic market. In 2020, online toy sales reached 26.9 billion yuan, accounting for 34.5 percent of the total. Livestreaming has become a major channel for consumers to purchase toys. Enditem
So-called smart motorways cause major issues for emergency services when the hard shoulder is closed off, according to Highways England documents.

Files containing communication logs have revealed how staff from the company had to assist an ambulance in reaching a dying motorist after the hard shoulder was converted into a fourth lane.

The documents, obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request by The Telegraph also shows how Highways England staff had to step in and 'hand stop' traffic to clear a path for the ambulance.

The files focus on an incident involving the deaths of Derek Jacobs, 83, and Charles Scripps, 78, who died as a result of a car accident on March 22, 2019, on the M1.

Newly-obtained documents show that so-called smart motorways, with no hard shoulder, have caused chaos for emergency services when trying to reach people in need (stock image)

Jacobs had been forced to stop to repair his van after being unable to reach an emergency refuge spot and killed as he attempted to work on the van.

He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, an hour after the crash took place.

Three other people, including Scripps, were taken to Sheffield Northern General Hospital.

Scripps, who had been a passenger in one of the cars involved in the incident, died seven weeks later.

The incident, back in 2019, was initially reported to Highways England around 1pm, but communication logs show the company didn't close a carriageway despite requests to do so to allow an air ambulance to land at the scene.

The files focus on an incident involving the deaths of Derek Jacobs, 83, and Charles Scripps, 78, who died as a result of a car accident on March 22, 2019, on the M1. Pictured: The air ambulance is seen attempting to land at the scene of the crash, in 2019

The air ambulance crew were forced to land on an adjacent field before making their way to the crash site.

The documents also showed that Highways England staff were caught up in 'trapped traffic' and so found difficulties in navigating the four lanes.

Highways England did not say if there had been a fault with their signalling system at the time of the incident but a spokesperson for the company offered sympathies to the friends and families of Jacobs and Scripps.

They added: 'We worked closely with the emergency services as part of a multi-agency response into the tragic and complex incident which took place on March 22 2019.'

With police still investigating the incident, the spokesperson said it would be inappropriate to provide comment on any further details.

Highways England did not say if there had been a fault with their signalling system at the time of the incident but a spokesperson for the company offered sympathies to the friends and families of Jacobs and Scripps (stock image)

Jacobs' widow Sally, 83, has slammed Highways England for pushing on with their so-called smart motorways project and claims her husband would still be alive if the hard shoulder had been available to him.

She told the paper: 'If you kill someone accidentally it's manslaughter. But they know what is happening, so deaths on smart motorways should now be viewed as murder.

'They won't listen. I can't bring my beloved Derek back, but I can try to stop this happening to other people.'

A spokesperson for East Midlands Ambulance Service said that their staff are trained to deal with work under all types of road conditions.

They added that they continue to work alongside Highways England to ensure their crews can use restricted access routes on the M1 when responding to emergencies.

There are currently more than 20 sections of 'smart motorways' on seven different motorways

It comes only weeks after an announcement that crash statistics on so-called smart motorways are to be analysed by the roads regulator amid safety concerns.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has commissioned the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to carry out an independent review of safety data despite insisting the roads are safe.

He has also ordered his officials to continue their work with Highways England - the Government-owned company responsible for England's motorways and major A roads - on 'developing possible future options' for reducing accidents on smart motorways.

The design of all lane running (ALR) smart motorways, which involve the hard shoulder being converted into a running lane, has led to safety concerns following fatal incidents involving stationary vehicles being hit from behind.

In a written statement to Parliament, Mr Shapps said: 'While the evidence has suggested that ALR motorways are in most ways as safe as, or safer than, conventional ones, I am determined to go further and ensure that they are the safest roads in Britain.'

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps (pictured) has commissioned the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to carry out an independent review of safety data despite insisting that smart motorways are safe
China slapped a record R40 billion fine on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. after an anti-monopoly probe found it abused its market dominance, as Beijing clamps down on its internet giants.

The 18.2 billion yuan penalty is triple the previous high of almost $1 billion that U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm Inc. had to pay in 2015, and was based on 4% of Alibabas 2019 domestic revenue, according to Chinas antitrust watchdog.

The company will also have to initiate comprehensive rectifications, from protecting merchants and customers to strengthening internal controls, the agency said in a statement on Saturday.

The fine  about 12% of Alibabas fiscal 2020 net income  helps remove some of the uncertainty thats hung over Chinas second-largest corporation.

But Beijing remains intent on reining in its internet and fintech giants and is said to be scrutinizing other parts of billionaire founder Jack Mas empire, including Ant Group Co.s consumer-lending businesses and Alibabas extensive media holdings.

Alibaba used its platform rules and technical methods like data and algorithms to maintain and strengthen its own market power and obtain improper competitive advantage, the State Administration for Market Regulation concluded in its investigation.

The company will likely have to change a raft of practices, like merchant exclusivity, which critics say helped it become Chinas largest e-commerce operation.

The high fine puts the regulator in the media spotlight and sends a strong signal to the tech sector that such types of exclusionary conduct will no longer be tolerated, said Angela Zhang, author of Chinese Antitrust Exceptionalism and director of Centre for Chinese Law at the University of Hong Kong. Its a stone that kills two birds.

Alibabas practice of imposing a pick one from two choice on merchants shuts out and restricts competition in the domestic online retail market, according to the statement.

The government action sends a clear warning to the tech sector as the government scrutinizes the influence that companies like Alibaba and social media giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. wield over spheres from consumer data to mergers and acquisitions.

The investigation into Alibaba was one of the opening salvos in a campaign seemingly designed to curb the power of Chinas internet leaders and their billionaire founders.

The company has come under mounting pressure from authorities since Ma spoke out against Chinas regulatory approach to the finance sector in October.

Those comments set in motion an unprecedented regulatory offensive, including scuttling Ant Group Co.s $35 billion initial public offering.

Alibaba said it will hold a conference call Monday morning Hong Kong time to address lingering questions around the antitrust watchdogs decree.

Chinas record fine on Alibaba may lift the regulatory overhang that has weighed on the company since the start of an anti-monopoly probe in late December, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Vey-Sern Ling and Tiffany Tam said, describing the fine as a small price to pay to do away with that uncertainty.

Further Action

Still, it remains unclear whether the watchdog or other agencies might demand further action.

Regulators are said for instance to be concerned about Alibabas ability to sway public discourse and want the company to sell some of its media assets, including the South China Morning Post, Hong Kongs leading English-language newspaper.

The Hangzhou-based firm will be required to implement comprehensive rectifications, including strengthening internal controls, upholding fair competition, and protecting businesses on its platform and consumers rights, the regulator said.

It will need to submit reports on self-regulation to the authority for three consecutive years.

Alibaba accepts the penalty with sincerity and will ensure its compliance with determination. To serve its responsibility to society, Alibaba will operate in accordance with the law with utmost diligence, continue to strengthen its compliance systems and build on growth through innovation, the company said in a statement on Saturday.

Faced Challenges

Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang said in a memo to employees on Saturday that Alibaba always reflected and adapted when it faced challenges.

He called for unity among staff, saying the company should make self-adjustments and start over again.

The Communist Party-run Peoples Daily newspaper said in a commentary on Saturday that the punishment involves specific anti-monopoly measures regulatory authorities take to prevent the disorderly expansion of capital.

It doesnt mean denying the significant role of platform economy in overall economic and social development, and doesnt signal a shift of attitude in terms of the countrys support to the platform economy, the newspaper said.

Regulations are for better development, and reining in is also a kind of love.

Now read: AdaptIT CEO Sbu Shabalala opens up about new offer to buy the company
Children may not be as infectious in spreading SARS-CoV-2 to others as previously thought, according to new University of Manitoba-led research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Our findings have important public health and clinical implications. If younger children are less capable of transmitting infectious virus, daycare, in-person school and cautious extracurricular activities may be safe to continue, with appropriate precautions in place, and with lower risk to child care staff, educators and support staff than initially anticipated." Dr. Jared Bullard, principal investigator, associate professor, pediatrics/child health and medical microbiology/infectious diseases, Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba and associate medical director, Cadham Provincial Laboratory in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Fourteen researchers from multiple disciplines at the University of Manitoba, Cadham Provincial Laboratory, Manitoba Health and Seniors Care and the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory analyzed samples from 175 children and 130 adults in Manitoba infected with SARS-CoV-2 to see if there was a difference in infectiousness. Using cell cultures of nasopharyngeal swabs, they investigated viral loads in both groups to determine if children were more infectious.

"As an increasing number of jurisdictions consider whether in-school learning, daycares and extracurricular activities should continue or resume, a better understanding of the relative contributions of children and adolescents to SARS-CoV-2 transmission, when compared with adults, is essential," the authors write. "This is particularly important given the increased likelihood of asymptomatic infection in this group."
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

The reason Im an artist is because its the only place where you can be totally free.

 May Stevens

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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

May Stevens made the ordinary extraordinary.

The Santa Fe-based painter devoted her art to political causes, such as civil rights, feminist and antiwar movements. She believed in art as an instrument of progressive politics and personal liberation.

Open at SITE Santa Fe, May Stevens: Mysteries, Politics and Seas of Words surveys the artists career from 1970 to 2010. Stevens died in 2019 at the age of 95. Brandee Caoba and the writer/critic Lucy Lippard, an early champion of feminist art, curated the show.

Caoba spent about five years as Stevens studio assistant.

She was a firecracker and she had a deep ability for empathy, Caoba said. She loved to give voice to the voiceless and the unseen.

The artist grew up in a working-class family in Quincy, Massachusetts. She understood early on that class often went unspoken. She studied at the Massachusetts College of Art, New Yorks Art Students League and in post-war Paris with her husband, Rudolf Baranik. They returned to New York for 45 years and moved to El Dorado near Santa Fe in 1996 .

Stevens came to prominence with the feminist art movement and was a founding member of Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics (1976) and an original Guerrilla Girl in 1985. The Guerrilla Girls wore gorilla masks in public, and used facts, humor and outrageous visuals to expose gender and ethnic bias, as well as corruption. When her son committed suicide in 1981, her work turned elegiac; to the universality of loss.

She made the personal political Caoba said.

They feel like environments, she continued. They feel like places more than pictures. She used a lot of metallic paint. A lot of them have text.

Stevens opposition to the Vietnam War surfaced in the Big Daddy series that became her best-known body of work. Its central image features a grim, phallic-headed white man based on a portrait of her politically conservative father.

She painted a photo of her father watching TV, Caoba said. He was very pro-war, conservative, the establishment. He was the antithesis of what she believed in. He encompasses the white privilege persona. She put him in police uniforms, soldier uniforms.

Her Ordinary Extraordinary series was inspired by the Polish Marxist revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg, whom she considered her spiritual mother. She often paired Luxemburg with her own mother, an uneducated housewife. Luxemburg was murdered for her political beliefs. Stevens felt her own mother had been crushed by her marriage. The artist believed one womans political struggles were equal to anothers private pain.

She was asking people to consider what makes someone extraordinary, Caoba said. Shes trying to find comparisons between women across time. Ultimately, she wanted to erode the notion that one woman was special and another wasnt.

In 1964, Stevens produced her Freedom Riders series inspired by the activists who traveled the segregated South registering Black voters. Martin Luther King wrote the catalogue introduction.

Stevens late works include water scenes without figures, but with quotations from female writers woven into the natural panorama. The Canal, 1988, depicts the body of water where Luxemburgs body was discovered.

After the death of her son and her husband, her work took on a universal narrative of grief and loss, and the cyclical nature of life and death, Caoba said. She used words in almost all of them; theyre illegible. They become almost like prayers and chants.

To me, May understood that its everyday people that make history, Caoba continued. I always felt like May was my true education. She would bring me into her studio and say, What do you think? In many ways, May helped me find my own voice.

If you go

WHAT: May Stevens: Mysteries, Politics and Seas of Words

WHERE: SITE Santa Fe, 1606 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe

WHEN: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday through June 9. Closed Sunday-Tuesday

HOW MUCH: $10; students and seniors $5; members free; 505-989-1199 or sitesantafeorg
Scientists believe that the groundbreaking mRNA technology behind the COVID-19 vaccines could unlock treatments for deadly diseases, including cancer and HIV.

According to a new report from Inverse, scientists are experimenting with the technology that helped develop the coronavirus vaccine as a way to treat terminal illnesses.

The COVID vaccine was discovered by hacking the bodys genetic blueprints, something that researchers believe can be used to further develop vaccines for cancer and HIV.

Traditional vaccines use a dead or inactivated virus to teach the immune system to recognize the invader in future and destroy it.

The multiple types of COVID-19 vaccines being used in different countries all train the body to recognize the new coronavirus, mostly the spike protein that coats it.

Scientists believe that the groundbreaking mRNA technology behind the COVID-19 vaccines (file image) could unlock treatments for deadly diseases, including cancer and HIV

But they require different technologies, raw materials, equipment and expertise to do so.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines authorized in the US are made by putting a piece of genetic code called mRNA  the instructions for that spike protein  inside a little ball of fat.

Making small amounts of mRNA in a research lab is easy but 'prior to this, nobody made a billion doses or 100 million or even a million doses of mRNA,' said Dr Drew Weissman of the University of Pennsylvania, who helped pioneer mRNA technology.

AstraZenecas vaccine and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are made with a cold virus that sneaks the spike protein gene into the body.

Its a very different form of manufacturing: living cells in giant bioreactors grow that cold virus, which is extracted and purified.

According to Inverse, the COVID vaccines are the first mRNA vaccines to be approved for use.

For more than 25 years, scientists have been studying this vaccine approach.

And now, because the mRNA vaccines are here, scientists are looking at the potential to use the technology to create other breakthrough therapies for diseases like cancer HIV, Parkinsons disease, and others, by preventing them.

Scientists at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center are also studying mRNA as a cancer treatment. A woman is seen getting a COVID vaccine in California

As BioNTechs profile has grown during the pandemic, so has its value, providing funds the company can use to pursue its original goal of developing a new tool against cancer.

Ozlem Tureci, who co-founded the German company BioNTech with her husband, said last month: 'We have several different cancer vaccines based on mRNA.'

Asked when such a therapy might be available, Tureci said 'thats very difficult to predict in innovative development'.

'But we expect that within only a couple of years, we will also have our vaccines (against) cancer at a place where we can offer them to people.'

According to Inverse, scientists at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center are also studying mRNA as a cancer treatment.

Van Karlyle Morris, a gastrointestinal oncologist at the university, told the news site that he is leading a clinical trial to test mRNA vaccines as 'personalized therapies for patients who have been treated for cancer, with the goal of further reducing the risk of the cancer coming back'.

Morris said that the study's goal is to 'demonstrate that such a vaccine would train the immune system to recognize pieces of mutated proteins which are found in any residual tumor cells  but not in other, unaffected cells in the body  after surgery and then to attack and kill those remaining areas of cancer'.

In California, scientist at Scripps University are looking at HIV as a candidate for an mRNA vaccine.

According to a press statement from the university, William Schief, a professor and immunologist at Scripps Research, his team's study 'demonstrates proof of principle for a new vaccine concept for HIV, a concept that could be applied to other pathogens, as well'.

'With our many collaborators on the study team, we showed that vaccines can be designed to stimulate rare immune cells with specific properties, and this targeted stimulation can be very efficient in humans. We believe this approach will be key to making an HIV vaccine and possibly important for making vaccines against other pathogens,' Schief said.

Schief's team has so far developed a preliminary vaccine that shows promise for preventing infection with the HIV virus using the same technology as the Moderna vaccine.
The lack of guidance or timeline around pandemic-era gatherings has been especially tough for the local events industry because business is typically booked as far as a year and a half in advance, Gallagher said. Now that theres at least a framework in place, business can resume.

V. Sattuis Flick said the winery was still considering how best to comply with the new guidance. The process of verifying, for example, that each guest at a 300 person wedding is verified or has received a negative COVID-19 test will no doubt pose logistical challenges, she said.

Theres no real direction on enforcement. Our standpoint is that that is not exactly our place (as the venue), Flick said. What weve communicated at this point is that it is up to the couples and their event planners to reach out to their guests and make sure everyones on the same page.

Gallagher said the question of how to most effectively verify guests are vaccinated or COVID negative has been the frenzy of the week. A number of businesses have reached out to Visit Napa Valley asking for additional guidance, she said. Visit Napa Valley is currently in conversation with local elected officials and the county public health department on the subject.
China willing to work with Brazil to promote comprehensive strategic partnership: Chinese FM

Xinhua) 09:09, April 11, 2021

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday that China is willing to work with Brazil to promote their comprehensive strategic partnership to continue to make new progress.

Wang made the remarks in a phone conversation with Carlos Alberto Franco Franca, Brazil's new foreign minister.

Congratulating Franca on his appointment as foreign minister, Wang said as large developing countries, representatives of emerging economies and BRICS partners, China and Brazil are important forces driving forward the world's multipolarization and share extensive and close common interests.

China, Wang said, has always viewed and developed China-Brazil relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, placing Brazil in one of the priority directions for its foreign relations.

After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Brazil have fought against the pandemic with solidarity, and overcome the difficulties together. Despite the adverse trend, their pragmatic cooperation has grown, with smooth progress in a number of major projects, which fully reflects the strong resilience of the two countries' cooperation, Wang said.

Noting the virus is the common enemy of humankind, Wang said at present, the pandemic in Brazil and other Latin American countries is still very severe.

China sympathizes with Brazil and firmly supports the Brazilian government's efforts to contain the pandemic and restore its economy, Wang said, adding that China, within its capacity, is willing to continue vaccine cooperation with Brazil to meet its pressing need.

He said the economies of China and Brazil have obvious complementary advantages and great growth potential, and cooperation is in the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples.

The two sides should promote the steady growth of bilateral trade and actively expand cooperation in 5G, digital economy, artificial intelligence and other fields. It is believed that Brazil will provide a fair and open business environment for Chinese companies operating in the country, Wang said.

Stressing both China and Brazil pursue independent foreign policies and respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, Wang called on the two countries to continue to understand and support each other on issues concerning their respective core interests.

Targeting no third party, China-Latin America cooperation focuses on common development and pragmatic cooperation, which meets the needs of both sides, Wang said, hoping that Brazil will play an important and active role in this regard.

For his part, Franca, who thanked Wang for his congratulation, noted that Brazil-China relations are of great strategic significance and the two countries have conducted sound and healthy cooperation in various fields.

The Brazilian foreign minister said he believes the phone conversation will inject impetus into bilateral cooperation.

Brazil hopes to further develop harmonious relations with China and carry out long-term cooperation, Franca said, and he suggested that the two countries make full use of and improve the existing communication channels and bilateral cooperation mechanisms, strengthen their strategic dialogue and keep deepening their relations.

Thanking China for its selfless help to Brazil since the outbreak of the pandemic, Franca said China is an important producer of pharmaceutical raw materials in the world.

Noting Brazil is in urgent need of vaccines and medical supplies in the fight against the pandemic, Franca said his country hopes for continuous strong support from China.

Scientific and technological cooperation is of great significance to the two countries, and Brazil is willing to strengthen cooperation with China in such fields as digital economy and 5G, and maintain close communication with China on promoting China-Latin America cooperation, Franca added.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)
Prisoner infections rates thrice as high as others in the US

At least one in three inmates in state prisons is confirmed to have contracted the in the United States. In federal facilities, at least 39 per cent of prisoners are known to have been infected. The true count is most likely higher because of the lack of testing. The virus has also killed prisoners at higher rates than the general population, according to the New York Times data, and at least 2,700 people have died in custody, where access to quality health care is poor. In addition to inmates, more than 138,000 prison and jail correctional officers were sickened with the virus, and 261 died, the data shows. Read here

Let's look at the global statistics Global infections: 135,371,658 Global deaths: 2,928,119 Nations with most cases: US (31,151,493), Brazil (13,445,006), India (13,358,805), France (5,001,685), Russia (4,580,633). Source: John Hopkins Research Center

Decoded: What do we know so far about the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots

The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine has been deployed against Covid-19 in at least 115 countries, some of them for several months now. But it wasnt until a few cases of a rare blood-clotting disorder  some fatal  emerged within the past month or so that many European nations began to rethink its use across all age groups. Public health experts, however, continue to emphasise that the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines benefits far outweigh the risks. So, this piece tries to decode all the complexities sorrounding the vaccine. What is a blood clot and what causes them generally? What actions are Britain, European countries and other nations taking as a safety precaution? How common are blood clots? Read here

Facebook too slow to act against Covid conspiracy theories

Covid conspiracy theorists are seeking to profit from the millions of followers they have built up on Instagram during the pandemic by marketing health supplements, wellness courses and juicers to them. A Bureau of Investigative Journalism has identified more than 100 Covid conspiracy accounts promoting products to an audience of almost 6 million people on Instagram, which is owned by Facebook. Facebook insists that it is taking more action on health misinformation, but conspiracy channels on the platform are nevertheless growing in popularity. In the first three months of this year the 100 accounts gained almost a million followers between them. Read here

Global Covid vaccine rollout threatened by shortage of vital components

Vaccine-makers around the world face shortages of vital components including large plastic growbags according to the chief executive of Novavax. The company almost ran out of bags at one of its 20 factories earlier this year, but there had been no delays for the UK operation. The US government has also blocked exports of bags, filters and other components so it can supply more Pfizer vaccines for Americans. Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive of the Serum Institute of India, said the restrictions were likely to cause serious bottlenecks. Novavax is hoping to avoid delays and vaccine nationalism by operating on four continents, with 20 facilities in nine countries. Read here
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-12 04:04:23|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

N'DJAMENA, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Chad kicked off its presidential election on Sunday with people in the central African country queuing up to cast their votes.

A total of seven candidates, including incumbent President Idriss Deby Itno, are vying for the presidency for the next six years. One of Deby's most important challengers is former Prime Minister Pahimi Padacket Albert.

During his final campaign rally held Friday in capital N'Djamena, Deby called on his supportors to vote and assured them he would win.

In early March, three opposition candidates announced their withdrawal from the race, including Saleh Kebzabo, heavyweight of the opposition who wants to boycott the election. Kebzabo came second in the 2016 presidential election.

More than 7.3 million people are eligible to vote this time, according to the country's Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI).

The provisional results should be announced in two weeks, the commission said.

Chadians should go out en masse to exercise their civil right and duty by going to vote for their president in calm, serenity, and peace, Deby said Sunday.

There was no boycott on Saturday and there will be no boycott this Sunday on the polling day, Deby told the press after having cast his ballot. He was satisfied that the presidential election is taking place within the constitutional deadline.

The polling takes place in a tense social and political context, with the opposition calling for an active boycott and alternation.

A total of seven candidates, including Deby, are vying for the presidency for the next six years. One of Deby's most important challengers is former Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacke.

During his final campaign rally held Friday in capital N'Djamena, Deby called on his supporters to vote and assured them he would win.

In early March, three opposition candidates announced their withdrawal from the race, including Saleh Kebzabo, heavyweight of the opposition who wants to boycott the election. Kebzabo came second in the 2016 presidential election.

As the polling stations for presidential election barely closed on Sunday evening in Chad, the ruling party and the opposition are divided over the voter turnout: a victory for democracy, according to the first, and a victory for the boycott, according to the second.

"Democracy has triumphed. The Chadians have given a great democratic lesson. The voters braved the distance, the heat, and the threatening speech. A very strong political signal was sent by the Chadians," said Mahamat Zen Bada, campaign manager of the incumbent President Idriss Deby Itno, also secretary general of the ruling Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS).

"The Chadians have demonstrated to the world the degree of their civility and attachment to democracy. This strong mobilization of voters gives a fair response to the calls for boycott", added Zen Bada, who also recognized "minor shortcomings" in the organization of the poll.

Opposition leader Saleh Kebzabo, who withdrew from the electoral process, however, hailed an "important boycott victory" while calling the poll a "simulacrum".

Sunday's polling took place in a tense social and political context, with the opposition calling for an active boycott and alternation. Enditem
Divine Guidance to True Freedom: The Liberation of Saint Peter

Reaching Within: What traditional art offers the heart

The Renaissance painter Raphael Sanzio was born on April 6, 1483; he would die on his birthday, April 6, 1520. In 37 short years, Raphael created some of the greatest paintings known to the Western world. Approximately 500 years after his death, we celebrate and interpret one of his great paintings.

Raphael is well-known for his frescoes that decorate the walls of four papal apartments at the Vatican. Today, we will look at a fresco that illustrates the second room called the Room of Heliodorus (Stanza dEliodoro). Created in 1514, the fresco is titled Liberation of Saint Peter.

Liberation of Saint Peter, 1514, by Raphael. Fresco. Vatican Museums, Vatican City. (Public Domain)

The Arrest and Liberation of St. Peter

As the story goes, King Herod was persecuting those who belonged to the followers of Christ. Peter was one of those whom Herod arrested and imprisoned.

Peter was bound with chains and watched by guards. He slept through the night until an angel arrived and woke him. The light of the angel filled the cell, and Peter was released from his chains without the guards awakening. He thought that he imagined the angel, but nonetheless he got dressed and followed the angel out of the cell.

Outside the cell, the angel and Peter passed, unnoticed, by two more guards before they came to the city gate, which opened by itself. The angel left when Peter departed the city, and Peter no longer thought the angel was a hallucination. He knew that God had sent the angel to assist him.

The guards searched for Peter the next day but were unable to find him. King Herod, angry, ordered the guards to be executed.

Detail from the top of Liberation of Saint Peter, 1514, by Raphael. Fresco. Vatican Museums, Vatican City. (Public Domain)

Raphaels Fresco

Raphael depicted the first part of the story in the center of the wall above the doorway. The scene is shown behind metal bars that are painted as if they are part of the wall.

With simple clothing and a halo above his head, Peter is shown asleep at the bottom left of the composition. Two guards leaning against the wall, one behind him and the other in front of him, are asleep as well. His hands and feet are chained to the two guards.

The angel has just appeared and fills the room with heavenly light. The angel reaches with one hand to heaven and uses the other to awaken Peter.

Detail from the right side of Liberation of Saint Peter, 1514, by Raphael. Fresco. Vatican Museums, Vatican City. (Public Domain)

The wall to the right of the doorway shows the angel leading Peter out of his cell. The angels light still shines brightly and illuminates Peter, the walls, and the two sleeping guards whom they are about to pass.

Detail from the left side of Liberation of Saint Peter, 1514, by Raphael. Fresco. Vatican Museums, Vatican City. (Public Domain)

The part of the wall to the left of the doorway depicts the final scene of the story. Peter and the angel are gone, and the guards are chastised for allowing Peter to escape.

One guard is sitting on a step, at the bottom right of the composition. A soldier hovers over him and points in the direction of the cell, which would now be empty. Toward the upper left of the composition appears another soldier who is about to strike a guard.

True Freedom Comes From the Divine

Peter is shown imprisoned and chained to two guards in the first scene. By whom was Peter imprisoned? He was imprisoned by King Herod. For me, Herod represents a resistance to the divine, to God, and his guards represent the chains that keep us imprisoned by our base desires. Is it then the case that resisting the divine imprisons us?

Some of us believe ourselves to be wholly devoted to divine things, concepts, and so on, in our daily lives. Quite often, however, if we go deeper into our spirits, we find that theres more resistance to the divine than we would like to admit. Interestingly enough, our initial assuredness regarding our devotion prevents us from finding and removing such resistance.

By resistance to the divine, I mean everyday desires that distract us from concentrating on spiritual progress, on God. I mean the selfishness that obscures, by darkness, our ability to be honest with ourselves and others, to love our fellow human beings, and be patient during our troubles.

Are these everyday, selfish desires the very things that keep us imprisoned and distant from true freedom? Is it this subtle resistance to the divine, often escaping our awareness, that causes us to remain asleep and chained to our desires?

The divine, however, can lead us to freedom. Raphael depicts the angel as a source of light that awakens Peter. Without the divine, Peter remains asleep and will most likely be executed by King Herod, which suggests that Peters life will be undermined and taken by the very thing that resists the divine.

By way of the divine, Peter is awakened and led to freedom. With little effort, the angelthe very thing that seemed imagined initiallycalmly walks Peter not only out of prison but also out of the very city that imprisons him.

All of the sleeping guards in the center and right side of the fresco appear docile. On the frescos left side, the guards are afraid, and the soldiers are angry. Theres a sense of fear and confusion, which suggests the true weakness of selfishness and base desire compared to the calm and effortless power of the divine.

How might we closely examine ourselves for resistance to the divine things in our lives? How might we navigate our way through and away from our selfish mindsets and tendencies? How might we allow the heavens to guide us on our journey to true freedom?

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 a doctoral candidate at the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts (IDSVA).
A series of sabotage incidents on Iranian tanker ships headed to Syria in recent years were carried out by Israel, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

More than a dozen Iranian tankers were hit with sea mines and limpet mines en route to Syria, where they were scheduled to offload fuel to aid the cash-strapped regime in Damascus in violation of US and international sanctions on Syria and Iran.

The sabotage incidents began in 2019, the Journal reported, and have included attacks on weapons cargo. Some of the attacks have reportedly received tacit US support.

The revelation adds new depth to Israels quiet campaign against Iranian interests in Syria. Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes in Syria in recent years to prevent Iranian projectile weapons from approaching Israel's borders.

The United States has provided intelligence and military support for that airstrike campaign since 2018, Al-Monitor has previously reported.

Israels Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel earlier this month accused Iran of environmental terrorism for a massive oil spill that washed ashore on Israeli beaches. Israels government placed a gag order on reports about the spills origins shortly after the petroleum washed ashore along 90% of Israels coast last month.

The United States accused Iran of staging limpet mine attacks in the Persian Gulf against commercial tanker ships in 2019. The incidents fueled intense tensions between Washington and Tehran, which eventually culminated in tit-for-tat rocket and airstrikes in Iraq and the US killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani.

The commander of US forces in the Middle East, Gen. Kenneth Frank McKenzie, has said US military posturing in the region has deterred Irans further attacks. Yet attacks by Irans proxy militias in the region on international military bases in Iraq and on oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia have continued.

Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of being behind an explosion on a cargo ship owned by an Israeli businessman connected to the countrys intelligence chief.
Sarah Jessica Parker was spotted spending time in Manhattan on Saturday morning.

The 56-year-old actress strolled outside of the flagship store for her highly successful SJP footwear line, before heading inside to check up on her customers.

Later, Parker was seen meticulously rearranging and tidying up some of the shop's displays.

Stepping out: Sarah Jessica Parker was spotted spending time in Manhattan on Saturday morning

Parker was dressed in a bright pink overcoat that made her stand out while spending time in the shining springtime sun.

She contrasted her outer layer with a festive printed and sleeved dress that covered much of her frame and tied off her outfit with a pair of sparkling heeled shoes.

The Ed Wood actress accessorized with a small pair of earrings as well as a and kept a crossbody bag slung over her right shoulder.

Her beautiful brunette hair was tied in a long ponytail during her trip to her brand's storefront.

To-do list: The 56-year-old actress strolled outside of the flagship store for her highly successful SJP footwear line, before heading inside to check up on her customers

Eye-catching outer layer: The Emmy-winning actress was dressed in a bright pink overcoat, which she layered over a festive blue and black dress

Parker wore a large blue facial covering to keep herself protected and a Pretty Connected 'Ryan' mini face mask chain while she interacted with her customers.

Although the actress now maintains her own store, she has been involved in the fashion industry for several years.

In 2004, she signed a multi-million dollar deal with The Gap and subsequently appeared in several promotional campaigns for the brand.

The Emmy-winning actress went on to design a collection of products, which she dubbed Bitten, for the now-defunct retailer Steve & Barry's.

In 2014, Parker, along with George Malkemus, launched the SJP Collection at Nordstrom.

Moving on up: In addition to her career as an actress, Parker has also made various forays into the fashion industry

Raking it in: The performer previously inked a multi-million dollar deal with The Gap and appeared in several advertisements and campaigns for the brand

During an interview with Forbes, the actress' business partner spoke about her abilities as a salesperson and genuine interest in the fashion industry.

Specifically, the investor remarked that the performer 'is good at selling shoes, knowing what to ask the customers. She posts on her Instagram when she is in-store, and there are lines down the block.'

Malkemus added that the two 'both strongly believe in retail' and that they were looking to boost the profiles of other small businesses around their area.

He also spoke about working with the NYC Fifth Avenue Association other partnerships, as the actress desired to reestablish the city's image as a shopping hub.

'No one is a more New York girl than Sarah Jessica. We are still struggling with how to best support these kinds of initiatives,' he noted.

Attentive owner: During an interview with Forbes, Parker's business partner, George Malkemus, expressed that the actress has an affinity for working in retail and was great with 'knowing what to ask the customers'
Taste of Thai will reopen this week after relocating from the former spot at the gas station off exit 3 to Black Mountain Square. The food truck is hoping to be open to the public on Thursday.
Tropical Cyclone Seroja has torn part of the roof off the Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort in Western Australia and ripped apart the historic 124-year-old One Mile Jetty.

The cyclone was upgraded from Category 2 to 3 on Sunday evening and is expected to make landfall between Geraldton and Kalbarri, on the state's mid-north coast, between 4 and 11pm local time.

Gusts of 165km/h are expected to level homes in the eye of the storm, most of which are not built to withstand cyclonic conditions.

The weather system has forced thousands of residents in an extended 'red zone' down the Mid-Gascoyne coastline to be confined to their homes amid fears of widespread devastation.

Thousands of locals were told to rely on AM radio until the early hours of Monday morning as internet and phones will be cut out by the storm.

Pictured: Tropical Cyclone Seroja moving over Western Australia on Sunday afternoon

Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort north of Geraldton had its roof torn apart by Cyclone Seroja on Sunday afternoon

The strong winds and high tides toppled the historic jetty near Carnarvon at about midday sparking widespread heartbreak amongst locals who took to social media to recount their fond memories fishing and camping at the popular spot.

'The jetty might be gone, but memories last forever,' one woman said on Twitter said.

The jetty was constructed in 1897 for wool and livestock export to Fremantle and became known for its sheep races.

Satellite imagery of Tropical Cyclone Seroja. It has been upgraded to a Category 3 storm

One Mile Jetty near Carnarvon was torn down by the tropical cyclone which was packing 165km/h wind gusts

Authorities issued a red alert for Carnarvon and Lancelin, north of Perth, along with Geraldton and Shark Bay, on Sunday afternoon urging residents go to their nearest evacuation centre or to stay with family or friends.

A red alert is the highest alert level and directs residents to find the strongest and safest part of their homes and stay there until authorities change the warning to 'all clear'.

Residents have been told to pack medicines, clothes, important documents and pet supplies, and place items up high to avoid water damage.

People in Denham have been ordered to evacuate as the cyclone is expected to bring a storm surge, which is a high tide that will potentially inundate homes in the town.

Pictured: Worsening weather conditions in Carnarvon where a red alert has been issued

Tropical Cyclone Seroja is forecast to make landfall on Sunday afternoon as a Category 3 cyclone

At about 5.30pm, authorities urged anyone who has not already left to stay put because it is simply too late to evacuate.

Those who stay put are advised to organise an emergency kit including first aid supplies, torch, portable radio, spare batteries, food and water.

BoM Meteorologist Jackson Browne said residents should prepare for high tides, destructive winds and non-stop rain for about three hours.

'Seroja's unusual trajectory so far south from the west coast poses a greater risk than usual due to communities being unfamiliar with the destructive force of a tropical cyclone,' he said.

'Gusts of 125km per hour may extend inland as far as the northern Wheatbelt, equivalent to a rare intense winter storm.'

Winds of about 100km/h are expected in Esperance, on the south coast of Western Australia.

Premier Mark McGowan told reporters the situation is 'nothing like we have seen in decades'.

Pictured: Conditions in Carnarvon where a red alert has been issued. At 5.30pm, authorities urged anyone who had not evacuated to stay put

'This is a very large storm posing a serious threat,' Mr McGowan said.

'Lives and homes are at risk. We expect serious damage.

'I want everyone to stay safe.'

Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said: 'Now we need that assistance from the community. Stay inside tonight. Don't even think about coming out until tomorrow. And make srue you are listening to that AM radio with batteries.

'Ensure you do not move while this state of emergency is current.'

He said one person had already lost a life yesterday in Coral Bay from an incident with a downed power pole.

Evacuation centres have been established in Denham, Port Denison and Carnarvon and a free bus service will run on Sunday from Geraldton to Port Denison.

Pictured: A Western Australian standing on the shore, watching the cyclone roll in

Unusually high tides could cause serious flooding in the Denham and Shark Bay region and near Kalbarri, and minor flooding on the coast between Coral Bay and Lancelin, BOM says.

'We hope we can get through the next few days without loss of life,' Emergency Services Minister Reece Whitby said on Saturday afternoon.

Unlike the state's northwest, buildings in the Mid West are not built for cyclones, including structures in Geraldton which has not seen cyclonic conditions for decades, he said.

A number of roads will be closed in the area on Sunday because of the cyclone, which should weaken as it moves inland on Monday.

Bureau of Meteorologist senior meteorologist James Ashley said on Saturday that he had never seen such an event.

Pictured: Ominous clouds near Geraldton in Western Australia. The cyclone is expected to level homes

'I've been working here in Perth for over 20 years and I've never seen us have three systems so close to being cyclones or being cyclones at the one time,' he said.

'Generally, cyclones tend to need a bit of space between them so they don't mess each other's inflow and winds and moisture feeds and things like that.'

Cyclone Odette and Cyclone Seroja are expected to rotate around each other to create the extremely rare Fujiwhara Effect.

Tropical cyclone forecaster Craig Earl-Spurr said the rare meteorological phenomenon would make it look like the cyclones were 'dancing' and was not common in Australia.

Because both are trying to throw each other around their own wind fields, as each one moves the wind field moves with it,' he told ABC News.

'Depending on how that then pushes the other [system] around, little changes can become big changes very quickly.'
The long and arduous journey detailing the rise and fall of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and the Latino resistance that selflessly fought against his regime, is detailed in the new book "Driving While Brown: Sheriff Arpaio Versus the Latino Resistance."

Investigative journalists Terry Greene Sterling and Jude Joffe-Block interviewed the sheriff himself, the people who suffered under his policies as well as those who loyally supported them, and the people of color - led by Latinos - who stood up for their rights, their community, and other immigrants hoping for a better chance at the United States.

"Driving While Brown: Sheriff Arpaio Versus the Latino Resistance" is the culmination of two decades worth of hard work, with the authors conducting on-the-ground reporting and coverage of Arizona's steep immigration battles. The book follows Latino activists like Lydia Guzman who tirelessly worked (and paid a great price) to gather evidence that would propel the landmark Melendres racial-profiling lawsuit eventually filed against Sheriff Arpaio.

The narrative of the book paints the harsh immigration problems that plagued Arizona, especially in its most populous county, with a formerly white majority losing its demographic and political ground.

READ NEXT: Latinos Racially Profiled By Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Rules Federal Judge

Bringing Lawsuits to Life and Finding Heroes in the Common Man

In a Q&A Session, Jude Joffe-Block explains how the drive to create "Driving While Brown" came about. She met Terry Greene Sterling in 2012 while covering the lawsuit filed by Latino plaintiffs against Sheriff Arpaio. The story grew and regained traction when Arpaio received a pardon from none other than President Donald Trump, a man the Maricopa sheriff staunchly supported for the 2016 elections.

"This story - about immigration fights, civil rights and one community's attempt to dismantle discriminatory policing - was one we thought needed to be shared," Jude Joffe-Block said.

Additionally, Joffe-Block noted that the book is not a Sheriff Arpaio biography, it is a "portrait of a community struggling through civil rights disputes" that goes back as far as the Arizona Territory, following the Mexican-American War. The events that she and Greene Sterling followed for about twenty years, according to her, have encouraged a new generation of activists and advocates helping reshape Arizona politics.

On the other hand, Terry Greene Sterling explains the herculean task that was writing the book from an incredibly large amount of data covered over the years. As the book "Driving While Brown" takes readers into the courtrooms, homes, and streets that hosted significant events in the Latino resistance, Greene Sterling notes that the biggest challenge was "wrapping our arms around our hefty research."

It led them to a timeline that contained more than 4,500 entries, which the authors soon "winnowed" into chapters that aimed to capture the victories, failures, sorrows, and joys of the people involved as the narrative moved through the pages of the book.

Additionally, "Driving While Brown" illustrates the relationship between Sheriff Arpaio and Donald Trump, an odd connection which was characterized at one point by Arizona supporters calling Trump the "National Arpaio." From seemingly harmless similarities such as sharing the Flag Day birthday and liking Frank Sinatra's "My Way" to their similar appeal to the conservative Republican and its more extreme groups.

"Both men had overbearing fathers and now fawn over autocrats. Trump, for example, heroizes Putin in the same way that Arpaio heroizes Trump," Greene Sterling adds.

READ ALSO: Pathway to Citizenship: Biden Sends Immigration Bill to Congress for 11 Million Illegal Migrants

WATCH: Who Is Joe Arpaio? - The Self-Proclaimed 'Toughest Sheriff in America'
Heres a fresh reason to oppose Sen. Robert Menendezs nomination of Esther Suarez to become the next U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, a vital job that would make her the first line of defense against corruption, terrorism, and the like: Her own people seem to be stealing money from the cash drawer.

Suarez, the chief prosecutor in Hudson County, has a ton of ethical baggage that should disqualify her out of the gate. But shes a sloppy manager as well.

In the recent case, cash confiscated from crime scenes and being held in locked safes in her prosecutors office, with limited access by investigative staff, has mysteriously gone missing, officials said in a Tuesday press release. Her office wont provide more details, citing the investigation.

Suarez called it a betrayal. What compounds this even more is the fact that members of the Prosecutors Office are held to an even higher standard when it comes to integrity and trust, she said.

But she hasnt always held her staff to the highest standards. She refused to remove her top detective, despite repeated warnings from the state Division of Criminal Justice that he hadnt completed mandatory training programs. And at best, shes shown herself to be a distracted manager.

She was accused of mishandling a rape case, declining to move it to another prosecutors office because she knew the accused  Murphy staffer Al Alvarez, whose colleague Katie Brennan said he assaulted her. Suarez denied knowing her office was investigating this; she acknowledges that she received emails in which her staffers laid out the accusations, but said she did not read the substance of them.

These strikes against her are adding up. She has no federal experience. A state watchdog fined her $9,325 for failing to report campaign donations as treasurer of a political group in Hudson County. And, most importantly, she has a history as a functionary of corrupt political machines, like Bergen County boss Joe Ferriero, later convicted of racketeering.

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 spent his career doing corruption probes. Her ascent as a lawyer has been based on the connections shes had to those political machines, and particularly Ferriero.

Menendez should never have asked President Biden to pick Suarez. And save some blame for Sen. Cory Booker, who has raised no objection and could stop this on his own. Her nomination would be about as unassailable as a lockbox full of cash in the Hudson County Prosecutors office.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.
MONROE  Tuesdays special election to decide the new state House representative for Monroe and Newtown comes down to a choice between three candidates who all have experience in elected office.

William Furrier, a former member of Newtowns Board of Selectmen running for the Independent Party, Nicholas Kapoor, a member of the Monroe Board of Education running for the Democratic Party, and Tony Scott, a member of the Monroe Town Council running for the Republican Party, agree on the need to ease the grip COVID-19 has on Connecticut taxpayers.

We must work together to  reopen the states businesses, increase employment, and manage the burden our states unfunded mandates and taxes have placed on our residents, Furrier said.

Kapoor, who also serves on the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, says the unprecedented coronavirus crisis demands from state lawmakers a creativity and flexibility rarely seen in Hartford.

We cannot tax our way into prosperity, Kapoor said. This is not the time to raise taxes on Connecticut citizens, especially when so many families are struggling.

His GOP opponent agrees.

Over the past 10 years, Connecticut has had multiple massive tax hikes under Democratic leadership, said Scott, who chairs the Monroe Town Councils Strategic Planning Subcommittee. I will be your voice in Hartford to fight the battle of over taxation and keep more dollars in your pockets and not in the states coffers.

The candidates jumped into the race when former state Rep. J.P. Sredzinski abruptly resigned on Feb. 17, during his fourth term, and Gov. Ned Lamont called for a special election. Sredzinski, a Republican, gave no reason for his surprise announcement, except to say there was no scandal and no drama, and the demands of a new job were taking a toll on his family.

State representatives serve part-time, two-year terms that pay $28,000 annually. The 112th District includes Monroe and a small southeast portion of Newtown, along much of its border with Monroe.

Voting in Monroe on Tuesday is in-person from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., with masks and social distancing, at the towns four regular polling locations. Voting for Newtowners who are represented in the 112th District is at the same time at Reed Intermediate School. Newtowners who arent sure if theyre eligible to vote may check with the Registrar of Voters to see if their street is listed in the district.

As the candidates entered the last weekend before the special election, they said voters concerns were their priorities.

Scott, a senior promotions manager at Edgewell Personal Care in Shelton, said Sredzinski left big shoes to fill, and I believe I am up for the challenge.

[T]here is still a lot more work to be done up in Hartford, Scott said. It is crucial, now more than ever, that we continue to have strong representation that truly represents the citizens of this district.

Kapoor, vice president of operations at I-Engineering in Shelton and a visiting professor of mathematics at Fairfield University, said he has been responding to voters needs in Monroe for a decade.

During my early days of interning for a state representative in Hartford, I saw firsthand how legislators could turn constituents concerns into much-needed, helpful legislation, Kapoor said. Thats exactly what I hope to do for the people of the 112th.

Furrier, a chemical engineer and cosmetic formulation scientist for Unilever in Trumbull, said he would bring a new and important nonpartisan approach to government.

I will be representing first and foremost the people of the district and of Connecticut, not a major political party, Furrier said.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 11)  The initial 20,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccines from Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute are expected to arrive in the Philippines this week, a senator said.

In a statement released Sunday, Senator Christopher "Bong" Go said the first batch is up for a "pilot logistics run" since there are unique requirements for the first and second doses of the vaccine.

RELATED: Russia: PH priority in delivery of Sputnik V, doses to arrive in April

"Sa susunod na linggo, inaasahang darating ang 20,000 initial Sputnik vaccine from Russia," he was quoted as saying in a radio interview on Saturday.

"Inaasahang 20 million po isu-supply ng Russia sa atin with first tranche of 500,000 doses this April or May," Go added.

[Translation: Next week, 20,000 initial Sputnik vaccines are expected to arrive from Russia...We're expecting that Russia will supply us with 20 million doses, with first tranche of 500,000 doses this April or May.]

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said 500,000 doses of the Russian vaccine will be delivered to the country within the month.

Sputnik V is the fourth vaccine to be granted Emergency Use Authorization by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration.

FDA Director General Eric Domingo previously said the Russia-made vaccine can only be administered to clinically healthy individuals aged 18 and above.
Indian Army chief Gen MM Naravane on Sunday attended the Army Chiefs' Conclave held here on the sidelines of a multinational military exercise.

Gen Naravane, who is here on a five-day official tour, delivered a keynote address on Changing Nature of Global Conflicts: Role of UN Peacekeepers, the Indian Armys Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADG PI) tweeted.

During the event, the Army chief also interacted with the senior officers of the participating nations and military observers from the other nations.

The Shantir Ogroshena (Frontrunners of Peace) 2021 exercise commenced on April 4 at Bangabandhu Senanibas to commemorate the birth centenary of Bangladesh's Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and mark 50 years of the country's liberation from Pakistan.

An Indian Army contingent of 30 personnel are participating along with the Royal Bhutan Army, Sri Lankan Army and Bangladesh Army in the exercise that will conclude on Monday.

Military observers from the US, UK, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Singapore are also attending the exercise.

The aim of the exercise is to strengthen the procedures and enhance interoperability amongst neighbourhood countries to ensure robust peacekeeping operations in the region.

The armies of all the participating nations shared their valuable experiences and refined their drills and procedures in peacekeeping operations.

The visit of Gen Naravane, who is here at the invitation of his Bangladeshi counterpart Gen Aziz Ahmed, comes less than two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to the neighbouring country and met the top leadership here to strengthen the strategic ties.

The year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Bangladesh, the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan and the birth centenary of 'Bangabandhu' Mujibur Rahman.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
If Bratislava had talking statues, they would gossip about Sputnik

Andrew Giarellis novel explores Romes centuries-long tradition of putting social commentary on statues.

Andrew Giarelli is a Prague-based and Slovakia-loving Italian-American journalist. His latest novel, The Talking Statues, explores the long-standing tradition of Romes Pasquinate, a form of satire posted in public spaces. Named after Pasquino, a marble statue unveiled in Rome in 1501, the centuries-old tradition of posting these verses on talking statues continues to this day.

The Slovak Spectator (TSS): When did you first encounter Pasquino and his fellow Talking Statues in Rome and decide this was something worth researching and writing about?

Andrew Giarelli Andrew Giarelli is an Italian-American journalist, author and senior lecturer in literature and journalism at the Anglo-American University in Prague. He was a senior Fulbright lecturer in Slovakia in 2011 and currently splits his time between Oregon (USA) and Prague.

Andrew Giarelli (AG): In 2001, I started visiting Rome almost every year for about a month at a time. Because I am both a literature professor with an emphasis in folklore as well as a working journalist that teaches journalism, once I started learning about Pasquino and the other talking statues, it occurred to me that this is a place where folklore and journalism meet.

This long tradition of these street poets writing commentary about the news really attracted me and I started approaching the Pasquinate as a scholar. I spent time with the Pasquinate manuscripts, published yearly starting in 1509, in the reading room of the National Library of Rome. Some of the earliest printed books in Italy were these collections of Pasquinate because it started as a graduation tradition of students and quickly got out of control, becoming an underground movement.

TSS: Your novel is almost two decades in the making. What were some of the barriers you faced from inception to the final creation and what fueled your desire to see this project through after so long?

11. Apr 2021 at 7:00 | Anna Fay
NEW DELHI: A 26-year-old woman was stabbed to death by her husband, 40, at a crowded market place in Delhi's Rohini area on Saturday (April 10) on the suspicion of her having an affair with another person. The accused has been arrested by the Delhi Police.

The accused, Harish Mehta, who worked with a marriage bureau, hails from Rajkot in Gujarat. He met Neelu through a matrimonial site and got married to her recently. His wife Neelu worked at a government hospital and Mehta wanted her to quit her job and look after the house. However, she continued working, much to his dismay.

PTI quoted a police official saying that the accused suspected his wife of having an affair with another man. After a few days of their weddding, his wife left his house and started staying with her parents. Police said that enraged by his wife leaving him, Mehta planned to kill her and on Saturday afternoon, when she was returning home after work, he stabbed her with a knife in full public view at the the Budh Vihar area in Delhi. A video of the incident also surfaced online.

The woman was seen lying on a road's side in a pool of blood. Her husband tried to escape from the spot with the blood stained knife in his hand, but was chased by police, an officer said.

The woman was taken to the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital where doctors declared her as brought dead, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) Pranav Tayal said.

He said a case of murder was registered at the Vijay Vihar police station. The accused was apprehended from the spot and later arrested, Tayal said.

Live TV


Norwich pastor exchanges Prince Philip letters Norwich pastor exchanges Prince Philip letters

A Norwich church pastor has revealed that he exchanged letters of good wishes with the Duke of Edinburgh while he was being treated at the King Edward VII Hospital in London, less than a month before the Dukes death on April 9.

Dr Alan Clifford, Pastor of Norwich Reformed Church, said he that he felt strongly led to write to Prince Philip during his last illness.



He wrote: Sir, please allow me to assure you that I remember you in my prayers. In the midst of weakness and other anxieties, may you know the peace and healing mercy of Almighty God our heavenly Father. While eternity beckons us all, our sure and certain comfort of salvation is in our Lord and only Saviour Jesus Christ.



Some 20 years junior to Your Royal Highness, I recall your kind interest in me during your visit to the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine, Farnborough in 1964. I was then an Assistant Experimental Officer, later exchanging a scientific career for the Christian ministry. Much more recently (2006), you kindly welcomed a booklet I sent for your information and interest.



As I follow news bulletins of your progress from day to day, be assured of my continuing concern for your well-being.



Dr Clifford received a written reply from the Dukes Assistant Private Secretary, Rachel Loryman, who wrote: The Duke has asked me to write and thank you for your kind message of good wishes. Your thoughtfulness in writing is much appreciated.



Pictured above is Dr Alan Clifford on the Norwich Reformed Church YouTube channel.



Keith Morris, 11/04/2021
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. --The New York Lottery today announced there were multiple top-prize winning tickets sold for the April 10 TAKE 5 drawing, including one sold on Staten Island worth $33,203.50.

The winning ticket was sold at Forest Cards & Gifts in West Brighton.

Take 5 numbers are drawn from a field of one through 39. Drawings take place every evening at 10:30 p.m. Winning tickets at all prize levels may be cashed up to one year from the date of the drawing.

ABOUT THE N.Y. LOTTERY

The New York Lottery is touted as North Americas largest and most profitable lottery, contributing $3.38 billion in fiscal year 2019-2020 to help support education in New York State.

New York Lottery revenue is distributed to local school districts by the same statutory formula used to distribute other state aid to education. It takes into account both a school districts size and its income level; larger, lower-income school districts receive proportionately larger shares of the Lottery school funding.

New Yorkers struggling with a gambling addiction, or who know someone who is, can find help by calling the States toll-free, confidential HOPEline at 1-877-8-HOPENY (1-877-846-7369) or by texting HOPENY (467369) Standard rates may apply.

FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTER
Union minister has



called up Sun Pharma's chief to arrange for 10,000 injections of Remdesivir in Nagpur in view of a shortage of the medicine here in

Remdesivir is considered a key anti-viral drug in the fight against COVID-19, especially in adult patients with severe complications.

A press release from Gadkari's office on Saturday said the Lok Sabha member from Nagpur spoke to Sun Pharma's Managing Director Dilip Shanghvi over phone to inform him about the situation here and appealed to him to make available the Remdesivir injections.

The pharma company chief assured Gadkari of making available 5,000 injections immediately on Saturday and the remaining 5,000 in next two-three days, the release said.

Gadkari also appealed to the people of Nagpur to follow all COVID-19 prevention protocols.

With witnessing a spurt in COVID-19 cases, Remdesivir injections are in high demand in the state.

Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat on Saturday said there is shortage of Remdesivir injections and the supply of vaccine doses was inadequate.

On Thursday, the state government capped the price of Remdesivir between Rs 1,100 and Rs 1,400 per vial and warned against its hoarding and black marketing.

(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.)
2 Pakistani Christian nurses charged with blasphemy, could face life in prison

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

Police in Pakistans Punjab province arrested two Christian nurses on blasphemy charges after hospital staff accused them of scratching a sticker with a verse from the Quran written on it off a cupboard. One of the nurses was allegedly attacked with a knife by a colleague.

The nurses, identified as Maryam Lal and third-year student Navish Arooj who work in Civil Hospital in Punjabs Faisalabad city, were arrested on Friday, according to the United Kingdom-based nonprofit Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement.

The police complaint alleges that a Muslim nurse, identified as Rukhsana, witnessed Arooj scratching and removing the sticker on a hospital cupboard and handing it to Lal.

According to the Washington, D.C.-based American Center for Law and Justice, a video circulated over social media showed an employee, identified as Mohammad Waqas, calling Lal vulgar names and telling a room full of other employees that she tore down a sticker carrying a Muslim prayer.

Then he said that when he found out about it, he confronted the Christian nurse Mariam. He said, I am a Muslim; how can a Muslim sit quietly over blasphemy of his Prophet, the ACLJ report states. Then he proudly told the employees gathered in the room that he attacked Mariam with a knife, but failed when the blade broke, only injuring her arm.

An aggressive mob gathered outside the hospital when police came to make the arrest and threatened to kill the two nurses, according to a video posted by Pak Adam TV Ministries.

According to ACLJ, charges have been filed under Section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code outlawing the desecration of the Quran or extract therefrom, which is punishable by life in prison.

This is not the first incident of this kind, but in the past, we have seen how people use this law to settle their personal grudges or punish their rivals, said CLAAS-UK Director Nasir Saeed in a statement.

I still remember 2009 when a Lahore Muslim factory owner was accused of committing blasphemy for removing an old calendar inscribed with holy Quranic verses from a wall. A factory worker killed him and two other men, and the enraged mob also assaulted management employees and set the factory on fire.

Saeed argues that Pakistans blasphemy laws continue to imprison and claim the lives of innocent people. Without government action to reform the blasphemy law, Saeed said that people like Waqas are emboldened to take the law into their own hands.

In January, another Christian nurse, 30-year-old Tabitha Nazir Gill, was accused of blasphemy at Sobhraj Maternity Hospital in Karachi city in Sindh province, where she worked for nine years, the U.S.-based persecution advocacy organization International Christian Concern reported at the time.

A Muslim co-worker, who was not identified, allegedly made the accusation after a personal dispute over receiving cash tips from hospital patients.

According to the ICC report, the hospitals head nurse instructed all medical staff not to receive cash tips from patients. Gill reportedly reminded the co-worker who she saw collect money from a patient about the instruction. The co-worker then accused Gill of committing blasphemy.

Hospital staff reportedly beat Gill after tying her up with ropes and locking her in a room before police arrived.

The blasphemy law, embedded in Sections 295 and 298 of Pakistan's penal code, is frequently misused for personal revenge. While it permits the death penalty for those convicted of insulting Islam or its Prophet Muhammad, it carries no provision to punish a false accuser or a false witness of blasphemy.

Islamic radicals also use the law to target religious minorities  Christians, Shias, Ahmadiyyas and Hindus.

A Lahore-based group, Centre for Social Justice, recently reported that 200 people were accused of blasphemy in 2020  a record number of cases in one year. In total, the group reports that at least 1,855 people have been charged under Pakistans blasphemy laws since 1987.

International advocates have long called on Pakistan to reform its penal code as it is often used to persecute religious minorities.

A Pakistani Christian, Shahbaz Bhatti, who served as minister of minority affairs, was assassinated in March 2011 after calling for the blasphemy laws' repeal. Former Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer was also assassinated for his opposition to the countrys blasphemy law. Both men advocated for Christian woman Asia Bibi, who had been sentenced to death for blasphemy. She was acquitted years later by the Pakistan Supreme Court.
Editors note: Boston police incorrectly listed the victims first name. This story has been updated with the correct name.

The 73-year-old grandmother who was shot and killed Saturday night while sitting on her porch in Dorchester has been identified by police as Delois Brown.

The woman was shot just before 6 p.m. Saturday as gunfire erupted in the area of 19 Olney St. in Dorchester.

Police were called to the scene for a report of a person shot and located Brown, who had gunshot wounds.

Boston EMS rushed Brown to an area hospital where she was pronounced dead. The killing remains under investigation. Authorities said she was not the intended target of the gunfire.

It is outrageous that a grandmother, or any individual, cannot sit on their porch on a beautiful spring day without the fear of being shot to death, Boston Mayor Kim Janey said on Twitter. This scene is all too familiar. While we offer the grieving family & loved ones our condolences, they deserve much more than that.

This was my 1st scene as Mayor, but like the residents on that street, it is something that I have experienced far too many times. All Boston residents should be able to live free from violence on their streets and we will do all we can to bring about peace. #safetyhealingjustice  Kim Janey (@Kim_Janey) April 11, 2021

Anyone with information is asked to contact Boston Police Homicide Detectives at 617-343-4470. People who wish to remain anonymous can do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS or by texting the word TIP to CRIME (27463).
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on March 1, 2021. (Lisi Niesner/Reuters)

US, Iran Clash on Sanctions; US Sees Possible Impasse

U.S. and Iranian officials clashed on Friday over what sanctions the United States should lift to resume compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, with Washington predicting an impasse if Tehran sticks to a demand that all sanctions since 2017 be removed.

The two nations laid out tough stances as indirect talks in Vienna on how to bring both back into full compliance with the agreement wound up for the week.

The talks, in which European Union officials are shuttling between the remaining parties to the deal and the United States, aim to restore the bargain at the core of the agreementrestrictions on Irans nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of U.S. and other international sanctions.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump imposed maximum pressure on Iran after he officially withdrew the United States from the 2015 Iran deal in May 2018, calling it a horrible one-sided deal and defective at its core.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also said last month that rejoining the Iran deal would make America and the Middle East less secure.

All Trump sanctions were anti-JCPOA & must be removedw/o distinction between arbitrary designations, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Twitter, referring to the deal by its full name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The Biden administration says it is prepared to lift sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA. While it has declined to elaborate, that appears to exclude sanctions formally unrelated to nuclear issues covered by the deal.

Police officers stay in front of the Grand Hotel Wien where closed-door nuclear talks with Iran take place, in Vienna, Austria, on April 9, 2021. (Florian Schroetter/AP Photo)

A senior U.S. State Department official told reporters the United States had seen some signs of Iranian seriousness about returning to the nuclear pact but certainly not enough.

If Iran sticks to the position that every sanction that has been imposed since 2017 has to be lifted or there will be no deal, then we are heading towards an impasse, the senior U.S. official told reporters on a conference call.

Whether the statements are opening gambits or more firm positions remains to be seen. European officials said Iran was bargaining hard at the outset.

The remaining parties to the accordIran, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russiamet again on Friday after talks formally began on Tuesday and they agreed to keep going, Russian and Chinese envoys said.

The remaining parties have formed two expert-level working groups whose job is to draw up lists of sanctions that the United States will lift and of nuclear restrictions Iran will implement. Their work continues between Joint Commission meetings.

Irans foreign ministry said in a statement diplomats would meet again on Wednesday in Vienna. Talks are expected to drag on for weeks.

Some diplomats hope agreement can be reached before Irans June 18 presidential election or else talks risk being pushed back until later in the year.

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report
CEOs indicated readiness to act individually and collectively to shore up American democracy and ensure Americans have access to a world class voting system. CEOs who participated in a live poll indicated they will re-evaluate donations to candidates supporting bills that restrict voting rights and many would reconsider investments in states which act upon such proposals.

Robust participation in fair elections and the rule of law are the foundation of America's economic dynamism. It's critical that corporate America show leadership on this issue, for the long-term interests of all of its stakeholders, including shareholders, customers, employees, and the communities in which they operate.

A new poll conducted by Morning Consult discussed on the call found that 73% of adults agree that the government should ensure voters have equitable access to polling locations, hours, and drop-boxes. The poll also found that the majority of Democrats and plurality of Republicans both agree that companies should support legislation which focuses on increasing access to voting and should not support officials who favor limiting voting rights.

The historic levels of participation across the political spectrum in the 2020 election amid a global pandemic were a triumph for democracy. Business leaders view this progress as something to build on, not to roll back. Robust initiatives are underway to protect the democratic process. More than 60 of the leading 100 law firms in the U.S. are working with voting rights organizations to activate against all legislation that restricts the right to vote.

"We are encouraged by the commitment CEOs who met today to reinforce the legitimacy of the 2020 election and expand voting rights," said Daniella Ballou-Aares, Co-founder & CEO of the Leadership Now Project. "Leadership Now Project's forward-leaning group of business executives across the country are ready to work with partners locally and nationally to translate this commitment to action."

"It is our patriotic duty to protect the most vital of rights for all Americans. This is an essential act of inclusive capitalism because without a thriving democracy we cannot have a thriving and secure capitalism," said Lynn Forester de Rothschild, Founding & Managing Partner of Inclusive Capital Partners and Founder & Chair of the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism. "I applaud all the CEOs who use the power of their corporations for the common good."

"It is inspiring to see such an outpouring of courage and patriotism by a wide cross section of major business leaders supporting the fundamental right of each American to vote," said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Senior Associate Dean for Leadership Studies at the Yale School of Management. "The spectrum of political views and industries were unified in the voices for greater voter equity and access."

This meeting was convened in partnership with:

The Chief Executive Leadership Institute (CELI) is the pioneer of CEO learning. The Institute hosts CEO summits, bringing together business leaders, policy makers, and leading academics in a unique learning environment that fosters candid, off-the-record exchanges.

The Leadership Now Project is a membership organization of business and thought leaders who are committed to long-term solutions to renew American democracy.

The Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism is a global non-profit organization that works with leaders across the private, public, and civic sectors to make capitalism inclusive and its benefits more widely and equitably shared.

Yale School of Management Contact:

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld - [email protected]

Cassidy Rhodes - [email protected]



Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism Contacts:

Lynn Forester de Rothschild - [email protected]

Amanda Byrd - [email protected]



Leadership Now Project Contacts:

Daniella Ballou-Aares - [email protected]

Grace Deal - [email protected]

SOURCE Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism
Members of the public paying tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh have welcomed the news that Prince Harry will be returning to the UK for his grandfather's funeral - but mourners had a mixed reaction over Meghan's absence.

A number of mourners gathered outside Windsor Castle gave their opinions on the Duke of Sussex returning from the US for the solemn occasion, and were positive for the most part.

However, the consensus wasn't quite as unanimous when it came to his pregnant wife Meghan, who is due to give birth to a baby girl early this summer and won't be accompanying Prince Harry to the UK on doctor's orders.

Sources close to the couple said they were 'united in grief' with the rest of the Royal Family, but added that Meghan, 39, who suffered a miscarriage last year, would be following medical guidance on whether she should make the 11-hour flight from California.

On Saturday Buckingham Palace confirmed that the Duchess of Sussex would not be attending the funeral on April 17 after receiving a 'physician's advice'.

Prince Philip, the husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth who had been at her side throughout her record-breaking 69-year reign, died at Windsor Castle on April 9.

When the groups of dedicated mourners were asked about Prince Harry's decision to fly back from the US for the funeral, the decision was met with praise.

Telecommunications manager John Morris, 59, said: 'Harry should come back. Meghan, I think, okay, she's got her own issues with the monarchy, but you know Harry I think should be there for his grandfather.

Product manager Sammy Sheng, 36, said: 'It will be great for Harry to come back as a family, to be part of the family as they gather round and send off his grandfather.'

Telecommunications manager John Morris, 59, (right) said: 'Harry should come back. Meghan, I think, okay, she's got her own issues with the monarchy'. Company director Cathy Spooner, 60, said that Meghan should also have made the trip

When the groups of dedicated mourners were asked about Prince Harry's decision to fly back from the US for the funeral, the decision was met with praise

A tribute left at Windsor Castle for Prince Philip, where crowds have gathered to pay respect

Prince Philip died at Windsor Castle on April 9. Pictured: At Prince Harry and Meghan's wedding on May 19 2018

'You know, his grandfather died and it was part of his life, so he should be over here. And okay if its only for a brief visit, okay fine. But hopefully they can make some amends, at least Harry and William might be able to get back together again.'

While 36-year-old product manager Sammy Sheng said: 'It will be great for Harry to come back as a family, to be part of the family as they gather round and send off his grandfather.

'But I guess, considering the pregnancy, women travelling such a long distance is not a pleasant journey for her (Meghan).

'I mean speaking for myself if I had to travel - I don't know how how many months she's in now, but it's quite a long journey, yeah. It's a shame she can't attend, but if she can't travel then it's unfortunate.'

Clemmie Turner, 37, said she thinks Harry should do what he wants to and that it is the right decision for Meghan to stay in the US because she is pregnant.

She said: 'I think that he should be doing what he wants to do and he obviously wants to be here. I think that clearly Meghan has been asked to stay behind on doctors orders because she's obviously very pregnant, and I think she needs to do what's right for her.'

Sources close to the couple said Meghan and Prince Harry were 'united in grief' with the rest of the Royal Family

However, not everyone asked agreed, with 60-year-old company director Cathy Spooner saying that Meghan should also have made the trip.

Ms Spooner said: 'Yes I'm so pleased Harry is coming back. To me, I think Meghan should come with him to support him, try and show some unity. Part of me understands why she's not coming back, but I think that's a mistake.

'I think she should. I think she should put her differences aside for the sake of a very prestigious royal who has just passed.'

Children are seen placing roses on the gates at Windsor Castle to pay their respects

Five-year-old Billy Turner says: 'I've come to remember how special Prince Philip was.'

People walk towards Windsor Castle to pay their respects to Prince Philip

Mourners outside of Buckingham Palace, London, on April 9, shortly after the news broke

The palace said long-established plans for the funeral had to be redrawn and scaled down because of COVID-19 restrictions, but they remained very much in line with Philip's wishes.

Prince Philip, who was officially known as the Duke of Edinburgh, will be given a ceremonial royal funeral, not a state funeral, as planned before the pandemic.

But there will be no public processions, and it will be held entirely within the grounds of Windsor Castle and limited to 30 mourners.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will not attend to make space for as many family members as possible.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-11 13:24:47|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Richard Todwong, deputy secretary general of Uganda's ruling National Resistance Movement party, receives an interview with Xinhua in Kampala, Uganda on March 24, 2021. (Photo by Lu Jicheng/Xinhua)

KAMPALA, April 11 (Xinhua) -- "At the moment, you can drive from one corner of Uganda to another border on tarmac, mainly built by Chinese companies," said Richard Todwong, deputy secretary general of Uganda's ruling National Resistance Movement party.

The Belt and Road Initiative is embraced by economies because it connects people, and that is the beauty of it, Todwong told Xinhua in an interview recently.

The leadership of Communist Party of China (CPC) has foresightedness in dealing relations with Africa and the third world countries, the senior official said, noting that the Chinese model of engagement with African countries is tangible, durable and genuine.

"In most of the economies of Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, we have seen the Chinese doing infrastructural projects. They're building dams. They're building roads. They're extending powers to the rural areas," said Todwong.

"The Chinese came and built for us quite a number of dams, which has enabled us to power our economy," he said.

The party official commended China's upholding of the socialism with Chinese characteristics.

"We cannot go into a global village when you're forgetting your culture," he noted.

Todwong took part in a three-month training on governance in Peking University in 2019. He was impressed by the measures that China had taken in governing the country.

African leaders could learn governance philosophy of the CPC, as the party is committed to a people-centered philosophy of development, which is key to any kind of government as well as to any person in leadership at whatever level, said the Ugandan party official.

The Chinese communists "understand (the) poverty very well, ... and so once you know the root cause of that particular poverty, it's easy to address," said Todwong.

Todwong also stressed the importance of the strong leadership of the CPC. "China is developing rapidly with the population, they have fought poverty, they fought all these things that we talked about in other countries, because the leadership has remained very firm." Enditem
Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.

More than 211,000 pounds of raw ground turkey produced by Plainville Brands LLC may be contaminated with Salmonella Hadar, according to a public health alert from the Agriculture Departments Food Safety and Inspection Service. The turkey may be involved in a salmonella outbreak that has caused 28 illnesses in 12 states.

The turkey was packaged under Plainville Farms, Natures Promise, and Wegmans brands. The USDA said that it did not request that Plainville recall the turkey because the use by/freeze by/sell by dates were in early January, so it should no longer on store shelves. However, some consumers who purchased the products may still have them in their freezers.

A list of stores where the turkey was sold was not immediately available, but the USDA said that the products were shipped nationwide. Natures Promise brand is sold at various stores, such as Food Lion, Giant, Hannaford, and Stop & Shop. Wegmans brand is sold in Wegmans stores. The specific products that may be involved in the outbreak are:

1-pound packages of Natures Promise 94% lean/6% fat ground turkey with use by/freeze by/sell by dates of 1/1/21, 1/3/21,1/4/21, 1/8/21, and 1/10/21.

1-pound and 3-pound packages of Wegmans 94% lean/6% fat ground turkey with use by/freeze by/sell by dates of 1/3/21, 1/4/21, 1/8/21, and 1/10/21.

1-pound packages of Plainville Farms ground white turkey 93%/ 7% Fat with use by/freeze by/sell by date of 1/10/21.

The ground turkey products were produced between Dec. 18 and Dec. 29, 2020. They all bear establishment number EST. P-244 inside the USDA mark of inspection on the package.

The USDA says that the salmonella illnesses occurred between Dec. 28, 2020 and March 4, 2021. An intact, unopened package of Plainville Brands ground turkey collected from an ill persons home tested positive for Salmonella Hadar, and that strain was closely related to the strain of salmonella that made the individual sick. The USDA says it's continuing its investigation.

Story continues

Consumer Reports contacted Plainville Brands, but the company didn't provide a comment.

If you purchased ground turkey from these brands mid-December 2020 through early January 2021 and froze it, do not eat it. The USDA advises that you throw it away or return it to the place where you bought it.

Salmonella causes diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps anywhere from 6 hours to six days after exposure, according to the CDC. The illness usually lasts four to seven days and resolves without treatment. However, some people may become so ill that they require hospitalization. Call a doctor if you have a fever higher than 102 F, if diarrhea doesnt improve in three days, or if you have bloody stools. Dehydration is also possible and should be assessed by a doctor. Signs of dehydration include dry mouth and throat, dizziness when standing, and making very little urine.

The Details

Products recalled: Plainville Farms, Natures Promise, and Wegmans ground turkey with use by/sell by/freeze by dates between 1/1/2021 and 1/10/2021

The problem: The ground turkey may be contaminated with Salmonella Hadar.

The fix: If you purchased turkey from these brands mid-December through early January and still have it in your freezer, do not eat it. Instead throw it away or return it to the store where you bought it.

How to contact the manufacturer: Contact Yusef Robb at (323) 384-1789 or yusef@tkCommunicationsLLC.com.
A man arrested on suspicion of the murder and indecent assault of Stuart Lubbock at the home of Michael Barrymore 20 years ago has been released under investigation by police.

The 50-year-old suspect, who has not been named, was arrested in Cheshire on March 17 after 'significant new information' came to light, Essex Police said.

He was subsequently released on bail until April 12, and the force said he has since been released under investigation.

An Essex Police spokesman said: 'A 50-year-old man arrested on suspicion of the indecent assault and murder of Stuart Lubbock has been released under investigation while our enquiries continue.'

Barrymore, was arrested as part of the investigation in 2007 before being released without charge, later launched a high court case for 2.4million damages for wrongful arrest. He received a nominal sum after Essex Police won an appeal

Butcher Mr Lubbock, 31, had been attending a party at Barrymore's luxury home in Roydon with eight other people on March 31 2001 when he died.

A post-mortem examination showed Mr Lubbock had suffered severe internal injuries which suggested he had been sexually assaulted.

Alcohol, ecstasy and cocaine were found in his bloodstream.

The coroner recorded an open verdict.

Stuart Lubbock, from Harlow, Essex

Stuart Lubbock's death shocked Britain and ended Michael Barrymore's TV career overnight. The star, who made millions as one of the UK's top TV personalities of the 1980s and 1990s, has always denied playing any part in his suspected murder.

He has been reduced to playing Strike It Lucky live with fans on Instagram and was last seen on TV during a stint on Celebrity Big Brother in 2006.

A planned appearance on Dancing on Ice last year never happened after he broke his wrist and he was never invited back.

Last year's Channel 4 documentary about the case prompted Barrymore, 68, to issue a fresh denial of any wrongdoing, saying: 'I have had nothing to do with this whatsoever and yet I keep getting bashed and bullied by the media.'

Mr Lubbock, 31, had been attending a party at Barrymore's luxury home in the Essex village of Roydon with eight other people on March 31, 2001.

Stuart was found floating in Mr Barrymore's swimming pool but nobody has been brought to justice for causing his death.

Detectives believe that Mr Lubbuck may also have been abused by a pool thermometer and outhouse handle that went missing after his suspected murder.

The initial investigation was deeply flawed after officers failed to secure the crime scene and assumed Stuart had drowned.
Raipur, April 11 : Chhatisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has sent senior officials to Hyderabad and Maharashtra to ensure smooth supply of Remdesivir, a key anti-viral drug in the fight against Covid-19. The state government has also made mandatory to produce RT-PCR negative report obtained within 72 hours at airports and railway stations while those arriving without negative report will be examined, according to the new SOP, they will be kept in quarantine centre or isolation.

Baghel said that this time the infection is also spreading in the villages. To prevent this, it is necessary to examine those coming from outside the state. Instructions have been issued by the state government to establish quarantine centres in villages.

He has instructed the Chief Secretary for smooth supply of Remdesivir injection in the state, senior officers should be sent to Hyderabad and Maharashtra for coordination with companies manufacturing this drug.

The Chief Minister discussed this issue with the President of the Drug Association and asked him to increase the supply of Remdesivir injection from other states. Chief Minister gave these instructions after a video conference with medical experts on the situation arising out of the increasing infection of Covid-19 in the state.

He also discussed the issue with hospital operators, medical experts and representatives of the Indian Medical Association about the problems being faced in the treatment of Covid-19, supply of oxygen and essential medicines.

The Chief Minister said that the increasing number of Covid-19 patients in Chhattisgarh is worrisome and asked the operators of private hospitals to provide the best possible treatment to the corona patients.

Chief Minister said that Chhattisgarh is ahead of many states in terms of testing. Every day 40 to 50 thousand tests are being done in the state. Chhattisgarh is also the state administering highest number of vaccines. So far 13 per cent of the population here has been given the first dose of the vaccine.

He said that RT-PCR test facility will be started soon in four more districts in the state. With the increase in the number of sample tests every day, the investigation report will also be available sooner.

Chief Minister said that instructions have been issued to supply oxygen to the plants producing oxygen first in the government and private hospitals of Chhattisgarh. Some new industries in the private sector have also been allowed to produce medical oxygen. With this, oxygen will be supplied in all hospitals of the state as per the requirement.
SHREVEPORT, La.  Another day, another piece of the Is Amazon coming to Shreveport? puzzle is filled.

Today, a cash sale deed for the property where the distribution facility is expected to be located was filed with the Caddo Clerk of Courts office.

Owner Mansel O. Holmes sold the property, known as the Hunter Industrial Center, to CF Tamarin SHV LLC, a limited liability company based in Delaware. The company registered with the state of Louisiana on Feb. 8.

The property description is identical to what is included with a site development plan submitted last month to the Shreveport Metropolitan Planning Commission. Its located on Corporate Drive east of Twelve Mile Bayou.

On Wednesday, a permit was issued to Ryan Companies US, Inc., a Minnesota-based company with ties to Amazon to build a foundation for an almost 3.4 million square-foot, five-story distribution center. The foundation only permit has an estimated value of almost $6.4 million.

Neither the cash sale deed nor the foundation permit mention Amazon.

The project is referred to as Project Cosmeaux on the site plan.

Ryan Companies has constructed other Amazon fulfillment centers and warehouses in other states.

MacGregor Associates Architects is the architectural firm listed on the development application and CSRS, Inc., is the engineer. MacGregor Associates has worked with Ryan Companies in construction of other Amazon facilities.
Lucknow, April 11 : Continuing its efforts to win over Dalits for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2022, the Samajwadi Party has now decided to constitute a Baba Saheb Vahini named after Dalit icon Dr B.R. Ambedkar.

Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav had earlier announced that his party would celebrate 'Dalit Diwali' on the Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14.

Dalit organisations supported by the BJP and the Congress had raised objections to this.

Responding to the objections to celebrate Ambedkar's birth anniversary as 'Dalit Diwali', Yadav said there could be reservations over the name but there could not be any dispute over celebrating Ambedkar and his birth anniversary.

"One may call it 'Samvidhan Raksha Diwas' or 'Ambedkar Diwali' but no one can question the desire to celebrate Ambedkar and his birth anniversary," he said.

"To further the idea of equality and justice to all sections of the society that was mooted by Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Samajwadi Party pledges to float a separate frontal organisation by the name of Baba Saheb Vahini at the district, state and national level on his birth anniversary on April 14," Akhilesh said.

The Baba Saheb Vahini is aimed at bringing Dalits into the Samajwadi fold and assuring them protection against social exploitation.

Socialist ideologue Ram Manohar Lohia and Ambedkar had planned to work together for the upliftment of the society and the fact is a part of our history, he added.

The Samajwadi Party's decision to go big in celebrating Ambedkar and his ideology is being seen as a direct jolt to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) that prides itself as the sole custodian of the Ambedkar philosophy.

The Samajwadi Party and BSP were allies in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the two parties had vowed to work together for the weaker and downtrodden sections of society.

However, immediately after the Lok Sabha elections, BSP president Mayawati snapped ties with SP and announced that her party would never ally with SP again.

Though SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav never levelled any charges against the BSP, he has been quietly working on a strategy to deplete the BSP's base.

Last year, during the Rajya Sabha elections, Akhilesh managed to wean away nine BSP MLAs which was a major jolt to Mayawati.
Backlash against police use of archaic law to arrest female sex workers View(s):

The recent use of the Vagrants Ordinance against four women for idling at night caused a social media backlash against police for targeting women who are on the streets during late hours.

But police do not apply the Vagrants Ordinance against women in general, a spokesman insisted, and the four arrests recently made were of sex workers. The legislation permits police to arrest sex workers. Fort Magistrate Priyantha Liyanage closed the case after fining each of them Rs 50.

Section 3 of the Vagrants Ordinance pertains to persons who are deemed idle or disorderly. It allows action against every common prostitute wandering in the public street or highway, or in place of public resort, and behaving in a riotous or indecent manner.

Police usually conduct 12-hour surveillance on people suspected of soliciting sex, Police spokesman and Deputy Inspector General Ajith Rohana said. If suspicious behaviour is detected, they gather evidence and make the arrests. These are not done out of the blue, he pointed out, and officers are required to make surveillance entries followed by an investigation.

After the arrests, however, there was an outcry on social media with women expressing concern about their safety and security. One reason was that initial reports did not specify that the arrests were of sex workers.

After this incident, when I encountered a policeman at night, I felt the urge to tell them that I am not doing anything wrong, said Sarah Hettiarachchi, a performer who returns home late at night after musical gigs.

Others pointed out that the police do stop women travelling at night, even for legitimate purposes. Early in the a.m., post-gigs, going home, I have got stopped and questioned, said another performer. Sometimes, the conversations have seemed unnecessarily long, and I havent felt safe in that situation because there is a certain tension that builds up when you get stared down for how you dress and your makeup.

Women who work during the night often feel uncomfortable at such checks because they fear the police will arrest them. Society has a negative image of females who work and travel at night, Ms Hettiarachchi said. They tend to be characterised as women who do bad things. There is now a surge of panic among women as they feared that arrests would further stigmatise those who work at night.

The Vagrants Ordinance is an archaic law that charges people who are seen to be behaving riotously or disorderly in the public, said Thishya Weragoda, a lawyer. Section 3(b) allows sex workers to be charged for behaving in a riotous or disorderly manner in public. The vague definition of terms such as riotous and indecent has allowed police to interpret the law in an unrestricted manner. It also lets police make such arrests without a warrant.

It should be clear, however, that the police will not arrest a woman for simply walking on a road at night, DIG Rohana said. Often, the police use this provision to take in sex workers.

They were previously arrested under the Brothels Ordinance but this was brought to a halt by Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake who ruled in February 2020 that it was not an offence in Sri Lanka for a woman to engage in prostitution.

Magistrate Dissanayake acquitted a woman arrested in a brothel on charges of prostitution, saying it was not considered an offence in Sri Lanka for a woman to earn a living through sex work but that it was an offence to operate a brothel.

Citing two major Superior Court judgments (Saibo vs Chellam and Coore vs James Appu), he said, prostitution is not an offence per se under our law and that the Vagrants Ordinance and the Brothel Ordinance are the laws that govern prostitution in Sri Lanka.

Since colonial times, there have been no prevailing laws in Sri Lanka against a woman who independently engaged in prostitution as a means of earning a living.

Such arrests are meant to act as deterrence, lawyer Weragoda pointed out. There is an implied message for people to avoid behaving in ways that are deemed illegal.

But while Vagrants Ordinance might be used mainly against sex workers, police have also deployed it against couples and people in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community as well as women in general. Its ambiguity has allowed police to legally make such arrests.

The Vagrants Ordinance should be repealed, said Thiyagaraja Waradas, a Director of the Community Welfare and Development Fund and Colombo University lecturer. It is beyond outdated.

This is a colonial law that theoretically applies to everyone. Yet the application of it is mainly gendered to women, said Sharanya Sekaram, Co-Founder of Everystory Sri Lanka. Despite the law stating that any person can be arrested for acting in a riotous or disorderly manner, a majority of these convictions tend to be of women.

The subtle discrimination by the police is an imperative issue as many women feel their freedom is restricted by societal norms, she pointed out.
Visiting restrictions to maternity hospitals should be risk assessed to show how they are protecting women and staff, maternity advocates have said.

The call comes as a number of hospitals eased some restrictions in the last few days, but others have made no change. This only deepens the inequity of access, advocates say, as they demanded the science behind these changes be made public.

Chair of AIMS Ireland Dr Kyrisa Lynch said: It is baffling women can do some things in some hospitals but not in others. We are looking for risk assessment audits, we think it is inappropriate that some women have certain opportunities and others do not.

And we are looking for the entire labour experience to be accompanied.

She said it is not appropriate that the partners of a woman giving birth are viewed as visitors.

Women have told AIMS of being alone for up to six hours having been induced, with their partners waiting outside in the car. She said a back rub or a smile are essential during labour-pains.

Dr Lynch said it is difficult to understand why some hospitals ban visitors, others restrict visiting to certain hours, which means all partners come at the same time, while others allow more freedom.

In Cork, advocate, Linda Kelly gave birth during the first lockdown.

She said: We know everything carries risk, but I find it astounding that for this essential service, where all the staff are vaccinated, that there hasnt been a strategic plan put in place.

Cork University Maternity Hospital now has a Visitor Scheduling App, and Ms Kelly asked why this is not mandated for all maternity hospitals.

There have been so many promises from senior people in government, but when it came to lifting restrictions after this lockdown, there was nothing for maternity services, she said.

Speaking at an HSE briefing this week, chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said it is still too early to restore all visiting. He said the HSE wants to see a safe easing of restrictions.

Information shared by the maternity hospitals this week shows varying restrictions in place around the country.

Linda Kelly, Glanmire, and her daughter Amy-Kate. Cork University Maternity Hospital now has a Visitor Scheduling App, and Ms Kelly asked why this is not mandated for all maternity hospitals. Picture: Denis Minihane

Munster Hospitals

The South/SouthWest hospital group includes Cork University Maternity hospital and maternity units at Kerry University Hospital, South Tipperary General Hospital, and University Hospital Waterford.

Restrictions on anomaly scans were lifted on March 29 in all. Partners can attend from when the woman is in established labour for the birth or caesarean-section delivery and can stay for some time after birth.

One parent can visit the Neonatal Intensive Care at a time and hours are unrestricted.

At University Hospital Maternity Limerick partners and support persons can visit on the labour ward only.

Dublin Hospitals

At the Coombe hospital in Dublin, Covid-19 restrictions are renewed daily. A designated partner can attend during birth. Women can have visitors on the antenatal, postnatal and gynaecology wards between 2pm and 4pm daily.

At Dublin's Rotunda a nominated companion can attend the anomaly scan. One named person can attend when the woman is in the delivery suite or theatre. Women on postnatal, prenatal and gynae wards can have one named companion visit between 5pm and 7pm Monday to Friday or 2pm to 7pm on weekends and Bank Holidays.

Women can feed their babies anytime in the NICU when they are also a patient. If they have been discharged, visiting is between 11am and 7pm daily.

At the National Maternity Hospital a partner or support person can attend the anomaly scan since December 9. They can also attend a caesarean section. Visiting post-birth is open to a partner or nominated person for up to two consecutive hours of their own choosing.

Visiting restrictions at the NICU have now been lifted.

Portlaoise Hospital

At Portlaoise Hospital, in the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group, visiting during the anomaly scan was restored last Tuesday. Partners can attend the birth until the mother is moved to the postnatal ward. No other visiting is permitted.

Ireland East

The Ireland East hospital group includes maternity units at Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar, St Luke's General Hospital, Kilkenny and Wexford General Hospital.

A spokeswoman said: As healthcare workers complete their vaccination schedule this will be taken into consideration in determining local measures.

In these hospitals, birth partners may only attend the labour ward when their partner is in active labour, and in theatre for planned caesarean sections.

The midwifery-led maternity units in Cavan General Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda are under the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland Hospital Group.

Here a birth partner is allowed attend the anomaly scans and come onto the labour ward. They can visit the Midwifery Led Unit and post-natal ward.

West of Ireland

The SAOLTA hospital group oversees maternity units at Portiuncula hospital, Galway University Hospital, Sligo and Mayo general hospitals, and Letterkenny University Hospital.

In Letterkenny visiting is allowed to the Special Care Baby Unit. Birth partners can attend a woman in labour, and for a caesarean done under regional anaesthesia.

In Mayo a partner must leave immediately after the birth. And if a woman is discharged while her baby is still in the Special Care Baby Unit, she can visit once a day.

In addition to the birth at Galway hospital, partners can visit the antenatal and postnatal wards for 30 minutes from 7pm to 7.30pm. Fathers can only visit the NICU for 15 minutes.

In Sligo birthing partners can stay for a time after the birth. But they cannot visit the NICU, unless the mother is in intensive care in which case the partner can visit for up to 15 minutes.

Their guidelines also say partners are encouraged to phone for updates, and that staff will take photographs for them.

At Portiuncula partners are invited to attend the anomaly scan, and are welcome to visit the Special Care Baby Unit for 15 minutes, one person at a time. Partners can visit for one hour between 6pm and 8pm but exceptions are considered in sensitive cases.
Married At First Sight's intruder couple Liam Cooper and Georgia Fairweather have revealed a surprising twist ahead of the final dinner party.

In a trailer for the Channel Nine dating show, Liam, 29, and Georgia, 25, discussed the surprise 'test' that could happen while on the way to the event.

Liam said: 'I reckon tonight one of experts might rock up and give us a surprise where we actually watch what we've said about other people, and then we have to get up and explain why we said it.'

Shock twist: Married At First Sight's intruder couple Liam Cooper and Georgia Fairweather (pictured) have revealed a surprising twist ahead of final dinner party

Georgia also agreed the experts would 'throw something at us' during the dinner party.

'It's the last dinner party, they're not just going to let us slide on through,' she said.

She added: 'They're going to test us, because we're coming to the end of the experiment and tonight's the night for testing.'

Sneak peek: In a trailer for the Channel Nine dating show, Liam, 29, and Georgia,25, discussed the surprise 'test' that could happen while on the way to the event

It comes after footage surfaced on Tuesday of fellow groom Jason Engler, 35, using a homophobic slur against his bisexual co-star and calling him 'ugly' and 'chubby' - as Liam's own 'wife' Georgia laughs in the background.

In the two-minute video obtained by Daily Mail Australia, Jason calls Liam, 29, a 'full-blown homosexual' - even though he has made it clear he is attracted to both women and men - and ridicules him for 'not going to the gym'.

The video was filmed and uploaded to Georgia's Instagram account in November as she, Jason and Johnny caught up Brisbane.

'Full-blown homosexual': It comes after footage surfaced on Tuesday of fellow groom Jason Engler, 35, using a homophobic slur against his bisexual co-star and calling him 'ugly' and 'chubby' - as Liam's own 'wife' Georgia laughs in the background

Jason's hurtful comments were made three days before Liam and Georgia filmed their final vows.

A source close to Liam told Daily Mail Australia he felt 'absolutely betrayed and heartbroken' after watching the footage.

Liam is understood to have kept quiet about the video until he was reunited with his castmates at the Married At First Sight reunion in February.
Tel Aviv, April 11 : US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin ON Sunday began talks with Israeli leaders, in the first visit by a member of new US President Joe Biden's Cabinet.

Austin was received with military honours before meeting his counterpart Benny Gantz, DPA news agency reported.

The Israeli minister is expected to raise the recent negotiations between world powers and Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme, saying Israel hoped for a better deal to be agreed in the future.

Israel had been vehemently opposed to the original 2015 deal and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considers Iran to be Israel's most dangerous enemy.

Austin is also due to meet Netanyahu during his two-day visit. Netanyahu is in an uncertain political position as he tries to pull together enough seats to form a coalition government after recent elections.

Austin is not expected to visit the Palestinian Territories, although Biden has signalled that he wants to rebuild ties with the Palestinians.

The previous administration of Donald Trump made several major diplomatic moves which were welcomed by Israel but denigrated by the Palestinians, including moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, and weakening support for a two-state solution.

Austin is expected in Germany on Tuesday, and in Brussels after that.
An upcoming talk aims to give parents insights to help them parent in a world where the internet plays a huge part in the lives of their children.

In the Parenting in the Online World webinar, Dr Mary OKane looks at some of the latest research on the impact of technology on our children, considering online contact, content, and conduct. From the question of how much is too much, to the impact of screens, she considers how we can best support our children to not only survive, but to thrive, in their online engagements.

The webinar is part of the Healthy Ireland talks hosted by Laois Libraries, throughout April. The series on Tuesdays and Thursdays on the Laois Libraries Facebook page deals with issues such as coping with grief and loss, support for parents/guardians of young children and adolescents and a compassion-based approach to emotional over-eating.

Email mountmellicklibrary@laoiscoco. ie to book your place on Parenting in the Online World Thursday 22nd April at 6.30pm:
Hong Kong: 13 COVID-19 cases detected

The Centre for Health Protection today said it is investigating 13 additional COVID-19 cases, of which two are locally transmitted.

The new cases involve nine men and four women aged between 25 and 79.

The two local cases, involving a 71-year-old man and a 63-year-old woman, are epidemiologically linked with local cases. They live at Block 3 of Oi Fai House, Yau Oi Estate in Tuen Mun where confirmed cases were detected recently.

The 11 imported cases arrived from Pakistan, India, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

A total of 123 cases have been recorded in the past 14 days, including 25 local ones, of which 10 have unknown infection sources.

For information and health advice on COVID-19, visit the Government's dedicated webpage.

This story has been published on: 2021-04-11. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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: President Joe Biden needed a special medical team at the White House and was taken to the hospital late Sunday.

THE FACTS: Biden was not at the White House on Easter Sunday; he celebrated the holiday at Camp David.

Social media users shared a 2019 video clip of White House reporters and falsely claimed that the press was scrambling to cover Biden being admitted to the hospital. While Biden was with his family at Camp David, a presidential retreat in Maryland, social media users posted baseless claims suggesting that he had received medical attention at the White House and had been hospitalized Sunday night.

Some social media users shared a video clip of what appeared to be reporters running on White House grounds to attend a press conference, but the video was filmed during the Trump administration.

Washington Post photographer Jabin Botsford shot the original video and shared it on Instagram on January 9, 2019. Then a tail of two press conferences where we hear President Trump walked out of shutdown negotiations after Democrats rejected wall money, the Instagram storys caption stated.

Early Monday, an Instagram user shared a post containing the 2019 video and falsely claimed that a special medical team reportedly entered the White House and that there was a news team on the way to the White House. The video was also shared on Twitter with the same false claims.

Biden returned to Washington via Marine One around noon on Monday, according to reporting by The Associated Press, and appeared with the first lady and a masked Easter Bunny. Biden spoke about the holiday and how the virus is still a part of peoples lives. The AP reached out to the White House, which declined to comment.
New guidelines on US-Taiwan interactions harassment, not turning point: observer

Global Times) 14:52, April 11, 2021

Tsai Ing-wen

The US Department of State announced on Saturday (Beijing time) that it has issued new guidelines for US government interaction with counterparts on the island of Taiwan to encourage US government engagement with the island that reflects their "deepening unofficial relationship."

Observers from both the mainland and Taiwan said on Saturday that although the Biden administration will continue playing the "Taiwan card" to pressure China, an apparent "ceiling" exists no matter how big the "breakthrough" the White House seems to have made is. Observers believe the new guidelines are a move from Washington to test how the Chinese mainland will react, but there will not be a qualitative change to the relations between the US and the island of Taiwan.

A US State Department spokesman said the new guidelines meant, for example, that working-level meetings with officials from the island were now encouraged in US federal buildings and could also take place at Taiwan's representative offices, according to a Reuters report on Saturday.

As of press time, the US State Department has not issued a detailed document of the new guidelines. Lu Xiang, a research fellow on US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that what content the new guidelines include does not matter but to what extent the new notions will be implemented does.

"The 'Taiwan card' is the last card the US has to contain China. So Washington will be very careful before really using it. The US will prefer having the card in hand to make it effective in the long term," Lu told the Global Times on Saturday.

If the US sends officials on the same level as the Secretary of Defense to the island, or if Taiwan regional leaders from the defense authority and external affairs authority are received in any federal buildings, then that will mean the US has completely crossed the line on the Taiwan question, and China's countermeasures must be unprecedented, Lu noted.

Chang Ya-chung, a Taipei-based political scientist and member of the Kuomintang (KMT), also said the "Taiwan card" is a good card for the US so it will fully take advantage of the island of Taiwan to serve its own strategic interests.

A report on the Financial Times website shortly before State Department spokesman Ned Price's statement over the new guidelines quoted a US official as saying there would still be some "guard rails," such as not allowing officials to attend functions at Twin Oaks on major Taiwanese holidays that might complicate the US' "One-China" policy.

"The US will improve its relations with Taiwan as much as possible, but it will never break the ceiling to regard the island as a 'country,'" Chang said.

"The US' new guidelines are just a move to provoke the Chinese mainland and further enchant the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to make it feel good," Chang continued, noting that the new guidelines cannot be seen as a "turning point" in US relations with Taiwan island.

According to Chang, only when the US completely "tears its face" with the Chinese mainland and transforms its relationship with the island of Taiwan from an unofficial relationship to an official one, can it be called a structural change - now it is just an act of harassment.

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced days before the end of former President Donald Trump's presidency in January that he was lifting restrictions on contacts between US officials and officials from the island of Taiwan. But no real moves were implemented. Besides, the Trump administration canceled the US ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft's trip to Taiwan island at nearly the last minute of its tenure.

Lu put it that the US Department of State's announcement on its new guidelines has taken a step back from what Pompeo claimed, which means there are still limits in Washington's interactions with the island. But in comparison with the existing restrictions, the new guidelines have actually moved a little further for the US in having so-called unofficial exchanges with the island. "The announcement reflects the US' self-contradiction," Lu said.

Yuan Zheng, deputy director and senior fellow of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times in a previous interview that there are two lessons that the Biden administration can learn from Trump's last-minute cancelation of Craft's visit.

"First, the US will bear a high risk if it irritates China on the Taiwan question. Second, the Chinese government has the firm resolve and the ability to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Yuan said.

In an interview with the Global Times on March 31, Yuan said, "the Biden administration will not easily discard the US' long-term 'strategic ambiguity' over Taiwan. Abandoning 'strategic ambiguity' will push the US into a dilemma, in which it will either pay a heavy price or will gravely impact its international image."

"If the US goes too far and the DPP authorities follow up, the consequences will rest on the Chinese mainland's goodwill to determine," Lu noted.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)
A young Sydney woman and her German partner have revealed how they managed to maintain their relationship throughout the height of the Covid pandemic and 17,000km separating them after they met on Tinder.

TikTok star Bella Sinclair met Kim Strahija, 22, using Tinder Passport, which allows users to match with singles from all over the globe.

Despite international travel bans and a costly visa process, the couple have kept their romance blossoming for two years.

Ms Sinclair said shortly after connecting on the dating app, she learned Ms Strahija was planning on moving to Sydney, just around the corner from her home in Dee Why on the northern beaches.

TikTok star Bella Sinclair (right) met Kim Strahija, 22, (left) using Tinder Passport, which allows users to match with people from all over the globe

The couple's whirlwind romance suffered a major blow in August last year when Mr Strahija was forced to return to Germany amid the worsening pandemic

Ms Strahija was talking to a family in Curl Curl about becoming their au pair.

'For five months we did the long distance thing, Kim in Germany and me here. We spoke every day and just fell for one another. When she finally arrived in Sydney, it was the best feeling,' Ms Sinclair told 7News.

The happy couple then bought a van and travelled down the east coast of Australia, before deciding to move permanently to Phillip Island, just south of Melbourne.

'We didn't haven't a job, we didn't have anywhere to live, Kim's visa was about to expire. But we just decided to leave it to fate,' Ms Sinclair said.

The pair moved into a home on the idyllic island before Ms Strahija started a job at a local farm in order to stay in Australia.

But the couple's whirlwind romance suffered a major blow in August last year when Mr Strahija was forced to return to Germany amid the worsening pandemic.

Ms Sinclair said they worked 'day and night' to get Ms Strahija's working visa and an exemption to travel.

'We put in so much effort - I wrote six pages about our relationship, about 40 friends wrote references for us. It was insane and one of the hardest things I've done,' she said.

Ms Sinclair said she was on cloud nine when her partner's exemption was approved, just one day after applying.

'Kim still had to go back home though and she was excited to see her family. But it was so stressful dropping her at the airport, not knowing when I'd see her again with everything that was happening with Covid.'

Fortunately the couple only had to spend three months apart before Ms Strahija flew back to Australia in November.

Ms Sinclair said she was on cloud nine when her partner's exemption was approved, just one day after applying

'We heard so many horror stories of people having their flights cancelled at the last second, leaving them stranded - and we were so scared it would happen to Kim,' Ms Sinclair said on Instagram.

'She booked her flights months earlier and we couldn't believe it when her flight went ahead - we were so lucky.

'Kim did her two weeks in quarantine in Sydney, it was the longest two weeks of my life. I was so happy to see her again.'

Ms Sinclair and Ms Strahija now work in the same Sydney cafe and are tossing up the idea of moving to the Gold Coast or New Zealand given that the trans-Tasman travel bubble is about to open.

Ms Strahija is now in the costly process of applying for a partnership visa. However, the loved-up couple said their relationship has been worth it, and plan on eventually getting married.
Following the Opec+ decision to resort to oil production cut at the behest of Saudi Arabia, the Indian government has asked state refiners to review oil import contracts. Besides, India has also been working on diversifying its oil imports from non-Opec+ countries. Mint explores.

What are Indias major sources to import oil?

India is the worlds third largest crude oil importer and imports 84% of its oil requirements. In February 2021, Iraq remained the top oil supplier to India followed by the US as refiners increased purchase of cheaper US crude by 48% (14% of overall imports) thereby relegating Saudi Arabia to being the fourth largest supplier, and offsetting Opec+ supply cuts strategy. Nigeria was the third largest oil supplier. Traditionally, Opec+ and Saudi Arabia have been Indias mainstay suppliers, accounting for 86% of Indian oil imports. Indias oil import bill in FY20 and FY19 was $101.4 billion and $111.9 billion, respectively.

What are the import terms with Opec+?

Opec+, which controls 40% of the worlds crude oil, aims to unify petroleum pricing of its members. Indian retailers purchase two-thirds of their oil requirement on fixed annual contracts. Opec+ assures supplies of the contracted quantity for the buyer, while price and other terms are balanced in favour of the supplier. The buyer is obligated to lift the contracted quantity, inform six weeks in advance of the quantum required and pay a price announced by the producer, while the supplier has the option to give less than the contracted amount. Thus, international price fluctuations do not influence cost of imported oil

View Full Image Report card

How can the Opec+ cartel manipulate contract terms?

As per the terms of the contract, suppliers can reduce supplies when Opec+ nations decide to lower production levels to hike crude prices, thereby, refusing to adhere to the contractual price (when price goes up due to production cut). In January 2021, Saudi Arabia pledged additional output cuts of 1 million barrels per day, causing oil prices to spike to $61.22 in February 2021.

What are pros & cons of spot-led imports?

Increasing purchases from the spot market will help India avail the advantages of falling oil prices and book quantity of supplies needed. Thus, with producers cartel having the bargaining power in dictating prices and contracts, the Indian government is keen to explore oil supplies from regions other than West Asia and has asked IOC, BPCL and HPCL to use their bargaining power and explore alternatives, and look at favourable contracts. Indian refiners have already raised spot purchases from 20% to 30-35% in the past 10 years.

Why will mobilization of consumers not help?

India aims to reduce oil imports to 67% by 2022 by exploring local production options, green energy. But, with crude being a suppliers commodity and having producers cartel, India should try bringing importing nations together and seek to build a consumers cartel. It may become a demand force against Opec+ and shift bargaining power towards consumers, and achieve an equilibrium price. The Centre initiating mobilization of importing nations needs to be explored.

Jagadish Shettigar and Pooja Misra are faculty members at BIMTECH.

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!!
Beijing: Fearing death due to the coronavirus pandemic, more young Chinese are writing wills, a report by the China Registration Center said. Citing the China Registration Center report, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that more Chinese people are preparing wills than ever before.

From 2019 to 2020, the number of will writers born after 1990 has grown 60 per cent, faster than in previous years. Since last August, a growing number of overseas Chinese people are consulting the centre in order to arrange their assets at home. The centre saw inquiries triple in a year. Qin Chen, in an article in SCMP, wrote that will preparation remains a taboo subject for many in China due to a societal aversion towards discussions about death.

Xinhua reported on Monday that an 18-year-old student known as Xiaohong (a pseudonym) went to the Centre`s Shanghai branch to prepare a will that deals with 20,000 yuan (USD 3,000) in assets.

The freshman said she is treating life more seriously from now on because: "writing a will is not the end. It marks a new beginning".

She said she decided to give her savings to a friend who helped and supported her during a difficult period, adding that she will update the will when she has more assets in the future.

The report shows that more than 80 per cent of young people prepare a will to deal with savings, while at least 70 per cent deal with real estate as well. Others deal with virtual assets such as social media accounts, reported SCMP.

The China Will Registration Center is a charity programme founded in 2013. It provides free will writing services to anyone aged above 60, with 11 branches and 60 service posts across China.

Yang Yingyi, director of the China Will Organization in Guangdong, told the state broadcaster CCTV that the coronavirus pandemic pushed many young Chinese to think about death.

"During the pandemic, young people started to think more. They are wondering what would happen to their assets if they die and who would look after their parents and children," Yang said.

Xiaohu (pseudonym), a resident in the southern city of Guangzhou in her late 20s, told CCTV that she felt "much safer" after writing a will. She said she valued people and relationships more than assets and wanted to give back in the event of her death.

Chinese law stipulates that anyone aged above 18 can write a will, while people from age 16 can if they have an independent income.

In China, the average age of a will writer is 67, more than double compared to European countries, wrote Qin Chen.
Four members of an armed right-wing group linked to the anti-government "boogaloo" movement have been charged with conspiring to destroy evidence related to the fatal shooting of a federal officer and wounding of another in Oakland last May, prosecutors announced Friday.

A federal grand jury indictment says members of the Northern California-based Grizzly Scouts tried to cover for one of their own after he allegedly gunned down the officers, deleting chat histories that included a message reading, "Dudes i offed a fed."

Jessie Rush, 29, Robert Blancas, 33, Simon Ybarra, 23, and Kenny Miksch, 21, are accused of conspiracy to destroy records and destruction of records in official proceedings. Rush faces an additional count of obstruction of official proceedings, and Blancas is charged with an additional count of destruction of records in official proceedings.

Prosecutors said the men belonged to a Facebook group named "/K/alifornia Kommando" and would meet in person for firearms training and other activities. According to the indictment, the Facebook group's description read, "they say the west won't boog" - a phrase, prosecutors say, that refers to the boogaloo movement, a loose collection of anti-government extremists who agitate for civil war.

All four men remained in federal custody over the weekend. If convicted, each would face a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison. An attorney for Blancas declined to comment on the case. Attorney information for the other defendants wasn't immediately available.

The indictment comes as domestic terrorism incidents have soared in the United States and law enforcement face pressure to crack down on far-right extremists following the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.

The case also represents the latest batch of charges targeting alleged adherents of the boogaloo movement, whose followers became increasingly visible at protests following the death of George Floyd. Numerous self-proclaimed boogaloo followers have been arrested in attacks or plots in recent months, among them a trio of alleged members in Nevada who were accused of plotting to use molotov cocktails to spark violence at a rally over Floyd's death.

The shooting of the agents in Oakland happened on May 29 outside a federal courthouse during a racial justice demonstration in the city's downtown.

According to investigators, Steven Carrillo, a 32-year-old Air Force staff sergeant, was using the gathering as cover when he fired an assault rifle at a guard post from a moving vehicle. The shots killed Federal Protective Service officer David Patrick Underwood, 53, and seriously injured a second officer.

On June 6, authorities tracked Carrillo to a property in Ben Lomond, Calif., more than 70 miles from Oakland. As deputies surrounded the property, Carrillo sent a flurry of WhatsApp messages to members of the Grizzly Scouts in a group chat labeled "209 Goon HQ," according to the indictment.

One message told the members to "kit up and get here" and to "take them out," according to the indictment. Another allegedly read: "Dudes i offed a fed."

Rush, whom prosecutors described as "commanding officer" of the Grizzly Scouts, told Carrillo to "factory reset" his phone, deleting its stored communications, according to the indictment.

Carrillo was arrested that afternoon after a gun battle that left one deputy dead and others injured. When authorities searched the vehicles used by Carrillo, police said, they found a boogaloo patch, ammunition, firearms, bombmaking equipment and three boogaloo-related messages scrawled in blood: "I became unreasonable," "Boog" and "Stop the duopoly."

Carrillo later pleaded not guilty to counts of murder and attempted murder in federal and state court in connection with that incident and the Oakland shooting. An attorney representing Carrillo in federal court declined to comment on his case and the allegations in Friday's indictment.

While Carrillo was being processed last summer, the other Grizzly Scouts deleted all the "209 Goon HQ" chat logs from their phones, the indictment says, and reconnected on "an alternative communications application." There, they turned on a "disappearing messages" function automatically erasing their chats after a certain period of time, according to prosecutors.

Blancas, described in the indictment as a "1st lieutenant" in the Grizzly Scouts responsible for security and intelligence, also deleted 20 files related to the militia group from a Dropbox account, prosecutors said. The materials included documents involving to the group's structure, a nondisclosure agreement, a liability release waiver, and "a scorecard to assess members of the Grizzly Scouts with respect to combat, firearms, medical, and other training," according to the indictment.

Afterward, the members "repeatedly confirmed with one another that they had destroyed evidence relating to the Grizzly Scouts," prosecutors said.

In August, FBI agents searched properties connected to the four defendants. They confiscated assault rifles, pistols, body armor, ammunition, and electronic devices, according to the indictment.

Rush, Ybarra and Miksch made their initial appearances in federal court this week.

Blancas was already in federal custody after being arrested in November on a charge of enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, records show. Agents who seized his electronic devices said they found child pornography and sexually explicit messages with a 15-year-old girl, according to records. He entered a not guilty plea in December. His attorney in that case didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
TORONTO - Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week:

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem is reflected in a placard as he takes part in a news conference at the Bank of Canada in Ottawa on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020. The Bank of Canada will release its business outlook survey and Canadian survey of consumer expectations on Monday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

TORONTO - Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week:

Outlook survey

The Bank of Canada will release its business outlook survey and Canadian survey of consumer expectations on Monday. The report comes amid new restrictions meant to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scotiabank annual meeting

Scotiabank will hold its annual meeting in a virtual format on Tuesday. The big bank reported a first-quarter profit of $2.4 billion earlier this year, topping the same quarter a year earlier before the pandemic began.

Shaw results

Shaw Communications Inc. will report its second-quarter results on Wednesday. The company struck a deal last month to be bought by Rogers Communications Inc.

Home sales

The Canadian Real Estate Association is expected to release March home sales figures for March on Thursday. The real estate market has been red hot in recent months amid low mortgage rates and increased demand.

Economic data points

Statistics Canada is set to release its monthly survey of manufacturing for February on Thursday followed by wholesale sales figures for the same month on Friday. The data follows a blockbuster jobs report last week that showed the economy added more than 300,000 jobs in March.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2021.
Italian authorities are investigating whether the mafia is redirecting some of the country's supply of coronavirus vaccine to friends as the prime minister lashed out at queue jumpers.

Government data shows Italy has administered a total of 12 million vaccinations to date, with 4.2 million to those aged 80 and above and only 1.26 million to those in their 70s.

Meanwhile, 3.1 million have gone to health workers, a million to educational professionals - and 2.4 million to a hazy category defined as 'others'.

The head of the national anti-mafia commission this week expressed concern over high rates of vaccinations in this 'other' group in southern regions that have long struggled against mafia infiltration within the healthcare system and other public areas.

Nicola Morra ordered four regions - the three southernmost regions of Sicily, Calabria and Campania, and Valle D'Aosta in the north - to turn over vaccination data and explain how they prioritised jabs.

'People are being vaccinated who are outside of any priority category specified by the government, particularly in some regions where there is high density of mafia, and we suspect that the mafia is managing the vaccinations,' Mario Giarrusso, a member of parliament's anti-mafia commission, told Politico.

The head of the national anti-mafia commission this week expressed concern over high rates of vaccinations in a category group in southern regions that have long struggled against mafia infiltration within the healthcare system and other public areas. Pictured: A health worker prepares a vaccine in Rome [File photo]

Concerns over mafia infiltration came as an expert warned that Italy's failure to target vaccinations at the most vulnerable has cost thousands of lives.

After being among the worst-hit countries by the pandemic last year, Italy began its vaccine campaign in late December, but failed to focus exclusively on the most at-risk groups - the elderly.

Had it stuck more rigidly to the 'ideal' plan of vaccinating older people, Italy would have suffered 8,000 fewer coronavirus deaths, according to expert Matteo Villa.

Villa, a researcher from the ISPI think-tank in Milan, said 33,000 people have died since early January. With more targeted jabs, 'it could have been 25,000,' he said.

'An unbalanced strategy, the delays of the regions and vaccine cheats have brought us here,' he said on Friday.

At a news conference late on Thursday, Prime Minister Mario Draghi (pictured) warned regional governments that they must improve vaccine efforts if they want to see current restrictive measures lifted, and attacked those taking jabs who were not in priority groups

At a news conference late on Thursday, Prime Minister Mario Draghi warned regional governments that they must improve vaccine efforts if they want to see current restrictive measures lifted, and attacked those taking jabs who were not in priority groups.

'With what conscience are there people who jump the waiting list trying to get vaccinated first, knowing that this is how you expose to risk those over 75 or with some vulnerability and therefore, a real risk of dying?' he asked.

Draghi took office in February with a promise to step up the vaccination campaign, saying it was the only way out for Italy after more than a year of the pandemic that has devastated the economy and claimed almost 113,000 lives.

But vaccination efforts have lagged behind, partly due to supply shortages, and partly due to regions going their own way and failing to prioritise the most vulnerable.

In Tuscany, university professors and lawyers, including those in their 30s, got vaccinated before most of the elderly, while in Lombardy, the hardest-hit region, a faulty booking system created havoc last month.
Has there ever been a time when the worlds elites have been either so incompetent, or so corrupt, as at present? One silver lining of the covid epidemic is the light it has shed on the quality of leadership in government, public health and media. The fiasco of leadership on covid is a daily phenomenon; here are a few current instances.

Over the last year, the World Health Organization has been exposed as a politicized, corrupt and inept organization. At the American Institute for Economic Research, Jeffry Tucker points out how the WHO has fudged some of the most basic concepts in public health to advance its political agenda:

The World Health Organization, for reasons unknown, has suddenly changed its definition of a core conception of immunology: herd immunity.

***

Here is the website from June 9, 2020. You can see it here on Archive.org. You have to move down the page and click on the question about herd immunity. You see the following.

That is the correct definition. But then it changed:

However, in a screenshot dated November 13, 2020, we read the following note that somehow pretends as if human beings do not have immune systems at all but rather rely entirely on big pharma to inject things into our blood.

That definition was simply wrong.

In effect, this change at WHO ignores and even wipes out 100 years of medical advances in virology, immunology, and epidemiology. It is thoroughly unscientific  shilling for the vaccine industry in exactly the way the conspiracy theorists say that WHO has been doing since the beginning of this pandemic.

There must have been quite a bit of push-back, because in January the WHO backed off and corrected its definition, while still focusing on vaccination:

Via InstaPundit.

Tech titans like YouTube have suppressed discussion of covid and its treatments by banning any opinions (or any facts) that dont toe the line of the WHO or the CDC, whatever that ever-changing line may be at the moment. Lives undoubtedly have been lost as a result of the lack of a vigorous debate over the best approaches to covid.

In a particularly egregious instance, YouTube has banned a high-level medical discussion of the appropriateness of forcing school children to wear masks:

This week, YouTube deleted footage of a COVID-19 roundtable discussion between Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and medical experts from Oxford, Stanford, and Harvard. The doctors and medical experts reportedly disputed Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance that children wear masks in school to stop the spread of COVID-19.

***

[T]he panel included Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of medicine at Stanford University; Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician, epidemiologist, and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School; Sunetra Gupta, an infectious disease epidemiologist and epidemiology professor at Oxford University; and former Trump White House COVID-19 advisor Dr. Scott Atlas.

I suppose the key fact here was that Ron DeSantis participated. YouTube and the other tech oligopolies are desperately trying to prevent him from being elected president in 2024.

Finally, in the interest of free and open debate, this video features Dr. Ryan Cole. Dr. Cole, like many other practicing physicians, believes that the policies that have been followed by the public health establishment have been misguided at best. He emphasizes the importance of Vitamin D, and argues among other things that we already have a cheap and effective treatment for covid in Ivermectin. He doesnt think much of the current vaccines, either. Here it is for your consideration:

I dont know whether everything Dr. Cole says is correct or not, but I do know that vigorous debate on an important topic like covid is vitally important, and that debate has been suppressed.
Vaccinations or not, Dr. Fauci wants everyone to continue with lockdown behavior and, most especially, to keep wearing masks. Its safer that way. Meanwhile, a San Francisco publication says we must keep wearing masks because race-based vaccine inequities make it rude to cast them off. Underneath this specious reasoning is the leftists desperate desire to erase our individuality with masks.

As weve noted at American Thinker, theres increasing evidence that masks not only arent helpful, theyre counterproductive, as well as being dangerous and dirty. Nevertheless, leftists will not let go of their mask obsession.

Fauci, of course, is all-in on masks. Indeed, hes still all-in on lockdowns to judge by all the activities he urges Americans to continue avoiding. Im not making that up. Pay attention to the last tweet in this thread:

When Dr. Fauci and his wife did gather with their neighbors pre-vaccine, they took no chances.



The households stayed socially distanced and outdoors, even in the fall and winter when the weather got chilly. https://t.co/YNW1McALBP  Healthcare Insider (@HealthInsider) April 9, 2021

When Dr. Fauci and his wife did gather with their neighbors pre-vaccine, they took no chances.



The households stayed socially distanced and outdoors, even in the fall and winter when the weather got chilly. https://t.co/YNW1McALBP  Healthcare Insider (@HealthInsider) April 9, 2021

Bars and restaurants where maskless people are eating and drinking inside?



 Fauci said those are still off the table, too.https://t.co/tj7jFtxWhb pic.twitter.com/wQoG3P3hoj  Healthcare Insider (@HealthInsider) April 9, 2021

Fauci said it's important for all Americans  both vaccinated and unvaccinated  to continue avoiding crowds and socially distancing until we know for sure that vaccinated people don't spread the virus.



Patience will "keep a lid" on cases, he said.https://t.co/blb03bk0K5  Healthcare Insider (@HealthInsider) April 9, 2021

For now, Fauci's maintaining most of his pre-vaccine behavior.



His caution stems from the crossroads at which the US sits: Despite record vaccinations, the number of new infections is still rising in 18 states.https://t.co/YNW1McALBP  Healthcare Insider (@HealthInsider) April 9, 2021

It's not just Fauci, though. SFGATE is the free, hard-left spin-off from the venerable (and leftist) San Francisco Chronicle. Its the hipster version of the paper, so its a good window into leftist thinking.

On Saturday night, SFGATEs top promoted article explained why people should continue wearing masks even if theyve been vaccinated. Ultimately, the article explains that, because of racism, not all people can shed their masks so its rude to flaunt your privilege by going maskless.

The article opens by acknowledging factual truths that fully justify abandoning masks and lockdowns entirely. It says that the CDC has relaxed its guidelines -- although the author thinks the guidelines have the force of law. Otherwise, why would he write that the CDC is permitting fully vaccinated people to congregate indoors with one another in small groups, unmasked? The CDC does not permit or prohibit anything; it recommends, thats all.

Even the neurotic CDC, however, has found that infections, including asymptomatic ones that could lead to transmission, have been reduced by 90% post-vaccine. As you contemplate that information, recall that, for ordinary health adults, COVID is only slightly more deadly than the annual flu and that only 134 children have died in America because of COVID. Each death is a terrible tragedy, but those numbers cannot dictate national policy.

The new CDC Director, Rochelle Walensky, who thinks her feelings (Im scared) should dictate policy, has conceded as well that vaccinated people dont carry the virus. Nevertheless, experts who spoke to SFGATE said that you should still be wearing a mask when out in public settings for a multitude of reasons. Whats amazing is that these reasons have nothing to do with contagion.

Dr. Monica Gandhi says you should wear masks because its sort of a polite thing to do because of vaccine inequities. Thus, in California, Latinos and Blacks are less likely to be vaccinated and more likely to die:

Its almost impolite that some of us can run around scot-free and some of us have to wear a face mask and so I guess that's how I'm framing it, and I'm going to be criticized for that.

And of course, theres that same insistence weve heard all year about protecting others. But at this point, when the disease is no longer a pandemic, and vaccinated people are not carriers, those who are vaccinated are not protecting others by wearing a mask. Its theater. Still, as the author of the article says, dont be a jerk.

But whats really jerky is the effort to erase Americans individuality. Our faces are the most immediately recognizable thing about us. Just that little patch of our bodys geography has 42 muscles that enable us to communicate wordlessly with others.

Nothing makes clearer how masks delete who we are than smiling at babies. In a pre-mask era, the babies smiled back. Nowadays, if you smile at babies, all you get back is a blank look  and then you realize that all they see in your face is a mask.

There is nothing polite about  and its incredibly jerky to  force people into unhygienic, useless, dangerous, and personality-deleting masks. Instead, it seems to be part of a concerted effort to delete the American sense that we are not a faceless nation of drones (or serfs) but are, instead, unique individuals.

IMAGE: Masks by rawpixel.com.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
New Jersey reported Sunday another 2,897 cases of the coronavirus and an additional 14 deaths as the viruss rate of transmission continues to drop.

New Jersey health facilities and vaccine centers have now administered more than 5.3 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine since the states first shot was given Dec. 15. That includes more than 3.4 million people with at least one dose, over 50% of the states adult population, according to state data. Approximately 34% of the states adult population are fully vaccinated.

The states rate of transmission declined again Sunday to .96, following a steady drop through the week from 1.07 on Monday. Any number over 1 indicates that the outbreak is growing, with each new case leading to at least one other case. A declining transmission rate means the spread is slowing.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced the latest data on social media Sunday afternoon. The governor and First Lady Tammy Murphy both received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine at the Atlantic City mega-site on Friday.

The states 71 hospitals reported 2,296 patients as of Saturday night, down 48 people from a day earlier. Hospitalizations had been rising this week, but remain well below the recent high of 3,873 on Dec. 22. Hospitalizations have declined over the last three days.

New Jerseys seven-day average for confirmed cases is 3,284 as of Saturday, down 19% from a week ago, but up 17% from a month ago.

In all, New Jersey has now reported 837,052 coronavirus cases out of more than 12.5 million PCR tests since the state reported its first case on March 4, 2020. There have also been 116,438 positive antigen tests. Those cases are considered probable, and health officials have warned that positive antigen tests could overlap with the confirmed PCR tests because they are sometimes given in tandem.

The state of 9.2 million people has reported 24,870 residents have died from complications related to COVID-19  22,297 confirmed deaths and 2,573 fatalities considered probable. The probable deaths, which are revised weekly, increased by five on Wednesday.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

HOSPITALIZATIONS

There were 2,296 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases across New Jerseys 71 hospitals as of Saturday night  48 fewer than the previous night.

That included 455 in critical or intensive care (nine fewer than the night before), with 249 on ventilators (16 fewer).

There were also 326 COVID-19 patients discharged Friday.

By comparison, hospitalizations peaked at more than 8,300 patients during the first wave of the pandemic in April.

SCHOOL CASES

New Jersey has reported 240 in-school coronavirus outbreaks, which have resulted in 1,070 cases among students, teachers and school staff this academic year, according to the states dashboard.

The state defines school outbreaks as cases where contact tracers determined two or more students or school staff caught or transmitted COVID-19 in the classroom or during academic activities at school. Those numbers do not include students or staff believed to have been infected outside school or cases that cant be confirmed as in-school outbreaks.

There are about 1.4 million public school students and teachers across the state, though teaching methods amid the outbreak have varied, with some schools teaching in-person, some using a hybrid format and others remaining all-remote.

Murphy last week announced most New Jersey schools can move classroom desks three feet apart, instead of six feet, under new social distancing guidelines.

The governor also said the states schools will return to full in-person classes for the next school year and districts will not be allowed to offer virtual learning, even for parents who want that option due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns. But Murphy clarified Tuesday that students and teachers who have health issues that could put them at greater risk of a serious coronavirus case will have a virtual option.

AGE BREAKDOWN

Broken down by age, those 30 to 49 years old make up the largest percentage of New Jersey residents who have caught the virus (30.9%), followed by those 50-64 (22.8%), 18-29 (19.9%), 65-79 (10.3%), 5-17 (9.5%), 80 and older (4.5%) and 0-4 (1.9%).

On average, the virus has been more deadly for older residents, especially those with preexisting conditions. Nearly half the states COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

At least 7,999 of the states COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

There are active outbreaks at 229 facilities, resulting in 3,345 active cases among residents and 4,117 among staffers. Those numbers have been slowing as vaccinations continue at the facilities.

GLOBAL NUMBERS

As of Saturday, there have been more than 135.5 million positive COVID-19 tests across the world, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. More than 2.9 million people have died from coronavirus-related complications.

The U.S. has reported the most cases, at more than 31 million, and the most deaths, at more than 561,800.

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

Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
Chinthaka : Versatile TV programme fabricator View(s):

The producer has to take the initiative in the event of a problem to solve or a question to answer he said.

In the above context Chinthaka has excelled in his role as a programme producer by creating new programmes in his own inimitable style not hitherto found in other television channels with his analytical skills, assigning tasks, delegating, flexibility, planning to precision and prioritising.

C hinthaka Gamalath, like any other possessing a television mastermind brain, is an unsung hero. A television programme creator cum director, who has been directing TV programmes/commercials/short films/outdoor music programmes, Chinthaka is a seasoned event manager in media field for TV Derana. Some of the tasks faced with for Chinthaka are managing schedules, co-ordinating studios/locations, supervision script rewrites and positioning finances. All these areas were navigated with consummate ease taking into consideration the immense expertise he possesses. Above all an appropriate caption for the relevant programme is very vital which were titled to coincide with his related endeavours.

Chinthaka,34 years old diminutive in stature had joined Derana TV in year 2008 possesses a degree in B Tech in film and television production from the University of Vocational Technology in Colombo as well as diplomas in television programme production from University of Vocational Technology, film making Diploma from National Film Corporation, Television Production Training at KBS Channel Korea in 2017. He had also followed a diploma course in writership and communication in University of Sri Jayewardenapura.

During the tenure of over a decade at Derana Television, he had been responsible for producing many novel musical programmes hailed by viewers such as Ma Novena Mama, Leya saha Laya, Derana Battle of the Bands-Reality, Mathaka 15.

Christmas with Pereras, Waya gaya Waya, Dell Studio 2015 season 1, Dell Studio 2017 season 2, Sinhagiri Studios 2017 are some of his other creations, where songs of popular vocalists were rerecorded with new music compositions by musician Mahesh Denipitiya and his band. In Raigam Tele Awards TV Derana received a hat-trick of awards for the best television music programme Award. Chinthaka was instrumental for organising fruitfully all Derana outdoor musical shows.

As producer of many programmes, Chinthaka is accountable for making business and financial decisions including raising money for the project hiring director, presenter, musical bands and, crews. It is his obligation to approve any significant changes to the project.

The producer has to take the initiative in the event of a problem to solve or a question to answer he said.

In the above context Chinthaka has excelled in his role as a programme producer by creating new programmes in his own inimitable style not hitherto found in other television channels with his analytical skills, assigning tasks, delegating, flexibility, planning to precision and prioritising.

In the context of the above, Chinthaka Gamalath has contributed immensely for TV Derana is truly unprecedented.

-Sunil Thenabadu in Brisbane
An 18-year-old university student who fell to his death from a mountain range was an experienced climber who 'died doing what he loved'.

Peter Garlick fell while climbing Mt Ngungun, the sixth-tallest peak in the Glass House Mountains in Queensland's Sunshine Coast hinterland, on Saturday.

Several traumatised onlookers watched on as he plunged about 40 metres down the cliff face about midday, suffering fatal injuries in the fall.

Mr Garlick was studying teaching at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane and was a well liked and respected member of the school's rock climbing club, the QUT Cliffhangers.

Peter Garlick fell while climbing Mt Ngungun, the sixth-tallest peak in the Glass House Mountains in Queensland 's Sunshine Coast hinterland, on Saturday

An 18-year-old university student who fell to his death from a mountain range was an experienced climber who 'died doing what he loved'

He regularly adventured throughout southeast Queensland and New South Wales on the hunt for the best mountains to climb, and had an exceptional talent.

Mr Garlick was so invested in the sport that he even took a job at Urban Climb in West End, who stayed shut on Sunday to mourn the loss of their team member.

Other Urban Climb franchises across the Sunshine State closed at 3pm on Sunday to pay their respects.

'Loved by everyone and he will be missed so deeply,' one friend said after learning of his death. 'You could never forget that smile.'

Leadership organisation BB Queensland also shared a touching tribute to the 18-year-old on Sunday.

Mr Garlick was studying teaching at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane and was a well liked and respected member of the school's rock climbing club, the QUT Cliffhangers

He regularly adventured throughout southeast Queensland and New South Wales on the hunt for the best mountains to climb, and had an exceptional talent

'Peter, an avid and experienced climber, was doing what he loved,' they wrote. They urged followers and friends to pray for Mr Garlick and his family.

His former high school, Northside Christian College, described Mr Garlick as 'effervescent and joyful' in their tribute to the late alumni.

'The Garlick family have all been an integral part of Northside Christian College for many years, and we mourn alongside them today.'

'He will always be remembered for his effervescent and joyful personality, as well as being a truly kind, humble follower of Jesus.'

'Peter, an avid and experienced climber, was doing what he loved,' a friend wrote. He has been remembered as a highly skilled climber

An 18-year-old has died after falling 40metres at Mt Ngungun in in Queensland's Sunshine Coast hinterland on Saturday (pictured, the rescue operation)

Sunshine Coast Senior Sergeant Jimmy Driver said it was a 'harrowing' incident witnessed by others.

He said the coordinator of a nearby rock climbing group provided first aid to Garlick before paramedics arrived.

'The mountain this afternoon was extremely busy. It was a harrowing event,' the officer told The Courier Mail.

'People were shaken and traumatised by the incident which occurred well in view of multiple people.'

Martin Worth, who has been climbing for more than three decades and was at Mount Ngungun on Saturday morning, said while he did not witness the incident, the teenager was an experienced climber.

Mt Ngungun was closed for the afternoon while emergency services worked to recover the body.

Mr Garlick was so invested in the sport that he even took a job at Urban Climb in West End, who stayed shut on Sunday to mourn the loss of a team member
For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe.

Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime.
Federal officials this past week rejected suggestions that they singled out Lynne Patton, a former Housing and Urban Development political appointee now barred from government work after the Office of Special Counsel found she abused her position to campaign for former President Donald Trump.

Watchdogs and critics have taken aim at OSC, an independent federal investigative agency, because Patton, a Black woman, is the only Trump appointee to face tangible discipline despite the documented bevy of Trump-era White House aides who defied the Hatch Act. The 1939 law, designed to keep partisanship out of government work, restricts most federal employees from politicking on the job.

Patton was one of several administration officials who appeared in videos broadcast at the Republican National Convention last summer, an event that fueled outcry from ethics experts citing unprecedented abuses of public office for Trumps political gain.

I am no fan of Lynne Patton, and she clearly violated the Hatch Act, Keith Boykin, a former Clinton administration aide and CNN commentator, wrote on Twitter this week. But so did Kellyanne Conway, Ivanka Trump and nearly everyone else in the Trump administration. Why is the Black woman the only one being punished?

According to OSC, race was not a factor. Zachary Kurz, OSC communications director, told MassLive the suggestion Patton received harsher treatment than other Trump appointees is patently false. He pointed to the agencys unsuccessful attempt to oust Conway, a former White House advisor, over repeated Hatch Act violations two years ago.

OSC says its empowered by the Hatch Act to push for fines and debarment of presidential appointees like Patton, but not if theyre confirmed by the Senate or if theyre high-level aides working in the White House like Conway. Some experts and observers argue OSC misinterprets or fails to properly enforce the law, leading to perceptions of racial bias against Patton. And many watchdogs are pressing Congress for reform and clearer enforcement rules.

I dont know if its a matter of implicit bias or a lack of institutional courage, but this is not the consistent and aggressive Hatch Act oversight Americans deserve, Walter Shaub, a senior ethics fellow at the Project On Government Oversight, told MassLive on Friday.

Over the last few years, OSC investigators and ethics experts found that Trump administration officials routinely abused federal resources, official media appearances and social media to turn the White House into a taxpayer-backed blitz of re-election campaign ads. Conway likely racked up more than 50 Hatch Act violations on Twitter alone in less than a year, frequently attacking Democrats or endorsing Trumps re-election from an account she also used for official business, according to the nonprofit government watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

OSC typically wont comment on, or confirm previous or pending investigations. But OSC told MassLive that since early 2017, the year Trump took office, the agencys Hatch Act Unit has found more than 200 federal employees in violation, including at least 17 political appointees. The 17 cases against appointees, many of them senior White House aides, represent a sweeping disregard for a law thats deeply linked to American ideals of public service: by definition and law, those who serve in public office work for the public, not political candidates or parties.

By comparison, some legal groups and experts noted the two documented Cabinet-level Hatch Act violations during the Obama administration marked an unprecedented number at the time.

OSC saw a significant drop in Hatch Act complaints after 2012 reforms reduced the number of state and local matters the agency handled. But according to OSCs 2019 annual report presented to Congress last June, Hatch Act complaints have risen each of the last four fiscal years, and warning letters sent to officials have more than doubled over a low of 21 in 2016.

Yet Patton, who oversaw the New York-New Jersey region for HUD, is the only Trump appointee to face Hatch Act discipline beyond sharp warnings and letters.

Shaub, who previously served as Office of Government Ethics chief and as a senior advisor at CREW, told MassLive that Pattons case likely marks the first time OSC has ever sought a fine or debarment against a political appointee in the 43 years since OSC was established.

The optics are just terrible, tweeted Shaub, who maintained that Patton violated the Hatch Act.

The government fined Patton $1,000 and banned her from federal work for four years after complaints that she recruited New York City Housing Authority residents to appear in an RNC video to tout housing improvements under Trump. Patton told NYCHA residents the video would highlight nonpartisan issues about housing conditions, OSC said; multiple tenants told The New York Times they felt tricked.

Patton signed a settlement agreement admitting the move violated the Hatch Act, but told her Instagram followers that she received faulty advice from HUDs legal team. She denied tricking anyone, applauded Trumps housing efforts and said she did not regret making the RNC video.

Patton previously broke the same law, OSC warned, when she liked a handful of political tweets and when New York Magazine photographed her in her HUD office below a red USA hat that sold on the Trump-Pence campaign site, The Washington Post reported. The initial complaint about her on-duty political activity came from CREW.

OSC should be praised, not criticized, for seeking discipline in the case of a serial violator like Patton when they could do so, CREW President Noah Bookbinder said this past week. There was finally accountability. But it is not fair that other serial violators like Conway and (trade adviser Peter) Navarro got off scot-free despite OSCs findings.

Shaub made the case that Patton was singled out without a solid explanation. He told MassLive that OSC clearly had statutory authority to seek fines and debarment for presidential appointees found in violation of the Hatch Act, regardless of whether they work in a federal agency or the White House. The law specifies one exception, he noted: Senate-confirmed appointees must be referred directly to the president for discipline. But the law doesnt spell out that the president also determines the fate of White House aides who arent confirmed by the Senate, such as Conway.

This is very good. But it also raises a question as to why OSC didn't seek fines against Kellyanne Conway for her dozens of violations. The law exempts Senate-confirmed political appointees from fines. Other political appointees, like Conway and Patton, are not exempt. https://t.co/wfJNlZmCFU  Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) April 6, 2021

OSC, which investigates Hatch Act complaints and seeks action through settlements or orders by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), interprets the law differently. The agency told MassLive on Thursday that in addition to Senate-confirmed appointees, it also cannot seek fines or debarment for certain high-level, presidentially-appointed individuals serving in the White House Office.

Why not? OSC argues constitutional principles dictate that the U.S. president, not MSPB, has jurisdiction to impose discipline for such appointees. The Appointments Clause and the Take Care Clause, and supporting case law, suggest that the president alone can discipline his appointees, Kurz said.

Any characterization that Lynne Patton received harsher treatment than the other Trump appointees is patently false because, unlike the other appointees, Ms. Patton was a non-career senior executive service political appointee at (HUD) and was clearly subject to the MSPBs jurisdiction, Kurz added.

Shaub, responding to questions about OSCs interpretation of the law, told MassLive that the law isnt ambiguous at all, but OSC has refused to enforce it.

So I guess Congress needs to give the OSC a shot in the arm by revising the statute to explicitly say that the OSC can seek fines against non-Senate-confirmed presidential appointees, he added.

Kurz emphasized that because Patton had been warned about previous violations, and the RNC video was considered more serious, OSC sought disciplinary action with MSPB. He noted that she agreed to the terms of the settlement, which was approved by an MSPB administrative law judge.

OSC provided MassLive a handful of examples of Hatch Act cases that led to fines and debarments, which by law cannot exceed five years. The cases included a former judge who admonished Republican policies from the bench; a former civilian Navy employee who used his position to solicit political donations; and a former Department of Energy employee who improperly allowed a political candidate to tour a radioactive waste treatment plant.

Kurz said the agency commonly seeks debarment. Asked if any political appointees had been debarred or fined before Patton, he said OSCs case tracking system does not differentiate between political appointees and career employees, which we did manually for the recent breakdown, but we do not have bandwidth to go further back at this time.

Patton addressed the decision in a statement. Because I held the highest federal position without being Senate-confirmed and chose not to work within the unique legal protections of the White House, I am the only Trump official accused of violating the Hatch Act who falls under the auspices of the Merit Systems Protection Board.

Kurz added that Patton was still a federal employee at the time OSC lodged its complaint with MSPB. OSC does not comment on pending investigations, but whether former Trump aides remain under scrutiny likely depends on whether OSC brought complaints to MSPB while they were still federal employees under the boards jurisdiction.

MSPB declined to comment. MassLive filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking details on cases pending before the board.

Kurtz argued that OSC sought more severe punishments against other Trump officials, including two reports to the president about violations by a senior advisor [Conway], the second of which included the unprecedented recommendation that the president remove her from her federal position.

At the time, OSC head Henry Kerner, a Republican Trump appointee, told Trump that Conways actions erode the principle foundation of our democratic system  the rule of law.

Trump refused to fire her and indicated he believed the Hatch Act stifled free speech.

Conway could not be reached for comment.

Blah, blah blah, she once told reporters. If youre trying to silence me through the Hatch Act, its not going to work. Let me know when the jail sentence starts.

Kellyanne Conway, former Counselor to the President. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) AP

After CREW sued OSC in 2019 to try to compel discipline for Conway, a federal judge tossed the suit, arguing the watchdog group lacked legal standing, Law & Crime reported. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who did not make a ruling on Hatch Act discipline, wrote in his opinion that he understood CREWs frustration that Conway is continuing to violate the Hatch Act with seeming impunity, even if he must hew to [the courts] jurisdictional borders.

Shaub pointed out that both a section of the Hatch Act violated by Conway and the section focused on penalties for federal employees rely on the same legal definition of employee. How then, Shaub asks, can OSC consider Conway and other White House aides federal employees according to the letter of the law only to let them fall under separate guidelines, subject to separate jurisdiction  namely the President of the United States and no one else  when it comes to punishment?

When asked about this, Kurz reiterated that OSC analyzed constitutional principles and relevant case law in determining its position on this matter.

Screen grab of the official White House Twitter account, which has frequently posted Trump campaign slogans in defiance of federal investigators' repeated warnings that displaying slogans is barred by the Hatch Act.

Upsetting to every American

A MassLive review last year revealed administration aides frequently posted Trump 2020 campaign slogans, including Promises Made, Promises Kept and The Best is Yet to Come on official White House social media accounts. The posts brazenly defied OSCs 2018 warning that such activity would be considered a willful and knowing violation of the law.

CREW officials said they had not filed complaints regarding the Trump White House accounts, in part because it was challenging to determine which staffers were posting the content. The White House at the time did not respond to requests for comment.

As a private citizen, @realDonaldTrump saw that Americans were treated unfairly by NAFTA.



He ran for officeand wonon a promise to fix it.



Promises made, promises kept.  pic.twitter.com/6XyHKnjjer  The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) December 11, 2019

As the election approached, CREW said it referred 16 senior administration aides to OSC for apparent Hatch Act violations in October alone. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue was the latest at the time, after chanting four more years in a speech in the battleground state of North Carolina.

The list included a host of White House officials including press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, advisers Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Peter Navarro, JaRon Smith, Larry Kudlow and others linked to Vice President Mike Pence or White House communications.

Like Patton, many were not Senate-approved. But they were likely shielded by working at the White House, based on OSCs stance on the Hatch Act.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows blatantly violated the act by slamming then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in multiple interviews, CREW told MassLive last summer. Meadows told Politico nobody outside the Beltway really cares and claimed concerns about the executive branchs rampant electioneering amounted to hoopla. He suggested the Hatch Act was mainly focused on preventing supervisors from coercing subordinates; he effectively dismissed the top prohibition in the law: using official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.

Dan Brouillette, then-secretary of energy, David Friedman, former U.S. ambassador to Israel, and Robert OBrien, former national security advisor, were also flagged by watchdogs for either attacking Biden or advocating Trumps re-election during official on-the-job appearances.

Chad Wolf, former acting Department of Homeland Security chief, may face further Hatch Act scrutiny because he participated in a naturalization ceremony during the RNC. Similar to Patton, if OSC filed a complaint to MSPB before he left office, hes likely not protected because as an acting department head, he was never confirmed by the Senate.

Multiple Obama administration officials spoke during the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, including Katherine Sebelius, the former Health and Human Services secretary whom the OSC said violated the Hatch Act in a separate event.

But experts say Trumps and the GOPs use of the White House as a political backdrop marked an extreme break from ethical norms, in part because several administration officials spoke in their official capacity during the political event.

Its really troubling, Delaney Marsco, ethics counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit, told NPR last year. We give these people an insane amount of power and authority and theyre supposed to use it to serve the public, and when things are politicized like this, it undermines that trust and flies in the face of the principles of what public office is supposed to be. It should be upsetting to every American.

Its unclear how many Hatch Act cases involving Trump officials may still be active, but according to OSCs annual report, there were more than 130 cases pending at the end of each of the last four fiscal years.

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, told reporters earlier this year that the Biden team will respect and follow the Hatch Act. A White House official did not immediately respond to a request for feedback on ongoing training and potential reforms.

Bookbinder, a one-time federal prosecutor who took the helm at CREW in 2015, said the Hatch Act must be changed to make clear that OSC can take disciplinary action against White House appointees.

He called on Congress to pass the Protecting Our Democracy Act, introduced in September by Rep. Adam Schiff of California. Reps. Richard Neal, Jim McGovern, Stephen Lynch, Seth Moulton and Lori Trahan of Massachusetts co-sponsored the bill.

The law seeks to address the current disciplinary divide between rank-and-file federal service workers and high-ranking White House appointees.

If the president fails to hold senior political appointees accountable, OSC would be allowed to fine the officials $50,000, according to the bill. For those who are repeat offenders, Congress would be empowered to choke off their salaries because loss of a salary indicates a shameful betrayal of public trust, Jennifer Ahearn, CREWs policy director, wrote in March.

The law would boost transparency by forcing presidents to provide written explanations on disciplinary decisions. The law would also let OSC launch investigations on its own; currently, OSC investigators must rely on independent complaints regarding potential infractions before they can start digging.

Shaub called for the progressive doubling of fines up to the equivalent of the appointees full salary as an added deterrent. He also suggested that updates to the Hatch Act should clarify that MSPB can bar presidential appointees from future employment in non-presidentially appointed positions even if the law cant empower MSPB to fire them outright.

For that matter, Congress could go further and provide that the MSPB can do the same to Senate-confirmed appointees, he argued. Theres no reason, other than the exception in the statute, that they couldnt be fined or barred from holding non-presidentially appointed positions in the future.

Kurz declined to comment when asked about potential reforms and whether OSC officials see flaws in the Hatch Act. He noted, however, that OSC looks forward to working with both Congress and stakeholder groups on proposals for Hatch Act reform.

MassLive reached out to the Office of Donald J. Trump through an online press request, seeking reaction on OSCs discipline of Patton, a former Trump family aide and event planner. MassLive also sought Trumps perspective on his administrations track record on the Hatch Act, and the fact that his teams repeated violations failed to help him win.

Related Content:
Political pundits have argued that one of the factors that worked against Atiku is the constant defection as many have seen him as someone who they cant trust with their votes because he is desperate to get into office. Is Matawalle about to set a record in this regard?

Barring a last-minute change of plan, Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State, who got his seat under the banner of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), will defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Although the governor has not come out publicly to state his intention, reports are flying all over that he is on his way to the ruling party.

As the election season is drawing near, defections of heavyweights are expected. This is what will make the election process interesting but moving over to the ruling party may just be political suicide for Matawalle and here are some reasons.

Supreme Court Verdict

On May 24, 2019, the Supreme Court voided all votes cast for the All Progressives Congress (APC). In its judgement, the panel, headed by Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Tanko Muhammad, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recongise candidates of the political parties that came second to take over as the duly elected contestants.

Prior to the verdict, INEC had declared the APC governorship candidate, Muktar Idris, as winner of the election, saying he polled 534,541 votes to defeat Matawalle who garnered 189,452 ballots.

In compliance with the apex courts verdict, Matawalle was sworn in as governor on May 29, 2019. Since the PDP was considered winner of the election by the court, crossing over to the APC could make Matawalle lose his seat because the court did not recognise APC as the winner of the election. Cross over to APC could set the tone for legal battles that may leave him high and dry in the end.

APC Did Not Conduct Any Primary Election In 2019

The basis upon which the Supreme Court voided the votes of the APC in the election is its failure to conduct a primary election. Internal crisis in the party had made it impossible for the APC to conduct its primaries within the period that INEC stipulated. The controversy among leaders of the party in the State led to the inability to hold the primaries.

While Governor Abdulaziz Yaris faction claimed they held congresses and produced candidates, Senator Kabiru Marafas faction held that no primary held.

INEC had disqualified the party from the election but allowed APC participate after a High Court sitting in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital, ruled that the governing party actually conducted primaries and should be allowed to present candidates. But the Supreme Court eventually overruled the lower court by voiding APC votes and Matawalle benefitted from this. Turning his back on the process through defection is pure contradiction and could be seen as undermining the decision of the Supreme Court, which he has benefited from.

Crisis In APC

Crossing over to the APC can be seen as moving from frypan to fire. Although it seems as if the gladiators in the party have sheathed their swords, there are indications that they may return to the warring path as we move closer to the 2023 election. Yari and Marafa are major stakeholders in the party and there is no doubt that they are plotting to use the next general election to stage a comeback as both men are currently out of power.

Matawalle, who is more or less a king in the PDP, will find it hard to take the reins of the party under APC. Yes, the leadership of the party may recognise him, being the governor but the influence of Yari and Marafa can never be underestimated. Imagine a situation where both of them team up against him in the party, it will be very difficult for him to get things done his way. No governor wants to depend on any party member to have their way. All of them want to be fully in charge of their parties. The PDP currently offers him a free hand but it will be worse under APC.

Image of the APC

The APC, which is in charge of the country, is currently at its lowest ebb on many grounds, especially on issues of insecurity and Zamfara is one of the worse hit. Theres hardly any week without cases of banditry and kidnapping and theres no gainsaying the goodwill that the APC enjoyed is fast eroding. Many have said it publicly that they regret voting for the party and would look the other way round in 2023. On the other hand, the PDP has been building on the weakness of the APC to warm its way into the heart of Nigerians.

In Zamfara, the ban on mining and declaration of the state as a no-fly zone angered many stakeholders, including Matawalle. The people expected the Federal Government to take a more proactive measure but the action worsened their plight and they have not minced words in rejecting it. As it stands now, voters are now waiting to express their anger with the party, which has not protected them as they expected. Even if Matawalle survives defection, he may still be shown the way out in 2023.

The Atiku Factor

ADVERTISEMENT

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is a strong man in Nigerian politics, no doubt about that. He has been in the presidential race since 1993 when he lost the ticket of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Atiku is vast and he has succeeded as a businessman and and to a great extent, a politician. But despite several attempts to get into the highest office in the land, he has not succeeded.

One of the factors that has worked against him is cross-carpeting. Atiku lost the 2007 election under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). In 2011, he lost the bid to clinch the PDP ticket and in 2014, Buhari defeated him at the APC presidential primary. In 2019, he ran against Buhari as candidate of the PDP, but lost.

Political pundits have argued that one of the factors that worked against Atiku is the constant defection as many have seen him as someone who they cant trust with their votes because he is desperate to get into office. Is Matawalle about to set a record in this regard?

Sheriff Lawal writes from Abuja.
People walk through closed Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Iran on Saturday imposed partial lockdown on businesses in major shopping centers as well as intercity travels through personal cars in major cities including capital Tehran as it struggles with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Mideast region. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iran on Saturday began a 10-day lockdown amid a fourth wave of coronavirus infections, state TV reported, a worrisome trend after more than a year of the country battling the Middle East's worst outbreak.

Iran's coronavirus task force, charged with determining virus restrictions, ordered most shops closed and offices restricted to one-third capacity in cities declared as "red-zones."

The capital Tehran and 250 other cities and towns across the country have been declared red zones. They have the highest virus positivity rates and the most severe restrictions in place. Over 85% of the country now has either a red or orange infection status, authorities said.

The severe surge in infections follows a two-week public holiday for Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Millions traveled to the Caspian coast and other popular vacation spots, packed markets to shop for new clothes and toys and congregated in homes for parties in defiance of government health guidelines.

The new lockdown also affects all parks, restaurants, bakeries, beauty salons, malls and bookstores.

There appeared to be no respite in sight to the virus's spread as Iran's vaccine rollout lagged. Only some 200,000 doses have been administered in the country of 84 million, according to the World Health Organization.

Arman, 2, plays in front of closed shops of Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Iran on Saturday imposed partial lockdown on businesses in major shopping centers as well as intercity travels through personal cars in major cities including capital Tehran as it struggles with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Mideast region. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

COVAX, an international collaboration to deliver the vaccine equitably across the world, delivered its first shipment to Iran on Monday from the Netherlands containing 700,000 Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine doses.

The Health Ministry said there were more than 19,600 new infections on Saturday, including 193 deaths. The confirmed death toll since the beginning of the outbreak stood at more than 64,200.

Hadi Minaie, a shop owner at Tehran's Grand Bazaar, said mismanagement was the reason for the new surge and the government should have prevented people's movements during Nowruznot at a time when people need to earn a living.

"Nobody can say the lockdown should not have been imposed. But better management would have been enforcing it during Nowruz holiday when everywhere was already closed not now that everyone wants to work and earn a living," he said.

A man walks through closed Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Iran on Saturday imposed partial lockdown on businesses in major shopping centers as well as intercity travels through personal cars in major cities including capital Tehran as it struggles with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Mideast region. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

"Lockdowns are only effective to some extent but for how long should the people be paying the price," said Alireza Ghadirian, a carpet seller at the bazaar. He said the government needed to do more to provide vaccines.

Authorities have done little to enforce lockdown restrictions and originally resisted a nationwide lockdown to salvage an economy already devastated by tough U.S. sanctions. A year into the pandemic, public fatigue and intransigence has deepened.

Saeed Valizadeh, a motorcyclist who earns his living transporting passengers and light packages from the bazaar, said if the government paid a stipend to low-income citizens, then they could afford to stay at home.

"Those who are wealthy have no problem staying home but we can't," he said.

President Hassan Rouhani said several factors played a role in the rising number of cases but the prime culprit was the U.K. variant of the virus that entered Iran from Iraq.

A man walks through closed Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Iran on Saturday imposed partial lockdown on businesses in major shopping centers as well as intercity travels through personal cars in major cities including capital Tehran as it struggles with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Mideast region. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People walk through closed Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Iran on Saturday imposed partial lockdown on businesses in major shopping centers as well as intercity travels through personal cars in major cities including capital Tehran as it struggles with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Mideast region. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A cleric walks past a closed shop of Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Iran on Saturday imposed partial lockdown on businesses in major shopping centers as well as intercity travels through personal cars in major cities including capital Tehran as it struggles with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Mideast region. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A man sits in front of closed shops of Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Iran on Saturday imposed partial lockdown on businesses in major shopping centers as well as intercity travels through personal cars in major cities including capital Tehran as it struggles with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Mideast region. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People walk through closed Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Iran on Saturday imposed partial lockdown on businesses in major shopping centers as well as intercity travels through personal cars in major cities including capital Tehran as it struggles with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Mideast region. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Earlier this year, the country kicked off its coronavirus inoculation campaign, administering a limited number of Russian Sputnik V vaccine doses to medical workers.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Iraq, authorities introduced new measures to bolster vaccinations among citizens including restrictions on air travel.

The health ministry said it requested airlines to not sell tickets to travelers unless they show proof they were vaccinated. Workers at hospitals, restaurants, malls and shops would require a vaccination card as well.

The measures have been introduced amid a low demand in vaccinations among Iraqis, many of whom remain suspicious of the government's inoculation plans.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Environmental activists will feel stuck between a rock and hard place on Sunday when forced to choose a new president.

Leftist Andres Arauz faces the right-wing Guillermo Lasso in a run-off election with both vowing to continue oil and mineral extraction, which has already devastated a sixth of Ecuador's Amazon jungle.

"Ecuador remains immersed in an extractivist policy. That is to say that both candidates believe Ecuador's future is in oil and that has nothing to do with reality," Carlos Larrea, the director of the socio-environmental unit at the Simon Bolivar University, told AFP.

"Extractivist" policy refers to plans for extracting natural resources for export.

It's left the Environment Front -- a collective of 60 ecological and human rights organizations -- feeling glum about the future government of one of the most biodiverse countries in the world.

Having evaluated their election manifestos ahead of the February 7 first round, the Environment Front gave Arauz a "worrying" score of 63.6 out of 100, while Lasso was deemed "toxic" to the natural habitat with just 36.5.

"We're starting off with candidates that are not green, which is why we're demanding compromises from them," Natalia Greene, the vice-president of the CEDENMA group of organizations defending nature, told AFP.

It could have been different, though, had Lasso not defeated socialist indigenous campaigner Yaku Perez to make it into the runoff round of voting.

Perez, a long-time campaigner against mining and for the defense of water, scored 93.4 in the Environment Front evaluation.

He's a member of Pachakutik, the political arm of Ecuador's largest indigenous movement battling the mass exploitation of natural resources in their lands.

Ecuador officially recognizes the rights of "Pacha Mama" -- an indigenous deity that means "Mother Earth" in the Quechua language -- such as her existence and the maintenance and regeneration of her cycles of life.

- 'Immediate ban' -

The Front's position is not to boycott the election but rather to "contribute to an informed vote by illuminating (the candidates') environmental commitments."

Andres Arauz, who plans to switch to clean energy instead of fossil fuels for generating electricity and for the public transport system, speaks during a campaign rally with rappers in Quito on April 1, 2021 /  AFP

Both Arauz and Lasso have made some such commitments but it's been slim pickings in Ecuador's dollarized economy that depends on oil exports and industrial level mineral extraction, which began in 2019.

Should he be elected, Lasso, a 65-year-old former banker, has pledged to reduce the use of fossil fuels, "stop" deforestation and launch projects to generate electricity using renewable sources.

Arauz, a 36-year-old economist bidding to be Ecuador's youngest president since the restoration of democracy in 1979, is also planning to switch to clean energy instead of fossil fuels for generating electricity and for the public transport system.

He wants to slow down the expansion of oil exploration in the Amazon jungle, from where Ecuador extracts 500,000 barrels a day, three-quarters of which is exported.

But whatever the two candidates have said, environmentalists demand "commitments to nature" that are real and achievable, said Greene.

The Front has proposed a 10-point plan to the two candidates including measures to mitigate the noxious effects of the extraction of natural resources, regenerating affected ecosystems and ensuring the rights of nature.

"Given the extraction of non-renewable resources is inconsistent with sustainable conservation and management of natural areas, but especially fragile ecosystems, these activities must be immediately banned in these ecosystems," said the Front's plan.

Larrea believes Ecuador "needs a huge turnaround that cannot be improvised in its long-term development strategy, strengthening what stands out the most worldwide, which is its biodiversity, it's cultural heritage and its tourism potential."

The biodiversity situation "is very serious given we've lost more or less a sixth of the Amazon jungle due to oil extraction."

- Mineral extraction growing -

Larrea believes the country "needs to diversify its economy," which is in crisis due to the low price of crude and the effects of the pandemic.

Should he be elected, former banker Guillermo Lasso (C) has pledged to reduce the use of fossil fuels, "stop" deforestation and launch projects to generate electricity using renewable sources /  AFP

"The potential of mining in no way has the capacity to replace oil, apart from the huge environmental impact," he added.

The current government hopes that mineral extraction will continue to grow and reach four percent of GDP in 2021, having been worth just 1.6 percent in 2019.

Ecuador's Amazon jungle is rich in oil and minerals and covers around half of the country.
As important as the U.S.-Mexico border debate is for national politics, its rare to see Connecticut play a major role in the discussion. But that was the scenario recently when state officials said they had been asked by the Biden administration about using the shuttered Connecticut Juvenile Training School as a shelter for migrant children who are now being housed in overcrowded facilities in Texas.

When assessing whether this would be a good idea, its important to separate facts from everything else. The history of the building, for example, should not be a determining factor. A building doesnt care for kids. People do, Vannessa Dorantes, commissioner of the state Department of Children and Families, said in response to a public outcry over the possibility.

The history of the detention center includes its closure under former Gov. Dannel Malloy at the behest of mental health experts and human rights advocates. But the facility only opened in 2001, and is not nearly as foreboding as other potential holding areas.

Its also important to differentiate what is happening at the border now with what went on in recent years. The Trump administration drew widespread condemnation over its family separation policy, where parents who presented themselves at the border were taken away from their children and held separately, often without any records being kept. In some cases officials were unable to reunite families at all, making the situation a grotesque violation of human rights and dignity.

That isnt whats happening now. The question is what to do about minors who come to the border unattended, and there isnt a good answer. Sending them back where they came from can put them in danger, as could releasing them of their own recognizance in this country. So they are typically held until their cases can be processed and relatives located, which can take time. Those facilities are often overcrowded, leading to further complaints from observers.

Thats where the search for better options comes from. Connecticut has been approached in the past about housing migrants, but officials rightly said Southbury Training School, with its outdated buildings, is unfit for such a use. The Juvenile Training School in Middletown could be a better option, as long as it is treated as a shelter and not a prison.

Youth advocates are rightfully worried about reopening a facility with such a notorious history, and assurances would be necessary to see that it would only be used as currently envisioned. There is nothing to justify returning the training school to service as a youth prison.

There are questions at the border that defy easy answers. The last administrations crackdown on immigration and admittance of refugees was self-defeating and cruel, and few believe a bigger wall is going to solve anything. At the same time, immigration laws exist for a reason, and were not equipped as a country to simply let in anyone who wants to cross the border.

Those are issues Congress needs to answer, and immigration reform should be a top priority. In Connecticut, the question is how we can play a part. The shuttered Middletown facility could be a part of that answer.
What did it recommend? The report made 339 recommendations for state and federal authorities, including 35 relating to the investigation and notification of deaths, 13 recommending diversion from police custody, 30 on imprisonment as a last resort, and 36 on custodial health and safety. The recommendations ranged from strategies for directly preventing death (including examining cells to ensure there are no hanging points), to more structural improvements relating to health, education, economic opportunities, housing, land needs and reconciliation. Some of the recommendations included: Abolishing the offence of public drunkenness (recommendation 79) and providing adequate funding for a non-custodial place for intoxicated people (recommendation 80)

Ensuring the principle of self-determination is applied in any policy or program which will particularly affect Aboriginal people (188)

Giving Aboriginal media organisations adequate funding in recognition of their important function (205a)

Encouraging police to give youths cautions, rather than proceeding by arrest, summons or court attendance notice (240a)

For police services to take all possible steps to eliminate violent or rough treatment or verbal abuse of Aboriginal persons (60a)

That police take steps to eliminate the use of racist or offensive language, or the use of racist or derogatory comments in log books and other documents (60b)

An urgent need for governments and other organisation to discuss strategies to reduce the rate at which Indigenous youths are involved in the criminal justice system (62)

Its final recommendation, number 339, was for political leaders to recognise that reconciliation between the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities in Australia must be achieved if community division, discord and injustice to Aboriginal people are to be avoided. Young people show their support at the rally against deaths in custody. Credit:Brook Mitchell How many of those changes have been implemented? Despite $400 million being pledged by the Commonwealth government in 1992 (including $65 million for criminal justice), there are still many recommendations that have not been implemented. A Deloitte review in 2018, spanning more than 800 pages, found that 64 per cent of the recommendations have been implemented in full, while 36 per cent have been implemented partially or not at all.

In December 2017, public drunkenness remained a crime in Victoria despite the recommendation to abolish it. Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day was arrested after she was found asleep on a train and taken into custody, where she fell and hit her head in a police cell. Her injuries were not detected for hours and she later died in hospital. A bill to decriminalise public drunkenness in the state, passed in February this year, will come into effect in 2022. A NSW coroner found last year that the recommendation on addressing obvious hanging points in cells also remains unresolved. Thirty of the 99 deaths examined by the royal commission were deaths by hanging, including a 19-year-old man who died in an Adelaide prison in July 1987 in a protest that went wrong. Demonstrators hold placards showing the faces of those who have died in custody. Credit:Brook Mitchell In September 2017, 30 years and two months after this young mans death, a piece of plumbing pipe remained exposed in one of the cells at Tamworth Correctional Centre. Tane Chatfield, a 22-year-old Gamilaraay, Gumbaynggirr and Wakka Wakka man, used the obvious hanging point to take his own life. The inquest into Mr Chatfields death was told it is very challenging for corrective services to remove all hanging points, particularly in old, heritage-listed facilities. Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame described this in her findings as unacceptable 30 years on from the royal commission.

Speaking in the Senate in June last year, Labor senator Patrick Dodson  who was involved in the royal commission  said the past 30 years have not addressed the underlying issues that give rise to this awful blight. For too long, nice words, good intentions but the lack of action and commitment have not seen a reduction to the custodies or the deaths in custody, he said. It diminishes us as a nation, because we are incapable of dealing with it. What is the situation now? Since the royal commission, at least 455 Indigenous people have lost their lives in custody, according to the latest-available statistics from the National Deaths in Custody Program. Of these, 295 deaths related to prison and 156 related to police. Reporting by The Guardian puts the figure at 474 deaths since 1991. The National Deaths in Custody Program is expected to release its next report later this year, after the data is examined and reviewed.

High-profile deaths since the royal commission include David Dungay, 26, who was held down while saying I cant breathe, Ms Dhu, 22, who died in a police cell after she did not pay parking fines, and Nathan Reynolds, 36, who died from an asthma attack in prison after an inadequate emergency response. The situation has once again risen to public prominence after five deaths in custody were reported over the space of several weeks in March this year. Since 1991, the numbers of deaths in custody have fluctuated between single and double digits each year, with the highest number in one year being 24 (in 2002-03) and the lowest being eight (in 2011-12). The most recent year available (2018-19) had 20 deaths, with some dying in a cell, some in hospital and some in public. In 1991, the [royal commission] concluded that Indigenous persons were no more likely to die in custody than non-Indigenous persons, but were significantly more likely to be arrested and imprisoned. The same remains true today, the National Deaths in Custody Program found. The majority of deaths are due to natural causes (including cancer, heart disease and respiratory issues) followed by hanging, drugs and alcohol, and external trauma. In one of the most recent deaths in custody, a 37-year-old man died in a police pursuit in March.

A death is considered a death in custody if it involves a prison (including being taken to hospital from prison) or the police. Police custody includes police cells and vehicles, as well as police operations (including a raid, shooting or siege), a police pursuit, or self-inflicted death in the presence of police. Indigenous prisoners made up 28 per cent of the Australian prisoner population in 2019 and accounted for 18 per cent of all deaths in prison custody. In the most recent census, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people accounted for 3 per cent of the Australian population. Demonstrators in Sydney on Saturday call for an end to black deaths in custody. Credit:Brook Mitchell In a statement to the Herald and The Age, NSW Coroner Teresa OSullivan said the issue of deaths in custody could not be separated from the over-representation of First Nations people within the criminal justice system, nor can we separate it from the colonial history of this nation. Since the [royal commission] 30 years ago, First Nations people continue to be over-represented in custodial populations in NSW, and continue to be over-represented in every category of death dealt with by the Coroners Court, she said.

What are the next steps? Across the country, there have been calls for concrete action to be taken to address the continuing issue of deaths in custody. The families of 15 people who died in custody have joined together to demand action from politicians. Among their demands is the implementation of all of the recommendations from the royal commission, and raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14. Actor Meyne Wyatt speaks at a rally on Saturday to mark 30 years since the royal commission. Credit:Brook Mitchell In honour of the legacy of our loved ones who have died, we call on governments to sit down with us in transparent, open and honest conversations about solutions and proactive measures to effectively eradicate Black deaths in custody for future generations, the families said in a statement.

We call on governments to listen to us and work with us to action our demands, so that no other family has to experience the injustice of living without their loved ones. Our communities have had the solutions to end this injustice for 30 years but Governments have chosen not to prioritise saving Black lives. Enough is enough. Loading In NSW, a parliamentary committee examining the unacceptably high level of Indigenous people in custody is due to deliver its findings by April 15, 30 years to the day since the royal commission report. At a rally in Sydney on Saturday, actor Meyne Wyatt told a crowd of thousands of people that deaths in custody make him angry, but we have been saying this time and time again but nothing f---ing happens. I am sick and tired of being a problem in this country, Mr Wyatt said. I am not an animal; I am not a problem.
NEW YORK, April 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the securities of SOS Limited (NYSE: SOS) between July 22, 2020 and February 25, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"), of the important June 1, 2021 lead plaintiff deadline.

SO WHAT: If you purchased SOS 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 SOS class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2070.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than June 1, 2021. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.

WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience or resources. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 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 information that resulted in a scheme that: (1) SOS had misrepresented the true nature, location, and/or existence of at least one of its principal executive offices listed in its SEC filings; (2) HY International Group New York Inc. and FXK Technology Corporation were either undisclosed related parties and/or entities SOS fabricated; (3) SOS had misrepresented the type and/or existence of the mining rigs that it claimed to have purchased; and (4) as a result, defendants' 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 SOS class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2070.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action.

No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/.

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Contact Information:

Laurence Rosen, Esq.

Phillip Kim, Esq.

The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.

275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor

New York, NY 10016

Tel: (212) 686-1060

Toll Free: (866) 767-3653

Fax: (212) 202-3827

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

www.rosenlegal.com

SOURCE Rosen Law Firm, P.A.

Related Links

www.rosenlegal.com


State Lawmakers Try to Throttle Power of Governors

By The Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY - As governors loosen long-lasting coronavirus restrictions, state lawmakers across the U.S. are taking actions to significantly limit the power they could wield in future emergencies.The legislative measures are aimed not simply at undoing mask mandates and capacity limits that have been common during the pandemic. Many proposals seek to fundamentally shift power away from governors and toward lawmakers the next time there is a virus outbreak, terrorist attack or natural disaster.The COVID pandemic has been an impetus for a re-examination of balancing of legislative power with executive powers, said Pam Greenberg, a policy researcher at the National Conference of State Legislatures.Lawmakers in 45 states have proposed more than 300 measures this year related to legislative oversight of executive actions during the COVID-19 pandemic or other emergencies, according to the NCSL.About half those states are considering significant changes, such as tighter limits on how long governors emergency orders can last without legislative approval.Though the pushback is coming primarily from Republican lawmakers, it is not entirely partisan.Republican lawmakers have sought to limit the power of Democratic governors in states such as Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina. But they also have sought to rein in fellow Republican governors in Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana and Ohio. Some Democratic lawmakers also have pushed back against governors of their own party, most notably embattled New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.When the pandemic hit a year ago, many governors and their top health officials temporarily ordered residents to remain home, limited public gatherings, prohibited in-person schooling and shut down dine-in restaurants, gyms and other businesses. Many governors have been repealing or relaxing restrictions after cases declined from a winter peak and as more people get vaccinated.But the potential remains in many states for governors to again tighten restrictions if new variants of the coronavirus lead to another surge in cases.Governors have been acting under the authority of emergency response laws that in some states date back decades and werent crafted with an indefinite health crisis in mind.A previous legislature back in the 60s, fearing a nuclear holocaust, granted tremendous powers to the governor, said Idaho state Rep. Jason Monks, a Republican and the chambers assistant majority leader.This was the first time I think that those laws were really stress-tested, he said.Like many governors, Idaho Gov. Brad Little repeatedly extended his monthlong emergency order since originally issuing it last spring. A pair of bills nearing final approval would prohibit him from declaring an emergency for more than 60 days without legislative approval. The Republican governor also would be barred from suspending constitutional rights or altering state laws like he did by suspending in-person voting and holding a mail-only primary election last year.A measure that recently passed New Hampshires Republican-led House also would prohibit governors from indefinitely renewing emergency declarations, as GOP Gov. Chris Sununu has done every 21 days for the past year.Next month, Pennsylvania voters will decide a pair of constitutional amendments to limit disaster emergency declarations to three weeks, rather than three months, and require legislative approval to extend them. The Republican-led Legislature placed the measures on the ballot after repeatedly failing to reverse the policies Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf implemented to try to contain the pandemic.In Indiana, the Republican-led Legislature and GOP governor are embroiled in a power struggle over executive powers. Unlike Congress and most states, Indiana lawmakers can override a veto with a simple majority of both houses.Several other governors also have vetoed bills limiting their emergency authority or increasing legislative powers.In Michigan, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed GOP-backed legislation last month that would have ended state health department orders after 28 days unless lengthened by lawmakers.Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, contended that legislation allowing lawmakers to rescind his public health orders jeopardizes the safety of every Ohioan. But the Republican-led Legislature overrode his veto the next day.Kentuckys GOP-led legislature overrode Democratic Gov. Andy Beshears vetoes of bills limiting his emergency powers, but a judge temporarily blocked the laws from taking effect.In some states, governors have worked with lawmakers to pare back executive powers.Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, signed a law last month giving the GOP-led legislature greater say in determining whether to end his emergency orders. It was quickly put to the test by the Arkansas Legislative Council, which decided to let Hutchinson extend his emergency declaration another two months.Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, also enacted a law last month giving legislative leaders power to revoke her emergency orders. Top Republican lawmakers immediately used it to scuttle a Kelly order meant to encourage counties to keep mask mandates in place.Republican lawmakers insisted that their push to curb the governors power is not partisan. Lawmakers said they didnt understand how broad the governors power was until she started issuing orders last spring to close K-12 schools, limit indoor worship services and regulate how businesses could reopen.
ANALYSIS: The immigration policy that bars some people with disabilities from Canadian immigration is not gone but it is less restrictive.

Canada to relax medical inadmissibility rules ANALYSIS: The immigration policy that bars some people with disabilities from Canadian immigration is not gone but it is less restrictive.

Canada to relax medical inadmissibility rules ANALYSIS: The immigration policy that bars some people with disabilities from Canadian immigration is not gone but it is less restrictive.

Canada to relax medical inadmissibility rules ANALYSIS: The immigration policy that bars some people with disabilities from Canadian immigration is not gone but it is less restrictive. Michael Schwartz Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

Sans Font Size A

A

Canada is making a 2018 pilot into a permanent policy, relaxing the restrictions on certain foreign nationals with disabilities from getting permanent residence.

The federal government announced its plan to permanently change medical inadmissibility rules in the Canada Gazette on March 16.

Under the old rules, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) could deny entry to Canada to someone whose personal care would cost the government more than the Canadian average of about $7,000 per year. Many people felt this rule demeaned people with disabilities and was not in keeping with Canadian values such as inclusion and dignity. Now, Canada has tripled this threshold to about $21,000. In other words, it is more difficult for people who need medical and social supports to be denied for Canadian immigration.

Currently, the Canadian immigration laws define excessive demand as one or both of the following: a person whose medical condition costs public services more than the average annual cost, or if treatment for the condition increases wait times to Canadians.

Find Out if Youre Eligible for Canadian Immigration

The legal definition for excessive demand has thus caused surprise and heartache to several would-be-Canadians. It is very broad, since it covers any conditions that place excessive demand on health and social services. Thus, both physical and mental conditions and disabilities make a person potentially inadmissible. Even if the treatment cost is only slightly higher than that for the average Canadian, a person might be excluded. In some cases, this exclusion even applies to family members who do not have a medical condition. For example, if a principal applicant applying for economic-class immigration has an accompanying dependent found medically inadmissible, that principal applicant is also inadmissible.

One famous example of this occurred in a 2005 Supreme Court case, which involved a wealthy South African family seeking to come to Canada through the investor program.

The Hilewitz family had a son, Gavin, with serious intellectual disabilities. An immigration officer found that the cost for Gavins social services were above average. The officer thus ruled Gavin and his parents inadmissible. The Hilewitz family challenged this decision. They demonstrated that they had always paid from their own pockets for Gavins treatment in South Africa. They had even established, through their own funds, a private school there for him and others with similar challenges. They also demonstrated plans to bear the cost for social services for Gavin in Canada. Justice Abella overturned the officers decision. She then ordered it sent back for redetermination so that IRCC would consider the Hilewitz familys willingness to assist Gavin.

In 2018, the then-immigration minister, Ahmed Hussen, exercised his authority to create a pilot policy that would be experimental and more lenient. Hussen defined excessive demand as three times the average cost of health and social services to a Canadian. Additionally, Minister Hussen removed some of the calculations for determining excessive demand, including several social services for people with disabilities. This removal targeted costs for special education, occupational and behavioural therapy, and personal non-professional support services like meal preparation, bathing, and dressing.

This policy allowed the government to experiment with a less rigid approach while evaluating the results and reception. Provinces and territories, which administer many health and social services, have indicated they find the change a reasonable balance. Advocates for people with disabilities say removing certain treatments from cost calculations eliminates an indignity against such individuals. Moreover, IRCC saves considerable time and money by no longer having to evaluate these factors. Such an assessment has often been a highly complex and costly endeavour in itself.

The public has 30 days from the date the proposal was published in the Gazette to offer comments before it is finalized. Individuals who so desire can submit commentary on the proposed regulatory change until April 15 by emailing IRCC.MHBDGO-BDGDGMS.IRCC@cic.gc.ca.

Find Out if Youre Eligible for Canadian Immigration

 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options.
On April 1, Dat Ma, a cable-stay bridge in the northern province of Thai Nguyen, was opened to traffic for free after 15 years of toll collection.

The bridge, situated in the middle of nowhere, has a special history and a special operator, an 82-year-old woman named Nguyen Thi Ngai.

The Dat Ma stream in front of Ngais house separated the Giang Tien land area in Phu Luong district and the communes of Phuc Linh, Ha Thuong and Cu Van in Dai Tu district.

People in the mid 2000s had to travel nearly 10 kilometers to reach the districts market to sell vegetables, fowl or eggs.

So Ngai and some local households set up a bamboo bridge spanning the river. They collected VND1,000 from every crossing vehicle, while pedestrians with bamboo frames on their shoulders and students were exempted from the fee.

When forest rains came and river water ran fast, the bamboo bridge swung like a thin leaf amidst the eddy, threatening the lives of people on the bridge.

The commune authority said the unsafe bamboo Bridge had to be removed.

We made the bridge to serve people, not to make money. So we agreed with the local authorities, she said.

On April 1, Dat Ma, a cable-stay bridge in Thai Nguyen, was opened to traffic for free after 15 years of toll collection.

Five years later, in 2005, a state-owned company built a solid cable-stay bridge under a contract with district authorities, capitalized at VND500 million, under the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) mode.

The bridge has two H-shape iron poles at the two ends which hold the cables, while the bridge deck has iron sheets with holes for drainage.

The bridge, 60 meters long and 2.2 meters wide, is capable of holding loads of up to 2.5 tons.

In 2006, when the bridge was put into operation, the investor set up a toll collection station at the end of the bridge.

People had to pay a toll of VND2,500 to VND25,000, depending on the type of vehicle, while pedestrians did not have to pay a fee.

However, many people did not want to pay a fee and they beat toll collectors, attacked the stations door, and stood on the bridge to cause congestion.

Ngai, who lives at the end of Dat Ma Bridge, saw workers being beaten many times and felt sorry for them.

The toll collectors came from other areas to work for wages, so they were beaten and assaulted without resistance. More than 10 years ago, the area where we live was still a remote area with low intellectual standards, she said.

A mining worker one day refused to pay the toll, VND2,000 per motorbike, saying that he was a local man, though he earned several million dong a month.

As a result, the man had a quarrel with the toll collector. He later brought some young men in the locality to the toll collection station and struck the collector.

On other days, he "played dirty". He gave the toll collectors bank notes with the nominal value of VND100,000 to pay the fee, but the collectors had to use a lot of small change.

Many disputes occurred at that time which needed the intervention of the police.

Finally, an investor came to meet Ngai and asked her to help the companys workers collect the fees.

The solution helped the tense situation. Ngai gave all the money she collected to the company, and people no longer protested against the fee payment.

In 2007, the company asked Ngai to work with them. Under the cooperation agreement, Ngai needed to pay VND5 million a month to the company.

So, Ngai, her husband and daughter-in-law became the fee collectors, working a shift from 6 am to 9 pm on sunny and rainy days.

While she was on duty, she worked with a radio, listening to all programs, one after another, to entertain herself.

On April 1, the investor transferred the BOT bridge to the local authority as committed before.

Now Ngai doesnt have to work anymore.

I feel a bit sad as I have to give up my habit of getting up early and coming to the bridge, she said.

Pham Kim Oanh, chair of Giang Tien Town in Phu Luong district, said both travel and trade in the locality have improved considerably since the bridge opened.

Thai Binh
Dont cry Mrs. Lanka, the crowns all yoursfor now View(s):

Technically, Pushpika de Silva, the woman at the centre of last Sundays Mrs. Lanka hullabaloo, is correct in maintaining that she is a married woman as no competent court has yet put asunder what her marital vows had once enjoined.

The filing of divorce papers in court does not change ones marital status, though it may signal ones change of heart. In fact, so scrupulously do the courts view the institution of marriage as sacred that it refuses to accept that a marriage has irretrievably broken down even after formal divorce is given but grants a further six months period of grace for the parties to resolve their irreconcilable differences before final severance of the nuptial knot is ordered.

The filing of divorce papers indicates not the end but the beginning of the end of a marriage; and until the long process finally reaches the end when ties are cut and the spouses revert to their previous single status, the parties may be granted legal separation.

Pushpika de Silva, had filed papers in court to divorce her husband four years ago. The case is expected to be taken up middle of this year, possibly, to grant her uncontested petition to divorce. Until such time it is unequivocally clear that, legally, she remains married, though separated from her spouse.

Thus she is perfectly well within her legal right to insist that she is married and has not breached that one fundamental rule of eligibility the Mrs. World Contest organisers demand all aspirants to uphold: The rule of being married before applying for the contest, during the contest period and, if adjudged the world winner, one year after, which if flouted would render immediate disqualification.

But while being legally separated from her husband for four years and on the verge of being granted the divorce she has for long sought from the courts  who said this week she is proud to be a single mum of one  whether it was correct of her to have expanded the ambit of being married to the extreme, to enter a contest strictly reserved for married woman and held, as the Mrs. World Contest organisers proudly hold, as a pageant celebrating the uniqueness of the married woman, must give pause for solemn reflection on righteousness of conduct in the present arena of action.

Technically, also, ex-Mrs. Lanka but still Mrs. World Caroline Jurie was wrong to have played judge, jury and executioner on public stage last Sunday when shortly after Pushpika had been crowned Mrs. Lanka for Mrs. World, she claimed Pushpika was a divorcee, pronounced her disqualified and proceeded, with the help of backstage sidekick, to de-crown the imposter and topple her from her newly won pedestal.

Clearly, it was not Carolines business to deliver summary justice on Nelum Pokuna stage. Her role on it was to dutifully perform the final rites of her own ending reign as Mrs. Sri Lanka and pass the torch to her new chosen successor and walk off into the sunset.

Its possible that Caroline honestly believed Pushpika had ceased to be married. If she so did, then her private doubts and reservations should have been directly conveyed to the judges before or after the contest. Instead, she thought fit to usurp the judges powers in their absence, and unilaterally act as she did to reduce the level of farce to burlesque.

Her only defence for unbecoming conduct may be to plead mistaken belief in the manner a member of the public can claim after wrongfully executing a citizens arrest under section 72 of the Penal Code, Nothing is an offence which is done by any person who is justified by law, or who by reason of a mistake of fact and not by reason of a mistake of law in good faith believes himself to be justified by law in doing it.

But Caroline, still the reigning Mrs. World, remained defiant to the end despite being arrested on Thursday and later released on police bail over the incident. In a video statement, delivered on Friday night, she said she was ready to hand over her Mrs. World crown.

She said her only intention was to stand up for the injustice caused to the competitors throughout this competition which she alleged was tainted with heavy politicization. She declared: It upsets me greatly when justice doesnt prevail. This is why I stood up for injustice, from the beginning of the event, I stood up for what was wrong, but my efforts were futile until the very last moment, which led me to do what I did.

She said she only stood for what she believed was right and will follow all legal procedures  as a normal Sri Lankan citizen  without influence  while always holding her head up high.

And where does that leave the holder of the Lankan Mrs. World franchise, Chandimal Jayasinghe, a bridal designer better known for hosting extravagant multimillion rupee parties on Bollywood themes at Kingsbury and Shangri-La to celebrate his birthdays.

After Caroline had stolen the thunder on the big night last Sunday, he told the media that, there is no need to take any action against Jurie as the whole country witnessed her behaviour and all are disgusted by her actions. We expect Mrs. World to take action against her. She made a huge blunder. She is responsible for her own actions.

True. But what has he got to say of his own actions? He told the media, all contestants had to provide proof of their marriage and had to fill out the forms accordingly before taking part in the contest.

But did he know that Pushpika  though in the eyes of the law still legally married, had filed for divorce four years ago and was on the threshold of getting her divorce this year, which would have risked disqualification and risked further the Mrs. World concept as a pageant to celebrate the happily married woman and promote the institution of marriage?

Or had he been aware of it and chosen not to use his discretion and reject the application, and viewed this blot on the Mrs. World landscape as a matter of no consequence? How will the parent body of the Mrs. World Organisation react should Mrs. Lankas divorce come through before the grand final of the Mrs. World Contest is held in December?

Does he agree with the re-crowned Pushpikas assertion in her belated tear jerking victory speech that the crown she won was dedicated to all single mums, when the Mrs. Worlds concept dedicates it to all married women?

Sometimes, though a rule itself is not violated but when its spirit is transgressed, the ensuing results can be both damaging and dire. It need not shock, its only to be expected. Its the natural law of cause and effect in operation.

And the message to the twice winner, who since then revealed her plans to enter high politics: Dont cry Mrs. Lanka, the crown is all yours to wear. for now.

Tell Dr. Siddhika: Shell have to go The Director General of the Sri Lanka Standards Institute (SLSI) was plunged into hot water and left to drown this week when a choice remark casually made to a television reporter over the current toxic coconut oil scare, placed the trust, credibility and future usefulness of one of Lankas top consumer watchdogs at stake. An angry public outcry erupted in disbelief and shock when the nation heard SLSI Chief Dr. Siddhika Senaratne reveal to a television interviewer not only of the detection of imported coconut oil with thrice the permitted toxic level but also the widespread availability of poisonous, cancer causing food stuff in the market. In the shocking interview aired last Saturday, the interviewer asks Dr. Siddhika Senaratne: Apart from detecting aflatoxins in chilli consignments, what are the other food stuff found that contained this cancer causing substance? Dr. Siddhikas reply: Its like this. Many of these things I cannot say because after I say it many of the local produces can collapse. So even though the media may think they have a right to ask, we have a responsibility to protect local produces. Instead what we do is we tell the Consumer Authority and together we all engage these businesses in discussion and we encourage them to desist from introducing such poisonous food stuff to the market and mend their ways. The interviewer asks: Do you have any prohibition placed on you not to reveal these to the media? Why cant you tell the public? She replies: No, there is no prohibition of that sort. But if we tell the public these local businesses will totally collapse. So we do not. When the interviewer interrupted and asked: So while they mend their ways, the people have to eat poison? Is that okay Driving the last nail into her own career at SLSI, she replied blithely: Well, its only for a short time. We have to first correct these producers, no, and see that these companies mend their ways and do not have to close down. Her outrageous claim that food containing cancer causing poisonous substances was quite all right for human consumption for a short time since it kept food companies in good business health, naturally provoked an avalanche of protests and led many to bray for her blood. The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) sprang into action on Monday by lodging a complaint against Dr. Siddhika, urging the Inspector General of Police to immediately investigate her claim that she was aware of the fact that certain food items sold in the market contains substances unfit for human consumption. The Government, too, washed its hands of Dr. Siddhikas controversial comments. Cabinet spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the Government does not approve Dr. Siddhikas remarks that exposing local businesses whose products are found to contain toxins could lead to their collapse. The Government has now launched an investigation into her statement. So who is this Dr. Siddhika, supposed to be the guardian deity of the nations food consumption but who has since revealed even divinity errs? Undoubtedly, she is eminently qualified academically for the job, having a PhD in Biochemistry from St Georges Hospital Medical School, London, UK in 2002 followed by two Post-doctoral fellowships at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, USA. Pity, all those qualifications and recognition, but not the foggiest as to what her job as Director General of SLSI entails? The SLSI has been the accepted final arbiter on what is fit for human consumption. Its decisions have been accepted without question or pause. The organisation was established in 1964 to protect the rights of consumers and to protect unethical business trade malpractices. The Director Generals first duty is to the public. In determining whether any food is fit for human consumption or not, it is not her duty to take external factors into consideration. But Dr. Siddhika has, unfortunately, based her decision whether or not to ban food containing cancer causing substances not on how it will affect the health of humans but on how adversely it will affect the pockets of local businesses. She has allowed the unsuspecting public to consume toxic-hit food to give a helping hand to errant businesses peddling poison in the market with the full knowledge of the SLSI. And, as a result the trust and credibility once unquestioningly reposed in the SLSI, now lie shattered and will continue to lie in fragments until the Government axe poised over Dr. Siddhikas job is let to fall. Else, it will be the continuing case of the watchdog not raising the alarm barking when thieves burgle the masters home because it does not wish to disturb the masters peaceful slumber.
In November 2020, the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace co-produced a report that warned that the global financial system was increasingly vulnerable to cyber attacks. Advisors to the group that produced the report included representatives from the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the International Monetary Fund, Wall Street giants likes JP Morgan Chase and Silicon Valley behemoths like Amazon.

The ominous report was published just months after the World Economic Forum had conducted a simulation of that very event  a cyber attack that brings the global financial system to its knees  in partnership with Russias largest bank, which is due to jumpstart that countrys economic digital transformation with the launch of its own central bank-backed cryptocurrency.

More recently, last Tuesday, the largest information sharing organization of the financial industry, whose known members include Bank of America, Wells Fargo and CitiGroup, have again warned that nation-state hackers and cybercriminals were poised to work together to attack the global financial system in the short term. The CEO of this organization, known as the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), had previously advised the WEF-Carnegie report that had warned much the same.

Such coordinated simulations and warnings from those who dominate the current, ailing financial system are obvious cause for concern, particularly given that the World Economic Forum is well-known for its Event 201 simulation about a global coronavirus pandemic that took place just months prior to the COVID-19 crisis.

The COVID-19 crisis has since been cited as the main justification for accelerating the digital transformation of the financial and other sectors that the Forum and its partners have promoted for years. Their latest prediction of a doomsday event, a cyber attack that stops the current financial system in its tracks and instigates its systemic collapse, would offer the final yet necessary step for the Forums desired outcome of this widespread shift to digital currency and increased global governance of the international economy.

Given that experts have been warning since the last global financial crisis that the collapse of the entire system was inevitable due to central bank mismanagement and rampant Wall Street corruption, a cyber attack would also provide the perfect scenario for dismantling the current, failing system as it would absolve central banks and corrupt financial institutions of any responsibility. It would also provide a justification for incredibly troubling policies promoted by the WEF-Carnegie report, such as a greater fusion of intelligence agencies and banks in order to better protect critical financial infrastructure.

Considering the precedent of the WEFs past simulations and reports with the COVID-19 crisis, it is well worth examining the simulations, warnings and the policies promoted by these powerful organizations. The remainder of this report will examine the WEF-Carnegie report from November 2020, while a follow-up report will focus on the more recent FS-ISAC report published last week. The WEF simulation of a cyber attack on the global financial system, Cyber Polygon 2020, was covered in detail by Unlimited Hangout in a previous report.

The WEF-Carnegie Cyber Policy Initiative

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, is one of the most influential foreign policy think tanks in the United States, with close and persistent ties to the US State Department, former Presidents, corporate America and American oligarch clans like the Pritzkers of Hyatt hotels. Current trustees of the endowment include executives from Bank of America and CitiGroup as well as other influential financial institutions.

In 2019, the same year as Event 201, the Endowment launched its Cyber Policy Initiative with the goal of producing an International Strategy for Cybersecurity and the Global Financial System 2021-2024. That strategy was released just months ago, in November 2020 and, according to the Endowment, was authored by leading experts in governments, central banks, industry and the technical community in order to provide a longer-term international cybersecurity strategy specifically fo the financial system.

The initiative is an outgrowth of past efforts of the Carnegie Endowment to promote the fusion of financial authorities, the financial industry, law enforcement and national security agencies, which is both a major recommendation of the November 2020 report and a conclusion of a 2019 high-level roundtable between the Endowment, the IMF and central bank governors. The Endowment had also partnered with the IMF, SWIFT, Standard Chartered and FS-ISAC to create a cyber resilience capacity-building tool box for financial institutions in 2019. That same year, the Endowment also began tracking the evolution of the cyber threat landscape and incidents involving financial institutions in collaboration with BAE Systems, the UKs largest weapons manufacturer. Per the Endowment, this collaboration continues into the present.

In January 2020, representatives of the Carnegie Endowment presented their Cyber Policy Initiative at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, after which the Forum officially partnered with the Endowment on the initiative.

Advisors to the now joint WEF-Carnegie project include representatives of central banks like the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank; some of Wall Streets most infamous banks like Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase; law enforcement organizations such as INTERPOL and the US Secret Service; corporate giants like Amazon and Accenture; and global financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and SWIFT. Other notable advisors include the managing director and head of the WEFs Centre for Cybersecurity, Jeremy Jurgens, who was also a key player in the Cyber Polygon simulation, and Steve Silberstein, the CEO of the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC).

Not a Question of If but When

The Cyber Policy Initiatives November 2020 report is officially titled International Strategy to Better Protect the Financial System. It begins by noting that the global financial system, like many other systems, are going through unprecedented digital transformation, which is being accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic.

It then warns that:

Malicious actors are taking advantage of this digital transformation and pose a growing threat to the global financial system, financial stability, and confidence in the integrity of the financial system. Malign actors are using cyber capabilities to steal from, disrupt, or otherwise threaten financial institutions, investors and the public. These actors include not only increasingly daring criminals, but also states and state-sponsored attackers.

Followed by this warning of malign actors, the report notes that increasingly concerned, key voices are sounding the alarm. It notes that Christine Lagarde of the European Central Bank and formerly of the IMF warned in February 2020 that a cyber attack could trigger a serious financial crisis. A year prior, at the WEFs annual meeting, the head of Japans central bank predicted that cybersecurity could become the financial systems most serious risk in the near future. It also notes that in 2019, Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase similarly labeled cyber attacks as possibly the biggest threat to the US financial system.

Not long after Lagardes warning, in April 2020, the Financial Stability Board asserted that cyber incidents pose a threat to the stability of the global financial system and that a major cyber incident, if not properly contained, could seriously disrupt financial systems, including critical financial infrastructure, leading to broader financial stability implications.

The WEF-Carnegie report authors add to these concerns that the exploitation of cyber vulnerabilities could cause losses to investors and the general public and lead to significant damage to public trust and confidence in the current financial system. It also notes, aside from affecting the general public in a significant way, this threat would impact both high-income countries and low to lower-middle income countries, meaning its impact on the masses will be global in scope.

The report then ominously concludes that one thing is clear: it is not a question of if a major incident will happen, but when.

Ensuring control of the narrative

Another section of the report details recommendations for controlling the narrative in the event such a crippling cyber attack takes place. The report specifically recommends that financial authorities and industry should ensure they are properly prepared for influence operations and hybrid attacks that combine influence operations with malicious hacking activity and that they apply lessons learned from influence operations targeting electoral processes to potential attacks on financial institutions.

It goes on to recommend that major financial services firms, central banks and other financial supervisory authorities, representatives of which advised the WEF-Carnegie report, identify a single point of contact within each organisation to engage social media platforms for crisis management.

The reports authors argue that, in the event of a crisis, such as a devastating cyber attack on the global banking system, social media companies should swiftly amplify communications by central banks so that central banks may debunk fake information and calm the markets. It also states that financial authorities, financial services firms and tech companies [presumably including social media companies] should develop a clear communications and response plan focused on being able to react swiftly. Notably, both Facebook and Twitter are listed in the reports appendix as industry stakeholders that have engaged with the WEF-Carnegie initiative.

The report also asserts that premeditated coordination for such a crisis between banks and social media companies needs to take place so that both parties may determine what severity of crisis would necessitate amplified communication. The report also calls for social media companies to work with central banks to develop escalation paths similar to those developed in the wake of the past election interference, as seen in the United States and Europe.

Of course, those escalation paths involved wide-ranging social media censorship. The report seems to acknowledge this, when it adds that quick coordination with social media platforms is necessary to organise content takedowns. Thus, the report is calling for central banks to collude with social media platforms to plan out censorship efforts that would be enacted if a sufficiently severe crisis occurs in financial markets.

As far as influence operations go, the report divides these into two categories; those that target individual firms and those that target markets overall. Regarding the first category, the report states that organised actors will spread fraudulent rumours to manipulate stock prices and generate profit based on how much the price of the stock was artificially moved. It then adds that, in these influence operations, firms and lobbyists use astroturfing campaigns, which create a false appearance of grassroots support, to tarnish the value of a competing brand or attempt to sway policymaking decisions by abusing calls for online public comments. The similarities between this latter statement and the Wall Street Bets phenomenon of January 2021 are obvious.

Regarding the second category of influence operations, the report defines these operations as likely to be carried out by a politically motivated actor like a terrorist group or even a nation-state. It adds that this type of influence operation may directly target the financial system to manipulate markets, for example, by spreading rumours about market-moving decisions by central banks as well as spreading false information that does not directly reference financial markets but that causes financial markets to react.

Given that the report states that the first category of influence operation poses little systemic risk while the second may pose systemic risk, it seems more likely that the event being predicted by the WEF-Carnegie report would involve claims of the latter by a terrorist group or potentially a nation-state. Notably, the report mentions North Korea as a likely nation-state offender on several occasions. It also dwells on the likelihood that synthetic media or deep fakes would be part of this system-devastating event in emerging economies and/or in high-income countries experiencing a financial crisis.

A separate June 2020 report from the WEF-Carnegie initiative was published specifically on deepfakes and the financial system, noting that such attacks would likely transpire during a larger financial crisis to amplify damaging narratives or simulate grassroots consumer backlash against a targeted brand. It adds that companies, financial institutions and government regulators facing public relations crises are especially vulnerable to deepfakes and synthetic media.

In light of these statements, it is worth pointing out that bad actors within the current system could exploit these scenarios and theories to paint actual grassroots backlash against a bank or corporation as being a synthetic influence operation perpetrated by cybercriminals or a nation-state. Considering that the WEF-Carnegie report references a scenario analogous to the Wall Street Bets situation in January 2021, a banker-led effort to falsely label a future grassroots backlash as instead being synthetic and the fault of a terrorist group or nation-state should not be ruled out.

Reducing Fragmentation: Merging Banks with their Regulators and Intelligence Agencies

Given the inevitability of this destructive event predicted by the reports authors, it is important to focus in on the solutions proposed in the WEF-Carnegie report as they will become immediately relevant if this event, as predicted by the WEF and Carnegie Endowment, does come to pass.

Some of the solutions proposed are to be expected from a WEF-linked policy document, such as the calls for increased public-private partnerships and greater coordination among regional and international organizations as well as increased coordination between national governments.

However, the main solution at the heart of this report, and also at the heart of the WEF-Carnegie initiatives other endeavors, is a call to fuse corporate banks, the financial authorities that essentially oversee them, tech companies and the national security state.

The reports authors first argue that the main vulnerability of the global financial system at present is the current fragmentation among stakeholders and initiatives and that mitigating this threat to global system lies in reducing that fragmentation. The report argues that the way to resolve the issue requires massive re-organization of all stakeholders via increased global coordination. The report notes that the disconnect between the finance, the national security and the diplomatic communities is particularly pronounced and calls for much closer interaction between the three.

It then states that:

This requires countries not only to better organize themselves domestically but also to strengthen international cooperation to defend against, investigate, prosecute and ideally prevent future attacks. This implies that the financial sector and financial authorities must regularly interact with law enforcement and other national security agencies in unprecedented ways, both domestically and internationally.

Some examples of these unprecedented interactions between banks and the national security state are included in the reports recommendations. For instance, it argues that governments should use the unique capabilities of their national security communities to help protect FMIs [financial market infrastructures] and critical trading systems. It also calls for national security agencies [to] consult critical cloud service providers [like WEF-Carnegie initiative partner Amazon Web Services] to determine how intelligence collection could be used to help identify and monitor potential significant threat actors and develop a mechanism to share information about imminent threats with tech companies.

The report also states that the financial industry should throw its weight behind efforts to tackle cyber crime more effectively, for example by increasing its participation in law enforcement efforts.

On that last point, there are indications this has already begun. For instance, Bank of America, the second largest bank in the US and part of the WEF-Carnegie Initiative and FS-ISAC, was reported to have actively but secretly engaged with US law enforcement agencies in the hunt for political extremists following the January 6th events at Capitol Hill. In doing so, Bank of America shared private information with the federal government without the knowledge or consent of its customers, leading critics to accuse the bank of effectively acting as an intelligence agency.

Yet, arguably the most troubling part of the report is its call to unite the national security apparatus and the finance industry first, and then use that as a model to do the same with other sectors of the economy. It states that protecting the international financial system can be a model for other sectors, adding that focusing on the financial sector provides a starting point and could pave the way to better protect other sectors in the future.

Were all the sectors of the economy to also fuse with the national security state, it would inevitably create a reality where there is no part of daily human life that is not ultimately controlled by these two already very powerful entities. This is a clear recipe for techno-fascism on a global scale. As this WEF-Carnegie report makes clear, the roadmap regarding how to cook up such a nightmare has already been charted out in coordination with the very institutions, banks and governments that currently control the global financial system.

Not only that, but  as pointed out in Unlimited Hangouts article on Cyber Polygon  the World Economic Forum and many of its partners have a vested interest in the systemic collapse of the current financial system. In addition, many central banks have recently backed new digital currency systems that can only achieve rapid, mass adoption if the existing system collapses.

Given that these systems are set to be integrated with biometric IDs and so-called vaccine passports through the WEF and Big Tech-backed Vaccine Credential initiative, it is worth considering the timing of the expected launch of such systems in determining when this predicted and allegedly inevitable event is likely to occur.

With this new financial system so deeply inter-connected to these credential efforts, this cyber attack on the financial sector would likely take place at a time when it would best facilitate the adoption of the new economic system and its integration into credential systems currently being promoted as a way out of COVID-19-related restrictions.
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, April 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Erdene Resource Development Corporation (TSX:ERD | MSE:ERDN) (Erdene or the Company) is pleased to provide an update on exploration at the new Dark Horse gold prospect as well as announcing the launch of an Employment Orientation program and advise on the current COVID-19 situation in Mongolia.

Highlights1(See the attached maps and images for reference):

Drilled nine scout holes totalling 1,900 metres in February 2021 to define the extent of the delineation program at the main Dark Horse Prospect Holes AAD-65 to AAD-67, in the northern half of the target, intersected broad zones of alteration, establishing continuity and supporting further drilling: AAD-65 returned 7 metres of 1.15 g/t gold beginning 113 metres downhole AAD-66 returned 14 metres of 1.31 g/t gold beginning 53 metres downhole, as well as 20 metres of 1.74 g/t gold, beginning 112 metres downhole AAD-67 returned 6 metres of 0.32 g/t gold beginning 110 metres downhole Holes AAD-68 to AAD-73, testing areas peripheral to the north-south structure intersected gold and/or pathfinder elements: AAD-68 returned 2 metres of 1.41 g/t gold beginning 192 metres downhole AAD-70 returned 2 metres of 4.24 g/t gold beginning 64 metres downhole

Commenced 3,000 metre delineation drilling program in late March Delineation drilling will utilize 100-metre fence spacing along the main trend Approximately 600 metres will target the southern extension of the trend (including the area around AAD-58, which intersected 45m of 6 g/t gold) Results are pending for ~1,100 metres of core, currently at the lab

Completed geophysical modelling, surface sampling, spectral analysis and other work over a 4 by 3 kilometre area in advance of further exploration Studies continue to improve Erdenes understanding of the mineralization in the greater Dark Horse area

Launched an Employment Orientation program at the Bayan Khundii Project camp for local community members Two cohorts of 36 received training from Erdenes HSEC team Further 140 residents are registered for upcoming sessions

Bayankhongor province registered its first COVID-19 infection on March 24 Provincial government has introduced precautionary measures in response Erdene provided relief funding to the Provincial Emergency Commission Dark Horse drilling continues with appropriate COVID safeguards



1 Reported intervals in this release are downhole apparent widths. Continued exploration is required to confirm anisotropy of mineralization and true thicknesses.

Quotes from the Company:

Following the announcement of the exciting Dark Horse gold discovery in January 2021, our technical team completed a staged exploration plan over the past quarter, said Peter Akerley, Erdenes President and CEO. This Q1 program confirmed continuity of a gold mineralized system along a 1.2 km north-south trending structure and improved our understanding of the discovery and its setting relative to the Bayan Khundii Deposit and the large Ulaan-Khundii alteration system, which we believe hosts a much more significant gold mineralizing event and hydrothermal alteration system than previously recognized.

In late March we commenced a 3,000 metre shallow delineation drilling program on the main Dark Horse discovery area, continued Mr. Akerley. Although focused on the 1.2km northern portion of the Dark Horse structure, testing will cover a 2.5km strike length. The first batch of core is currently in the lab with results expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Although we have been able to continue fieldwork with minimal disruption, Mongolia has seen increasing spread of COVID-19, including the first reported cases in our host province of Bayankhongor, concluded Mr. Akerley. We are taking all precautions to maintain a safe work environment. Furthermore, we recently provided funding to the local provincial emergency commission to ensure the safety of local residents. We are closely monitoring the COVID situation in the country and its impact on the start of construction of our Bayan Khundii Gold Project.

Q1 2021 Dark Horse Exploration Program Overview

Erdene carried out the following exploration at the Dark Horse prospect during Q1 2021:

Completed a nine-hole, 1,900 metre drill program, carried out by Falcon Drilling, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia;

Completed detailed surface mapping and sampling, conducted by Erdenes Mongolian technical team;

Completed geophysical modelling and interpretation with the assistance of Wave Geophysics, Denver Colorado;

Completed surface and downhole spectral alteration mineral analysis and interpretation with Plus Minerals LLC, Ulaanbaatar;

Commenced mineralogic and petrographic analysis and interpretation using APSAR Geoscience, New Zealand;

Commenced preliminary metallurgical testing using ALS Laboratories, Ulaanbaatar; and

Continued consultation with Dr. Jeffrey Hedenquist, Ottawa, on the style and characteristics of the mineralized system at Dark Horse and within the larger Khundii alteration system.

These studies and analyses continue to improve Erdenes understanding of the Dark Horse Discovery and its geologic setting relative to the nearby Bayan Khundii epithermal gold deposit, as well as the greater Ulaan-Khundii quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration footprint. Exploration results show evidence of a widespread mineralizing hydrothermal system consistent with many of the worlds major epithermal gold deposits. Evidence suggests that Dark Horse shares a structural relationship with the Bayan Khundii gold deposit through a 4-kilometres long N-S trending dilation zone connecting the two project areas.

Drill Results  Q1 2021

The Q1-2021 drill program was designed to collect geologic information for the surrounding area and define the area of interest for more detailed drilling. The majority of targets were cross-cutting or parallel structures with limited testing of the northern portion of the Dark Horse target area.

In February 2021, the company drilled nine holes at the Dark Horse prospect, totalling 1,900 metres. Three holes, AAD-65 through AAD-67, were drilled along the northern portion of the 1.2 km Dark Horse target area. The remaining holes were drilled in areas peripheral to the trend with one hole, AAD-71, testing the main structure 1km south of the nearest drilling (AAD-58).

Table 1 below, includes highlights from the program.

Table 1 - Dark Horse Scout Drilling Highlights

Hole From To Interval (1) g/t Au (2) Along N-S Structure AAD-65 113 120 7 1.15 and 128 142 14 0.51 and 196 205 9 0.69 AAD-66 53 67 14 1.31 and 112 132 20 1.74 and 137 139 2 0.96 AAD-67 110 116 6 0.32 Peripheral Areas AAD-68 192 194 2 1.41 and 250 252 2 0.47 AAD-70 52 53 1 0.66 and 64 66 2 4.24 and 110 116 6 0.33

1 Reported intervals are apparent thicknesses (i.e. downhole widths). Insufficient drilling has been completed at Dark Horse to determine orientation of the mineralized zones and therefore true widths cannot be determined at this time. Exploration drill holes are typically oriented normal to (at a right angle to) the trend of potential mineralized targets and holes dips range from 45 to 75 degrees.

2 Reported grades for intervals are weighted averages based on length of sampling intervals, typically 1 to 2 metres. No top cut has been applied; however, intervals greater than 10 g/t gold are reported separately for clarity.

Note: Exploration holes AAD-69, AAD-71, AAD-72 and AAD-73 intersected anomalous gold and/or zones anomalous in pathfinder elements (arsenic, molybdenum and antimony) but no significant intervals greater than 0.3 g/t gold.

Three holes (AAD-65, AAD-66 and AAD-67) were drilled across the northern portion of the Dark Horse prospect. AAD-65 and 66 were collared 290 metres and 160 metres, respectively, north-northeast of previously reported hole AAD-61 (130 metres of 0.5 g/t gold). Both holes intersected multiple gold-bearing zones, including intersections of 14 metres of 1.3 g/t gold and 20 metres of 1.7 g/t gold in AAD-66 and up to 59 g/t silver over 1 metre in AAD-65. Mineralization in both holes is hosted within pervasively clay altered and brecciated volcanoclastic rocks with varying degrees of oxidation in the form of hematite, limonite and goethite. AAD-67 was drilled 260 metres south of AAD-61 and returned relatively narrow anomalous gold zones within thick intervals of pervasively clay altered and hydrothermally brecciated volcanic sequences. These three holes have successfully demonstrated continuity of mineralization along the north-south strike, indicating the Dark Horse structure as a preferred fluid conduit with an interpreted pinch and swell pattern common to many structurally controlled epithermal systems.

Ten widely spaced holes have now been drilled along a 1.2-kilometre portion of the N-S structure. The holes have an average spacing of 160 metres apart (ranging from 42 to 255 metres) with an average vertical depth of 155 metres with the deepest hole (AAD-57) drilling to a depth of 242 metres vertically and exhibiting strong gold mineralization over the lower 100 metres of the hole. Drilling in early Q1-2021 focused on the northern portion (north of AAD-57) of the Dark Horse structure, recognizing that the southern portion of the Dark Horse structure hosting previously reported discovery holes AAD-58 (45m of 6 g/t gold) and AAD-57 (45m of 1.2 g/t gold) will be subject to close-spaced drilling during the next round of drilling, now underway.

Scout drilling outside the main N-S Dark Horse structure (holes AAD-68 to AAD-70, and AAD-72 to ADD-73) focused on testing geophysical and geochemical soil anomalism within the general Dark Horse prospect area. These holes confirmed widespread and pervasive hydrothermal alteration, brecciation and mineralization within the wider Dark Horse prospect area. Zones of anomalous gold mineralization in conjunction with key indicator element anomalism, hydrothermal alteration, silicification and prospective volcanoclastic-brecciated geology suggest the Dark Horse prospect is located in an environment capable of hosting a major mineralizing event. These concepts will be followed up in future drilling.

Drill Program  Q2-2021 Exploration

Core from the first 1,110 metres of drilling has been transported to SGS Laboratories, Ulaanbaatar for analysis. Assay results are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Geophysical Modelling and Interpretation

The Dark Hose areas 2D and 3D geophysical modelling serves as an important targeting tool and structural lineation mapping tool. Magnetics appear to support a relationship between magnetic low signatures and zones of magnetite destructive clay alteration, which have been shown to host anomalous gold mineralization. Induced polarization (IP) also serves as an important targeting tool at Dark Horse as high concentrations of disseminated sulphide minerals have been locally observed in drill core coincident with intervals of elevated gold.

Geophysical modelling, interpretation and targeting are ongoing as we continue to understand the larger Dark Horse system and its relationship to the Bayan Khundii system to the south. Further geophysical surveys are planned for the 2021 field season to aid in exploration success.

Clay Alteration and Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) analysis

The presence of low-temperature argillic clay assemblages at Dark Horse suggests formation within the upper stratigraphic levels (less than 150 metres) of an epithermal system. Similar to Bayan Khundii, Dark Horse is dominated by illite clay alteration. However, the presence of both smectite and kaolinite at Dark Horse indicates a lower temperature environment consistent with the near-surface regions of an epithermal system. These clay minerals are absent at Bayan Khundii, which has been interpreted to have formed at greater than 150 metres depth. If Dark Horse represents the upper part of a hydrothermal system, then the potential for zones of high-grade mineralization exists at depth. This theory is further supported by the presence of vuggy/residual silica bodies near AAD-57 and AAD-58, which may represent remnant near-surface lithocap zones.

Fault Hosted Epithermal Model

The North-South structural feature at Dark Horse is best defined on the magnetic survey map (see plan maps below), as are numerous zones of intersection between northeast and northwest-trending cross structures and splays. Structural interpretations suggest that the N-S trending structure is associated with dilation zones formed during tectonic compression from the south-southwest (Kloppenburg 2017). The resulting dilation zones produced conduits for hydrothermal fluid channelling and subsequent alteration and mineralization. Continued understanding of the prospects structural framework will be key in further identifying zones of mineralization at Dark Horse and within the Khundii tenements.

Bayan Khundii Gold Project Employment Orientation Program

In late 2020, Erdene began developing a series of training and community outreach programs as part of the Bayan Khundii Gold Projects construction readiness. These programs include the companys employment orientation, internship, and vocational training opportunities, initially targeting local residents in the sub-province and province. In March 2021, Erdene launched its employment orientation program with local residents at its Bayan Khundii Gold Project site. Led by Erdenes Mongolian management and HSEC team, the five-day orientation covered the key topics of mine development, community health and safety, environmental management, and local stakeholder engagement through a combination of individual and team-based methods. To date, 36 people attended the orientation as a result of which all of whom identified a personal development plan linked to the proposed mine operation. Given the strong interest and active participation in the program, the company plans to re-start the program as soon as COVID-19 restrictions allow.

Erdene expects the Project to provide direct employment for approximately 500 individuals during construction and as many as 400 during peak operation. The Bayan Khundii Gold Project is expected to become the largest employer in Bayankhongor Province and to generate over US$100 million in profit tax and royalty for the Government of Mongolia over the life of mine.

Mongolia COVID-19 Update

With the confirmation of the first community transmission of COVID-19 in November 2020, the Government of Mongolia implemented a series of restrictions on the movement of people and delivery of goods and services. While restrictions were temporarily eased in mid-Q1 2021, preventive measures prohibiting certain business and public activities remain in place in Ulaanbaatar, the countrys capital, and much of the countrys territory, where there has been a recent increase in the number of reported cases. Additionally, in March 2021, Bayankhongor Province, where Erdenes Projects are located, reported its first confirmed case of community transmission of COVID-19, imposing restrictions on the movement of people within and to/from the province. In response, Erdene provided emergency funding assistance to the Bayankhongor Emergency Commission to support its efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 within the province.

Since mid-2020, Erdene has implemented operational changes to ensure the safety and productivity of its people. In the field, daily health and safety briefings, body temperature checks, enhanced hygiene protocols, rapid testing, and additional personal protective equipment have been instituted. The company maintains a dedicated, registered nurse at site with the capability to administer COVID-19 testing. With these measures, our team safely and successfully completed the Q1 2021 Dark Horse Scout drilling program and launched a follow up exploration program in late March 2021. The Companys corporate and administrative teams continue to work modified schedules and have adopted enhanced hygiene measures that allow operations to continue without significant disruption.

Though the impact of COVID-19 on the Companys operations has been modest to date, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve. The Company will monitor the impact of COVID-19 on its operations in 2021, particularly potential disruptions to the Bayan Khundii Gold Project schedule or budget, prior to reaching a construction decision, which is expected in mid-2021.

The Company extends its appreciation to all medical, public safety, and essential workers for their efforts to safeguard public health and help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Mongolia and Canada.

Khundii Gold District

Erdenes deposits are located in the Edren Terrane, within the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, host to some of the worlds largest gold and copper-gold deposits. The Company has been the leader in exploration in southwest Mongolia over the past decade and is responsible for the discovery of the Khundii Gold District comprised of multiple high-grade gold and gold/base metal prospects, two of which are being considered for development: the 100%-owned Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar projects. Together, these deposits comprise the Khundii Gold Project.

The Bayan Khundii Gold Resource1 includes 521,000 ounces of 3.16 g/t gold Measured and Indicated (M&I) and 103,000 ounces of Inferred resources at 3.68 g/t gold. Within the M&I resource, a proven and probable open-pit reserve totals 409,000 ounces at 3.7 g/t (see the full press release here), providing significant potential growth of reserves with the development of the remaining M&I and Inferred resources2.

In July 2020, Erdene announced the results of an independent Feasibility Study for the Bayan Khundii Gold Project (press release here). The Feasibility Study results include an after-tax Net Present Value at a 5% discount rate and a US$1,400/oz gold price of US$100 million and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 42%. The Feasibility Study envisions an open-pit mine at Bayan Khundii, producing an average of 63,500 oz gold per year, for seven years, at a head grade of 3.71 g/t gold, utilizing a conventional carbon in pulp processing plant. Production is expected to commence in early 2022 based on the current project schedule.

Erdene Resource Development Corp. is a Canada-based resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious and base metals in underexplored and highly prospective Mongolia. The Company has interests in three mining licenses and two exploration licenses in Southwest Mongolia, where exploration success has led to the discovery and definition of the Khundii Gold District. Erdene Resource Development Corp. is listed on the Toronto and the Mongolian stock exchanges. Further information is available at www.erdene.com. Important information may be disseminated exclusively via the website; investors should consult the site to access this information.

1 For details of the Mineral Resources see Khundii Gold Project NI 43-101 Technical Report, Tetra Tech December 4, 2019  SEDAR

2 M&I: 171,000 ounces of 3.77 g/t gold Measured, and 349,700 ounces of 2.93 g/t gold Indicated

Qualified Person and Sample Protocol

Peter Dalton, P.Geo. (Nova Scotia), Senior Geologist for Erdene, is the Qualified Person as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. All samples have been assayed at SGS Laboratory in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. In addition to internal checks by SGS Laboratory, the Company incorporates a QA/QC sample protocol utilizing prepared standards and blanks. All samples undergo standard fire assay analysis for gold and ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy) analysis for 33 additional elements. For samples that initially return a grade greater than 5 g/t gold, additional screen-metallic gold analysis is carried out which provides a weighted average gold grade from fire assay analysis of the entire +75 micron fraction and three 30-gram samples of the -75 micron fraction from a 500 gram sample.

Erdenes drill core sampling protocol consisted of collection of samples over 1 or 2 metre intervals (depending on the lithology and style of mineralization) over the entire length of the drill hole, excluding minor post-mineral lithologies and un-mineralized granitoids. Sample intervals were based on meterage, not geological controls or mineralization. All drill core was cut in half with a diamond saw, with half of the core placed in sample bags and the remaining half securely retained in core boxes at Erdenes Bayan Khundii exploration camp. All samples were organized into batches of 30 including a commercially prepared standard, blank and either a field duplicate, consisting of two quarter-core intervals, or a laboratory duplicate. Sample batches were periodically shipped directly to SGS in Ulaanbaatar via Erdenes logistical contractor, Monrud Co. Ltd.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information regarding Erdene contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance or other statements that are not statements of fact. Although Erdene believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Erdene cautions that actual performance will be affected by a number of factors, most of which are beyond its control, and that future events and results may vary substantially from what Erdene currently foresees. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the ability to obtain required third party approvals, market prices, exploitation and exploration results, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. The forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The information contained herein is stated as of the current date and is subject to change after that date. The Company does not assume the obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THE CONTENTS OF THIS RELEASE

Erdene Contact Information

Peter C. Akerley, President and CEO, or Robert Jenkins, CFO

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ae20a477-2157-4119-8db0-5b66bbc47ee1

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/21c1a53d-f79a-4dfa-b854-526b8058d5ca

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d815955f-0cb7-46a4-ad59-6189df8dfaa5

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a44d9348-f4e3-4f5e-984a-22d24c2e3297

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/55b13219-0b82-4d3a-bed6-34beee999bf9

Khundii Gold District Three Priority Areas for Growth on 100% owned 17,000 ha License Holdings New Dark Horse Gold Prospect Mineralized Structural Corridor Dark Horse Discovery 2021 Q1-Q2 Planned and Completed Drilling Dark Horse Long Section Looking West (Gold in Drill Intersections on 3D Magnetics) Dark Horse Discovery Sections Looking North (each section 250m wide)

Source: Erdene Resource Development Corporation
- By GF Value





The stock of Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX, 30-year Financials) is estimated to be modestly overvalued, according to GuruFocus Value calculation. GuruFocus Value is GuruFocus' estimate of the fair value at which the stock should be traded. It is calculated based on the historical multiples that the stock has traded at, the past business growth and analyst estimates of future business performance. If the price of a stock is significantly above the GF Value Line, it is overvalued and its future return is likely to be poor. On the other hand, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher. At its current price of $79.29 per share and the market cap of $2.9 billion, Comfort Systems USA stock gives every indication of being modestly overvalued. GF Value for Comfort Systems USA is shown in the chart below.





Comfort Systems USA Stock Is Estimated To Be Modestly Overvalued

Because Comfort Systems USA is relatively overvalued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to be lower than its business growth, which averaged 17.9% over the past five years.

Link: These companies may deliever higher future returns at reduced risk.

Companies with poor financial strength offer investors a high risk of permanent capital loss. To avoid permanent capital loss, an investor must do their research and review a company's financial strength before deciding to purchase shares. Both the cash-to-debt ratio and interest coverage of a company are a great way to to understand its financial strength. Comfort Systems USA has a cash-to-debt ratio of 0.17, which which ranks worse than 83% of the companies in Construction industry. The overall financial strength of Comfort Systems USA is 6 out of 10, which indicates that the financial strength of Comfort Systems USA is fair. This is the debt and cash of Comfort Systems USA over the past years:

Story continues

Comfort Systems USA Stock Is Estimated To Be Modestly Overvalued

Companies that have been consistently profitable over the long term offer less risk for investors who may want to purchase shares. Higher profit margins usually dictate a better investment compared to a company with lower profit margins. Comfort Systems USA has been profitable 9 over the past 10 years. Over the past twelve months, the company had a revenue of $2.9 billion and earnings of $4.09 a share. Its operating margin is 6.62%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Construction industry. Overall, the profitability of Comfort Systems USA is ranked 7 out of 10, which indicates fair profitability. This is the revenue and net income of Comfort Systems USA over the past years:

Comfort Systems USA Stock Is Estimated To Be Modestly Overvalued

Growth is probably the most important factor in the valuation of a company. GuruFocus research has found that growth is closely correlated with the long term performance of a company's stock. The faster a company is growing, the more likely it is to be creating value for shareholders, especially if the growth is profitable. The 3-year average annual revenue growth rate of Comfort Systems USA is 17.9%, which ranks better than 86% of the companies in Construction industry. The 3-year average EBITDA growth rate is 23.6%, which ranks better than 83% of the companies in Construction industry.

Another method of determining the profitability of a company is to compare its return on invested capital to the weighted average cost of capital. Return on invested capital (ROIC) measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. When the ROIC is higher than the WACC, it implies the company is creating value for shareholders. For the past 12 months, Comfort Systems USA's return on invested capital is 11.15, and its cost of capital is 7.61. The historical ROIC vs WACC comparison of Comfort Systems USA is shown below:

Comfort Systems USA Stock Is Estimated To Be Modestly Overvalued

To conclude, the stock of Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX, 30-year Financials) shows every sign of being modestly overvalued. The company's financial condition is fair and its profitability is fair. Its growth ranks better than 83% of the companies in Construction industry. To learn more about Comfort Systems USA stock, you can check out its 30-year Financials here.

To find out the high quality companies that may deliever above average returns, please check out GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


(Natural News) On March 31, RT published an article titled, Beyond farce: CNN states theres no consensus criteria to determine childs sex at birth. The article revealed how CNN writers now find it difficult to tell if its a boy or a girl at birth by peaking under the cloth. CNN reporter Devan Cole became so extreme as to state there is no consensus criteria for assigning sex at birth.

(Article by David Haggith republished from TheGreatRecession.info)

Some of us found that odd because we believed ourselves to have been part of a broad consensus that has embraced 99.99% of humanity for the better part of all the millennia from cave days to now, so we did not even realize sufficient criteria for determining gender were lacking. It was about as universal as any consensus had ever been throughout human history, and now we are informed suddenly it doesnt even exist.

It seems to those of us who thought there still was a consensus on what is a man and what is woman that only a minuscule component of modern liberal humanity finds this mysterious at all. The broader mystery is why they even think it is possible that people can be born into the wrong body or why it doesnt occur to them that it is far easier and more likely that the human software got a bug in it than that the body was hard-wired to be the wrong model.

Let me raise, for example, the question of how it is any more correct in the grand scheme of things for a man (while I may still legally use that word) to believe he was really supposed to be born into a female body because he/she has a female mind than for another man to believe he was really supposed to be born into a cats body because he has a feline mind?

The catman cometh

I present the following video evidence:

There is a name for this kind of illness. Its called Dysphoria, and weve known about it for a long time. It has only in the last decade, however, become politically incorrect to believe in gender dysphoria. Apparently, all things human can go dysphoric, except gender. You can, in other words, be dysphoric in the belief that you are a cat when you are a clearly in a human body, yet not about the belief that you are a woman when you are clearly in a male body. Or should society just accept that anyone who believes he is a cat really is a cat in the same way it now insists that any man who believes he is a woman really is a woman?

It turns out, however, that the pretentiously humane approach of surgically reassigning either gender or species often does not deliver the full freedom to be ones virtuous self that reassignment surgery patients hoped for. The Catman, for example, never made it to his ninth life or even his third because both of his first and only two lives  as human, then as cat  turned out to be such unhappy existences that he put a bullet through his head. Who could have guessed there might be deeper issues? Was it truly more helpful to play along by giving him a surgery to make him look like what he thought he should look like?

This is not a once-in-a-century anomaly either. It happens to both genders in any nation at any time:

Sometimes a person, it turns out, is both transspecies and transgender  such as the man who knew he was really a girl dog:

Simply changing gender identity from man to woman, didnt solve this former mans problems. They proliferated. Of course, this unusual case of the man who became a woman who became a bitch happened in LA, so it is not as if it would stand out, even on the beach where dogs and humans frequently play together, although not generally as the same creature.

Hes not even all that original. There are many like him of various breeds  even though they were never bred! Can they get a pedigree?

Mad cow disease

But what about the man who thought he was a cow? One might see the upside in thinking oneself is either a dog or a cat or even becoming one  people cuddle you, etc., at least those who dont run  but a cow? Where is the upside in that?

Yet, that particular psychological malady turns out to be common enough that we have a word for it: Boanthropy. The illness apparently dates back as far as King Nebuchadnezzar the Great, as the complete regressive degeneration of a man who has overreached himself.

The Bible records that the ancient ruler lost his sanity when God warned the arrogant King Chad he would be humbled in the following manner:

You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. from Daniel 4

Nebuchadnezzar started off as a great ruler over a great land with fabulous wealth and self-reportedly grand accomplishments, testified to by historic monuments. His pride, however, ran his mind off its rails:

As the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?

Its not actually that hard to envision a modern narcissistic leader strolling the colonnades of some pink palace on the Florida coast, saying much the same thing, as he surveys his grand accomplishments.

Surely even lesser mad cows than great human leaders like King Chad do not start off believing as infants they are really calves. I think their madness literally becomes them.

This leads me to wonder if those who come to believe they are bovine also come to believe they are disproportionately guilty of climate change through methane production. As evidence of how deep the guilt can run, one sad human cow actually believed it should be slaughtered because, at his deepest level, the man who would be cow knew he was really meant to be born as hamburger. Becoming a cow turned out to be nothing more than a means to an unfortunate end.

Im not sure transgender surgery fifty years from now will be seen as any less hamburgerlike in what it does to the human body after we learn more about dysphoria. It will probably be put on the shelf alongside ideas like drilling holes in peoples heads to let the fever out.

Everyone is playing the emperors new clothes

All of this is not terribly different than those poor souls who believe they have an arm they shouldnt have, so they beg doctors to amputate a perfectly functional limb. Sometimes they actually find a mad doctor who will do it just to make them feel better about themselves, just as sometimes a doctor will turn a perfectly good girl body into a poorly performing boy body, or vice versa.

It turns out humans can have every form of dysphoria imaginable, going far beyond a gender identity crisis to physically transmogrifying into a different species. Why stop there. Somewhere someone has probably thought they belong outside the animal kingdom entirely, believing perhaps they are just a fungus who needs to be set on a log and occasionally watered to be content.

Is it a kindness to not question their self-identification?

I find it ludicrous to believe catering to any of that is helpful, even though it has become politically correct as liberal society pretends a new body will cover the nakedness of these unfortunate lost souls. It is really just enabling an identity disorder. It does not result in a happier, better-adjusted more highly functioning person.

Yet, we have created an Orwellian world where the thought police have made normal rational behavior illegal by mandating in a supreme court that a man could no longer refer to his transgender daughter as his daughter or have any say in the minors gender reassignment, not even so much as counsel or input, lest his input damage his own child psychologically, however kindly the concern was expressed. George Orwell referred to this legally mandated language in his futuristic novel, 1984, as Truthspeak. We are now fully there where you can go to jail for not using the state-mandated language.

Some US states, such as Washington, have even decided it could be abusive to tell children at birth what gender they are, so birth certificates can now come with gender unselected, as if gender is not naturally selected, and as if we are doing all children a great favor by forcing them to decide whether they are boys or girls when, at least, that decision used to one they were delivered with and could take for granted.

What a burden to foist on children! Imagine the struggle millions of children will now face, spending years trying to figure out if theyre boys or girls because their liberal parents told them they cannot really tell just by looking, and no one can figure it out but them.

Sounds to me like an awful April Fools joke or like some hideous version of Santa Claus where all the adults participate in tricking the kids into believing no one but them can really figure out their gender. Instantly a former easy given becomes a lifelong quest for all the ungendered children (a word that didnt exist throughout human existence until the past insane decade).

Thats got to create a nation full of seriously messed-up kids for the sake of making a truly minuscule percentage of children with gender dysphoria or who are born as hermaphrodites feel a little better about themselves. Could it not just be that humans are really weird but its not nice to say so?

A little local loco

I got a localized taste of how crazy the world has become at a county council meeting I was addressing this week. One of the items that came up ahead of the vote for my own topic of interest was a move by the council to change a county law that prohibits women from exposing their bosom in order to breastfeed in public. While I think all women should be allowed to expose their breasts as much as they would like in public so long as they dont mind my looking as much as Id like, what struck me as a new level of insanity-become-norm was the move by one woman on the council to amend the language from a woman exposing her bosom in order to breastfeed to a person being allowed to expose their bosom in order to breastfeed.

Silly me. My first thought was what kind of a person other than a woman is capable of breastfeeding? The councilmember wanted the language to be more inclusive, but what other kind of creature than a woman would it be able to include? Even though breast implants are plentifully available to make people look like they have breasts, to my breast knowledge none of them are functional.

What particularly surprised me was how everyone  male and female  at the council meeting praised this council member for recommending the amendment to more inclusive language, thus stripping away one of the last bastions of womanhood that a woman can claim is specially her province.

To the only person who argued that this was effectively a change without a difference because it would benefit no one, the councilwoman replied that she knows, at least, three people who no longer identify as female who still have the requisite body parts for breast feeding, should they so desire to do so in public.

NOW HOLD ON A MINUTE! I thought. If you are going to indentify as male, even though you clearly still have a female body, why would you want to breastfeed? Even if you do (thus belying your own statement that you feel like you are a man) shouldnt you, in a world that believes you can pick your sexual identity, regardless of the reality and truth of your body, at least have to swear off specifically female roles if youre going to choose to identify as male?

No way. Society says you can be both legally male and female at the same time OR that being either male or female has absolutely no meaning! Call yourself a male, but function and look entirely like a female, ovulating, giving birth to babies and then nursing, all as a legally defined man.

The most troubling part of this for me was seeing how the language amendment wasnt viewed as insane by anyone at the meeting but seen, instead, as perfectly normal and even praiseworthy. The council voted to amend the language to person so that a female body can declare itself male but still function as a female in public, and the populace all praised the councils forward-thinking ways. You can have your manhood and eat it too.

In that case, what does it mean to be male or female anymore? To be or not to be  what is the question. Male or female now mean nothing at all. Either one is just a label you for some reason want to wear to feel better about yourself. Its no longer even a physical identity youre trying to create for yourself.

Racing off to a new race

Id like to ask, if someone can claim gender reassignment surgery makes that person legally a different gender, even though he and/or she retains exactly the same foundational male or female genetics throughout that body while becoming as incapable of natural genetic reproduction as a mule, then why not racial reassignment surgery, too? Race is far less primary than gender.

This brings up a new world of human problems because what do you do when your racial-reassignment rights collide with the Lefts cultural-appropriation concerns? Why not declare yourself Black to get better affirmative-action employment possibilities? Race is less primary than gender as sexuality developed much further back down the animal tree than human species or race.

If we do take that path, this article RT also ran last week, Dear white celebrities: Stop using black people as your props to try to show youre not racist. Because it just proves you are, could be reassigned as, Dear white celebrities; Stop using black people as props and simply become one!

Its a human cafeteria: pick your own race, even your own gender and ultimately your own species a la carte!

Maybe Im not even supposed to be from earth! What if Im Martian?

Read more at: TheGreatRecession.info
At first glance, the drawings seem innocuous.

Each of the 20 black and white sketches artfully depicts a natural landscape.

Pine trees and mountains set against a bright orb in the sky. Cartoonish leaves splayed out like tentacles. Unearthly limestone columns towering before an ominous cloud.

Their origins, though, are darker: They are believed to have been created by an artist in Manzanar, the concentration camp in California's Owens Valley where thousands of Japanese Americans were incarcerated as a result of the United States government's racism and hysteria during World War II.

When Japanese American community leaders were alerted recently to the fact that these drawings had been put up for sale on eBay, they immediately began organizing to stop the auction.

"We don't feel that Japanese American history -- particularly around the trauma of racist policies that excluded, forcibly removed and incarcerated 120,000 residents from the West Coast -- should be sold or used for profit," said Rick Noguchi, chief operating officer for the Japanese American National Museum.

After a meeting with Japanese American activists on April 6, just hours before the auction was set to end, eBay decided to halt the sale of the artifacts, determining that it violated the company's artifacts policy. At the time, the bidding had reached $470.

For the coalition of Japanese Americans behind the effort to cancel that sale, eBay's move was a victory. But ultimately, they want to ensure that all World War II artifacts born out of the tragedy and suffering of Japanese Americans can no longer be bought and sold.

This wasn't the first such sale

The drawings from Manzanar are just the latest artifacts from Japanese American concentration camps to be saved from the auction block.

In 2015, a New Jersey auction house was set to sell a collection of about 450 such objects, including paintings, photographs and handmade jewelry. The artifacts had been collected by the crafts expert Allen Eaton and eventually came into the hands of a family friend, who had decided to put them up for sale.

After protests by Japanese Americans, the auction house withdrew the items, which were eventually acquired by the Japanese American National Museum.

Nancy Ukai, project director for the digital history website 50objects.org, was one of the leading voices behind the effort to stop that sale.

Her grandfather and mother, along with several other relatives, were incarcerated in the camps during the 1940's. She recalled a story about how her grandfather, afraid that he'd never experience the smell of eucalyptus leaves again, brought the plant with him to the camp.

"Artifacts have a really important meaning to not only me but to our community," Ukai said. "There's a greater understanding in the world now that things have histories, and that these histories have been erased or concealed or allowed to stand uncontested."

The now-withdrawn listing on eBay comes at a time when Asian Americans have been experiencing heightened racism and discrimination.

That sales of objects from Japanese American concentration camps continue to proliferate is just part of that pattern, said David Inoue, executive director of the civil rights organization Japanese American Citizens League.

"It's very triggering for many people to see these items now being placed up for sale on eBay by unrelated individuals who perhaps obtained them through chance or random randomness but perhaps don't understand the meaning behind what these artifacts actually do bear for the families that were incarcerated," Inoue said.

She believes her father drew the sketches

Lori Matsumura, a third-generation Japanese American in Santa Monica, California, first learned of the drawings on eBay from a ranger at the Manzanar Historical Site.

Matsumura is the granddaughter of Giichi Matsumura, who was incarcerated at Manzanar and disappeared during an outing in the mountains after stopping to paint. Her father, Masaru Matsumura, was an artist, too. The ranger wondered if the sketches, signed "MATSUMURA," might have been drawn by one of her family members.

When Matsumura looked at the listing, she said she believed the drawings to be her father's. She even compared the signatures on them to an old high school assignment of his -- and the two appeared similar.

Matsumura's first reaction was to bid on the collection, a desperate attempt to acquire what she felt were important family mementos. Then, the gravity of the situation sunk in.

"It just made me angry that I would have to bid on my own family's artwork to get it back," she said.

Multiple families with the name "Matsumura" were incarcerated at Manzanar, and Lori Matsumura's claim to the drawings hasn't yet been verified.

Japanese American groups who spoke with CNN said that they hoped to work with eBay on brokering a conversation between Matsumura and the seller -- and potentially facilitate a return of the items.

The provenance of the items is unclear

It's unclear how the drawings came into the hands of the eBay seller, whose full identity is unknown.

The seller told the Associated Press that the collection came from the family of a former girlfriend in the 1980's, though they declined to confirm this detail to CNN.

In messages to CNN, the seller described themselves as a small time art and antiques dealer and said they weren't aware that they were violating eBay's artifacts policy, which prohibits the sale of items from government or protected land.

The seller apologized for the hurt caused by the listing and expressed a willingness to send the items their rightful owner.

"I am not interested in making a profit on these pieces, since they are part of history," the seller wrote. "I would rather give them away to a right individual rather than donate them to an institution."

Other artifacts from this era are still up for sale

That eBay removed the drawings from auction is a significant first step, Inoue said.

But numerous other artifacts from the period of Japanese American incarceration continue to be sold on the platform.

The Japanese American Confinement Sites Consortium, a collective dedicated to preserving the historical experiences of Japanese Americans during World War II, says they're continuing to work with eBay on applying its artifacts policy to similar items.

Inoue said that his organization and other members of the consortium also planned to discuss with eBay the potential creation of algorithms that would be able to flag violations of the company's policies on the front end.

Noguchi, the COO for the Japanese American National Museum, says the group would like to see all items associated with Japanese American concentration camps be banned for sale on eBay. (eBay did not respond to a question from CNN about whether it was considering such a ban.)

"It is offensive to see and to have this reminder that people are profiting off of this history," he said. "For many Japanese Americans that either were affected by those policies or had parents or grandparents affected by them, it's just a really negative reminder of it."
Voters in Kyrgyzstan have approved a new constitution that expands the power of the president in a referendum, according to preliminary results.

The Central Election Commission (BShK) said results from 90 percent of ballots showed that around 79 percent of voters backed the constitutional amendments.

The BShK said turnout was around 35 percent, just above the 30 percent threshold required to make the referendum valid.

The new constitution reduces the size of parliament by 25 percent to 90 seats and gives the president the power to appoint judges and heads of law enforcement agencies. The current law allowing a president only one term will be scrapped in favor of allowing reelection to a second term.

The amendments also envision the creation of a so-called People's Kurultai (Assembly), described as "a consultative and coordinating organ" that would be controlled by the president. Critics say it could act as a parallel parliament and a way for the president to exert more power.

The referendum comes three months after Sadyr Japarov was elected president following a tumultuous period that saw the ouster of the previous government amid protests over October parliamentary elections and months of political wrangling over the future of the country.



Japarov proposed drafting a new constitution in November 2020 as he emerged from the turmoil as acting president in the wake of the resignation of then-President Sooronbai Jeenbekov.



He easily won the presidential election in January, while a referendum held in tandem saw voters opt for a presidential system that will be the centerpiece of the proposed constitutional amendments.

Speaking to reporters after voting at a polling station outside Bishkek, Japarov said the new constitution was the work of some 100 Kyrgyz experts and would replace a document he said was "copied from many countries."

"Over the past 30 years, many changes have been made to our constitution, which were copied from various sources or from other countries, and this is how we lived," Japarov said.

Incidents and irregularities were reported at some polling stations.

Three individuals attacked a journalist, whose mobile phone was also taken, and an election observer in the southern city of Osh. Police said they were investigating.

Also in Osh, police said they had opened a probe after two local politicians were apparently caught on camera trying to buy votes.

Overall, an NGO monitoring the polls said it had so far registered 50 voting irregularities, with 31 in Bishkek and 19 in Osh.

Some in the Central Asian country have criticized Japarov, saying the new constitution is being rushed through to create an authoritarian system and concentrating too much power in the hands of the president.



In an interview with RFE/RL in March, Japarov defended the changes as needed to create a strong central branch of government to "establish order" in the country of 6.5 million people, which has experienced three uprisings ousting the government since 2005.



He also rejected concerns about a power grab, saying Kyrgyzstan will "remain a democratic country."



The country is also holding local elections.



Japarov was among several prominent politicians freed from prison by protesters during the October unrest.

He had been serving a 10-year prison sentence for hostage taking during a protest against a mining operation in northeast Kyrgyzstan in October 2013. He maintains the charges against him were politically motivated.
A family walking along an Australian beach have uncovered an incredible eight-armed sea creature nestled in the sand unlike anything they have ever seen before.

Karen Crompton and her daughter were at Blacks Beach, in Mackay, North Queensland, when they stumbled across the stunning sea star as they were examining the marine life.

'We were looking and counting the starfish and my daughter said, "Oh, is that an octopus?",' Ms Crompton told the Fraser Coast Chronicle.

'I've never seen anything like it before. It tops it all.'

Karen Crompton and her daughter were walking along Blacks Beach, in Mackay, North Queensland when they came across this eight-armed sea creature

Ms Crompton's daughter initially thought it was an octopus but on closer inspection it was revealed to be a sea star scientifically named Luidia maculata

What they had uncovered was a sea star scientifically named Luidia maculata, which is found along the coast of Queensland, Northern Territory and the northern half of Western Australia.

According to the Australian Museum, they have 'eight arms tapering to a point' and an 'aboral surface covered with square or polygonal plates'.

They are commonly yellow or buff coloured to dark green and feature 'tube feet ending in a rounded knob rather than a sucker'.

The marine invertebrates, known also as the Southern Sand Star, grow to a maximum of 40cm and while they are harmless, they have soft arms that break easily if they are handled in a rough manner.

They can reproduce asexually or sexually and are known to like burying themselves in sand up to 90 metres deep.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Derek Chauvin's defense attorney was questioning George Floyd's girlfriend about the couple buying drugs when he abruptly shifted gears for what seemed an innocuous question: He presumed the couple had pet names for each other. Under what name, he asked, did she appear in Floyd's phone?

Courteney Ross first smiled at the question, then paused before replying: Mama.

The fleeting exchange called into question the widely reported account that Floyd was crying out for his deceased mother as he lay pinned to the pavement. And it appeared to be one in a series of moves aimed at undermining a dominant narrative of Floyd's death  established through bystander video and saturation news coverage and commentary  of a reckless, arrogant cop ignoring a man's I can't breathe cries as his life is snuffed out.

At another moment in the trial, Nelson asked a paramedic if he had responded to other overdose calls before quickly correcting himself to say overdose calls  perhaps a simple mistake, or an attempt to plant the idea that Floyd's death was an overdose.

Expert witnesses for the prosecution have asserted drugs did not kill Floyd.

Nelson has repeatedly called the bystanders at Floyd's arrest a crowd and unruly and suggested there were more people present than seen on camera. He drilled a fire department captain on taking 17 minutes to reach the scene when an ambulance called first arrived much sooner. And he persistently suggested Chauvin's knee wasn't on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds as prosecutors have argued  suggesting instead it was across Floyd's back, shoulder blades and arm.

Many times as an attorney, youve got some facts that are just  bad for you. But you either want to downplay them or create another narrative, said Mike Brandt, a Minneapolis defense attorney who is closely watching the case.

Any good defense attorney has to try and take what you can get, Brandt said. Sometimes we say in a trial, you want to throw as much mud on the wall as you can and hope some of it sticks.

Nelson, 46, handles cases ranging from drunken driving arrests to homicides, and is one of a dozen attorneys who take turns working with a police union legal defense fund to represent officers charged with crimes. One of his bigger cases involved Amy Senser, the wife of Joe Senser, a former Minnesota Vikings tight end, who was convicted in a 2011 hit-and-run death.

Nelson has joked with witnesses at times and, perhaps to connect with the jury, made light of his occasional fumbles with technology or mispronunciations of words. He's a Minnesota native who, during a break in the trial, chatted up Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, asking whether he remembered the fight song for Minneapolis Roosevelt  the high school both attended.

Away from the lighter moments, Nelson has appeared well-prepared even as he goes up against a prosecution team many times larger. He has gone hard and consistently at his chief message: that Floyd's consumption of illegal drugs is to blame for his death, rather than something Chauvin did. An autopsy found fentanyl and methamphetamine in Floyd's system.

In the trial's second week, Nelson played a snippet of officer body-camera video and asked two witnesses whether they could hear Floyd say, I ate too many drugs. The audio was hard to make out, but Nelson got a state investigator to agree with his version of the quote. Prosecutors later played a fuller clip and the investigator backtracked, saying he believed Floyd said I ain't do no drugs."

As the state paraded medical experts to testify that Floyd died because his oxygen was cut off, not because of drugs, Nelson challenged the substance of their findings that the amounts detected in Floyd either were small or that people had survived significantly higher levels. But he also frequently framed questions to include the phrase illicit drugs," pointed out there's no legal reason for a person to have methamphetamine in their system, and asked one witness whether he agreed that the number of deaths of people mixing meth and fentanyl had risen.

This is a typical tactic that wed say good defense attorneys do, David Schultz, a law professor at the University of Minnesota who is watching the trial closely, said. Not all of them are as subtle or gifted as Eric Nelson.

When the paramedics first to the scene testified, Nelson's questions included asking them why they did a load and go  that is, putting Floyd in their ambulance and moving a few blocks away before beginning treatment. It implied a delay in potentially life-saving treatment, but also fed into another recurring Nelson theme that prosecutors reject: the officers were distracted from caring for Floyd by a threatening crowd.

Video of the scene worked against the argument, showing about 15 people watching as Floyd was restrained, including several teens and girls, though several were shouting at the officers to get off Floyd and check him for a pulse.

Nelson has at times taken aim at the mountain of bystander, surveillance and body-camera video offered by police, suggesting it only tells part of the story and can be misleading. At one point, Nelson used the phrase camera perspective bias to suggest that Chauvin's knee was not where the camera appeared to show it.

He has also argued that Chauvin was merely following the training he'd received throughout a 19-year career, even as several police supervisors  including Arradondo  testified otherwise. Nelson showed jurors an image from department training materials of a trainer with a knee on the neck of an instructor playing a suspect, and got some witnesses to agree generally that use of force may look bad but still be lawful.

Brandt said anything Nelson can do now  while the state is presenting its case  is huge, and will only serve as building blocks that he can use when he starts presenting his own case.

Schultz said attorneys have to be careful. He noted how Nelsons questioning of Donald Williams, one of the most vocal bystanders, sparked a backlash on social media. Users accused Nelson, who pressed Williams on whether he was angry and repeated his profanities in court, of perpetuating an angry Black man trope.

Some jurors might have felt the same, Schultz said.

You as the attorney have to sell yourself to the jury, Schultz said. And an attorney who risks pushing too far risks being disliked by the jury, and thats damaging to the case, too.
Opinion Article

9 April 2021

The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is currently accepting public comments on a provision in the recently enacted Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) which requires some privately-held business entities to disclose ownership information directly to a law enforcement agency. Interested parties should consider commenting before the May 5th deadline, and companies who may be impacted should take this opportunity to review their anti-money laundering compliance programs. Vince Farhat and Samuel Buchman of JMBM's White Collar Defense and Investigations Group have written an article detailing this legislation below.

Advertisements

FinCEN Seeks Comments on Ownership Disclosure Requirements in New Federal Anti-Money Laundering Law by Vince Farhat, Chair and Samuel Buchman, Associate JMBM's White Collar Defense & Investigations Group

On April 1, 2021, the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN") published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking giving companies and individuals the chance to comment on the new beneficial ownership disclosure requirements contained in the recently-enacted Corporate Transparency Act ("CTA"), which is part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 ("AMLA") included in the National Defense Authorization Act ("NDAA"). Under the CTA, some privately-held business entities will be required, for the first time, to disclose ownership information directly to a law enforcement agency. FinCEN is accepting public comments on the CTA disclosure requirements through May 5, 2021, and companies and other interested parties should consider commenting by this deadline to help shape the anticipated rulemaking process at this early stage. This article focuses on two specific legislative changes which could lead to an uptick in federal anti-money laundering enforcement: (1) the CTA beneficial ownership disclosure requirements; and (2) enhanced whistleblower incentives and protections under the AMLA. It is critical for companies to stay abreast of regulatory developments in order to maintain proper compliance with these changing enforcement rules.

Background

Congress enacted the NDAA on January 1, 2021. This year's iteration of the NDAA gained notoriety when former President Trump vetoed the bill, taking issue with the bill's failure to repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. However, following a veto override, the NDAA became law, marking the 59th consecutive year in which some form of the NDAA has been passed. This Section 230 scuffle diverted attention away from the AMLA, a separately named Act within the NDAA. The AMLA represents the most significant reform to anti-money laundering laws in two decades since the 2001 USA PATRIOT Act.

Among the AMLA's sweeping reforms are efforts to strengthen FinCEN, extend the reach of the Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA"), and expand the Department of Justice and Treasury Department's ability to subpoena foreign financial institutions.

In its advance notice of proposed rulemaking ("ANPR"), FinCEN requested comments on the new CTA beneficial ownership disclosure requirements. The comment period will last until May 5. The ANPR solicits comments on a variety of topics, including: definitions of the various ambiguous terms in the law; the disclosure procedure; determining the scope and content of the disclosures; the means by which entities will seek an exemption from the reporting requirements; and how the disclosures will be shared with state and local law enforcement and financial institutions.

CTA Beneficial Ownership Registry

For years, federal regulators have grappled with the issue of so-called "shell companies" utilized by bad actors, such as money launderers and terrorists, to funnel money into illicit activities. The Treasury Department estimates that $300 billion is laundered through the United States each year.

Financial institutions have been tasked with the responsibility of discerning the true ownership of business entities under "know your customer" guidelines, instituted as part of the 2001 PATRIOT Act. The CTA attempts to shift this burden from financial institutions to companies themselves. For the first time, the CTA requires certain companies to disclose ownership information directly to a government agency.

Widely considered to be a crackdown on shell companies, Section 6403 of the CTA, a separately named Act within the AMLA, introduces new disclosure requirements, under which "reporting companies" must disclose their "beneficial owners" to FinCEN.

Paired with this new disclosure requirement is the establishment of a beneficial ownership registry, also maintained by FinCEN. This new registry furnishes law enforcement with added capabilities to lift the shroud of anonymity underlying the true ownership of certain business entities. The new registry also raises privacy concerns, especially for the many legitimate businesses which will nonetheless be tasked with complying with the new disclosure requirements.

A "beneficial owner" is one who either "exercises substantial control over the entity" or who "owns or controls not less than 25 percent of the ownership interests of the entity."

The key issue for businesses is determining whether they are a "reporting company" required to disclose their beneficial owner(s). A "reporting company" is defined broadly to include a "corporation, limited liability company, or other similar entity" registered under state law, or, formed under the laws of a foreign country and registered to do business in the United States.

However, the CTA includes numerous exemptions, the most significant of which include:

Publicly traded companies;

Banks, bank holding companies, and credit unions;

Securities brokers or dealers;

Investment companies and advisors;

Insurance companies;

Public accounting firms; and

501(c) and political organizations

The rationale for these exemptions is that these types of companies typically already disclose beneficial ownership information pursuant to other state and federal laws.

There is another, more general exemption geared towards rooting out suspected shell companies. An entity is exempt from the reporting requirement if it:

Employs more than 20 full-time employees; Files taxes demonstrating more than $5,000,000 in gross receipts or sales; and Has an operating presence at a physical office in the United States.

If an entity does not fall within a statutory exemption, then it must disclose the full legal name, date of birth, current residential or business address, and unique identifying number (driver's license number, passport number, etc.) for each of its beneficial owners.

FinCEN is required to promulgate implementing regulations on the beneficial ownership provisions no later than January 1, 2022. As noted above, FinCEN issued the ANPR on April 1 seeking public comments on the forthcoming regulations. Entities formed prior to the regulations will have two years to comply with the disclosure requirements, but those entities formed after the regulations are promulgated will have to disclose immediately.

Regulations should hopefully clarify a number of significant ambiguities in the law, and consequently, the regulations will dictate the content and scope of the disclosures.

Notably, the regulations should pinpoint the definition of "beneficial owner" which may require disclosures that probe the often complicated ownership structures of privately-held businesses.

Particularly, FinCEN is seeking comments on what it means to exercise "substantial control" over an entity, and whether the regulations should include a definition of the terms "own" and "control." The regulations should also determine what entities would qualify under the "other similar entities" catchall, and FinCEN is soliciting comments as to how the regulations should define this phrase. Further, the regulations should clarify the full extent of the statutory exemptions, as well as how entities will ultimately seek to qualify under these exemptions.

Regardless of the regulations, another test of the importance of these beneficial ownership provisions will be their enforcement by the new Biden Administration. These provisions, indeed the entire law, arrived at the same time as the new Administration. It will take some time for the DOJ's new priorities to take root. Any assessment of these new provisions' importance will necessarily follow how the Administration chooses to direct the DOJ more broadly.

Enhanced Whistleblower Incentives and Protections

The AMLA enhances incentives, as well as protections, for whistleblowers who provide information leading to a successful money laundering enforcement action under the Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA").

Whereas the Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") whistleblower program has led to more than 40,200 tips (6,900 in FY 2020 alone), over $2.7 billion in monetary sanctions, and approximately $562 million in whistleblower awards, the comparable BSA whistleblower program  which existed 26 years prior to its SEC equivalent  has hardly been utilized.

One explanation for the BSA program's lack of traction was the relatively paltry awards available to whistleblowers. To start, awards, which have been and will continue to be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, were entirely discretionary, meaning a whistleblower could have walked away with no award at all. Furthermore, the awards were strictly capped at the lesser of $150,000 or 25 percent of the net amount of the fine, penalty, or forfeiture collected. Considering that whistleblowers sometimes risk their careers to disclose potentially explosive information, a maximum award of $150,000 (and potentially nothing given the discretionary element of the award) had offered little security, especially given the potential firestorm following disclosure.

Modeled after the SEC's program, the BSA's reinvigorated whistleblower program reflects a more robust approach to whistleblower incentives and protections.

Now, whistleblowers will be eligible for awards when they volunteer "original information" to the DOJ, the Treasury Department or the whistleblower's employer, and when that information results in a successful enforcement action and monetary sanctions exceeding $1 million.

"Original information" is defined as information that is derived from one's own knowledge or independent analysis, not known to the DOJ or Treasury Department, and which does not derive from an allegation made in a judicial or administrative hearing, a government report, hearing, audit or investigation, or from the news media (unless the whistleblower is the source of the information).

The BSA whistleblower incentive structure also has been entirely overhauled under the AMLA. The $150,000 cap on awards has been eliminated. Instead, awards can reach up to 30 percent of the total monetary sanction collected  a potentially multi-million dollar award (for an example of just how large these sanctions can be, consider the recent $390 million civil penalty assessed against Capital One).

Moreover, the Secretary of the Treasury now has no discretion as to whether to award the whistleblower ("the Secretary . . . shall pay an award"), although the Secretary does retain discretion to determine the amount of the award. Only in limited circumstances may whistleblowers be denied an award, such as when they are convicted of a criminal offense related to the violation they disclose, or when they are an employee at DOJ, the Treasury Department, or other law enforcement agency.

The AMLA also bolsters whistleblower protections. First, the program permits whistleblowers to both report a BSA violation and qualify for an award anonymously. The AMLA directs the Treasury Department and DOJ to maintain whistleblower confidentiality, unless necessary to disclose to a defendant or respondent and in accordance with the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C.  552a).

Additionally, the AMLA contains staunch anti-retaliation measures, strictly forbidding employers from discharging, demoting, suspending, threatening, blacklisting, harassing, or in any other manner discriminating against a whistleblower in the terms and conditions of employment or post-employment.

The AMLA also creates a private right of action, whereby whistleblowers can seek relief by filing a complaint with the Secretary of Labor, or if the Secretary of Labor fails to reach a final decision within 180 days, then the whistleblower can bring an action in federal district court.

The reinvigorated BSA whistleblower program is not without its critics. Some commentators have argued that the lack of a minimum award could continue to dissuade potential whistleblowers from coming forward. For instance, the SEC equivalent sets a minimum of 10 percent of the monetary sanctions, whereas the BSA program only establishes a maximum of 30 percent. In addition, the monetary sanctions used to determine the award include penalties, disgorgement, and interest, but notably exclude forfeiture, restitution, or victim compensation payments. Some contend that this could diminish potential awards and further dissuade whistleblowers, especially depending on the type of violation they are thinking of reporting.

Regardless, it appears that the AMLA's updates to the BSA whistleblower program, bringing it closer in line with the highly successful SEC program, should spur more anti-money laundering enforcement.

Next Steps: Comments and Compliance

The reinvigorated BSA whistleblower program, together with the beneficial ownership reporting requirements, will alter the anti-money laundering enforcement landscape moving forward. How these new provisions fit into the broader anti-money laundering enforcement regime is dependent in part on their respective treatment under the new Administration. Given these sweeping new rules, it is important for companies to stay abreast of regulatory developments in order to maintain proper compliance. Interested parties should consider providing comments to FinCEN by the May 5 deadline to address any concerns regarding ambiguities in the new beneficial ownership registry. In addition, companies potentially impacted by the new rules should take this opportunity to review their AML compliance programs and consider whether to update their programs to reflect changes in the law.

JMBM's White Collar Defense & Investigations Group is keenly focused on our clients' business objectives and is committed to minimizing the disruption, anxiety, and public scrutiny that can arise from criminal and civil investigations and litigation. We are leaders in the representation of companies, boards of directors, management, and individuals in connection with a broad range of government investigations, enforcement actions, remediation and compliance, administrative proceedings, internal investigations, and white collar criminal investigations and prosecutions.
Advertisement

Hundreds of 'anti-fascist' protesters gathered in the Orange County, California town of Huntington Beach on Sunday to face off against a 'White Lives Matter' rally that saw heated scuffles and a heavy police presence.





Skirmishes broke out as at least 300 protesters gathered to meet the handful of 'White Lives' marchers, and by 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time, police had declared an 'unlawful gathering' and told all sides to disperse as they confronted what they said was an unruly crowd.





It appeared police didn't initially keep the two sides apart, the Orange County Register reported, leading to heightened tensions as the groups intermingled.





A man and a teenager on the 'White Lives' side who waved a flag pole topped with an American flag, a 'Don't Tread on Me' flag and a Trump flag were chased around an intersection by protesters - and then were surrounded.

Huntington Beach police rode into the crowd on horseback to scoop up the men and took them away in an SUV, the Register reported.

In another instance, a middle-aged woman approached a protester who was chanting 'Black Lives Matter,' and mocked her. She eventually threw her coffee in the protester's face, the newspaper said.

The 'anti-fascist' protest had started peacefully, the Register reported. By the time the crowd was dispersed, multiple arrests on both sides had been made.

ORANGE COUNTY: Aman and a teenager who waved Trump and 'Don't Tread on Me' flags as part of a 'White Lives Matter' event in Huntington Beach, California, were chased around an intersection by protesters - and then were surrounded. Police rode into the crowd on horseback to scoop up the men and took them away in an SUV, the Orange County Register reported

ORANGE COUNTY: Protesters in Huntington Beach try to snatch a pole displaying a Trump flag and other symbols as the crowd explodes after police fail to keep the two sides apart. The 'anti-fascist' protest was said to start peacefully

ORANGE COUNTY: Police in Huntington Beach arrested a 'White Lives' protester whose face was shielded by a mask

ORANGE COUNTY: Police eventually stepped in to try to keep the two sides apart and by 2:30 pm Pacific Time had declared the gathering unlawful as things became 'unruly'

ORANGE COUNTY: Protesters tried to snatch the flag of a 'White Lives' demonstrator as the scene got more chaotic

ORANGE COUNTY: The 'White Lives' demonstrator in the grey T-shirt wore a Trump hat as others carried 'Don't Tread on Me' and Trump flags. They were surrounded by 'anti-fascist' protesters

ORANGE COUNTY: A Huntington Beach police officer pins down a woman during the chaotic scene

ORANGE COUNTY: The protest started peacefully, as people against the 'White Lives' rally gathered in Huntington Beach

ORANGE COUNTY: People made signs, including this man holding an anti-KKK poster, during the Huntington Beach protest

ORANGE COUNTY: The protest eventually got out of control, police said, as they ordered the two sides to disperse

ORANGE COUNTY: Skirmishes broke out throughout the city center area of Huntington Beach as the two sides clashed

The 'anti-fascist' protesters had gathered in Orange County and also in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington state, New Mexico and Ohio on Sunday to rally against 'White Lives Matter' marches that had been expected but largely never materialized, except in California.

Cities nationwide had been preparing for the White Lives Matter rallies that were scheduled for Sunday.

In Huntington Beach, residents had received KKK propaganda at their homes advertising a planned march.

In New York, a small group of protesters in New York stood across the street from a single man holding up a Nazi salute in front of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, a large group gathered in the city's center to rally against the expected 'White Lives' demonstration.

In Seattle, 'White Lives Matter' demonstrators didn't show up to a local park, but 'anti-fascist' protesters were there to meet them, anyway.

In Philadelphia, a few protesters gathered for a 'Picnic Against Hate.'

And in Columbus, Ohio, so-called 'anti-fascists' patrolled a city park where a white-power march was expected to have been held, but didn't happen.

NEW YORK CITY: A single person arrived at Trump Tower for a 'White Lives Matter' march and performed a Nazi salute in front of a small crowd of counterprotesters

NEW YORK CITY: A group of 'anti-fascist' protesters stand across from Trump Tower on Fifth Ave in Manhattan

PHILADELPHIA: A small group of protesters attend a 'Picnic Against Hate'

COLUMBUS, OHIO: 'Anti-fascists' patrol Schiller Park on the lookout for 'White Lives Matter' incidents

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO: Anti 'White Lives Matter' protesters gathered in the city's center

SEATTLE: 'White Lives Matter' demonstrators didn't show up, but 'anti-fascist' protesters were there to meet them anyway

The proposed 'White Lives Matter' rally in Huntington Beach attracted perhaps the most attention.

Among the arrests police made were one for an 'anti-fascist' protester who was taken into custody for using amplified sound, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Images from the demonstration showed at least one man being taken to the ground by police officers before he was handcuffed.

DEVELOPING: Police in Huntington Beach, Calif. declare unlawful assembly as protesters clash at 'White Lives Matter' rally@johnschreiber @CBSLA



pic.twitter.com/bPZXppHG2E  Breaking911 (@Breaking911) April 11, 2021

ORANGE COUNTY: An 'anti-fascist' protester is detained by police officers while preparing for a counter demonstration against white supremacists who never showed

ORANGE COUNTY: The 'anti-fascist' demonstrator is held by Huntington Beach Police during a demonstration to protest the 'White Lives Matter' march on Sunday in Huntington Beach, California

The rallies around the country had been organized by ultra-right wing groups that had called for April 11 to be a national day of 'White Lives Matter'.

Investigators have not been successful in determining who exactly organized the events, which were advertised via social media.

The Anti-Defamation League said the demonstration in California was one of several scheduled across the country. The rallies were said to have been organized through the messaging app Telegram.

ORANGE COUNTY: A demonstrator is seen holding a 'Black Lives Matter' sign during a counter demonstration on Sunday

ORANGE COUNTY: Several people were seen holding signs, with one saying: 'F**KKK white supremacy' in Huntington Beach

ORANGE COUNTY: Another counterprotester was seen holding a 'death to the klan' sign during the demonstration

ORANGE COUNTY: The rally was organized by ultra-right groups that have called for April 11 to be a national day of 'White Lives Matter'. Counterprotesters are seen during the event on Sunday

The rally also comes after fliers with KKK propaganda were delivered to homes in Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Long Beach, according to the LA Times.

However, police do not believe that the same people are responsible for the fliers and the rally.

A 'Day of Unity' was also scheduled at the same time as the White Lives Matter event.

Other cities where rallies were supposed to occur include Fort Worth, Texas and Chicago, Illinois.

A rally was also planned in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a counterprotest was planned in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Columbus, Ohio.

In Philadelphia, a small group of counter-protesters attended a 'Picnic Against Hate', where free food was offered from a box to attendees.

NEW YORK CITY: A man doing a Nazi salute is escorted past counteprotesters by police on Fifth Avenue in New York
Julia Mines didnt want to get vaccinated against COVID-19, fully aware of the nations history of medical experimentation on African Americans. But she did it anyway.

I needed to set an example, said Mines, director of a drug and alcohol recovery center for Black Portlanders.

But, in the end, only two of her seven employees at The Miracles Club have gotten shots, she said, even though they had early access because they work face-to-face with people of color.

Mines and her coworkers are among the hundreds of thousands of non-white Oregonians who health officials and community groups are trying to help vaccinate, organizing specialized clinics, giving local groups money to educate the public and allocating hundreds of vaccine doses a week with special access for people of color.

There have been some distinct successes.

People in some communities who were initially hesitant about the vaccine are now coming around. Dozens of groups are signing up immigrants and refugees who might otherwise likely not know where to turn. And one Native American group is already well on the way to vaccinating everyone who wants a shot.

But challenges remain, and no accurate measure of the states success so far appears to exist.

The Portland Somali population has struggled to get the county to send in a mobile clinic, a leader in the community said, weeks after he first asked for help. Many Black people continue to fear getting a shot, some leaders said. And undocumented immigrants worry about vaccination, too, even if theyre told that getting a shot wont put them at risk of deportation.

Some are pointing to insufficient access  whether its transportation barriers or registration windows that open only when people are working  as a key obstacle to raising vaccination rates for people of color.

Ensuring vaccines are available in an equitable and fair way to our communities of color is critical, said Kasi Woidyla, a spokeswoman for a health network serving majority Latinx patients. The Latinx communities are being vaccinated at a rate far below other groups despite the fact their positivity rates are three to four times those reported by the state  and its not due to hesitancy, its due to access.

A broad view of the Portland areas efforts to vaccinate groups disproportionately affected by the coronavirus reveals a panoply of concerted efforts to give access to vaccines, impeded at least in part by hesitation and resistance that community groups are continuing to fight.

Oregon has stressed vaccine equity as a central component of its battle to end the pandemic, describing its vaccination drive as an opportunity to reshape the states health care system to make up for historic injustices. It created a committee composed of people representing numerous people of color, which recommended counties take special care to vaccinate those groups.

In the approximately two months since then, Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties have been deliberate in allocating doses to clinics geared toward Black, Indigenous and other people of color, and making sure people have access to them.

Combined, they have held or helped organize more than 110 community clinics dedicated to BIPOC populations or underserved groups. Two of the three metro-area counties, Washington and Multnomah, have administered or allocated more than 14,000 doses through these clinics.

The Oregon Health Authoritys metric for determining success is broad, the goal being that about the same percentage of Asians, Pacific Islanders, Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans get shots as their overarching populations. The agencys publicly disclosed data suggests thats happening in some cases.

But the reliability of those measures is questionable, Portland State University researcher Charles Rynerson said, almost certainly inflating vaccination rates for Pacific Islanders and Hawaiian Natives and Native Americans, while making rates for whites look lower than they really are.

The Oregon Health Authority did not confirm or deny its calculations are incorrect. The agency did say it erroneously relied on U.S. Census Bureau population data and would use Portland State University numbers going forward. The universitys Population Research Center, however, also uses Census data for its race and ethnicity population estimates.

Marty Johnston of Troutdale received the vaccine Friday at Garlington Health Center. The center, run by Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare in Northeast Portland, was offering COVID-19 vaccinations to qualified individuals Friday. Event organizers were also hoping to reach Portlands homeless population. March 19, 2021 Beth Nakamura/StaffThe Oregonian

The agency also has not released ZIP-code level vaccination data, which could reveal whether neighborhoods with large populations of people of color are getting vaccinated at rates comparable to those that are predominantly white.

Still, for some, its clear that county-organized clinics focused on reaching non-white populations have been a lifeline.

So Son-jong, 72, spent three days trying to sign up for a shot for herself and her husband at the Oregon Convention Center in Northeast Portland, with no luck. Immigrants from South Korea, So Byung-kon speaks hardly any English and So Son-Jong had trouble navigating the websites.

Calling the state got her nowhere, either.

Then, she got a call from the Korean Society of Oregon, a non-profit advocating for the thousands of South Korean people in the state. So Son-jong was on their list of immigrants, and she learned Washington County had organized a special clinic, where about 500 doses are typically set aside for historically marginalized groups before being opened to the general public.

So Son-jong happily signed up for shots.

About a month later, she and her husband walked through a conveyor-belt-like set up at St. Anthony Catholic Church, in Tigard. They received their second doses of the vaccine and sat down for 15 minutes in a waiting area to make sure they didnt have a bad reaction to their shots.

Everything is OK, So Byung-kon said.

Specialized health clinics have also been instrumental in vaccinating communities of color. Virginia Garcia serves more than 52,000 majority Latino patients in Yamhill and Washington counties, and is one of seven Oregon health centers permitted to vaccinate any patient over 16 and older  not just those eligible under state guidelines.

Robert Ford of Portland chats with Janis Cleveland, director of nursing at Cascadia Behavioral Health, before receiving his vaccine Friday at Garlington Health Center. The center, run by Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare in Northeast Portland, was offering vaccinations to qualified individuals Friday. Event organizers were also hoping to reach Portlands homeless population. March 19, 2021 Beth Nakamura/Staff

Many non-white people are, on average, younger than the rest of the population. The average Latino Oregonian is 24 years old, compared to 41 for the average white Oregonian.

If you want equitable access to the vaccine, you shouldnt be going by age, said Woidyla, a Virginia Garcia spokeswoman.

Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties have also focused on a combination of community clinics and health networks similar to Virginia Garcia, sending out registration links to community groups who then help people sign up.

Of the approximately 4,800 people who got shots at those clinics in Multnomah County, and whose race the county knows, about three in four identified as people of color.

At least one community leader said Pacific Islanders have been eager to get shots because of how hard the coronavirus has hit the population. State data has consistently indicated Pacific Islanders have the highest COVID-19 infection rates of any ethnic or racial group in Oregon.

We all know someone who died or whos been sick, said Manumalo Alailima, co-chair of United Territories of Pacific Islanders Alliance Portland. We see this as a way to have the protection that we need so we can safely be together.

Maria Durnford of Portland chats with Robert Snyder, nurse manager at Cascadia Behavioral Health, before receiving the COVID-19 vaccine Friday at Garlington Health Center. The center, run by Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare in Northeast Portland, was offering vaccinations to qualified individuals Friday. Event organizers were also hoping to reach Portlands homeless population. March 19, 2021 Beth Nakamura/StaffThe Oregonian

But even among Pacific Islanders and others, obstacles remain, counties and community leaders say, primarily surrounding education and communicating across dozens of languages and cultures.

Health officials and community groups have flooded the zone with information translated into dozens of languages, posted videos on social media, held virtual discussions about the vaccine and set up booths to answer questions and help people sign up.

Multnomah County has been reaching non-white Portlanders with five handouts translated into 28 languages and ads with vaccine information on Facebook in Vietnamese, Russian, Spanish and Chinese. Jennifer Vines, the countys health director, goes on the Spanish-language TV station Univision once a week.

In Clackamas County, Karlo Valle has been trying to build on the relationships he developed over the last year to help Latino farmworkers decide whether to get a shot, and how.

A farmworker outreach educator with Northwest Family Services, Valle drives out to small farms in the county, sets up a booth, and signs willing people up for shots and answers everybodys questions.

The things he said hes heard have run the gamut, from a rumor that the vaccine can make a person infertile to the conspiracy theory that the shots contain a microchip. He said hes seen a gradual progression from extremely outlandish questions to more rational ones, such as concerns about long-term effects.

You cant blame these people, Valle said. Sometimes fear takes over.

But he has seen substantial progress.

In one case, a group of farmworkers who had decided to get shots started joking with the lone hold-out -- a woman in her 40s who said she wasnt going to get vaccinated because she didnt want to die, Valle said.

The other workers burst out laughing, Valle said, sarcastically congratulating her on being the only one among them who would live.

Later, Valle thought he had signed up everyone who wanted a shot and was about ready to pack up and go. Thats when the woman came up to him and put her name down for a shot.

Everything is looking better, Valle said. But there is still a lot of work to be done.

Marty Johnston, left, and Tamara Johnston of Troutdale received the vaccine Friday at Garlington Health Center. The center, run by Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare in Northeast Portland, was offering vaccinations to qualified individuals Friday. Event organizers were also hoping to reach Portlands homeless population. March 19, 2021 Beth Nakamura/StaffThe Oregonian

Meanwhile, at least one community leader in Portland is afraid he is losing the narrative on vaccines.

Musse Olol, chairman of the Somali American Council of Oregon, said that virtually unmanageable rumors have spread through the Somali community.

So far, he has not convinced all of the Somali Imams to tell congregants the vaccine is safe. One of them, he said, has been saying that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine contains pork  something the predominantly Muslim immigrants and refugees are forbidden from putting in their bodies.

While some vaccines do contain gelatin, federal health officials say none of the COVID-19 vaccines do.

Olol also said Multnomah County hasnt acted on his request for a Somali-focused vaccination clinic, further hampering his efforts to convince people to sign up for shots. He has stopped putting people on his list of Somalis who want to get vaccinated, he said, considering it a pointless exercise while there is nowhere for them to go.

County health officials confirmed theyve been in talks with Olol about a closer partnership and pointed to clinics that have served an overlapping population, including one event organized with Africa House.

Hesitation also exists in Portlands non-immigrant Black community.

One community worker, Bretto Jackson, said he is against vaccines. Jackson counsels people who come to the Rosewood Initiative, a community group representing neighborhoods at the Portland border with Gresham.

Jackson said he doesnt try to sway people one way or the other on whether they should take the vaccine. He helps those who want a shot, he said, and doesnt intervene for those who dont.

Personally, though, Jackson said he isnt getting vaccinated anytime soon.

I stand behind them 100%, Jackson said of those who decide not to get a shot. I dont trust this government from a can of paint.

17 Gov. Brown visits vaccination clinic at Oregon State Fairgrounds

That fear of the vaccine is concerning to some in the community, even if they have their own reservations.

Mines, the director of The Miracles Club, said she is afraid that her unvaccinated staff could get infected with the coronavirus. The five employees who decided not to get shots regularly interact with people who come to the club for Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and peer support.

One of the clubs workers who decided against getting vaccinated, Wilfred Johnson, said he takes the coronavirus seriously. He wipes doorknobs down regularly, wears two masks and keeps six feet of distance as much as possible.

But the vaccine appears to scare him no less than the disease it can prevent. He knew how fast the vaccines were developed and a personal acquaintance of his had a bad reaction to a shot, he said, so hes opted to wait.

In the interim, Johnson has continued what he said is an immune-boosting regimen he began when the coronavirus first came to Oregon: lots of kale, garlic and exercise, less meat, and extra attention to how stressed he is.

Johnson might still get the vaccine, depending on how people he knows fare.

Is this a tried, true and tested product? Johnson said. Or is this more so experimentation?

That same concern has stalled progress in Warm Springs, one of the hardest-hit communities in Oregon.

On the whole, the Warm Springs reservation has been exceedingly successful getting people vaccinated, the reservations top health official said, thanks to the 200 doses a week delivered from the federal Indian Health Services agency and a one-time batch of 500 doses from the state.

Nearly half of the population 16 and older is now vaccinated, Caroline Cruz said, including 79% of people 75 and older.

Johnson Bill stands at his mothers grave in Warm Springs, Oregon. She died Feb. 5, Oregon's 2,198th coronavirus death. Beth Nakamura/StaffThe Oregonian

But the overall vaccination rate is far below the 80% Cruz said she wants to reach to ensure the unvaccinated are safe, too. Younger people in their 20s and 30s have been declining the vaccine, she said, many of them concerned that the shots were developed too fast to be reliable.

But like in other communities, time could be Cruzs greatest advocate.

The reservations elders weathered any vaccine side-effects theyve had, Cruz said, sending a message to the younger people that the shots are safe.

The grandparents are saying, We made it through, Cruz said. You can, too.

-- Fedor Zarkhin
Of all the things that ail us  our honesty crisis might be the one that does us in.

We lie about our ills. We gloss over or ignore statistics that do not support the official narrative of the times and we censor or ban people that tell us things we do not want to hear.

We are the patient that goes to the doctor wanting the physician to lie about the true or fatal nature of our current condition.

Nowhere is this transparency crisis more evident in the last year than in the area of race.

Look at what Democrats and their water-carrying partners in the media did when Robert Long murdered eight people, six of them Asian, at three massage parlors in Atlanta  he was immediately painted as a white supremacist as opposed to just a murdering madman.

Insight on motive from the shooter emerged that, coupled with being a killer, he dealt with sex addiction. In the twisted eyes of a broken psychopath, these massage parlors represented the manifestation of his demons. That is not putting words in a killer's mouthit is what he allegedly said.

The media pounced  never mind what the man said. Blue checks on Twitter began circulating and trending the hashtag #stopasianhate. President Biden and Kamala flew to Atlanta. (Neither has made it to the U.S.-Mexican border crisis as of print time.)

The implication was this: white people are hunting down Asian people. They are doing it because, aside from just being inherently racist, Donald Trump inspired it with his talk of COVID-19 and the suspected origins of the virus.

"#stopasianhate" spread like wildfire.

Then a weird thing happened. Despite the hashtag, increasingly, the perpetrators in the videos turned the media narrative on its head.

A man beat and then choked unconscious an Asian man on the New York Subway as onlookers did nothing. A black man brutally attacked Vilma Kari, a 65-year-old Filipino woman, knocking her to ground, stomping her and kicking her repeatedly. According to police, the man told Kari "you don't belong here" prior to attacking her.

Perhaps equally disheartening or disturbing during the video, the doormen of the hotel that captured the video stood there and watched  with one of them actually walking over and closing the door.

When the suspect, Brandon Elliot, was arrested, it was revealed he was on parole for murdering his mother.

Day after day, we watched black Americans predominantly commit those crimes.

Anyone with eyes and a functioning brain can see and recognize that white people are not hunting down Asians in packs or on an individual basis, much to the chagrin of blue checks and the Democrat party.

This is not a new phenomenon.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics within the DOJ shows that in the most recently published data from 2018, black people account for 27% of crimes against Asians while making up roughly 1213% of the population.

Across the country, police paraded out a bloodied Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa after he murdered ten people in a King Soopers grocery store.

Vice President Harris's niece Meena tweeted violent white men are the greatest terror threat to the U.S.  before deleting it. Others suggested he walked out alive because he was white.

To Meena's credit, Alissa, for the purposes of race-baiting and identity politics alone, looks like a fat, balding white man as he limps across the parking lot.

Alissa, however, was born in Syria. (Fun fact: The Biden administration made the call to bomb Syria a month earlier.)

The murder of ten people  a heinous crime  did not quite fit the bill for non-stop media coverage with a brown shooter and ten white victims.

Less than two weeks later, Noah Green rammed his car into Capitol Police officer William Evans and killed him near the fencing that surrounds the Capitol. When Green emerged from his car with a knife, he was shot and killed. Afterward it was revealed that Green was a follower of Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.

It does not bother me that Green was black or followed Farrakhan. It bothers me that he killed a Capitol Hill police officer a week ago, and we won't talk about that story for very long. On the other hand, three months after Officer Brian Sicknick died, many people still believe he was beaten to death by white supremacists with a fire extinguishers at the "insurrection" because the media lied so loudly about it.

All of it goes to show that if the lie is big enough, a lot of people do not even notice the correction  even if the victim's own mother tries to correct the narrative.

"He wasn't hit on the head, no," Gladys Sicknick said to the Daily Mail. "We think he had a stroke, but we don't know anything for sure. We'd love to know what happened."

I do not know how long a country can fundamentally lie to the citizenry, drive division, and still expect to prosper. With this dishonesty, we have developed and perfected an avoidance of any of the right kind of accountability.

One of the key tenets of Critical Race Theory and modern "wokeism" is that somehow, the minority class cannot be racist. You are essentially taught that black people do not possess the power to exert racism. Critical Race Theory asks you to deny right from wrong and disregard absolute truths  and to make determinations of right and wrong based solely on race or skin color.

The very definition of racism.

I believe that wrong is wrong and right is right. Increasingly, it seems, our society believes that the determining factor in right or wrong is the color of a person's skin.

Someone evil figured out a long time ago that there was money to be made and power to be gained by pitting groups of people against one another, as Charles Barkley so honestly put it during March Madness.

"Man, I think most white people and black people are great people," he said. I really believe that in my heart, but I think our system is set up where our politicians, whether they're Republicans or Democrats, are designed to make us not like each other so they can keep their grasp of money and power. They divide and conquer."

Georgia, Boulder, D.C.  these are all sad stories. They are awful stories. I am confident we can do better.

First, we probably need to be honest about what is really going on.

Image via Pxhere.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
People began casting their ballots in the West African state of Benin on Sunday as voting started in presidential elections.

About five million people are registered to vote in Benin, where President Patrice Talon is seeking a second term in office.

"The atmosphere is not tense. It's peaceful," said Adama Farougou, a 40-year-old teacher who voted in Cotonou, Benin's largest city and the seat of government. "I pray it will be like this until the end (of the day.)"

The election campaign has been marred by violence, with at least two people reported dead during protests against Talon earlier this week.

When Talon took power in 2016, he pledged he would step down after a five-year term. But later, he decided to run again.

He's now considered the favorite to win Sunday's elections.

The opposition has accused Talon of "undermining" democracy in an attempt to remain in power.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Commissioner Bergin described the failure to advise Packer of these matters as inexplicable but from another perspective, these so-called system errors look like an entirely familiar corporate strategy. But where do we find the corporate mind? Traditionally, the law says that a corporations directing mind and will is found in its board of directors. What the directors know and intend, the company knows and intends. But heres the problem. Modern corporations are often structured to create information silos, and to keep relevant knowledge below board level. Knowledge about the corporations activities will often be dispersed through its lower-level employees (the corporations arms and legs) who carry out its activities. In a complex corporation like Crown, employees number in the thousands and employees may well have no idea of how their individual role contributes to what is, overall, unlawful conduct. They are just doing their job. Crown Perth resort and casino in Burswood, Perth. Credit:Philip Gostelow This diffusion of responsibility can ensure that a corporations board (and, through it, the company itself) remains blissfully ignorant of unlawful activities being carried out on its behalf.

In other words, while the corporations behaviour is shameful, its conscience is kept clean. We may have already seen this play out in relation to Crown. One of NSW Commissioner Patricia Bergins most damning findings was that Crown actively facilitated money laundering, likely worth hundreds of millions of dollars, over many years. This was done through the accounts of two Crown subsidiaries; WA company Riverbank and its Melbourne counterpart, Southbank. But Commissioner Bergin also concluded that Crown was not knowingly or intentionally involved. This reduced its level of blameworthiness. Commissioner Bergin based this conclusion on the fact that low-level cage staff at Crown carried out an aggregation process of individually suspicious transactions occurring through Riverbank and Southbank accounts. Individual cage staff were no doubt honest and just doing their job. Nonetheless, this aggregation process wholly and unavoidably undermined other Crown employees capacity to do their jobs of spotting money laundering activity. On top of this, key Crown officers failed to ask relevant questions, and read relevant documents, relating to the accounts that would have revealed the problem, and did not report available warning signs further up the chain.

Consistently, James Packers evidence was that, even though he was Crown chairman and director at the time, he was kept entirely in the dark. He knew nothing about even the existence of the companies, let alone banks warnings that the accounts showed signs of money laundering. Commissioner Bergin described the failure to advise Packer of these matters as inexplicable but from another perspective, these so-called system errors look like an entirely familiar corporate strategy. James Packer said he was kept entirely in the dark. Credit:Getty/Nick Moir Does this mean that we can expect more of the same before the WA Royal Commission? Not necessarily. The law, slowly but surely, is coming to grips with corporate Frankensteins. My research into corporate fraud, funded by the Australian Research Council, has identified a powerful new model of corporate responsibility emerging in Australia, called systems intentionality, which operates in addition to traditional approaches.

It may be a game-changer, turning excuses of systems errors on their head and making it far harder for corporations to whitewash their guilt. On this approach, a corporations state of mind is manifested, or revealed, in the systems, policies and processes it applies. This idea is something we can all understand. Systems are inherently and obviously purposeful they aim to produce some outcome  and a certain amount of knowledge is necessary to make a system work and so can be taken as read when the system is applied. When I intend to make a cake, for example, I use a system (a recipe) designed for the purpose. And I must follow the recipe by using my knowledge of the required ingredients (flour, eggs and so on) and process (what is meant by beating eggs). So too, the model of systems intentionality explains that corporations intend the systems they implement and know what is necessary for those systems to function. It is even possible to say that corporations must think and act through systems. Individual directors and employees come and go: what remains behind are the systems, policies and processes that dictate the behaviour of the next round of directors and employees. Systems intentionality might not sound exciting or novel but its implications are profound, including for the Crown inquiry.

Judging by the Bergin report, the cage staff at Crown, for example, were carrying out a well-established data entry system that actively facilitated money laundering. They were individually honest cogs in a system that was inherently apt to break the law. This perspective may require an uncomfortable re-assessment of Crowns organisational culpability in such cases. Loading While individual (or even all) directors might have been oblivious of the systems in play, that is not the key question for the royal commission. The inquiry cannot and must not stop with its human figureheads. The key question, after all, is whether the corporation is an appropriate person. To answer that question, the royal commission must have a close look at Crowns character as revealed through its day-to-day systems, policies and processes. It can readily assess whether Crowns character has reformed by examining whether it has engaged in real, systemic change. Anything less by Crown is arguably just window-dressing.
Pesticide is a chemical or biological agent intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest. They represent the last input in agriculture and are used to prevent the spoilage of crops from pests such as insects, fungi, weeds, etc., thereby increasing the overall productivity.

Mayank Mohanti for Indiatimes

Pesticide pollution a cause for worry

But a new study has found that 64 percent of agricultural land all over the world had levels of pesticide chemicals higher than what industry standards consider 'no-effect concentrations.' A third were considered high-risk, with pesticide levels more than 1,000 times higher than no-effect concentrations.

The study, published in Nature Geoscience, pointed to a 'widespread global pesticide pollution risk by examining nearly 100 agricultural chemicals used across 168 countries. The risk to soil, the atmosphere, as well as surface and groundwater were taken into consideration.

AFP

The research found that Asia houses the largest land areas at high risk of pollution--1.9 million square miles--with China accounting for more than half. Scientists are concerned that the overuse of pesticides will tip the balance, destabilise ecosystems and degrade the quality of water sources that humans and animals rely on to survive.

Indian farmers have a larger problem at hand

The impact of pesticides in a farmers life can be gauged by the fact that farmers in India lose around 20-25 per cent of their total production to pests and diseases. Also with urbanisation and rising population levels, the total available arable land per capita has reduced over the years encouraging farmers to use more pesticides in order to improve crop yields.

Mayank Mohanti for Indiatimes

Currently, India is the 4th largest producer of pesticides in the world and according to a research, the Indian pesticides market was worth 197 billion in 2018. The market is further projected to reach 316 billion by 2024, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.1 per cent during 2019-2024.

As of October 2019, a total of 292 pesticides were registered in India. However, the agriculture ministry recently proposed a ban on the manufacture, sale, and use of 27 pesticides in the country over concerns that they could cause a risk to humans and animals alike. This is estimated to cause a loss of about a quarter of the total pesticide industry and a business loss of worth 6,000 crore, besides affecting farmers' interest as substitutes are four-times costly.

Mayank Mohanti for Indiatimes

The 37th Standing Committee of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers in the year 2002 estimated that every year, Indian farmers face losses amounting to 90,000 crores due to pests and diseases. This despite the fact that we use over 55,000 tons of pesticides every year.

But youd be surprised to know that the use of pesticides in India is one of the lowest (~0.3 kg/ha) in the world. Comparatively, countries like China (~14.82 kg/ha), Japan (~11.85 kg/ha) and South Koreas (~11.70 kg/ha) pesticide use is over 50 times higher.

The government introduced the new Pesticides Management Bill (PMB), 2020 in Rajya Sabha in March 2021 to replace The Insecticides Act, 1968. It seeks to regulate the manufacture, import, sale, storage, distribution, use, and disposal of pesticides, in order to ensure the availability of safe pesticides and minimise the risk to humans, animals, and environment, PRS India said.


Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in Washington, DC on July 30, 2020. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Fauci told Insider that life in the US may start returning to pre-pandemic normal by the end of summer.

After that, he said, the US could approach "a considerable degree of normality" in the winter.

His optimism comes in part from studies that show vaccinated people are unlikely to spread the virus.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

It's the million-dollar question: When can life go back to normal?

Anthony Fauci gets asked this a lot.

"It's very difficult to predict, but I would think that we would approach some degree of normality as we get towards the end of the summer and into the fall, and a considerable degree of normality as we get into the winter of this coming year," he told Insider in a recent interview.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was referring specifically to life in the US. He pointed to two main factors that will determine whether his timeline is correct: "If we get the overwhelming majority of the population vaccinated, and it turns out how I suspect: that vaccinated people don't transmit."

Both of these variables are trending in a positive direction. Growing evidence shows that US-authorized shots do indeed keep vaccinated people from readily transmitting the virus, thereby stymieing its spread.

"I think ultimately, that's going to be the case," Fauci said.

As for the number of Americans getting vaccinated, and how quickly, the ramp-up has been impressive. Vaccination rates in the US doubled from February to March, then again from early March to early April. More than 3 million doses are now given daily in the US, on average, and 20% of Americans are fully vaccinated.

If enough people get vaccinated, the US could approach herd immunity

In clinical trials before their shots were authorized, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson only showed that their vaccines prevent symptomatic COVID-19. They didn't test whether their vaccines prevent asymptomatic cases.

Story continues

But of course, without curtailing symptomless infections, it's difficult to stop transmission. Now, an expanding body of research suggests that people who get the vaccines are less likely to spread the virus after all.

Still, Fauci said, "we haven't definitively proven it yet."

Studies are also increasingly showing that the shots offer protection that lasts at least six months.

A member of FDNY EMS receives a COVID-19 vaccine on December 23, 2020 in New York City. Michael Santiago/Getty Images

Once enough Americans get vaccinated, the US could approach herd immunity: the point at which enough people are either vaccinated or immune due to an infection to stymie the virus' overall spread. Fauci has estimated this threshold could be between 70% and 85% of the population.

"If we could just hold on for a while, we'll reach a point where the protection of the general community by the vaccine would really make it very unlikely that we're going to have another surge," he said.

If the rate of US vaccination continues to double month-over-month, the country could reach that threshold as early as June.

Already, President Biden has asked states to move the date when every American over 16 will be eligible for a vaccine up to April 19. According to a Kaiser Health News poll, the percentage of Americans who said they were hesitant to get vaccinated has halved since January. And on Friday, Pfizer asked US regulators to make its shot available to adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15, since a recent trial showed it works for that age group.

"We ultimately would like to get, and have to get, children into that mix," Fauci said during a March Senate hearing.

Fauci said the US shouldn't 'pull back prematurely'

Patrons at the West Alabama Ice House in Houston, Texas, June 2020. MARK FELIX/AFP /AFP via Getty Images

Determining when we'll get back to normal, of course, depends on how that's defined.

If normal means a return to nonessential travel, things are looking up: The CDC announced last week that vaccinated Americans can travel by plane, train, or bus in the US without needing to quarantine or get tested. They do need to wear masks, however.

But if normal involves a return to frequent dining at indoor restaurants, or regularly going to bars, concerts, and sporting events without much risk of coronavirus infection, that's a more complicated question.

States like New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have already loosened coronavirus-related restrictions on gathering sizes and relaxed capacity limits at restaurants and gyms. Texas, meanwhile, eliminated capacity restrictions for all state businesses, including bars.

But all of those changes contradicted recommendations from the CDC, and the recent reopenings have coincided with spikes in cases. The rate of new infections is trending upward in 18 states.

"We're at an interesting crossroads, where we have the virus in this country plateauing at a really concerning level, more than 60,000 new infections per day," Fauci said. "So it's kind of a race between the vaccine and the possibility that there'll be another surge."

In his own life, Fauci said, he still avoids crowded, indoor places where people remove their masks, even though he's vaccinated. The CDC, too, recommends that vaccinated Americans avoid large- and medium-sized gatherings and continue to mask up. For most people, that means continuing to approach restaurants, bars, and movie theaters with a lot of caution.

Still, Fauci is optimistic about avoiding a fourth coronavirus surge, given the speed of the US vaccine rollout: "We're absolutely going in the right direction," he said.

"I think if we play it right, if we continue to vaccinate at the rate that we're vaccinating people, and we don't pull back prematurely on our mitigation, then we should be fine," Fauci added.

We may need to keep wearing masks for a while

A person works on her laptop in Central Park on March 23, 2021 in New York City. Noam Galai/Getty Images

If being back to normal means everyone can throw away their masks, that's likely the longest timeline.

At least 18 states currently don't have mask mandates - several of them, including Texas and Mississippi, rescinded their statewide mandates last month.

But Fauci thinks masks could stick around into next year, given the overwhelming research showing how effectively masks reduce the coronavirus' spread.

When asked for a prediction about when masks will stop being the default, Fauci "didn't want to go there."

"Somebody'll come back and throw it in my face," he said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Weeks after CPS Energy sued 16 energy companies, alleging price gouging during Februarys winter storm, legal experts say the utilitys chances of victory in court are slim.

At stake are bills totaling $670 million for natural gas that CPS bought the week of Feb. 14 at what it says were excessive prices.

But flaws in CPS legal strategy could tank the utilitys efforts to win relief in court.

That would leave one option for paying the bills: a rate hike for CPS customers.

The city-owned utility has sued 14 natural gas suppliers and two pipeline operators. CPS also has taken the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the states electricity grid operator, to court.

The gas suppliers position is clear: A declared natural disaster is a business opportunity, CPS CEO Paula Gold-Williams said in a statement. They are trying to force customers to make the decision to either purchase natural gas at excessive and exorbitant prices or not provide power to consumers.

Without recourse, they want to charge up to 15,000 percent more for natural gas supply during a declared Texas disaster, and that is plain and simple price gouging, she said.

Robin Jerstad, Freelance / San Antonio Express News

Yet legal analysts question the logic behind CPS litigation. They say it either targets the wrong parties or cites price gouging laws that arent applicable to power companies buying natural gas on the spot market.

It would be bizarre to apply a price gouging statute to natural gas sales, said James Coleman, a professor of energy law at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Because we all know that the price varies all the time. In fact, its designed to vary.

On ExpressNews.com: As price-cutting measure dies in Legislature, CPS lawsuit seeks to shield San Antonians from winter storm bill

The utility is under intense financial pressure  both from its more than $1 billion in storm-related expenses and customers past-due bills. Customers were $93 million in arrears as of Jan. 31, a sharp increase from the $38 million in past-due bills the year before.

CPS plans to resume disconnecting customers power for nonpayment in late spring or early summer, more than a year after suspending the practice because of the pandemic.

Center stage

CPS legal battle is currently one of its highest priorities. Utility officials dismissed questions about possible holes in their argument and said they are confident in their legal strategy.

During the storm, gas pipelines and wellheads froze over and icy roads prevented gas deliveries. Supplies of the fuel, used to power electricity-generating plant and heat homes, shrank fast. The shortage hit as demand for power spiked, with Texans across the state cranking up their heaters.

Natural gas prices surged. In its lawsuits, CPS has alleged that suppliers raised prices from around $2.50 per unit of gas before the storm to $150 per unit and higher during the deep freeze. CPS has accused one supplier, Koch Energy Services, of increasing prices by more than 16,000 percent.

Gas companies have fired back. Houston Pipe Line Co., a subsidiary of Dallas-based midstream company Energy Transfer, countersued the utility. ConocoPhillips also is taking CPS to court, alleging the utility has violated its contract by not paying for delivered gas.

The Houston-based oil major is not one of the companies CPS has sued.

HPL and ConocoPhillips say CPS knew the price of the gas it was purchasing  and still carried out the transactions.

CPS knowingly agreed to the prices and, in so doing, secured gas for itself that other buyers would have bought from defendants instead, HPL said in its counterclaim.

CPS contends the extreme cold effectively broke the natural gas market. Gas prices swung from lawful commercial terms to unlawful and unconscionable price gouging over a period of days, the utility said.

CPS cited a chapter of Texas law covering deceptive trade practices as the basis for its price gouging claims. Under state law, taking advantage of a disaster declared by the governor by selling or leasing fuel, food, medicine, lodging, building materials, construction tools or another necessity at an exorbitant or excessive price is unlawful.

But that law is meant to cover basic consumer goods during an emergency. Think bottled water, food and gasoline. The statute was never meant to apply to the price of natural gas on the spot market, SMUs Coleman said.

Efforts to cap natural gas prices in the 1970s caused supply shortages in parts of the U.S., so state and federal regulators have since allowed the market to set the price for the fossil fuel.

Sometimes youll read this conventional wisdom about priceg ouging, that, Well, if prices rise more than 10 percent in a crisis, the rule of thumb is that could be price gouging, Coleman said. Obviously, it would be insane to apply that standard to natural gas. West Texas prices have gone negative several times, so they vary from negative to potentially very high.

To try to make its case, CPS could analyze data from gas suppliers to see whether they withheld gas they had under contract at fixed prices to sell the fuel on the spot market at much higher prices, said Carey King, assistant director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.

But even if a court decides the price gouging law applies to natural gas, multiple exemptions in the statute appear to preclude CPS from invoking the law.

The contracts CPS is contesting vary in size, but each one is for well over $1 million. The state price gouging law doesnt apply to transactions involving total consideration by the consumer of more than $100,000.

Also, the statute is meant to protect consumers, not a business consumer that has assets of $25 million or more. CPS owns assets totaling more than $11 billion.

Typically, these price gouging laws are adopted with the idea of protecting consumers, not sophisticated businesses or these sorts of business-to-business transactions, Coleman said. Theres no doubt that this would be a very odd case to apply price gouging.

On ExpressNews.com: Gas suppliers sue CPS, say utility must pay winter storm bill

Counteroffer?

In its 16 lawsuits, CPS said its willing to pay suppliers $38.83 per unit of gas, a price it deemed the outer reaches of any commercially justified price for natural gas.

CPS said it came to that amount after examining price changes of natural gas and other goods in previous natural disasters in Texas, as well as other states price gouging statutes.

ConocoPhillips and HPL have called the utilitys price arbitrary and invalid. And legal experts said a court is unlikely to rule that CPS can single-handedly determine the price at which it can settle its debt.

You can see (CPS) position, which is, OK, were willing to pay 10 times more for natural gas  were just not willing to pay 100 times more, Coleman said. But how is a court supposed to set that limit?

One Austin energy attorney took the $38.83 price as a tacit settlement offer by CPS, meant to entice suppliers to accept a rate still well above the typical price for natural gas.

Natural gas companies operate at different points in the supply chain. Some extract the fuel and sell it to suppliers. Pipeline companies transport it. And other companies only trade it.

A company extracting gas directly from the wellheads likely reaped big profits during the storm  assuming its wellheads werent frozen. During the crisis, executives at Comstock Resources and Energy Transfer told investors in conference calls about the windfall that high gas prices were generating for their companies.

But companies that only trade gas would take big financial hits if they bought gas at high prices but sold it at only $38.83 per unit.

CPS says ($38.83) is the outer reaches of any commercially justified price for natural gas, Coleman said. But if the court was to consider other cases, would it generally use that price?

CPS also employed a shaky legal argument in its lawsuit against ERCOT, filed in state District Court in Bexar County in mid-March.

CPS sued ERCOT after state lawmakers chose not to force the grid operator to reprice sales of electricity that took place over a 32-hour period during the storm. An independent analysis company, hired by the state to monitor ERCOT, found that the grid operator set power prices too high in that time period. As a result, utilities such as CPS paid exponentially higher prices for wholesale power than normal.

CPS lawsuit seeks to wipe out about $350 million of the utilitys $1 billion-plus tab.

But its suit includes several problematic statements, such as the suggestion that ERCOT erred in not mandating the weatherization of Texas power plants.

Legal experts noted that ERCOT is not responsible for weatherization; the Public Utility Commission is. But the PUC, which oversees the grid operator, wasnt named in CPS lawsuit against ERCOT, likely because it would be more difficult to extract monetary damages from a state regulator.

While CPS currently has enough cash and credit available to pay its worst-case charges of more than $1 billion, utility officials have said spending the lions share of its cash could jeopardize its day-to-day operations and hurt its credit rating.

Gold-Williams has conceded CPS likely will have to set up a long-term plan to pay off the storm-related expenses. That could mean creating a regulatory asset: an accounting mechanism that would allow CPS to sell bonds to pay the debt and spread out the cost of repaying investors over a decade by upping the monthly charge to customers for fuel costs.

A rate increase, in other words.

Such a plan would require approval from CPS five-member board of trustees and the City Council.

It could also lead to a credit rating cut, increasing interest payments on the utilitys debt.

In the event the financial impact to be absorbed by CPS Energy is large, requiring the issuance of long-term debt and the creation of a regulatory asset, there would be negative pressure on the rating, analysts at Moodys Investor Services wrote in March.

Part politics

The utility has set up multiple pages on its website to allow the public to track its efforts in contesting the charges.

To convince city leaders to approve a rate hike, CPS has to show it made a wholehearted effort to slash its costs, Coleman said. Pointing to a stack of lawsuits  no matter how viable  would be one way for the utility to highlight its seriousness.

When the public is in a sense paying your bills, you have to show youre representing them aggressively and trying to keep costs down for them, Coleman said. Even if they think they might lose, they invested public money, and youve got to show that youre doing everything to keep it.

diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net
Algiers, 11 April 2021 (SPS) - Minister of Transport and Energy, Mr. Salek Baba Hasna, was received today, Sunday, by the Algerian Minister of Energy and Mines, Mr. Mohamed Arkab.



Both ministers discussed ways to strengthen energy cooperation between the SADR and Algeria, "described as historical and fraternal, especially in electricity supply. They agreed to continue efforts to finalize energy projects to meet the needs of the population, especially in the summer period, the same source said.



During this meeting, the Sahrawi minister thanked Algeria for its support to Western Sahara and the efforts made by the energy sector in the implementation of various projects to supply Sahrawi cities with electricity.



Speaking on this occasion, Arkab expressed the willingness of the energy and mining sectors to speed up the finalization of electricity supply projects and to train Sahrawi technicians in the monitoring, management and maintenance of electrical facilities.



The minister also stressed the importance of the project to create a Sahrawi body tasked with managing and developing electricity facilities.



Algeria will provide assistance and expertise for the implementation of this project, he continued.



In addition, both sides agreed to coordinate efforts and develop a work programme to meet electricity supply needs and training. (SPS)



062/090
For Australia to maintain its reputation as a first-world country, the government should allow foreign investments only by those willing to abide by the principles of best practice in all fields of endeavour, and, indeed, demand that any company operating here, regardless of who owns it, locals or a foreigner, behaves appropriately.

Anne-Lydie Teese, Greensborough The Treasurers inaction is a national disgrace

It is a national disgrace that Josh Frydenberg has not acted immediately on a series of letters from Senator Peter Whish-Wilson describing the shocking conditions on the foreign-owned Van Dairy farming business in Tasmania. Way back in June 2019, there were widespread media reports that senior staff warned of serious animal welfare issues on this foreign-owned farm. The federal government must intervene immediately to force this company, Moon Lake, to comply with Australian standards. As someone who grew up on a dairy farm, I would like to see this cruel companys dairy licences cancelled permanently. Further, Australia should stop exporting live dairy heifers to China and other countries, where their treatment is surely much worse than that described in these news reports. It is scandalous that even in Australia these companies are getting away with sickening cruelty right under the governments nose.

Jan Kendall, Mount Martha Wake up to the reality of all dairy farms

Three cheers for the whistleblower and Adele Ferguson, who made public the horror of Van Dairy farms.

The story is a gruesome tale of neglect for both the cows and the environment. But much of the horror, the mastitis, the dead calves, the effluent, is true of every dairy farm. Its about time we all woke up to the reality of dairy farms  that they are places of suffering, death and pollution, not the bucolic places where happy animals romp and play, as we are led to believe by the advertising mush we are fed by the dairy industry. Dairy products are bad for the environment, bad for the animals and increasingly seen as responsible for human health issues. Its time to get rid of this industry altogether.

Judith Crotty, Dandenong North THE FORUM You must come to the table

Housing Minister Richard Wynne, you cannot abandon the City of Yarra and your electorate of Richmond and its social housing needs (Social housing row exposes tensions, The Age, 10/4). Since when was negotiation banned as a way to achieve an outcome that we all agree responds to an urgent and legitimate need? Yarra Council has not rejected the need for social housing, it just disagrees with you that there is a need for private housing on the Collingwood Town Hall precinct site.

Yarra Council also believes your tenants on the Ministry of Housing estate opposite the precinct need to be provided with a library and a maternal health and childcare centre. Im sure you would not argue against that. A social housing response, together with a community hub, jointly owned by the city and the state government seems to be a good use of that site. The Fitzroy Residents Association views the standoff as not befitting our council or our Housing Minister and local member. We encourage you both to come to the negotiating table to ensure that the social housing needs and community needs are provided for in our suburb and across the City of Yarra.

Martin Brennan, chair, Fitzroy Residents Association, Fitzroy. Selective recognition

I note that Labor MP Andrew Giles stated on ABC Weekend Breakfast regarding Prince Philip: I think it is important that we recognise that 70 years in public life is something that is extraordinary ... Yet he is among a group trying to replace Senator Kim Carr, 65 and a near-30-year veteran of the Parliament, under the guise of renewal. As a more senior Victorian still working in my 60s, I would like him to explain why the senator needs to retire when he wishes to continue another term.

Does federal Labor actually believe older workers are in the way and need to move aside? Maybe they should reconsider their attitude towards older working Australians who have much to offer.

Isobel Jensen, Clifton Hill The timing is perfect

Spot on, Louise Kloot (Letters, 10/4). With such a minimal risk factor involved, and the worsening rollout figures, this is the perfect situation for the Morrison government to increase panic among the population and once again blame someone else for their incompetence.

Glenn Murphy, Hampton Park An honoured place

In 1982, I approached several news outlets to cover the Tasmanian Wilderness Societys forthcoming blockade of dam works in the Franklin and Gordon river valleys in remote western Tasmania. The then editor of The Age, Creighton Burns, was unexcited by the prospect but nevertheless sent junior reporter Rosslyn Beeby to Strahan for the saga. She, along with other journalists, was subject to repeated cold and wet crossings of Macquarie Harbour and up the Gordon River to witness the hundreds of people who were arrested blocking the bulldozers invading the World Heritage wilderness.

Beebys reportage was incisive, descriptive and powerful. It was a crucial ingredient in the successful motivation of Australians, in particular Victorians, to vote for the change of government in March 1983. New prime minister Bob Hawke announced the dam will not be built and so the Franklin, one of the worlds top 10 whitewater rafting rivers, still flows free to the sea. Beeby went on to a distinguished career in journalism. She died in Queanbeyan this Easter. Saving Tasmanias wild rivers from their extraordinary peril in that summer of 1982-3 involved the dedication of thousands of Australians and among them I would reserve an honoured place for Rosslyn Beeby.

Bob Brown, former director of the Tasmanian Wilderness Society and leader of the Australian Greens. A poignant tale

Lawyer and activist Nyadol Nyuon writes poignantly of her former powerlessness (Your world, and peace, was never mine, Comment, 10/4). But here now she loves Australia, is doing so well, and contributing positively. I and others think as she does. Her clear thinking, with her stand for minorities, assists as our politics heads towards an increasingly real opposition, and hopefully more independents in Parliament.

Barbara Fraser, Burwood

No place for politics

Political stoushes should not have any part in determining the fate of much-needed and vital projects (Social housing row exposes tensions, The Age, 10/4). At a time when so many people are being evicted from their rental properties by landlords without a conscience, social housing should be a No.1 priority for every council. Those out on the street do not have the luxury of waiting to find decent accommodation and need immediate help now.

Helen Scheller, Benalla More misery ahead

The Victorian gaming regulator has just approved yet another 70 poker machines for Victoria. The new machines are, as usual, located in a low socioeconomic area and will, as usual, cause yet more abject misery to families who can least afford the consequences of the inevitable losses.

A cynic might reason that more poker-machine losses will mean more government revenue for the states dwindling treasury coffers. The government has, most fortunately, in its repertoire a magic cure-all solution for problem gambling  their trite and useless slogan: gamble responsibly. There you are, problem solved in two easy words.

Erica Grebler Caulfield North Time to play their game

To describe the operation of Van Dairy farms as a total balls up seems a massive understatement.

If Adele Fergusons report is accurate, then this truly is a national disgrace. Any sensitivities we may feel about calling out Van Dairys Chinese owners for the abysmal conditions on their farms should be set aside. The Chinese government has already shown its willingness to punish Australia by imposing restrictions on Australian imports such as wine. The Australian government should show China that two can play that game. Van Dairy should either comply with the conditions under which it operates in our country, or be told to get out of a business it seems to know little about.

Rod Wise, Surrey Hills Nothing secure about it

It is nonsense to claim that 20 million more doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which are said to be due to arrive from October, have been secured (More Pfizer on way but confidence takes a hit, The

Age, 10/4).

In the context of the lack of progress to date in Australias vaccine rollout, very little is secure. The vaccine has only been ordered. October is a long way down the track and it may or may not turn up then. Well see. Meanwhile, wishful thinking and spin-doctor words from Scott Morrison and his marketing team wont make any difference.

Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills Make another run

Julia Gillard, I have nothing but respect for you. Your time as prime minister was too short-lived. Please come back to politics, to Parliament and hopefully as prime minister you might get the misogynistic old boys club to get real and society to understand and adhere to the message of your poignant misogyny speech. I dont think anyone in Australia could attend to the issues of family violence, entitled violence and workplace violence with more effect. One vote already.

Jae Sconce, Moonee Ponds

Weve done it for years

Vale Prince Philip. A lot of talk about how he sacrificed his promising career to support his wife, Queen Elizabeth, in her working life. Such a familiar story for so many women who have done exactly the same thing but without the plaudits accorded to him, rather the expectation that this is how it is.

Belinda Burke, Hawthorn Beyond the reputation ...

Prince Philip may have, at times, played up to the caricature of him as a cranky uncle type but that doesnt do him justice. His work for the world environment, outdoors schooling and an ethic of public duty relating to youth was forward thinking. As yet another displaced royal emigre in the early 20th century, his life trajectory and connections to a number of European royal houses in what was for them a fraught era has its own fascination.

As a parallel, his eldest son, Prince Charles, may yet surprise those who have delighted in underestimating his abilities.

As a king, and not having to walk a few paces behind a monarch, his knowledge of environmental issues and empathy for religions such as Islam may be allowed to come fully to the fore.

Jon McMillan, Mount Eliza Heres why it happened

Your correspondent (Letters, 10/4) wonders how after Australia responded so well in controlling community spread we have failed in the vaccine rollouts. One was led by Dan Andrews, with Annastacia Palaszczuk and Gladys Berejiklian, and the other one wasnt.

Carlo Ursida, Kensington Leadership looks like this

On many occasions during my working life I had the privilege of being a team member developing and delivering leadership programs to unions, public sector organisations and private sector companies, including one of Australias largest corporations. Successful leaders display traits including courage, honesty, integrity, humility, empathy and a genuine commitment to those they lead. They readily admit to and learn from their mistakes and inspire with their openness and work ethic.

Unfortunately the Morrison government regularly resorts to denial, obfuscation, attack, blame and misinformation. Currently, we are getting slogans and political hype. Australia needs honesty and real leadership if we are to survive in an increasingly complex world.

James Young, Mount Eliza AND ANOTHER THING Politics

Continuous calamities in Canberra. Where is John Kerr when we really need him.

Jeremy Sallmann, Crib Point The likelihood of complications and clots resulting from the jab, pales into insignificance when compared with the consequences of both the actions and inactions of the clots on the government benches.

Brian Williams, Vermont

Scott Morrison may have perfected the art of announcements and word salads, (And another thing, 10/4) but now that winter is coming, he needs to work on concocting some hearty, heavy-duty word casseroles.

Susan Caughey, Glen Iris The vaccine rollout

The government has finally told us that some clots are the cause of the delays in vaccine rollout. We knew that already.

Greg Tuck, Warragul Rollout recalibration: how about more emphasis on plausibility, and less on self-serving applause?

Bernd Rieve, Brighton Michelle Leeder (And another thing, 10/4), Id add that the time has come, Prime Minister, for less talk and more action. Otherwise theres a risk all our collective sacrifices of the last year will be for nought.

Kate McCaig, Surrey Hills Bring it on

Advertisements for retirement living always show couples socialising with the omnipresent drink in hand. If such a boozy existence awaits, I am almost looking forward to my dotage.

Ralph Frank, Malvern East
Pictures released by Concord police show damage caused to a Walmart store on 2 April (Concord Police Department)

A former Walmart employee has been arrested for driving his car into the front of a store in the town of Concord, North Carolina.

According to police, Lacy Cordell Gentry continued to drive through the Walmart Supercentre, after they arrived at the scene on 2 April.

In a statement, police said the 32-year-old was found at the wheel of a 2015 Volkswagen Passat by officers who were called to the Walmart.

The Concord Police Department said that eventually, officers were able to get Gentry to stop the vehicle.

Although there were no injuries, and no customers were inside the building at the time, the merchandise inside the store suffered considerable damage, according to police.

Pictures from the scene showed the crashed vehicle, and the destruction caused to the inside of the Walmart.

Items and shelves were thrown by the path of the car, which appeared to have come to a stop after colliding with an aisle for cosmetics.

Fox 5 reported that the 32-year-old, who remains in custody, was fired by Walmart before the incident. Police added that they were still determining a motive.

Mr Gentry faces a number of charges, including two counts of assault against officers, for breaking and entering, and other misdemeanour charges, Fox 5 reported.

The former Walmart employee is currently being held on a $100,000 bond at Cabarrus County jail, according to reports. It was unclear if Mr Gentry had a lawyer.

Read More

Prince Philip: Buckingham Palace announces death

AP News Digest 2 p.m.

Elon Musks company unveils first look at the Las Vegas loop
Two South Korean electric-vehicle reached a last-minute settlement in a bitter US trade dispute, sparing President from choosing between undermining intellectual property rights or dealing a politically toxic blow to his climate agenda.

SK Innovation agreed to pay 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) to LG Energy Solution, a unit of LG Chem, according to a statement from the two The payment is divided equally in cash and royalties, they said.

The two will work to help the development of EV battery industry in and the US through healthy competition and friendly cooperation, according to the joint statement. In particular, we will work together to strengthen the battery network and environmentally-friendly policy that the Biden administration is pursuing.

The settlement will avert a 10-year import ban of SK Innovations batteries into the US and ends the two-year dispute between the two The import ban threatened to complicate the rollout of Ford Motors new F-150 electric pickup truck and the Volkswagen AGs ID.4 SUV.
- By GF Value





The stock of Rent-A-Center (NAS:RCII, 30-year Financials) shows every sign of being significantly overvalued, according to GuruFocus Value calculation. GuruFocus Value is GuruFocus' estimate of the fair value at which the stock should be traded. It is calculated based on the historical multiples that the stock has traded at, the past business growth and analyst estimates of future business performance. If the price of a stock is significantly above the GF Value Line, it is overvalued and its future return is likely to be poor. On the other hand, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher. At its current price of $58.13 per share and the market cap of $3.2 billion, Rent-A-Center stock is estimated to be significantly overvalued. GF Value for Rent-A-Center is shown in the chart below.





Rent-A-Center Stock Is Estimated To Be Significantly Overvalued

Because Rent-A-Center is significantly overvalued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to be much lower than its future business growth, which averaged 0.2% over the past five years.

Link: These companies may deliever higher future returns at reduced risk.

It is always important to check the financial strength of a company before buying its stock. Investing in companies with poor financial strength have a higher risk of permanent loss. Looking at the cash-to-debt ratio and interest coverage is a great way to understand the financial strength of a company. Rent-A-Center has a cash-to-debt ratio of 0.34, which is worse than 68% of the companies in Business Services industry. The overall financial strength of Rent-A-Center is 6 out of 10, which indicates that the financial strength of Rent-A-Center is fair. This is the debt and cash of Rent-A-Center over the past years:

Rent-A-Center Stock Is Estimated To Be Significantly Overvalued

It poses less risk to invest in profitable companies, especially those that have demonstrated consistent profitability over the long term. A company with high profit margins is also typically a safer investment than one with low profit margins. Rent-A-Center has been profitable 8 over the past 10 years. Over the past twelve months, the company had a revenue of $2.8 billion and earnings of $3.73 a share. Its operating margin is 8.43%, which ranks better than 69% of the companies in Business Services industry. Overall, GuruFocus ranks the profitability of Rent-A-Center at 6 out of 10, which indicates fair profitability. This is the revenue and net income of Rent-A-Center over the past years:

Story continues

Rent-A-Center Stock Is Estimated To Be Significantly Overvalued

Growth is probably the most important factor in the valuation of a company. GuruFocus research has found that growth is closely correlated with the long term stock performance of a company. A faster growing company creates more value for shareholders, especially if the growth is profitable. The 3-year average annual revenue growth of Rent-A-Center is 0.2%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Business Services industry. The 3-year average EBITDA growth rate is 12.3%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Business Services industry.

Another method of determining the profitability of a company is to compare its return on invested capital to the weighted average cost of capital. Return on invested capital (ROIC) measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. When the ROIC is higher than the WACC, it implies the company is creating value for shareholders. For the past 12 months, Rent-A-Center's return on invested capital is 16.03, and its cost of capital is 10.07. The historical ROIC vs WACC comparison of Rent-A-Center is shown below:

Rent-A-Center Stock Is Estimated To Be Significantly Overvalued

To conclude, The stock of Rent-A-Center (NAS:RCII, 30-year Financials) appears to be significantly overvalued. The company's financial condition is fair and its profitability is fair. Its growth ranks in the middle range of the companies in Business Services industry. To learn more about Rent-A-Center stock, you can check out its 30-year Financials here.

To find out the high quality companies that may deliever above average returns, please check out GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


The organizers of one of the worlds most prestigious defense gatherings are in the midst of an uncomfortable international standoff between the Canadian government and China over a major award they had planned to give to the president of Taiwan.

The standstill, which is ongoing and has not been previously reported, has created tension between the Halifax International Security Forum and the Canadian government, which is a major sponsor of the forum.

Late last year, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter, the forums organizers decided to give its John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service to Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan. Cindy McCain, a member of the forums board of directors, greenlit the decision to honor Tsai with the prize named after her late husband.

It would have been the third time the HFX presented the McCain award. The first, in 2018, went to the people of Lesbos, Greece, for their efforts to save refugees; the second, in 2019, went to the citizen protesters in Hong Kong. HFX planned to give the third to Taiwans president for standing strong against Chinas relentless pressure.

When Canadian officials learned of the forums plans, they made it clear that if organizers gave the honor to Tsai, the Canadian government would pull support  and funding  from HFX.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen delivers a speech at an event.

HFX hasnt decided how to proceed. For now, the situation appears to be on ice.

HFX has not yet announced the winner of the 2020 John McCain Prize for leadership in public service, said the forums Vice President Robin Shepherd in a statement. We look forward to making the announcement, and conducting a presentation event at an appropriate time, given the challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic presents. President Tsai of Taiwan is a well respected international leader, the first female president of Taiwan, and a strong global advocate for democracy. She would certainly be an ideal fit for this award. At this time, we have no further announcements to make.

Story continues

The McCain Institute, where Cindy McCain is chair of the board of trustees, did not respond to requests for comment.

POLITICO is a media partner of the event but is not involved in decisions about the prize. POLITICO employees handling its role with HFX did not participate in this story.

The Halifax forum, also sponsored by NATO, draws scores of powerful military and civilian leaders. Previous speakers have included then-U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel; Adm. Phil Davidson, the commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command; Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan; and officials from a host of other countries, including Israel, Estonia, Afghanistan, Yemen, Poland and Japan.

The forums website states it is devoted to strengthening strategic cooperation among democratic nations. It also purports to take a critical stance toward Beijings autocratic expansionism, and last year released a publication called The HFX Handbook for Democracies, which highlights the serious challenge that China poses. HFX promises donors that their contributions to the forum will strengthen their governments resolve to stand up to China.

Now the question is whether the forum itself will buck the Canadian government and honor one of Beijings top targets.

Trudeaus government appears uncomfortable with the situation. Ottawa has shied away from provoking Beijing after tensions spiked in December 2018, when Canadian authorities arrested a senior Huawei executive on behalf of the U.S. In an apparent retaliation, China arrested two Canadians just days later and has since charged them with espionage.

A spokesperson for Sajjan, Canadas defence minister, would not confirm or deny whether the Trudeau government threatened to pull out of the forum over the organizers plan to present the award to Tsai.

The Government of Canada has provided financial support through a contribution agreement with the Halifax International Security Forum, Sajjans spokesperson Todd Lane wrote in an email to POLITICO. While financial support has been provided, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces are not involved in the planning of the Forum. The organizers reach out to us, as well as many other organizations, for panelists on various topics and we try to support when appropriate.

Sajjan is scheduled to testify Monday evening before a special parliamentary committee on Canada-China relations.

Officials from Taiwans missions in Washington and Ottawa declined to comment.

Ottawas relationship with Beijing in a parlous state

In recent months, the Chinese government has targeted Taiwan with a hybrid warfare campaign, including election interference, cyberattacks and drone intrusions into its airspace. The unstinting barrage has battered the countrys economy and sparked fears of a full-scale invasion. Meanwhile, under Tsais leadership, only 10 of Taiwans nearly 24 million people have died of Covid-19. In January 2020, she won a landslide reelection victory against a rival who wanted closer ties with Beijing.

Beijing does not recognize Taiwans independence, and has long sought control of the dynamic island democracy. The Communist government has worked to undermine international recognition of Taiwan, using its clout to pressure companies and institutions to change maps depicting it as an independent country.

The U.S. maintains unofficial relations with Taiwan, and on Friday the State Department released guidelines allowing closer interaction between U.S. diplomats and those from Taiwan, as Reuters detailed. Much like the United States, Canadas One China policy means Ottawa doesnt recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state, nor does it maintain official relations with Taiwanese government.

Honoring Taiwans president at such a high-profile conference in Canada would likely irk Beijing  especially as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tries to secure the release of the two Canadians imprisoned in China.

Canada-China diplomatic relations plunged after the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou at Vancouvers airport in December 2018. Beijing has called the move political and demanded her release. Mengs father founded Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant. The U.S. Department of Justice last year charged Huawei with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act  charges most commonly associated with organized crime  for fraud in service of evading U.S. sanctions on Iran.

Days after Mengs arrest, Chinese authorities rounded up Kovrig and Spavor, known colloquially as the two Michaels. China also halted some key agricultural imports from Canada.

Kovrig and Spavor were tried last month in separate, one-day proceedings, each behind closed doors. Canadian diplomats and media were barred from entering the courthouses for both hearings. The men are now awaiting the verdicts and, if convicted, their sentences.

Trudeau has called the Canadians arrests arbitrary, claiming trumped-up charges.

It isnt the first time Beijing has arrested Canadian citizens in apparent retaliation for Ottawas compliance with its treaty obligations. In 2014, Canadians arrested a Chinese national named Su Bin, who had been indicted in the U.S. for working to steal the plans for the American C-17 military transport plane and F-35 fighter jet. After his arrest, the Chinese government arrested Kevin and Julia Garratt, two Christian aid workers living there. A lawyer for the Garratt family told The New York Times that Beijing made it clear their arrest was designed to pressure Ottawa not to extradite Su Bin. Su Bin later waived extradition, pleaded guilty, and served a brief prison sentence in the U.S. The Garratts are now free.

China is a political problem for Trudeau

While fighting for the two Michaels freedom has become a top foreign policy matter for Trudeau, the prime minister has faced criticism for being too soft on China.

The Conservatives Erin OToole, Canadas official opposition leader, has frequently tried to frame Trudeau as too cozy with China and challenged the prime minister to stand up to Beijing.

Its disappointing but not surprising to see the extent to which the Trudeau government will go to secretly support the Communist Party of China, OToole wrote in an email Friday to POLITICO when asked about the Trudeau governments ultimatum to the Halifax forum on Tsai. It begs the question of what else this government is doing in secret to support their friends in China that we dont know about.

Trudeau has tried to rally Western leaders  including President Joe Biden  to press China for the release of Kovrig and Spavor. Human beings are not bartering chips, Biden said in February following his virtual meeting with Trudeau. Were going to work together until we get their safe return.

Since the arrests of Kovrig and Spavor, however, Trudeau has at times appeared reluctant to take steps that might anger China. Canada remains the only member of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance yet to announce a decision whether to restrict Huawei from its 5G network.

In February, Canadas Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of a motion declaring Beijing's mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims a genocide. Trudeau himself and his 36 cabinet ministers abstained from voting on the symbolic motion.

But in other areas, Canada has moved forward multilaterally. The Trudeau government recently joined allies in imposing sanctions on individuals and entities allegedly linked to human rights abuses against Uyghurs in China, including mass internment in concentration camps and reports of forced sterilization of women. It has also called for Beijing to provide independent investigators unfettered access to the region.

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa did not respond to requests for comment.

Sen. Marco Rubio, meanwhile, the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committees top Republican, released a statement praising Tsai in response to this reporting.

No world leader is more deserving of the recognition than President Tsai Ing-wen, he said. President Tsai has stood firm against Beijing's international bullying without undermining the status quo that has kept the peace for decades. Democracies worldwide should refuse to let Beijing dictate how we interact with Taiwan.
Justine Bateman photographed by Steven Meiers Dominguez for FACE One Square Foot of Skin

Justine Bateman, author of FACE One Square Foot of Skin Credit - Photograph by Steven Meiers Dominguez

Well hello! A version of this article also appeared in the Its Not Just You newsletter. Sign up here to receive a new edition every Sunday for free.

When my youngest child was just a little creature, shed settle into my mothers lap and pat the velvety folds of skin under moms chin.

Mormor, I love all your necks, the kid would say before fading into sleep. Mom laughed every time, but with a tinge of embarrassment.

I was reminded of those moments when I read Face: One Square Foot of Skin by actor and director Justine Bateman. She spoke to 47 women about their aging faces and turned their stories into a collection of short narratives. Bateman asks, what if we just rejected the idea that older faces need fixing. What if we ignored all the clanging bells that remind women every day on every platform that we are in some kind of endless battle with aging.

Bateman writes: I hated the idea that half the population was perhaps spending the entire second half of their lives ashamed and apologetic that their faces had aged naturally.

Sign up here to receive a new essay from @SusannaSchrobs in your inbox every Sunday for free.

What struck me in reading these stories was how much time we spend fretting about whether we should do something about our faces or hold out. We are still stuck in the crack between empowerment feminism and reality. And I dont just mean older women. I have friends in their 20s who also fall into a vortex of products that promise to reverse aging that isnt even visible yet. The Instagram generation hasnt been spared, in fact, they may have accumulated more time examining their faces than any before them.

One of Batemans characters, Faith, a 48-year-old former advertising executive, catches a glimpse of her face reflected in a tabletop as she leans over. Shes horrified at this new view of her sagging skin. She knew her face was no different than it had been an hour before, but now shed was aware that her face had crossed over, and she couldnt unsee it, couldnt stop her confidence from eroding.

Story continues

My mother had her own crossing-over story. She called it the day she became invisible. She was a nurse, and after every shift, thered be a handover report to the incoming doctors and nurses. One day, when she was in her 50s, she realized that the unit physicians, both men, had started looking past hertheir eyes and their questions drawn to the younger nurses behind her. And thats when my pretty mother realized shed used up the currency of a youthful face just as shed reached the peak of her expertise.

There lies the problem with simply ignoring the terrible way some people react to older female faces. Ageism is pervasive, and it has real economic effects. Research shows that women over 50 who lose their jobs or quit to care for a family member have an extraordinarily tough time finding work again. And even if they do, theyll likely make less than they did before.

Read More: How to Age When Your Celebrity Peers Dont

That angst about being seen as older and less valuable in the workplace fuels the anti-aging industry as much as vanity or peer pressure. Its infuriating but not crazy to believe that looking younger might get you a few more years of relevance and retirement contributions before youcross over.

However, Bateman argues that even when we think were buying more time with cosmetic procedures, its an illusion, a Ponzi scheme in which age always wins.

Shes probably right. But I wish we could create a new currency, a better system, like a pro-aging Bitcoin. Your value increases every year and for developing soft neck wattles that comfort small granddaughters.

Or better yet, we could have our own personal NFTs (non-fungible tokens). NFTs represent unique, non-replicable assets like digital art, and the tech world is obsessed with them. So lets imagine that our one-of-a-kind-woman faces are a new kind of NFT, a currency backed by a life lived without hesitation in the sunshine of good days and bad.

If youre new to Its Not Just You, SUBSCRIBE HERE to receive an essay every Sunday. And write to me at: Susanna@time.com

In her new book, Face: One Square Foot of Skin, actor and director Justine Bateman asks why women still spend so much time in a frustrating quest to fix their faces. Of her own unaltered 55-year-old face, Bateman writes:

Youre looking at f***ing determination and truth and creativity. Youre looking at loss and sorrow and the effort for a deeper perspective. Youre looking at satisfaction and happiness. Youre looking at a manifestation of a connection so deep and rooted that its more real than I am. Youre looking at my face.

Justine Bateman, #TheresNothingWrongWithYourFace

COPING KIT 

What Loss Looks Like: The New York Times asked readers to share photos of objects that remind them of those who died over the last year, whether from the coronavirus or other causes. Grief and solace are intertwined in these artifacts, from a 50-year-old mixer that reminds one woman of her dad who loved to bake to a music box inscribed with To My Gorgeous Wife.

You can submit your own remembrance to this virtual memorial here.

EVIDENCE OF HUMAN KINDNESS

Heres your weekly reminder that creating a community of generosity elevates us all.

Mindy is a mother of three girls who lost her husband Carlos to COVID-19 last July. The past ten months have been so difficult for usfinancially, yes, but also the grief has been too large for me to hold, says the Sacramento mom. I see my daughters, and they just want their Papa back.

In the wake of this tragedy, Pandemic of Love matched Mindy with seven individual donors who were able to provide enough funds to get her family through the holidays. One donor, Janice, was moved to tears by Mindys story and helped with car and car insurance payments, she says:

I know what loss is like and how much a blur the aftermath is. I just had to contribute in some way to ease her hardship.

Mindy has been working since January, and her mother is helping look after her girls (two of whom are pictured above). She tells us shes learning to live with the pain one day at a time and find moments of joy again because Carlos would have wanted us to just be happy.

Story and images courtesy of Shelly Tygielski, founder of Pandemic of Love, a grassroots organization that matches volunteers, donors, and those in need.

COMFORT CREATURES  

Our weekly acknowledgment of the animals that help us make it through the storm. Meet MISCHA submitted by SUZANNE.

SHARE this edition of Its Not Just You here. And you can send comfort creature photos and comments to: Susanna@time.com

Did someone forward you this newsletter? SUBSCRIBE to Its Not Just You here.
Visiting restrictions to maternity hospitals should be risk assessed to show how they are protecting women and staff, maternity advocates have said.

The call comes as a number of hospitals eased some restrictions in the last few days, but others have made no change. This only deepens the inequity of access, advocates say, as they demanded the science behind these changes be made public.

Chair of AIMS Ireland Dr Kyrisa Lynch said: It is baffling women can do some things in some hospitals but not in others. We are looking for risk assessment audits, we think it is inappropriate that some women have certain opportunities and others do not.

And we are looking for the entire labour experience to be accompanied.

She said it is not appropriate that the partners of a woman giving birth are viewed as visitors.

Women have told AIMS of being alone for up to six hours having been induced, with their partners waiting outside in the car. She said a back rub or a smile are essential during labour-pains.

Dr Lynch said it is difficult to understand why some hospitals ban visitors, others restrict visiting to certain hours, which means all partners come at the same time, while others allow more freedom.

In Cork, advocate, Linda Kelly gave birth during the first lockdown.

She said: We know everything carries risk, but I find it astounding that for this essential service, where all the staff are vaccinated, that there hasnt been a strategic plan put in place.

Cork University Maternity Hospital now has a Visitor Scheduling App, and Ms Kelly asked why this is not mandated for all maternity hospitals.

There have been so many promises from senior people in government, but when it came to lifting restrictions after this lockdown, there was nothing for maternity services, she said.

Speaking at an HSE briefing this week, chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said it is still too early to restore all visiting. He said the HSE wants to see a safe easing of restrictions.

Information shared by the maternity hospitals this week shows varying restrictions in place around the country.

Linda Kelly, Glanmire, and her daughter Amy-Kate. Cork University Maternity Hospital now has a Visitor Scheduling App, and Ms Kelly asked why this is not mandated for all maternity hospitals. Picture: Denis Minihane

Munster Hospitals

The South/SouthWest hospital group includes Cork University Maternity hospital and maternity units at Kerry University Hospital, South Tipperary General Hospital, and University Hospital Waterford.

Restrictions on anomaly scans were lifted on March 29 in all. Partners can attend from when the woman is in established labour for the birth or caesarean-section delivery and can stay for some time after birth.

One parent can visit the Neonatal Intensive Care at a time and hours are unrestricted.

At University Hospital Maternity Limerick partners and support persons can visit on the labour ward only.

Dublin Hospitals

At the Coombe hospital in Dublin, Covid-19 restrictions are renewed daily. A designated partner can attend during birth. Women can have visitors on the antenatal, postnatal and gynaecology wards between 2pm and 4pm daily.

At Dublin's Rotunda a nominated companion can attend the anomaly scan. One named person can attend when the woman is in the delivery suite or theatre. Women on postnatal, prenatal and gynae wards can have one named companion visit between 5pm and 7pm Monday to Friday or 2pm to 7pm on weekends and Bank Holidays.

Women can feed their babies anytime in the NICU when they are also a patient. If they have been discharged, visiting is between 11am and 7pm daily.

At the National Maternity Hospital a partner or support person can attend the anomaly scan since December 9. They can also attend a caesarean section. Visiting post-birth is open to a partner or nominated person for up to two consecutive hours of their own choosing.

Visiting restrictions at the NICU have now been lifted.

Portlaoise Hospital

At Portlaoise Hospital, in the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group, visiting during the anomaly scan was restored last Tuesday. Partners can attend the birth until the mother is moved to the postnatal ward. No other visiting is permitted.

Ireland East

The Ireland East hospital group includes maternity units at Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar, St Luke's General Hospital, Kilkenny and Wexford General Hospital.

A spokeswoman said: As healthcare workers complete their vaccination schedule this will be taken into consideration in determining local measures.

In these hospitals, birth partners may only attend the labour ward when their partner is in active labour, and in theatre for planned caesarean sections.

The midwifery-led maternity units in Cavan General Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda are under the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland Hospital Group.

Here a birth partner is allowed attend the anomaly scans and come onto the labour ward. They can visit the Midwifery Led Unit and post-natal ward.

West of Ireland

The SAOLTA hospital group oversees maternity units at Portiuncula hospital, Galway University Hospital, Sligo and Mayo general hospitals, and Letterkenny University Hospital.

In Letterkenny visiting is allowed to the Special Care Baby Unit. Birth partners can attend a woman in labour, and for a caesarean done under regional anaesthesia.

In Mayo a partner must leave immediately after the birth. And if a woman is discharged while her baby is still in the Special Care Baby Unit, she can visit once a day.

In addition to the birth at Galway hospital, partners can visit the antenatal and postnatal wards for 30 minutes from 7pm to 7.30pm. Fathers can only visit the NICU for 15 minutes.

In Sligo birthing partners can stay for a time after the birth. But they cannot visit the NICU, unless the mother is in intensive care in which case the partner can visit for up to 15 minutes.

Their guidelines also say partners are encouraged to phone for updates, and that staff will take photographs for them.

At Portiuncula partners are invited to attend the anomaly scan, and are welcome to visit the Special Care Baby Unit for 15 minutes, one person at a time. Partners can visit for one hour between 6pm and 8pm but exceptions are considered in sensitive cases.